What City (Anywhere) Has The BEST Public Transportation System?

[arwalden]

EDIT: Was originally "What US City..."

[MadHound]

1. Not mine, that's for damn sure

And quite frankly there's not a city in Missouri that would come close to that distinction.

[GOPisEvil]

Chicago's was very easy to use.

The DC Metro is nice, too.

[arwalden]

12. It's Okay... But Not Nearly As Nice As The U-Bahn and S-Bahn System In ...

... Stuttgart Germany. Ticketing was an honor system with about 1 in 10 trains having a ticket checker. Even though they have very heavy penalties for those who try to cheat and ride without a ticket, I don't know how it made any money.

The DC Metro system is functional... but it's BUMPY and JERKY (sometimes I'm reminded of being on a DFW "TrAAin") and the delays are a pain too. Once you leave the rail system, trying to figure out which Metro bus goes where is confusing too. (I suppose if I rode the bus more often it would eventually make sense.)

Even though I gripe about it... I'm glad that it's there. It would be impossible for this city to function without it.

[GOPisEvil]

20. Ooooohhhhh....I've never been to Stuttgart.

I think the Europeans do public transportation much better than we do on average.

[arwalden]

31. You Could Set Your Watch By The Trains & Busses

They were rarely late and very easy to navigate when transferring from one line to another or from the trains to the bus. I really liked the fact that each stop was announced by a PRE-RECORDED voice that was intelligible. (Unlike many of the Metro train conductors/drivers who announce... uh, MUMBLE... the name of each stop.)

I got spoiled and now I'm a snob. Sigh.

You'd love Stuttgart! If you get a chance to visit there, don't pass it up.

-- Allen

[terrya]

2. Chicago has a pretty decent public transportation system

You can go anywhere in the city...including both airports, Midway and O'Hare...via the CTA.

[Book Lover]

3. Well, I'd say NYC of course

but I've only lived there and SF, which has good PT if you live in SF proper, or if you live *and* work right near the BART line. And you don't have to go anywhere after 11 pm.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

16. NYC is right on

24 hour non-stop public transport. how can you go wrong?

[musette_sf]

22. Agreed

lived in NYC and now live in SF area... and I'll take the NYCTA any day. It may not be the cleanest... and it may not be the most modern... but you can go anywhere 24/7.

Oh, yeah, and the MetroCard machines are pretty slick, too. The BART stations in the boonies still have antediluvian machines, that don't like any of your dollar bills when you are in a hurry.

[Lady Effingbroke]

4. I don't know which city has the best public transportation,

but it surely isn't Houston. :(

[maveric]

5. San Diego has a damn good one.

A Light Rail system that is ever-expanding and buses that run efficiently and go everywhere.
Boston, SF and NYC are pretty good too.

[pnorman]

6. I don't have enough direct experience to generalize

about the entire country, but I think that Seattle is right up near the top. (Perhaps it IS at the top).

pnorman

[Ariana Celeste]

9. Seattle is great,

but from my experience Tacoma was much better. :hi:

[LisaM]

7. Count Seattle out

and it's getting worse daily. The worst thing is that more than half the city would like to improve things, but we are constantly being fought by people who want to "stay in their cars" or the leeches from the rest of the state who are sucking are tax dollars for their highways.

[saltpoint]

8. I really like the DC trains and B.A.R.T. in the Bay area --

-- and Milwaukee & the Twin Cities are great with buses.

[Richardo]

11. I'm with you on DC and SF Bay

:thumbsup:

[WeRQ4U]

10. Portland's Isn't Bad...

Max lines, E-cars, Bus routes.

[freethought]

13. Boston's public trans is allright.

but continent not withstanding I would choose Vienna, Autstria. Just about everyone here at DU knows that European public trans kicks the US many times over.

[yellowdogintexas]

23. I love Boston's mass transit system. My only overseas experience

is Madrid and it is pretty good.

[Sequoia]

14. Santa Monica, CA----50 cents a ride.

[Merrick]

15. The London Underground

pretty clean/safe and gets you within a block or two of just about everywhere in the city quickly.

[non sociopath skin]

19. The Paris system is much better.

The Metro is cleaner, more frequent, less congested and much, much cheaper.

The Skin

[GreenPartyVoter]

25. I liked the metro and the TGV

[Kellanved]

17. Now, that's easy

And about a sixth of it it might actually qualify as US city.

:hi:

Fast, cheap and almost 100% coverage. And unlike the London underground you won't get stranded at night.
http://www.bvg.de/images/sunetz_aktuell.pdf
http://www.bvg.de/images/metronetz_aktuell.pdf

[liontamer]

18. toss up between nyc and honolulu/oahu

honolulu's is better if you're not a crazy new yorker who hates to wait more than 3 minutes for a bus.

[Old_Fart]

21. San Francisco

"Ding ding ding went the trolley, clang clang clang went the bell". I love the trolley cars in San Francisco.

[Blue_In_AK]

32. I agree

I lived in San Francisco for years without a car and never missed it. You can get from anywhere to anywhere from almost any corner, and you can transfer for hours on one fare.

[Zuni]

24. NYC---specifically Manhattan

Most accesible subway system I have ever used

[SKKY]

26. Hong Kong, by far, bar none....

...It took me about 5 hours to get comfortable. It's so easy I thought it was the twilight zone.

[LilKim]

28. Hong Kong's great

How do you get from the airport to Tsim Sha Tsui? I've been using the A21 bus (HK$33). None of the transfer hassles of the trains.

Singapore's also good.

[SKKY]

30. OK, let me clarify something...

...I don't live in Hong Kong. I was there for 6 days last in 2003 with my wife on a "mini vacation"- I was on the Aircraft carrier Carl Vinson with pulled in for a port visit and I flew here there. We were able to get from Kowloon (where we stayed) to pretty much everywhere we wanted on the train, and it was freaking' easy, I mean impossible to mess up. So, do I know where each little nook and cranny is and how to get there, no, but I bet if I really needed to get there, it would be easy.

[Terran]

27. gotta be San Francisco

For both travel within the city and access to other cities in the region, SF's great. Transit systems seem to saturate the place. Plus it's the only city in the world that operates a transit system as an amusement park ride!

[trof]

29. Munich was pretty good.

You could ride for free unless the transit cops asked for youah papuhs.

[Wcross]

33. Doesn't moscow have a good subway system? n/t