Favorite Public Transportation System

[chris0101 8]

Originally posted by: diva613

I am sorry you guys may want to rethink yours as Emabarrasing.

I live in Ottawa Ontario, and it seems that our City Council is more interested in developing their own ego's.

As of this Point, we have a transit system which includes, an 8 KM Track of Light Rail, goes from a Bus Station in the South End to a Bus Station in the North End, one good point is that the O-Train does connect the Carleton Uni folks to the transitways.

Our BRT system, though slightly outdated (which is being remedied) consists of 9 Main Routes (2 of which are Rush Hour/Peak Point Routes) that run from all ends of the city on Bus Reserved Lanes, (known as HOV in other cities) and a seperated Roadway throughout the City to Avoid traffic.

My problems is with OC Transpo not being able to complete a LRT/Subway plan with the cities populace reaching the 900.000 mark and Toronto made their Metro plan back when their populace was 600.000. quote>

+1 from another Ottawa resident

Our OC Transpo system is pretty bad compared to the rest of the world`s systems, although TBH, the bus service isn`t bad by North American standards (which are bad save for perhaps in NYC). We have the most expensive fares in all of Canada, but sadly, far from the best service. Complaints are up and coverage could be better.

It seems that all of North America needs an overhaul of its transportation. We need a decent subway here in Ottawa, better bus coverage, maybe rail over road (and a better rail system while we`re at it - the O-train isn`t great).

Perhaps it was because the automobile took hold here in North America, but it is way past time for change.

[torontosubway 11]

I like the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission). I admit the cost is little bit high, but you could at least use it to go somewhere

It has a streetcar system ( I believe it is the worlds or North America's biggest)

It also has a wheel-tran system for handicapp service.

A subway and rapid transit system

and a bus system

[Blakeway 211]

Chicago has the best transporting System, I'm not living there and I went to alot of different Subways in North America and Europe but it still the best! It's the CTA! You have the Underground Subway, the Loop (a Subway that turn around the Loop Area (the downtown of Chicago) that is located above the roads), the Busses that are very well done and the Train, that make you go to the suburbs! There's also taxis, cars and airports installations that the CTA is responsable.

Some pics of the CTA :  ----------->>>>>>>>

<---Old Pic of CTA

CLEAN AND SILENCIOUS (EXEPT THE DOORS VOICE : "DOORS CLOSING")

Suburbs Trains

[Blakeway 211]

... Thinking about my favorite public transportation system after showing you the Chicago CTA... I think I love the Montreal's one too xD

Why?

1. Subway = Silencious, because it's the first Subway on tires in the world, so it's very silencious.

2. It's very effective as a transporting system.

3. Very clean, exept some stations.

4. Deserve alot of place with the subway and the Suburbs Trains.

5. Beautiful, doesn't look like the NYC one or the others metallic Subways!

LET SEE WHAT IT'S LOOK LIKE!

FROM http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=367975&page=2 (IT'S THE MONTREAL METRO VISION THAT THEY WANT TO UPLOAD TO THE ACTUAL SUBWAY)

ARTS IN THE SUBWAY STATIONS! In every stations, there is differents arts things, lile stained glasses, paints, sculptures, et cetera.

ALL IN ONE!!! This is the new magnetic card that we need to have (cost 12$CAD) to use the student reduction, month pass and others... If you're a tourist, pay by pieces or buy the 1 week tarif and tell you're a tourist to the employes. The new systeme that was introduce in 2008 works well but there's difficulty with the magnetic in the busses and some in the subway but you have just to be patient! : 

[GingerBlokey 30]

For me San Francisco has an awesomely ramshackle system.

There's the overground buses and trollybuses connecting every nook and cranny of the city with the streetcars that run both above ground and down a central subway called Muni then there's the super-fast, super-sleek long distance regional rail service called BART as well as the clackety old cable cars, scenic ferries and the F Market & Wharves historic streetcar line.

