I have two options when taking public transportation to work

[CatWoman]

one is to take one bus -- the 121. That option takes about 90 minutes, and it lets me off about 1/4 to 1/2 mile away from my building. You should see the loopy bus route. Completely dark ages.

The other option is to take said bus to the train station. The nearest to me is the Avondale or Kingsington Station. I must take the east/west MARTA train to 5 Points. From there, I must transfer to the north/south line.

Once I get to the station nearest my office, Chamblee, I must take another bus -- which lets me off about 1/4 miles to my building.

Again, the trip takes about 90 minutes.

So don't tell me how "bad" the Europeans have it in dealing with gas prices.

Their public transportation system makes ours a laughing stock.

Not that our's isn't already.

They have compensated for high prices by building a state of the art public transportation system.

When are we going to get cracking on that?

[dsc]

1. and you actually are probably one of the better served in the country

I literally have no public transportation option at all aside from a cab.

[CatWoman]

3. Hiya, DSC

:hi:

still grumpy, I presume ;-)

[dsc]

14. I try

Good luck on the transportation. I remember using Clevelands transit system and it was brutal.

[Warpy]

8. The bus sytem here used to run only until 7 PM and never on Sundays

They just started a running a few major routes until 9 PM and having limited service on Sundays. This town is huge and sprawling and the bus system is incredibly slow.

I bought an electric moped instead.

[5X]

22. Not to hijack the thread, but, what kind of moped did you get?

I have just started looking at them cause I live
in a rural area with no public transportation.

[Warpy]

25. Well, I hope you check in to My DU and get this

http://www.egovehicles.com

It had the longest range and highest speed out there when I bought it several years ago. I'm still on the original batteries and they're still taking a good charge.

[marions ghost]

30. yes agreed

the OP has more options than most

[Thtwudbeme]

2. Michael and I are so lucky...we walk to work and school

but, still have to have the Subaru so we can go to the store. No real transportation here--none that's worth a damn anyway.

[CatWoman]

11. I was thinking about moving closer to the job

however, we are dispersed all over the place.

If I were to transfer to another center, it's no telling where I would end up.

[MadMaddie]

4. I worked in Montreal, Canada 7 years ago...

The most amazing thing that I experienced was their transportation system...They built the train system for the 1976 Olympics...it is the most amazing thing.....the buses and the trains were timed so when you get off of the bus you can catch the train....always running....I can't remember the intervals....

The reason that the US hasn't taken these type of projects on is because of the Automobile industry...and it's influence...Oil companies....

The world is kicking our ass in this area....(like in many other areas)...it's really embarrasing....

[marmar]

5. Yeah, I was a little shocked by how bad MARTA was...

There was a 20+ minute wait on a train (heading downtown from the Lenox Station), and the train broke down before it got to Peachtree Center.
But then again, I live in metro Detroit, where public transit is worse than horrible. (The auto companies have seen to that!)

[serryjw]

24. I use to live in Dunwoody

I left in '87. Atlanta had to mass transportation system.

[napi21]

6. I hear ya Cat. When I lived in Pgh. I rode the bus every day to work.

IF traffic wasn't bad, it was a 30 min. ride. Pgh. did a decent job with public trasnp. The problems occurred if you didn't work downtown, but in a different area of the City. Then you had the transfers and all.

I WISH I lived close enough to MARTA to be able to use it all the time, but there's NOTHING in Flowery Branch at all!!! Gainesville has the red rabbit, but I understand it's nothing to get excited about, and Buford has some bus service that's part of MARTA I think, but since I don't drive anymore, I can't access any of it!

Grrrrrrrrrrr.

[CatWoman]

9. and I understand that certain counties won't allow public transportation

to try to keep certain "undesirables" out.

[napi21]

17. I don't understand that? As I daid, I lived in Pgh for a LONG time,

I rode the bus to work every day for 29 years there, and the bus was running a lot longer than that! Bus service never brought any "undesireables" into the area. I still talk to pleople who live there, and there's still no problem, at least no more than any other decent community. We had the occasional car theft, a MJ bust maybe once a year or so, and the normal domestics, but that's it. I know that's true because our best friend was a township cop! I know the calls!

