Favorite Public Transportation System

[R3con 0]

1. The Washington DC Metropolitan Transportation Authority (or METRO for short) - Convenient, no echoes (they have sound absorbing pads on the walls and roof!), and it's easy to navigate i.e. no huge crowds very often. Plus buses are no more than a block away!

2. My very own RTD, also known as Denver's Regional Transportation District - I use it, nothing is more than 5 mins late (usually...) and they are expanding their light rail... the bridge over 6th avenue at union street is a little unconventional for Denver but it's nice to see some change

3. My third would be the NYC Subway because of it's influence over subway development in our world... unless there was a subway before that?

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: R3con

My third would be the NYC Subway because of it's influence over subway development in our world... unless there was a subway before that?quote>

London had its first segment of tube in 1863, five years before New York had its first el. And it would take until 1904 for New York to open its first underground subway line, having built a rather extensive el system by that point (very little of which remains intact today). In fact, it was Boston that grabbed the distinction of having the first underground subway in North America. In 1903, beating out New York by a year.

[City2TheMax 3]

Greensboro Transit Authority (GTA), Greensboro, North Carolina. We have an entire bus route. It even barely manages to cover all the poor neighborhoods!

Sarcasm aside, I liked the trains in Barcelona, Spain. They were easy to get on to and not only covered the city but also the surrounding coastal towns, so you could get to the beach easy.

[wallasey 8]

Originally posted by: bigthing

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

Map

Train:

Ferry:

It also controls the local bus service:

quote>

@ bigthing Yer forgot the Mersey Tunnels!

----------

Merseytravel are one of the better PTE's (Passenger Transport Executives) in the UK...the timetables they have are some of the easiest to comprehend. It is amazing how some people can clearly illustrate their timetables, whilst others can't.

One slight correction; UK Buses are Deregulated outside London and have been since 1985, therefore bus companies such as Arriva operate their own routes without influance from the likes of Merseytravel or the local authority. London on the other hand, is still regulated, so Transport for London (TfL) set the routes, fares and timings before tendering the service to the best bidder. I hope this concise overview of the UK Bus market is understandable! I won't go into the Local Transport Act 2008 or OfT rules (Saving that for the epic dissertation!)

As the above network map for Merseyrail is a little distorted, may I direct those who are interested to this map on Merseyrail's Website. For those Europeans out there, Merseyrail is partly owned by Serco Ned Railways, Arriva has recently been bought out by DB Schenker (I hope I haven't gone and offended the Germens with an incorrect spelling!) 

[Odainsaker 2,136]

I always thought the video "HD Timelapse Tram in Hiroshima" by timecue on YouTube was fascinating.  65 years after being annihilated by the first atomic bomb, we now see here Hiroshima and its 2 million inhabitants as a techno-wonderland of Japanese cleanliness and efficiency.  This clip could itself serve as the promotional video to market the Greenmover Max tram set.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMqX-9a73T8

Certainly erases the nightmarish wartime images of blackened corpses still holding onto the overhead straps of the charred carriages.  Now I want to actually go to Hiroshima just to ride the system.

[cheeseman 3]

lol these subway systems are so insanely complex, want to see my hometowns subway map? 

yep, thats it just one line (we do have one lightrail line too, but it only has a few stations)

[astronelson 339]

For my favourite public transport system, I would have to choose the entire Australian network.

Were I to so decide (and had I sufficient money to do so), I could travel to most major cities in the country - indeed, I could be back home within a few days from where I am by walking a few dozen metres, taking 2 buses, 3 trains, another bus, then walking a few hundred metres. Some quick research tells me this example would cost $145.32 - roughly equivalent to the same trip in a plane. Slower, perhaps, taking 2 days compared with 3 hours (some of which would have to be on the same public transport system - having no licence means I can't rent a car), but a much nicer journey.

[Lemonchicken 3]

@Odainsaker - Fantastic video! The sheer beauty of human ingenuity.

[derby_line quebec 0]

I like Boston's. It gets you from A to B with the real hustling feel.

[ILL Tonkso 1,239]

Tokyo's is IMMENSE!

[derby_line quebec 0]

Originally posted by: ILL Tonkso

Tokyo's is IMMENSE!quote>

Truly not for the faint at heart. An agoraphobe's worst nightmare. 

[astrosfan27 0]

D.C metro has to be one of the best

[Masterblocker1 0]

I think the M

[LivingInThePast 364]

DART in Dallas seems to do the job....the lines are fairly extensive and the trains are comfortable.

New York's is a bit intimidating, with fast-shutting doors and dark, gloomy subway stations that haven't been touched in decades.

[Hampi 54]

I'm from Sweden and live in the town of Gothenburg and I really like this towns Tram system it works well and transports pretty much people every day. (At least in Swedish comparison).

The tram and Trunk bus lines are really well placed always close a tramstation and they cover the city very well

[joshriddle 29]

DART in Dallas. It is a light rail that carries you literally anywhere across the county. That is why I like it. It goes everywhere!