One of the dual-level Market Street stations with these Muni streetcars on the top, just below the surface. They come out of the ground at either West Portal, 2nd & Fulsom or Duboce & Church and run along the street stopping at bus stops or purpose built stations.

Below this runs the BART which was constructed in the 60s and whisks passengers at incredibly fast speeds from the centre of San Francisco to Berkeley, Freemont, SFO, Daly City, Richmond, Dublin or Pittsburg. It is comfortable and crosses the Bay in just a few minutes.

You can tell it was built in the 60s it's got that kind of urgen modernism about it with all the silver and swishy doors and big, white corridors in the stations. It looks like the Heart of Glass.

It connects the disparate parts of the Bay Area in a very quick speed running overground except for in downtown Oakland and San Francisco. Most of the time it is elevated above a highway.

In additon they run these zero-emissions trolly buses which zip quietly along the major streets in the city without emitting a single centimetre cubed of carbon dioxide. I also liked the way that the routes were named after the street they mostly ran down so the N Judah mostly run down Judah St, the 31 Balboa down Balboa St and the 71 Haight-Noriega down Noriega and Haight Streets.

The F Market Wharves route runs from the Castro to North Beach right through downtown San Francisco and is a very touristy route run by rickety old streetcars from around the world. It's charming and it's sweet but in the summer it gets incredibly crowded between the Embarcadero and Fisherman's Wharf. Still it's nice to see so many colourful old cars still running.

San Francisco's system may not be the height of comfort but it is reliable, quirky and just like the city itself thrown together from bits of everything.

[bigthing 35]

For Me, gotta be my local company, merseytravel (N/W england)

Map

Train:

Ferry:

It also controls the local bus service:

Its cool coz its amazing (and i use it )

[Odainsaker 2,136]

I am curious as to others' perceptions of streetcars, particularly those with experience in cities currently operating a streetcar system. My own city of San Antonio, Texas, is a poster child of automobile-based sprawl run amok, and by some measures SA can be ranked as the largest U.S. city lacking a rail transit system. Plans and opportunities for a light rail system periodically come up, but the visionary political train typically hits the daunting brick wall of horrifiyingly costly financing. At this time, a light rail system would be skirting unaffordability even if all the major possible financing actors would finally coordinate and commit. The local VIA Metropolitan Transit Authority has been planning instead a Bus Rapid Transit route and system, aimed for 2012, but most remain unexcited by the idea of just bigger articulated buses.

However, a new possibility has emerged to prominence now that light rail has once again been moved to the backburner, and that is a streetcar system inspired by the 4-mile loop now running in central Portland, Oregon, whose 8-year-old line now plays host to visiting planners from around the country.  When VIA first suggested this alternative a few months ago, I think I guffawed at the idea..."they want to float this here, in Texas?  Don't they know we are a barrio city in a Red State!"  However, the more I think about it, the move convinced I'm becoming.

S.A. could roll into future on streetcars

San Antonio Epxress-News, August 2, 2009.

My gosh, VIA's chief thinks they can break ground in 3 years!

Make no mistake, the limitations in capacity and speed are recognized, as this an in-street-traffic rail system without a separate right-of-way, and this is already admittedly not envisioned as a citywide Transit Solution. What has city leaders buzzing was a claim by Portland officials that since their line's establishment, developers have invested $3.5 billion within two blocks of line's footprint, adding more than 10,000 new housing units and 5.4million sq. ft. of office space. The $103 million spent to build the line and the $4.9 million mostly-subsidized operating budget brought not only the immediate impact of construction jobs or the later development jobs and investment, but has also now created a stream of central city property tax revenue. Granted, construction is always messy, and some local businesses closed as they lost their frontage during the installation, but on the whole, the Portland system initially reads like the win-win ideal solution. Perhaps more importantly, it can be the affordable starter system to begin not only generating a revenue line but to also begin the process of further densifying and energizing downtown so that a larger and more comprehensive system like light rail can be made viable. San Antonio's city leaders were sold, far more bedazzled by the streetcar idea than the currently BRT under detailed planning, and now the effort is to put together the creative funding and a convincing plan to galvanize the public. Less sexy will be examining zoning to encourage and facilitate the desired dense and mixed-use development.