Even in Atlanta, my cousin lives near the Chamblee station. Her four sons rode it every day to Ga. Tech. The biggest problem they had was a storm when lightening and wind downed a tree that destroyed the top floor of their house!

[CatWoman]

20. no, what I'm saying is

that a friend told me that Gwinnett County fought long and hard not to have public transportation. Same for Cobb County. It was a way of keeping minorities out, as minorities more than anyone else used public transportation.

When I first moved here 10 years ago, I worked temp at IBM -- out in Cobb County. I was appalled at the limited public transportation out there. Bus service was very few and far between.

[savemefromdumbya]

7. I wish we had trams/trolleys that would link with bus/trains

I love trams (trolleys). I wish we could have intensive networks inside cities and suburbs for convenience. Understandingly it is hard in rural areas.

[MissB]

10. Portland has a wonderful public transportation system

that includes buses, light rail and streetcar (all interchangeable, except one portion of the streetcar line). Most of downtown Portland is in fareless square- you can hop on a bus anywhere in downtown and ride it for free.

The lightrail system runs through downtown as well, and you can ride it to the airport many miles away, arriving at the terminal. An all-zone ticket good for two hours is $1.95. Many employers subsidize passes - dh can buy a yearly pass for about $100.

Many bus lines have busses every 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the time of day.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. Yes, she sighed nostalgically

Portland makes it possible to live without a car. It's one of the few American transit systems that started by asking the question, "How can we make it possible to live without a car?" instead of "How can we get people downtown to work?"

[napi21]

21. Hmmm, I'll have to look into moving to Portland...if I can stand the cold!

I've been out of the North for 18 years, and I'll have to think about going back to snow tires, winter coats, and boots again!

[napi21]

23. Well I just checked homes in the Portland area, and I can't afford

any of them! It really sounded GREAT, but I entered a max price of $150,000 and I found 2 condos! Rats!

[MissB]

26. It really is very mild here in Oregon as far as the weather goes.

We rarely see snow in Portland and if we do, it generally lasts two or three days at most. It seems to come around every couple of winters. It isn't terribly hot in the summer either - we may get a streak of 100 degree days, but that usually happens at most for a week. It does rain, but that helps keep it green.

The real estate prices have skyrocketed, unfortunately. I don't know how first-time home buyers do it - we had a house in a charming part of SE Portland that dh purchased back in the late 80s for about $55k. That house just resold recently for about $480k.

Fortunately, the light rail stretches from Hillsboro to Greshem (West of Portland to east of Portland) so one can live in the suburbs and still take public transportation. But even housing in the suburbs is starting to climb significantly in price.

[AlCzervik]

12. Same here, when i lived in mass i was lucky becasue i drove to wellington

station, parked the car and hopped on the orange line, the whole process took about 45 minutes but here in California it would take me at least 2 hours to get about 20 miles from my house.

[globalvillage]

13. That was my first reaction

when the media spent today comparing gas prices in Europe to ours. I have been to Europe 8 times in the past 10 years, and I rented a car once. In every other case, I was able to get everywhere I wanted to go via train, metro or incredibly cheap air.
And most of the cars in Europe are about as big as my desk, so they get twice the mileage of my car when they do have to drive.

[AlCzervik]

15. and at least they're getting health care for the taxes they've paying on

petrol.

[CatWoman]

16. I spent two tours in Germany

and I lived off base.

Using public transportation was a piece of cake - no matter where I had to go -- work, out partying, you name it.

[eyesroll]

18. Hm...

I have to hop the 11 (right near me) and take it to a transfer point at 27th St. In order to get to my transfer on time, I need to board at 5:42 and get off around 6:07.

Connect to the 27 on Vliet around 6:15, and get off at my industrial park at 6:53, to arrive at work by 7. If I miss the 27, I have to wait until roughy 6:45 for another bus that travels the entire route (the industrial park only gets served a few times a day, and not at all out of peak hours). So, an hour and 11 minutes, give or take.

