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What is the best and worst transportation system you've been on and why?


CC_Maud_Pie

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Hey, I wonder what transportation/transit system, such as a subway or light rail, you've been on is the best and which one is the worst and why?

For me:

 

The Best: London Underground

Why? Because it is really fast and you don't have to wait long until the next train arrives.

 

The Worst: MUNI metro, San Francisco

Why? Because it is too slow and being built on the road, it makes it even more slower.

Edited by CC_Maud_Pie
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Best, I would say the train system in Europe which can pretty much take you anywhere in Europe You want to go

 

Worst, I would say the trolly system in downtown San Diego which has a funny way of being less efficient than driving at rush hour to the same place

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Best: Washington Metro, specifically the Blue Line. Fast, clean, efficient service, well-designed and well-managed. The only downside is that I don't like how all the stations look the same. :/

 

Second best would be New York City Transit in my home city. Clean, friendly (for the most part), and a symbol of the city. The only downsides are aging and mismanagement.

 

I haven't ridden on enough. I'd love to one day go on the BART train and the cable car in San Francisco, the Chicago L, the LA Metro, London Transport, and the TTC.

 

I'd also give an honorable mention to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail in Hudson County, NJ, for the same reasons as the Washington Metro.

 

The worst, I'd have to say, is the Staten Island Railway. The stations are small and the equipment is 40 years old, service is on the Staten Island Ferry schedule, which is infrequent, and amenities are limited. The upside is it's free at all but two stations. I'll also mention the Staten Island Ferry. It's slow, infrequent, and packed. Fun if you're a tourist but not if you're a local. I find the express buses much more pleasing.

Edited by NIGHTWIND BOREAS #1
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Fkng hometown Austin, Texas. The city relies so much on car transport (like most cities), and the dam highways suck.

 

We have the 4th worst transportation in the US since city planners in the 20th century had the mindset of "if we don't build it, they won't come". Surprisingly, development and people came anyways with a poor highest system.

 

There are several parts of town to drive throigh which wouldn't be the way they are if they had been upgraded into freeways long ago (south 183 towards the Airport, the "Y" intersection, 360), Koenig should have been upgraded into a freeway to allow a fast highway switch to access alternative highways like 35 to mopac, or 290 to 183. Now we're getting stuck with toll road proposals for everything. That'll leave us with as many (if not more) miles of toll roads as there are freeways.

 

Interstate 35 in general is terrible through downtown since it has the same configuration since it was first built, and, it absorb highway 290 traffic which flows through downtown. Basically: 3 major highways in one go through downtown as a 6-lane freeway.... Why?! I also hate having to get off tr dam freeway at busy intersections just to get into another. Seriously?!? I go to San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, and even the smaller towns like Corpus, and they have full fledged interchanges, or at least have room to expand.

 

We're also the largest city with just one interstate, which reflects how bad west-east traffic is. I dont know why they didn't build an interstate to run from Junction down to Houston, or even just to I 10 down southeast... Then again, that might make interstate travelers take the shorter route to Houston by going through Austin rather than SA.

 

Aside from highway traffic, a rail system /separated/ from road traffic (doesn't cut through roads or use the same lanes as cars) would be great since it wouldn't interfere with already had traffic, and it would .. Well yeah.

 

There's plenty of bus travel.

 

I got arrived away with worst.

 

Best I would have to say Vienna, Austria. The city is very compact and dense, and isn't so dependent on automobile traffic (plenty of public transportation like the U-bahn train), not to mention bike paths are everywhere.

Edited by SparkWolf
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Fkng hometown Austin, Texas. The city relies so much on car transport (like most cities), and the dam highways suck.

We have the 4th worst transportation in the US since city planners in the 20th century had the mindset of "if we don't build it, they won't come". Surprisingly, development and people came anyways with a poor highest system.

There are several parts of town to drive throigh which wouldn't be the way they are if they had been upgraded into freeways long ago (south 183 towards the Airport, the "Y" intersection, 360), Koenig should have been upgraded into a freeway to allow a fast highway switch to access alternative highways like 35 to mopac, or 290 to 183.

Interstate 35 in general is terrible through downtown since it has the same configuration since it was first built, and, it absorb highway 290 traffic which flows through downtown. Basically: 3 major highways in one go through downtown as a 6-lane freeway.... Why?! I also hate having to get off tr dam freeway at busy intersections just to get into another. Seriously?!? I go to San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, and even the smaller towns like Corpus, and they have full fledged interchanges, or at least have room to expand.

