If it were developed near your residence would you use it or stick to traveling in your personal vehicle?

47 comments

  3. I don’t own a personal vehicle because my small city has decent enough public transit that I simply don’t need one. I live very close to a stop on a bus rapid transit line which takes me most of the places I need to go. Otherwise, I walk or bike.

    I’ve mentioned this here before, but a proposal was put forward to *study* an expansion of the bus rapid transit line, and there was so much opposition to even suggesting such a thing that my city councilor got recalled. So, it seems like a lot of people would *not* be willing to use public transit. Ironically, the person who was elected to fill the vacant seat was like “uhh yes, we will still be studying public transit expansion.”

  4. Hell ya. Then I coulda had a drink after work! Or have an edible on a Friday after work.

    Driving yourself stinks. I’d rather look at a book or zone out on my phone for a few.

  5. DART is affordable and fairly reliable.

    It just doesn’t go many places I want to go, including close to my house, and is MUCH slower than driving even for the few I could theoretically use it for if I did the park n ride thing.

  7. Fuck yeah I would use it. As many would. But it would have to go everywhere people need to go, to really get people off the roads, and my area is so spread out, it’s impractical.

  8. For a daily commute, I’d gladly use public transportation a lot.

    I think it’d be a pain for the sort of trips I mostly do now that I work from home though.

  10. If I could bring my bike with me then yes, absolutely. As it is public transportation doesn’t exist at all where I live though.

  11. If there was a direct and frequent route between my home and work, then yes I would. The problem is that I have to take 3-4 buses to get to work (9 miles from home), taking at least 90 minutes according to Google. It takes me 20-25 minutes to drive the same route.

  13. If it took the same amount of time or less, and costed less than it does to pay for gas, then yes I would take it. Why not.

  14. Only rambling schizophrenics and the super poor use public transportation where I am. So fuck no.

  15. It exists where I live. But it’s slower, less convenient, dirtier, more uncomfortable, and less reliable than using my own car to get places.

  16. When I lived in Boston I used it every day. It was cheap, frequent, and generally reliable (a few maintenance breakdowns from ice on the tracks). I would never choose to own a car in one of the few American cities with really good public transit (like Boston, NYC, Chicago, and (maybe?) D.C.).

  17. I do even though it’s not super reliable and not entirely accessible. I love being able to read a book and not have to think about driving. I do drive as well, because my work is 40 minutes by car and like 2 hours and 3 transfers by public transport, so efficiency wins there.

    However, I have to say I think one thing that transit activists too often overlook is that a huge number of women in particular avoid public transit because of the sexual assault risk. Unfortunately, I don’t think I know any women who regularly take public transit who have not at least received credible threats of assault while on public transit. Whenever this conversation came up at my all girl’s high school, the reason most people avoided it was that the risk of assault was too high and nobody cared or intervened in the common cases that the threats escalated to actual assault. And just receiving constant threats puts people on edge. Whenever I’ve seen people talking about how violent crime is rare on public transit, they’ve only talked about murder and other kinds of assault, and from the few studies I’ve seen on the subject, my instinct that it’s a common occurrence has unfortunately, been correct.

  19. Where I live? No. it would make all trips unnecessarily long as there would almost never be a bus that went from where I am to wear I am going that didn’t involve multiple transfers, a multi-hour winding route, or multi-mile walks.

    I do use it when headed into the city though as the inverse is usually true.

  20. I did and it was. I lived in Atlanta and lived in the suburbs, but worked in the city. I would walk or drive to the bus stop and take a bus than a train into town. My company also provided a shuttle that took me from the train station to our office complex. I loved it. It gave me time to both prepare for work in the morning and de-stress after work because I didn’t have to worry about the awful Atlanta traffic which would invariably stress me out either way.

  22. Sure! I just don’t see it happening in my neck of the woods anytime soon. It would take a lot of money to make it viable and Alabama ain’t willing to spend it on that.

  23. Yes, and I do whenever possible. I live in Chicago suburbs, take commuter rail if I need to go into Chicago, and then the train and bus system within the city is great.

  24. Is it practical as well? It takes over 2 hours to get to my workplace by bus where I am, yet it takes no more than half an hour I’m driving.

  25. I might use it for certain things. If I want to go out for drinks with the Missus for example.

    But given the population density where I live, it’s impossible for public transit to be as quick and easy as driving, and transit would be inconvenient for a good bit of the driving I do, so I doubt I’d use it a ton.