To go home, I get out of work at 3:30 and I better hope I catch the 27 at 3:33. (The stop is pretty close.) It'll get me to the transfer point at 4:15 or so, and I can hop the 11 at 4:20 and be back at my home stop at 4:53. If I miss the 3:33, it's 20 minutes until the next.

Keep in mind this drive is 17 minutes in the morning and 25 in the evening. It's 12 miles. My car gets 25 mpg (it's supposed to get 30-35 but it hasn't in a long time), so I use one gallon to make a round trip. The bus is $1.75 each way, or $3.50 round trip. Parking is free. Even when you factor in maintenance/wear/tear, it still isn't worth it (at least in my selfish American brain) to take the bus.

[donco6]

27. We're beginning to get there in Denver.

Our latest legs of light rail will be finished soon. Still nothing on the north end of town where I work.

Had a short RTD driver strike a few weeks ago - opened a lot of people's eyes about how much traffic it takes off the road, I'll tell you.

[AllieB]

28. Compared to you, I have it easy

I take the commuter rail, which is a five-minute walk from my house, and switch to the subway and go two stops. Total commute time is an hour, but it's a heck of a lot more relaxing than sitting in traffic for 2 hours to go 20 miles!

[CatWoman]

29. Reading this thread, I'm seeing that sucky public transportation is

the norm in this country.

I just saw a thread in LBN in which Chimpy says there is nothing he can do about high gas prices.

I'm like, :wtf:

WHAT FUCKING GOOD IS HE????

Instead of fucking around in Iraq, that money could be used to upgrade our transportation infrastructure. As with the Public Works Project, it would create a lot of good paying jobs, and help make us less dependent on foreign oil.

But then, that's what a COMPETENT president would do.

Not this lemon of a leader we are stuck with.

[marions ghost]

31. sad

the country that put a man on the moon cannot effectively get its own people to work.

Transportation here is a national disgrace.

[CatWoman]

32. I saw a story on the news last night

a woman actually had to pawn personal belongings in order to buy gas to get to work and back.

can you believe that???

http://www.nbc10.com/news/8847571/detail.html

[marions ghost]

35. PBS did a similar segment

I was driving and didnt get to hear all of it, but it made me sad to hear that. Talking about people pawning things to buy gas just to get to work.

I had an experience where I saw how bad it is for lower-paid workers in hospitals-- medical aides, cleaners, food service, clerical staff. Their jobs are still very critical to the running of the hospital obviously. But I saw how difficult it was for them to get to work some days. They often share vehicles with other family members who must also get to their jobs, sometimes two or three jobs. The vehicles often are breaking down or they can't buy gas. It's a nightmare. There is no excuse for better mass transit than this in urban areas. And this was 3-4 years ago.

[kestrel91316]

36. Great. And what's she going to do when she runs out of stuff to pawn,

enquiring minds WANT TO KNOW?????????

It's past time to DO SOMETHING about the Republican Party. Permanently.

[Canadian Socialist]

33. I complain bitterly about the public transit here

in Calgary, but after hearing that some cities in the U.S. have none (or next to none), I realise I have nothing to complain about. Now, Calgary is HUGE in area. Very very spread out. IIRC, it has a larger "footprint" than NYC (and there is only about a million people here). I live in the south west quadrant and work in the north east. I go bus-train-bus and it's all pretty much door to door. Takes about an hour. When I was driving, on off-peak hours, it took about half an hour. At rush hour, driving, close to 45 minutes. So, not much time saved i.e. driving vs. transit. The tickets are $1.95 (book of 10) or a monthly pass is $70. Not a bad deal.
http://www.calgarytransit.com/

[wordpix2]

34. here in the outer burbs of CT, I have to take a car 15 min. to a parking

lot and then a bus into the city for a 1-hr. trip. From there, either a bus or walk for 10 min. Total=90 min.

Taking a car, I get into city in 50 min.

Byzantine!