How often do you use public transportation or a bicycle?

[awakenedsoul]

How often do you use public transportation? I try to limit driving my car to one day per week. On the other days, I ride my bike and take the bus. The bus stop is a block from my house, and we can put our bikes on bike racks on our buses. I'm also a mile from the train station. They let you bring your bike on the train, too. What about you?

Now that the weather is nice, I've been taking advantage of all of the bike paths we have in our city. They're well designed and you can cut across town without having to even use a crosswalk. We have overpasses at the intersections. The bike paths are real popular with all ages. Are you biking?

[meri]

I either use public transportation or bike or run to get to most of the places. I also do a lot of walking but it would take way to much time to walk to and from work - it's a bit over 10 miles when I use shortcut through downtown (and 15 in the afternoon when I cannot do that ... surprisingly there are no policemen chasing runners and cyclists crossing a narrow one-direction bridge at 4:30 AM).

Not having a driving license helps a lot :)

[ToomuchStuff]

The bus stop is a block and a half from my house. It is on what used to be a streetcar/trolley route, LONG ago. (after the war, buses put a stop to that). The buses, only have a setup for two bikes, and they are full more often then not (nearly caused some fights at bus stops from what I have been told, by a few that ride the buses).
I never ride the buses, due to:
They don't go close to where I go, during the times I go.
I am paid to pick up things.

I wish they did. Tax increment financing, has also hurt area's that the buses go to. (new build up area's, don't have decent bus, IF ANY, support) This is part of an argument I have had with a couple of relatives. They view me as living in the inner city, but the infrastructure, is more like the suburbs.
As for biking, I tend to for exercise and maybe if I need something small from the hardware store (three or four mile trip). Work stuff, would make me bicycle down highways.:0!rrrrr

[bae]

I take the ferry to the mainland every 2-3 months perhaps.

[Dhiana]

Japan's public transportation system is a beautiful thing. I take it everywhere I need to go. Or I walk. Sometimes I bike, but not too often.

It's not cheap but it's on time, clean and quiet and I never worry about my safety. So very different than the public transportation I took in SD last time I lived in the states.

[catherine]

I live in Suburbia in a subdivision that was created at the height of sprawl, so there is NO infrastructure for walking. I can walk to many amenities, which is important to me, but I look odd, as if my car must have broken down. The worst part of my town is that it is 41 square miles and basically a collection of neighborhoods with no town center at all. Just warehouses and strip malls lining the major roadways.

I would love to get a bike! But I haven't ridden in decades, so I'd have to relearn, and I'd have to get the right bike. I have been seriously considering that, however. Then I could bike to the convenience store, the post office, and the Asian supermarket.. However, again, our area is not bike-friendly either.

When I have to travel to NYC, our public transportation is fantastic. I can walk to the corner and get a bus that goes straight in. Or I can take a train from the town north of me. But I don't go into NYC all that often.

So, most of the time it's me and my Prius.

[Float On]

No public transportation around here. Except the trolley for the tourists which mainly takes them from one shopping area to another. We do use public transportation when we're other places and it's available. We used the electric trolley in Chattanooga. We could park for $9 downtown or $3 at the Choo Choo' and take the trolley downtown. Everytime I've been in Philly I've used it, or in Vegas, or D.C.

It's way to hilly around here for me to bike - you have to be a dedicated biker in training to tackle these hills.

edit to add: forgot that I use to take Amtrak between Philly and Baltimore to get between the two wholesale shows we'd do.

[dmc]

I rode the buss to school till I was about 15, then rode to school with friends who were older and had their drivers license. That was around 1973. Ive rode the tram in Vegas when on vacation. And I rode the metro link to the ballpark one time, I wont do that again. Other than that I can't think of any. I always drive my own car, take a cab, or rent a car. And since I own my own plane now I havn't flown commercial either. I like having my own schedule.

I do want to take a trip on a train sometime, Ive never been on one. Ive never been on a city buss or greyhound, don't plan on ever doing it.