Of course, poor provincial San Antonio today is hardly Portland, but many are optimistically looking instead at envisioning the city for the coming decade, and many of the city's opportunity chips are well-positioned. SA has a scenic gem of a historic and walkable downtown core, full of well-trampled tourist attractions, but, like many sunbelt cities, it's non-tourist economic vitality generated from downtown residents has been sapped by the ever-sprawling suburbs. However, amidst all the hotels, a trend of new downtown condominium developments has begun, and broader efforts are working to reconnect, redevelop, and repopulate a number of central districts. Austin is well ahead of us in this regard, but San Antonio can potentially gain more out of it given the dowtown we already have. The new expansion of the fabled River Walk has been the most visible of the efforts, and already that new stretch of pedestrian walkways has seen neighboring property values increase and long-neglected construction sites begin moving. Of course, the nostalgic imagery of a stylized streetcar is not lost on a city whose charming downtown reaps mightily from postcard tourism. Three years to breaking ground is definitely far gone on the optimistic side, however, a city that in the 1930s was among the first in the U.S. to completely abandon streetcar lines in favor of automobiles may in the next 10 years find itself showcasing them.

I'll have to try and pitch to my fellow residents the San Francisco idea of importing a variety of picturesque vintage models.

[EchoAlpha 0]

 The TTC Subway would be my favourite. It is fast, trains every 2-3 minutes in rush hour, 4 minutes off, 5 minutes Sunday. It also has frequent stops and goes right through downtown. It's about to get a huge renovation to the stations and trains.

The subway now.

The subway in 5-10 years.

[EchoAlpha 0]

 The TTC Subway would be my favourite. It is fast, trains every 2-3 minutes in rush hour, 4 minutes off, 5 minutes Sunday. It also has frequent stops and goes right through downtown. It's about to get a huge renovation to the stations and trains.

The subway now.

The subway in 5-10 years.

[EchoAlpha 0]

 The TTC Subway would be my favourite. It is fast, trains every 2-3 minutes in rush hour, 4 minutes off, 5 minutes Sunday. It also has frequent stops and goes right through downtown. It's about to get a huge renovation to the stations and trains.

The subway now.

The subway in 5-10 years.

[sneakeypete 16]

I was trying to think what i liked best about Brisbanes mass transport system. Is it the good busses, and the great busway that i use to zip the 15km's into uni in 20 minutes. Is it the citycat, a fast ferry service that runs up and down the river. Or is it the....err.. mediocer trains?

No, the thing i like best about the transportation system as the way its all brought together, under a single ticketing company (well, in a nutshell, im not 100% sure of the exact corperate workings). What it means for the average joe commuter is that they buy a ticket that covers the "zones" that they want to get to, and they can take any mode of transport that they like. with a daily ticket from, say, my place to the city, i could catch a local bus up to the bus station, bus along the busway into uni, catch the ferry into the cbd, catch the train out towards the uni again and then connect with a bus to get back to uni and then bus it home. all of the different transportation comanies use a unified ticket structure.

To make it even better, they've setup a smart card system that you can load money onto. I've not bought an actual "ticket" for over a year now, just "touch on, touch off", and i never have to worry about change for the bus etc. These are present all all bus/train/ferrys aswell. Its great for getting around.

[sneakeypete 16]

I was trying to think what i liked best about Brisbanes mass transport system. Is it the good busses, and the great busway that i use to zip the 15km's into uni in 20 minutes. Is it the citycat, a fast ferry service that runs up and down the river. Or is it the....err.. mediocer trains?

No, the thing i like best about the transportation system as the way its all brought together, under a single ticketing company (well, in a nutshell, im not 100% sure of the exact corperate workings). What it means for the average joe commuter is that they buy a ticket that covers the "zones" that they want to get to, and they can take any mode of transport that they like. with a daily ticket from, say, my place to the city, i could catch a local bus up to the bus station, bus along the busway into uni, catch the ferry into the cbd, catch the train out towards the uni again and then connect with a bus to get back to uni and then bus it home. all of the different transportation comanies use a unified ticket structure.