Aside from highway traffic, a rail system /separated/ from road traffic (doesn't cut through roads or use the same lanes as cars) would be great since it wouldn't interfere with already had traffic, and it would .. Well yeah.

There's plenty of bus travel.

I got arrived away with worst.

Best I would have to say Vienna, Austria. The city is very compact and dense, and isn't so dependent on automobile traffic (plenty of public transportation like the U-bahn train), not to mention bike paths are everywhere.

I know how that feels. :/ Highways here are always jammed because they were never built for the volume, and that's made even worse by the incompetence and lack of coordination among construction contractors who are cutting the highway down to two or less lanes.

 

They have bus and HOV lanes here but they're being closed off by the construction. I'd like to see a grade-separated bus rapid transit put in here but there's heavy politically conservative NIMBYism here that won't allow for any kind of progress whatsoever. The transportation problems here on Staten Island compared to how good the rest of the city has it are one of the reasons why I want to get out of here.

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I think towns where the expectation of people driving 90% of the time or areas of low population are probably the worst since the towns probably don't see it worth it to have in public transportation.

 

I liked Japan's railways since they were almost always on time and you could get pretty much anywhere you needed to go. The only downside was the trains could be a little confusing and of course it got really crowded sometimes.

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My best: Paris subway train. Fast, reliable, and comfy.

 

My worst: Local bus. I still have to take one once in a while, and while some transport companies have comfortable, even plush busses, some have busses with terrible maintenance (graffiti INSIDE the bus, ruined seats, cockroaches infestation...)

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Where I live we are expected to drive ourselves. Of course, that doesn't work out for me, so I have had *some* experience with public transportation. I don't remember ever having any problems whatsoever with the public bus system, riding in town or through the the middle of the city.

 

Beyond that I really have little experience. I haven't traveled much in recent years. When we went to Washington D.C. years ago I did take the metro, but it's been ten years... I hardly remember it anymore. lol

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I was once on a train to see somekne and the train got delayed by 3 hours.

One time, I went on MUNI metro and the train stopped for almost an hour. And since this was a class trip and we had to take BART back, the parents had to be informed that we're going to be late.

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I've only lived in or visited two metropolitan areas with bus and rail systems: New York (was born there) and Atlanta. I've only been on MARTA once, before the ongoing anti-corruption and fiscal crusade the current GM is on, so I won't comment on that agency.

 

As for the MTA, I'd say it's the best and worst. In terms of reach and availability, the MTA is amazing; there are but a handful of public transit systems in the world that have the same scope, connectivity, and reach that the MTA's various systems (subway, bus, LIRR, Metro-North, SIR) have. That's not to mention that a train always arrived at my stop no more than two minutes after I got there. Unfortunately, all the comments about rats and the dirty subway stations are true in many parts of the system. Even many newer and smaller subway systems are cleaner and more well-maintained than the New York City Subway.

Edited by skbl17
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  • 2 weeks later...

Bump Power! :P

 

Best?

Anything with Trains :P. Well, I got to ride on that fake Thomas at Day Out with Thomas and that was pretty cool.

 

Worst?

Frontier Airlines. I went on there to go to Arizona. The Plane felt like it was going to fall apart, there were vomit-inducing altitude drops, and they didn't even serve peanuts. Major fail right there..  -_-

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Bump Power! :P

 

Best?

Anything with Trains :P. Well, I got to ride on that fake Thomas at Day Out with Thomas and that was pretty cool.

 

 

Trains are awesome! Just curious, where was the Day Out with Thomas train ride at?
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Trains are awesome! Just curious, where was the Day Out with Thomas train ride at?

I think it was around Indiana or something, not sure. I was only like 5 then, so my memory is kind of faint about it. It was still cool though :D

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Best for me: Trains because its a relaxing journey for me and the seats are so much more comfortable than the ones on the airliner I use.

 

Worst for me: it's gotta be this one time when I was going on a holiday to Spain and before we took off they found out that the engine of the plane was malfunctioning so we had to wait 2 and a half hours sitting in those uncomfortable seats waiting for a replacement plane. I never felt so bored in my life.

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Worst for me: it's gotta be this one time when I was going on a holiday to Spain and before we took off they found out that the engine of the plane was malfunctioning so we had to wait 2 and a half hours sitting in those uncomfortable seats waiting for a replacement plane. I never felt so bored in my life.

I don't care if in a car or other transit system, I don't like it if it stops and I have to sit and wait for hours until it gets moving.

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