[Kestra]

Bus is my default. I ride the city bus to get to work and often otherwise. I live close to a bus stop and it's only difficult on Sundays when there are less routes. I wish more places were close enough to walk as I like to walk as well. I only take the car when I have to (DH and I share a car). I wish I could bike but my knees can't handle it.

[lac]

I walked to the post office yesterday while my car was getting serviced. Does that count ;-)

[jp1]

I live in San Francisco so I take transit the majority of places I go. The exceptions are when I have work meetings with clients and brokers in the suburbs and once every month or so we do a shopping trip to costco/target/etc. In those situations I use a zipcar.

[awakenedsoul]

Oh...zipcar! That's great. I've read all about that. I wish we had it here. If we did, I'd probably use that instead of owning a car. But everyone in my area owns a car. There is a small group of low income people who use the bus or walk, but they are a fraction of the population.

[awakenedsoul]

I walked to the post office yesterday while my car was getting serviced. Does that count ;-)

Yes. It's sure cheaper than renting a car. Sometimes I put my bike in the back of my car when I have it serviced. That way I can ride home. Or, I bring my knitting and wait until they finish the work.

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I actually find it easier on my body to ride a bike than to walk! I'm on the 2nd stop of our bus route, so the bike racks are usually empty. I would probably lock my bike at the bus stop and just ride the bus if the rack was full. (I've seen people do that.)

[gimmethesimplelife]

I am completely car free and I love it! I really do. There are times when it can be a pain, I won't deny that. But to not have gas, maintenance, insurance, etc. in my life - priceless. Not having a car forces me to live a simpler life and I so appreciate that. Not having a car has also cut back on what I can do for a living to some degree - but when I have sat down and done the math with required clothes and bills for a car to have a "better" job - I often break better waiting tables. I bus and walk everywhere and am saving up amazon.com giftcodes I get for doing surveys to get a nice bike sometime later this year - not a cheap bike but a decent one this time around, that might last longer than the cheap ones available at Target. Something else interesting I have found about not having a car - the lack of a car screens people out of my life who I would not be especially compatible with anyway.

There are those who will look down/judge at a man not having a car - though I think this doesn't apply in places like New York or Chicago or SF or Boston, Seattle, Portland - places that are not so sprawling and have good mass transit. Anyone who looks down on me for this life choice - I'm not like to be compatible with anyway. Plus from time to time I have met some real characters on mass transit - I mean this in a good way. Off the wall people who are not scary and have a very different from the crowd take on life, sort of like I do but some of these people make me look like Mitt Romney almost because they are light years out there. But interesting to talk to anyway, and had I a car I'd more than likely never run across such people. Rob

[awakenedsoul]

I know what you mean, Rob. I've met some interesting people on the bus, too. One lady I see quite often is very good with her money. She saved and invested, and no longer needs a car. She takes the bus and walks everywhere. She lives with her son, and he has a car. He makes good money and saves a lot of it. She's frugal, smart, and happy.

By the way, I bought my bike at Walmart for $70.00. I've been riding it for three or four years. I have a great bike repair guy, and everything that's gone wrong has been fixable. I didn't want to buy an expensive bike in case it got stolen. Thanks for your story.

[Florence]

No public transportation where I live. And since I use an electric scooter, I doubt I could get it on and off a bus anyway. When we visited Washington, D.C. we took the train from the airport to near the downtown hotel. It was a disaster. First, there was such a gap between the platform and the rail that I almost couldn't get the scooter in the car. Then once inside, there was a leak in the ceiling and the heavy rain was literally pouring in. Finally, when we arrived at our stop and got off, the elevator that I needed to get up to street level wasn't working. Never again.

[awakenedsoul]

Our buses here are very well equipped for people in wheelchairs. Every time I ride, I see people use the ramp to get on, and then the bus driver straps them in to the front seating area. It's marked for handicapped. It seems to give them independence, since most of them travel alone. I see the same people quite often. We also have Dial A Ride. They will come pick you up at your house. Our bus system lets seniors ride for free, too. It goes all over town. I love it! The metro goes downtown, and you can go to museums, see theater, sightsee, etc...passes on the weekend are only $10.00. I like to sit upstairs on the train and knit.