To make it even better, they've setup a smart card system that you can load money onto. I've not bought an actual "ticket" for over a year now, just "touch on, touch off", and i never have to worry about change for the bus etc. These are present all all bus/train/ferrys aswell. Its great for getting around.

[sneakeypete 16]

I was trying to think what i liked best about Brisbanes mass transport system. Is it the good busses, and the great busway that i use to zip the 15km's into uni in 20 minutes. Is it the citycat, a fast ferry service that runs up and down the river. Or is it the....err.. mediocer trains?

No, the thing i like best about the transportation system as the way its all brought together, under a single ticketing company (well, in a nutshell, im not 100% sure of the exact corperate workings). What it means for the average joe commuter is that they buy a ticket that covers the "zones" that they want to get to, and they can take any mode of transport that they like. with a daily ticket from, say, my place to the city, i could catch a local bus up to the bus station, bus along the busway into uni, catch the ferry into the cbd, catch the train out towards the uni again and then connect with a bus to get back to uni and then bus it home. all of the different transportation comanies use a unified ticket structure.

To make it even better, they've setup a smart card system that you can load money onto. I've not bought an actual "ticket" for over a year now, just "touch on, touch off", and i never have to worry about change for the bus etc. These are present all all bus/train/ferrys aswell. Its great for getting around.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: Blakeway

Chicago has the best transporting System,quote>

A "transporting system". Now is that a system that transports or a system that is getting transported?

Either way, can they beam me up?

Subway = Silencious, because it's the first Subway on tires in the world, so it's very silencious.quote>

"Silencious". I don't think that's a word, but bonus points for creativity!

Beautiful, doesn't look like the NYC one or the others metallic Subways!quote>

And what, praytell, is so ugly about metal? And why does it matter if a system is "beautiful", so long as it works? There are better things to spend money on than cosmetics.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: Blakeway

Chicago has the best transporting System,quote>

A "transporting system". Now is that a system that transports or a system that is getting transported?

Either way, can they beam me up?

Subway = Silencious, because it's the first Subway on tires in the world, so it's very silencious.quote>

"Silencious". I don't think that's a word, but bonus points for creativity!

Beautiful, doesn't look like the NYC one or the others metallic Subways!quote>

And what, praytell, is so ugly about metal? And why does it matter if a system is "beautiful", so long as it works? There are better things to spend money on than cosmetics.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: Blakeway

Chicago has the best transporting System,quote>

A "transporting system". Now is that a system that transports or a system that is getting transported?

Either way, can they beam me up?

Subway = Silencious, because it's the first Subway on tires in the world, so it's very silencious.quote>

"Silencious". I don't think that's a word, but bonus points for creativity!

Beautiful, doesn't look like the NYC one or the others metallic Subways!quote>

And what, praytell, is so ugly about metal? And why does it matter if a system is "beautiful", so long as it works? There are better things to spend money on than cosmetics.

[montrouge 2]

Originally posted by: Blakeway

1. Subway = Silencious, because it's the first Subway on tires in the world, so it's very silencious.

quote>

Wrong the first subway on tires in the world is the line 11 of Paris metro.

It was in 1956 so 10 years before the opening of Montreal metro.

[montrouge 2]

Originally posted by: Blakeway

1. Subway = Silencious, because it's the first Subway on tires in the world, so it's very silencious.

quote>

Wrong the first subway on tires in the world is the line 11 of Paris metro.

It was in 1956 so 10 years before the opening of Montreal metro.

[montrouge 2]

Originally posted by: Blakeway

1. Subway = Silencious, because it's the first Subway on tires in the world, so it's very silencious.

quote>

Wrong the first subway on tires in the world is the line 11 of Paris metro.

It was in 1956 so 10 years before the opening of Montreal metro.