  26. I wouldn’t mind, if it took a similar amount of time. If I can drive to work in 15 minute and the bus took 30, okay. I’d love to read, relax, etc instead of driving. But not if it’s going to take an hour+ or multiple buses.

  27. I can’t drive. I’m forced to use public transportation, and frankly, if it were possible for me, I would never use it. The schedule is based on what the drivers want, not the riders. The whole system is upside down.

  28. Convenience is the key. Public transit can be 100% reliable and completely free to use, but if it doesn’t go where people want to go in a timely manner, they won’t use it.

    Where I currently live, the bus comes only once every 30-45 minutes, so it will never be more convenient than driving for me. If it came more like every 10 minutes, I would definitely use it more.

  29. Sure. I’ve looked at taking the train from Harrisburg to Philadelphia many times, about 2 hours for $35pp. I was just looking at a 2 hour train ride when I’m in Sydney in a few months, $4pp. If it is cheaper to pay for gas and parking (for my wife and I) then I’ll drive.

  30. I do use public transit sometimes in my area but 9/10 times it just isn’t a viable option. In a few cases it is the best option.

  31. Yes. I prefer public transit over having to find parking or sitting in traffic. But transit doesn’t always fit the timeline of my activities or is more transfers and time than is worth.

  32. If it can get me to the gym by 5:30 without me having to get up significantly earlier.

    And

    If it can then get me from the gym to work in 20 minutes (my current commute is 8 minutes).

    And

    If it can then get me from work to home in 30 minutes (my current commute is 13 minutes)

    Then yes, I’d use it for daily commuting.

    But I’d still keep my car. I have friends and family all over the midwest and it’s nothing for me and the fam to hop in the car and drive 4 – 5 hours to spend the weekend with someone.

  34. I’ve always lived in cities/towns with good public transport. Generally speaking I prefer to drive because I like driving, but if the bus/train is going to be more convenient then I have zero issues using it.

    The nice thing is that you don’t have to worry about finding parking, you can drink alcohol, you can move about freely without the restraint of having to return to where the car is parked, etc.

  35. I live near DC and use public transportation regularly.

    When I have lived in smaller/ lower density city’s in the US with public transportation it has generally been unsafe or unreliable if it exists at all.

    I think one of the big issues the US faces with public transportation is that when middle income people have the option of driving, but low income people are forced to take public transport or walk / bike. Then the public transport becomes primarily used by low income. And when a resource is primarily used by low income, public funding and upkeep declines. And when upkeep declines, anyone who has another option will choose the other (better / cleaner) option. Creating a cycle where the upkeep gets worse and worse and the people who use it are only those who have no other option. Eventually it becomes overrun crime, homelessness, and drug use. And it becomes seen as having no way to fix the problem.

  36. If it went where I wanted to go and within a reasonable time. Right now if I had to go to the office(luckily wfh) it would take over 3 hours one way on public transit. It takes 45 minutes in traffic to drive.

    I really wish when they built the stadium they would have extended MARTA and done an overnight parking deck so I could take it downtown or to the airport without having to drive so far for a station

  37. Probably not. I enjoy driving. I enjoy choosing my own starting/stopping points. I enjoy not sharing close personal space with dozens of other people. I like picking the temperature of my vehicle.

    I think you’d have to make using my car way more unreliable and unaffordable in addition to your premise.

  38. I already do use public transit anytime I want to go the Baltimore’s Inner Harbor (basically downtown). Definitely not always reliable though, so I never use it if I am on a time crunch

  40. My condo has a transit score of 100. Other than to the airport, I have taken public transit three times in ten years. If I can’t walk there, I drive. I do, however, have a very far walking radius. I love walking.

    I have nothing against public transit, it is just not as convenient as driving.

  41. Nope. I don’t want to spent 3 hours doing a chore that could take me 30 minutes otherwise. Not to mention things like grocery store runs. I like just going once a week and buying a lot. Especially if I’m making a couple complicated dishes…that’d be a lot of stuff to carry.

    Don’t get me wrong I’d probably use it for anything it’s even remotely convenient for. I don’t like driving very much. It’s just every iteration of public transit I see is…not very convenient.

  45. No. I’ve had to wait on buses. I’ve “enjoyed” the long, long leisurely ride from point A to point Z with stops every couple of blocks between. I like the independence and convenience of my car, thanks.

  46. If it was waiting in my driveway every morning and always in the parking lot when i get off work. Then yes

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