[gadder]

7 months of the year I bike everywhere I need to go (and even many places I do not need to go). The other 5 I go by shank's mare (walking). I am hoping someday to try biking in the colder months but I would need a little more courage. Sometimes I go to the boonies to watch a hockey game - there is a dedicated bus there and back. I have never owned a car (but am very grateful to friends that do, for those rare times when I need to carry back ten bags of potting soil).

I bought my $60 bike second-hand from a shop that is a co-op and employs young people who need a hand getting work-force skills. My bike is a nice beater, I have no worries about theft, I use cable ties to strap a large basket onto the back and plastic bags on the seat for rain protection - she's not pretty but she is faithful and reliable.

I am a huge fan of public transit and can't wait until they get the light rail service running here - I might just ride for the sheer pleasure of being in a train, as it is the most civilised way to travel.

[Miss Cellane]

When I lived in Boston, I used my car maybe one day a week, for errands like food shopping. The subway and buses and walking were my main modes of transportation.

But since I've moved to a small city in NH, I almost never use public transportation. My work is 5 miles from my house, and there is a bus service in town. But I'd have to walk a mile and a half to get the bus, then transfer to another bus, and walk a mile after getting off the bus. Driving, it takes me 12 minutes. On the bus, it takes 45. And it cuts the 5 miles down only by 2.5 miles. Not really worth the $6 round trip charge. And the last mile of walking is on a really busy stretch of road with no sidewalks--not terribly safe in winter, when darkness falls soon after 4 pm.

However, I do carpool with a neighbor who works at the company next to mine. We switch off driving each week.

For the same reason, I don't ride a bike to work. Too much traffic, too many really busy roads. And I'm a coward about biking in heavy traffic. To say nothing of the hills--I'd have to walk the bike up some of them.

Weather also plays a part in this. This past winter, there were a great many days when there was simply too much snow or it was just too cold to walk or bike anywhere.

However, I do take the train down to Boston when I want to go. It's fast and convenient and I can walk to the train station.

For a lot of stuff in town, like church, the library, City Hall, the thrift store, the hardware store--I can easily walk. The grocery stores have moved to the outskirts of town, so I have to drive to them.

[awakenedsoul]

I liked hearing about your bike, gadder. Miss Cellane, $6.00 is really expensive! (Our bus fares are $1.00 each way. A monthly pass is $30.00) The carpooling sounds ideal.

This makes me see how lucky I am to have warm weather year round, and low fares. We've got miles and miles of bike paths here, so often I ride the bike to save the bus fare. (I did just spend $160. on bike repair, but it's worth it.) This way, my car should last me another 20 years.

[creaker]

I'm still getting to work from home, but that might be changing in a bit. :( The bus is less than a block from my house, which is a 8-10 minute ride to the subway station. I always use public going into the city. The car is more for trips and groceries and may get used a couple of times a week.

[Tiam]

The bus stop is a block and a half from my house. It is on what used to be a streetcar/trolley route, LONG ago. (after the war, buses put a stop to that). The buses, only have a setup for two bikes, and they are full more often then not (nearly caused some fights at bus stops from what I have been told, by a few that ride the buses).
I never ride the buses, due to:
They don't go close to where I go, during the times I go.
I am paid to pick up things.

I wish they did. Tax increment financing, has also hurt area's that the buses go to. (new build up area's, don't have decent bus, IF ANY, support) This is part of an argument I have had with a couple of relatives. They view me as living in the inner city, but the infrastructure, is more like the suburbs.
As for biking, I tend to for exercise and maybe if I need something small from the hardware store (three or four mile trip). Work stuff, would make me bicycle down highways.:0!rrrrr


I've often wondered about bike racks and what people do if they are filled. ?

I don't use public transpo. It's poor in my area. I live in a smallish suburban area. The Buses are few and far between where and when I need to go. I'm trying to increase my bike riding commute.The weather is good. If I go t omorrow by bike, and I plan to, it will be four days of bicycle commuting.