[gozac 0]

Seattle's Sound Transit and King County metro sucks

The new light rail goes from nowhere to the airport, and then the other light rail is from one microsoft campus to the other

seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/07/17/2008058498.gif

I find it to be a pure failure.

[RobbyRotten-!!- 0]

The RATP of Paris is my favourite of which I've experienced so far, it covers the entire city, has reasonable fare, and is pretty easy to understand.

However, back home in Canada, I am still loving the TTC of Toronto. Last subway departs at 1:30, with bus routes running afterward, meaning it is completely possible to live a normal lifestyle without owning an automobile, something that is VERY difficult to do in North America. Its fare of $2.75 can be a bit pricey, once the fare is paid, the TTC rider can remain on and transfer between routes for as long as they desire to do so. The TTC is also undergoing a massive renovation and upgrade project, with plans to add to the subway system, as well as add LRT routes that service the areas of the city without subway stops, as well as eventually extending LRT/RT routes into the neighbouring cities of Mississauga and Vaughan/Richmond Hill.

Toronto also benefits from the GO Transit System, which is a regional network of rail and bus transport. All of the Greater Toronto Area is covered, along with neighbouring cities such as Guelph, Hamilton, and St. Catharines/Niagara. For a very reasonable price, you can commute to downtown Toronto without the hassle of driving on Southern Ontario's severely congested 400 series highways.

[Mayor Abe 3]

As a New Yorker, the NY subway comes first and foremost. However, every line conveniently stopping at the city limits (look at the Bronx portion of the map if you don't believe me) is somewhat grating form a commuting perspective-though the MNR and LIRR (commuter rail) more than compensate. technology-wise, the MTA seems to lag under its own bureaucratic weight, lagging in arrival boards for buses and trains, introducing cellphone service (some NYers would say this is a good thing), having the 2nd avenue subway "in planning or in various stages of construction since the end of WWII, etc.

In terms of station design and "cleanliness", the DC metro would be nice- a system that covers the District proper relatively well, and serves all of the dense suburbs in norther. Southern Maryland and Virginia  (except for Tysons Corner, but that is being worked on). However, it lacks express service (understandable, considering it had to compete for construction funds against highway-happy sprawl patterns), stations are inconveniently spaced -even in Northern parts of the District- and it seems to be run by aloof, if not incompetent management (see http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/ as an example).

[CTMandR 9]

Taipei's Metro system is a big one for me. I've been to many asiatic countries, and Taipei's metro is expansive, high-high-capacity, and the costs are relatively low, peaking at around $1.50US for a one-way trip across the entire metro area. Buses are also highly prolific in Taipei.

[MariusBleek 5]

My fav has to be the MTR in Hong Kong. Serves over 3.4 million ppl a day with almost 90% of the local population using public transit opposed to their cars. It makes sense, since its faster to crawl around on ur knees than it is to drive in Hong Kong anyways. Ppl from Manhattan can relate to that too.

[DCMetro34 577]

The DC Metro!

http://www.wmata.com/

Hence my avatar, it's cool, and so easy to use

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

I like Melbourne's tram system. It is easy to use, quirky and is the largest in the world with a length of around 400km. (tracks). They are better than buses (which are mainly used in the outer suburbs.) Can't say the same for the horrible train system which uses a radial tree pattern where all trains come from the CBD and there is no line to line connections.

[_MostlyHarmless 17]

Berlin. Easy, fast, on time, comprehensive...I can't find anything wrong with it. I loved it!

[matt.bassdude92 0]

My personal favorite is the Beijing subway and bus systems. With over 900 bus lines carrying passengers to every corner of the city, a well planned out and expanding subway system, and cheap cabs at every corner, i dont see a reason to own a car at all! Plus, the subway stations and trains are high-tech and beautiful, so commuting is a joy.

[iuri99 48]

SAo Paulo like good, but the violence and high commute turn the sistem bad.

Like Toronto system.

I hope use it in nexxt year...

[lee.prk 0]

Seoul Metro. On-time, convenient, cheap, clean.