[timmie 988]

Well, I've recently been to Barcelona and the metro system there really surprised me. A lot of lines, modern trains every 2-3 minutes (only 6-10 minutes here in Brussels!), clean stations that are always built so that people in a wheelchair can access them (every station has elevators) and it was really incredibly cheap (only

[Unmannedperson 1]

Originally posted by: Shlarin

Systems I liked:

(snip)

Davis, CA: Quite an impressive bus network in a town of its size. It even had a bus running to the Sacramento airport 25 miles away.

(snip)

quote>

Thank you for mentioning Davis! Their network also has my vote. More impressive to me is that Unitrans (the bus system) is entirely student run (from UC Davis). Also, just for class, on one of their routes they run restored London double-deckers. So you have these historic buses (that are made for left-hand drive) cruising around a small town of 60,000.

Aside from that, they're clean, on time, and have good coverage.

Outside of that I would have to go with San Francisco, between it's buses, Muni, BART, and CalTrain.

[VMIUJcadet09 250]

Baltimore-Washington metro area or Tokyo

[Limskj 1]

My favourite is the London underground network. The oldest subway in the world!

Although I have to confess some fondness for my nation's own network: Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT)

[Mercury96 3]

I like Septa the most. I'm happy they recently brought back the trackless trolleys.

[TowerDude 2,187]

My hometown has a pop of 28000, but its transport system is very well done! it's basel

[warrior 169]

Docklands Light Rail - because the trains are computer controlled which is kinda cool. Plus, I was travelling on one when the computer wasn't working and the driver let me drive (he let me press the buttons when he told me to) but that was before 2001 and I was only 6 years old. 

(other than that my favourite station is Canary Wharf because I hate standing on a platform with loads of people because it still scares me that people (including me) can get pushed onto the tracks, but at Canary wharf they have doors on the platform:

(they have that on other stations, but Canary Wharf is just more modern and has a shop above it with amazing hot chocolate )

[Tysons4 68]

i like the monorail at disneyland in aneheim

[andres052490 11]

 THE METRO OF MEDELLIN has brought development and progress which was the world's most dangerous city in the 80s





This is integrated to METROCABLE, which has facilitated transport in mountain areas

[MooMix1 2]

As much as I like Boston, our transit system needs a lot of work. For one, we need more of this stuff from Seattle:

Larger version:

We have a crappy bus tunnel that sucks really bad. It should be done better AND with light rail laid into it. Our light rail branches could be improved with some free bus connections, as well.

We have great potential with the little remaining suitable infrastructure there is. But there's too much corruption, money wasting, and bad management.

[hamsterTK 93]

I guess this is about infrastructure or the larger merits of a system? The Seattle LRT has kind of sad ridership. I realize that it will be a while before the University Link section is done, but for a city where you would expect transit to be successful the numbers don't add up.

Anyways, I'm kind of fascinated by BRT systems now.

[ilikehotdogsalot 311]

I like public transportation in San Francisco:

The BART from SFO (airport) is very useful. It's relatively cheap and takes you to the city center.

Electric buses and trams in the city are very good to. The line for some of the trams are kind of long but the ride is enjoyable. The electric buses make a weird noise, kind of like they're gliding over the road, it's cool and they are clean.

[lpfanatic2003 0]

I would have to say the Seattle Transit Tunnel is the best part of the King Metro system. That and the lightrail in Downtown. The only problem is crowding and congestion and air quality issues in the tunnel during rush hour.

[anaki101 2]

Hey... this my first time posting anything here so yeaaaaa.....

My favourite is the Vancouver Skytrain. Modern and cool, though the fare paying system confuses me (I mean seriously you pay for your ticket, and then i expect like those gate things where you slide your ticket and the gates open. But, there isnt. I mean you could potentially just ride the skytrain for free!)

Second, favourite-ish is the TTC. Sure it may look like the NYC one a bit, but hey its fuctional. Aesthetic wise, its a blast from the past and i mean the 50's. Still uses tokens/tickets and the stations and trains look like crap! No offence... to the TTC. But PLZ make the system look MODERN!!!

Third, is the Jakarta MRT... if it EVER gets built. The plan goes wayyyy back to like the 90's but ever since the crisis... its just bleh. the plan is to have one route from Dukuh Atas (south Jakarta) to Jakarta Kota (somewhere north), running right down the center of Jakarta... almost. And then it was like a route going east/west. I saw a plan and it showed two. So far, the govrnt wants phase one to be half of the first route. Its really, short map wise, but its a start right? Ive seen pics of the underground stations and the elevated and they reaaallllyyy awesome. Oh yah, and something with the monorail and transjakarta thing too... (Monorail turned out to be a FAIL but planned to be rebuilt in like 2013)

Though is it safe to build a subway that is flood, earthquake, city sinking prone???

Sorry if i went a little overboeard... TEEheE!!