[awakenedsoul]

Where I live, if the bike rack is full, you have to wait for the next bus. If it's the last bus of the evening, they let you put your bike on the bus, inside. Some people just bike home, if it's not that far. I was lucky when I was commuting to work. Both stops were at the beginning of the route, so I got a spot on the bike rack. But, if I took two buses and transferred, I often had trouble on the connecting bus. We worked it out between us. (A couple of people could take a different bus that stopped at the same stop.)

Congrats on the bike commuting, Tiam. It's fun to ride this time of year.

[Selah]

Gas is about USD $7 a gallon where we live, so we avoid using the car as much as possible. Around town, we almost always use our bikes. If the distance is long enough to need a bus, we'll just use the car. On the other hand, if we're going outside our town, I will use the train and/or the bus as much as possible, whereas DH will usually opt for the car. Trips to the airport are always done by train and taxi...no point in taking the car, unless it's the two of us taking a very short trip or the flight departs or arrives during Shabbat, which means no trains are available.

I LOVE my bike, but my front bike lamp keeps getting stolen, so now DH wants me to stop replacing it, and instead rely on street lighting to be seen at night. I don't trust that...I want to be as visible as possible, so at night I will often use the car just to be safe. My friend was nearly killed a few months ago by a car that knocked her off her bike...he was turning left while yelling in conversation to another driver in a car to his RIGHT. No light will prevent that kind of stupidity in drivers, but any little bit of extra help I can give to Israeli drivers can't hurt!

[awakenedsoul]

Selah,
Do they sell the kind of lamp that you can take off when you park your bike? That's what I have. I keep it in my bag. It straps on.

[Lainey]

I don't bike, and rarely use public transport. I do like the light rail that's fairly new here in metro Phoenix, and I've ridden that a few times mostly for the novelty of it.
I am like other posters: depending on convenience, weather, and cost, I would definitely consider riding public transport more often.

[awakenedsoul]

I took the bus today to my knitting group. I missed the one near my house, so I biked down the highway about a mile and caught the next one. I still made it to knitting on time. Because of the bike, I don't have to transfer buses. I just ride the last leg to the cafe. The ladies in my group always ask me if I rode my bike. Most of them are older than I am, and don't use bikes or public transportation. It's become a good habit. There was another middle aged bicyclist on the bus on the way home. He recognized me as the woman who rides her bike with the dogs. He bikes all over town, too. I'm seeing more people my age riding now. I even saw a very overweight man on the bike path, and he was riding really well. He had a big smile on his face...

[jp1]

Oh...zipcar! That's great. I've read all about that. I wish we had it here. If we did, I'd probably use that instead of owning a car.

We actually have 3 of them parked in the garage of our apartment building. Unbelievably convenient. When we moved in we had the option of renting a space for $120/month but don't own a car so we declined. I can rent 12 hours of zip car for that much. And they come with insurance and gas included.

[awakenedsoul]

Yeah, it's very progressive. Three in your apt. building is fabulous! If we had zipcar, I'd use it for Costco trips once a month. Maybe we'll get them here, eventually. They just built a college near my home. It seems like they'd be a good option for college students.

[IshbelRobertson]

I use public transport most of the time. Buses are frequent and CLEAN! Parking in the centre of the city is a nightmare, so buses are a boon.

[awakenedsoul]

The older I get, the more I see that I could easily get around in our city without a car. It takes longer on the bus, but I have the time. Our buses are clean, too. They're also air conditioned, which is nice during our super hot summers. I kind of like letting someone else do the driving...

[lhamo]

Every weekday and some weekends. I commute across Beijing mostly by public transit. My morning cross-town bus ride costs me about $0.13 -- takes a little more than an hour door to door, including the 10-15 minute walk to the bus stop. I leave the house around 5:45, usually get the bus at 6:00, and am in my desk by 7:00. On the way home the traffic is too bad to take the bus all the way, so I take the subway most of the way and then a bus for the last leg. That takes an hour door to door if I time it right, but costs more (a whopping $0.40!)

The public transit system in Beijing is actually pretty amazing in terms of where it can get you for a reasonable price, as long as you avoid rush hour.

A new subway line will be opening up near where I catch the bus at the end of the year, so that should reduce my commute time to about 45-50 minutes -- though we are probably moving our office to a closer location, so that will be even better!

[awakenedsoul]

That sounds exciting, lhamo. Those fares are incredible! Hope the closer location comes through for you.

[Gardenarian]

I recently read about the General Motors streetcar conspiracy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy). This was a scandal that is having terrible repercussions to this very day.

My town is pedestrian friendly; I walk to the library, farmer's market, post office and bank, and use the (very pricey and not very good) local market in emergencies. There are also good restaurants and coffee shops nearby though we don't go to them often.

Geographically, my town is built on the steep slopes of a valley which is bordered by a freeway at the bottom - so, not conducive to bike riding.

Luckily, I have a short commute, and my car gets good mileage. I try as I can to bundle my errands.

I try not to fly often (though this summer, with 2 trips, will be an exception) to try and shrink my carbon footprint.

With atmospheric CO2 currently at 400ppm I think the small amounts we try to reduce are an exercise in futility. But I keep trying.

[awakenedsoul]

I met a guy on the bus the other day who uses the bus and bike to get around town. He says he's from back East and he doesn't need a car. His words were, "I'm not embarrassed to ride the bus." He lives in a mobile home and it's paid off...he seems very relaxed and easy going. I'm starting to realize that some of the people on the bus are much better off financially than those that live in the nicer areas.

Gardenarian,
I think it makes a difference. It's good for the spirit. And, it saves money!

[gail_d]

There's a bus that goes from in front of my apartment to in front of my workplace--about 3 miles. I am now taking it about 3 or 4 days a week. I use my car once or twice a week for trips to the store and library (I try to combine trips) and for taking my cat to the vet that is 19 miles away. (There are closer vets but that practice has been taking very good care of my cat for nearly all of her 16 years.) It has taken some adjustment to get out of the habit of just jumping in my car on impulse to go somewhere, but that alone has made improvements in my evening routine: I appreciate my apartment more, and reading, researching, or listening to the radio. Once the weather gets a little nicer, I plan to walk/bike more: the library is only 2 miles in one direction, a Wegmans less than 2 miles in another direction.

On the weekends I use my car to drive to my house in the country: there is no public transportation available there.

[awakenedsoul]

gail_d, I know what you mean. I had to really discipline myself to use the car just one day a week. I got home from my singing lesson today, and realized that I'd forgotten to stop at Costco. Rats! That's another trip, but at least it's just a mile from here. (The items are too heavy to carry by bus or bike.)

[mira]

I live in European city, so the public transport system is well used and well oiled.

My 20-minute commute to work is by bus (double decker!) and I also use the bus to get around the city. When I visit my parents, who live about 30 miles away, I take the train.

Funnily enough, I just joined a car sharing club today (equivalent to Zipcar). I can't wait to actually be able to buy everything I need at the supermarket without worrying about lugging a million bags on a bus.

[awakenedsoul]

mira, I didn't know that had car sharing in Europe. I remember when I lived there I shopped much more often, because we walked to the market. Sometimes we went every day. I love double decker buses! We have trains like that here. It's fun to sit up top...

[mira]

Awakenedsoul: I'm not sure about other countries, but we've had the car sharing schemes in the UK for quite a few years now. I think most probably started in London then eventually radiated out to other cities. It's relatively new in my city but there are sharing cars all over the place (well, they're pretty much confined to affluent areas...) I'm excited to try it out :)

And yes, being within walking distance of shops can certainly lead to a dangerous increase in shopping!! Where in Europe did you live?

[awakenedsoul]

I was on tour there for two years: Vienna, Paris, Den Haag, Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin. I got another show in Berlin and stayed another year. Shopping for food was totally different. We'd go to the market and get fresh bread every a.m. I bought salad ingredients every few days. Now I stock up to save gas, time, and wear and tear on my car.