Last time you traveled locally on public transportation

David777

David777

Well-known Member
Location
Silicon Valley
Of course, those members that don't own a vehicle, do so regularly. But how about you members that own a vehicle?
  • When was the last time you used public transportation?
  • What was the type of transportation?
  • Where was it from/to in what city/area?
  • Roughly what was the cost?
  • How long/far did it roughly take?
  • Why didn't you use your vehicle?
This person just used my SFBA Senior Clipper Card today for a few miles Light Rail ride that subtracted just $1 from my account. My vehicle is in a shop being serviced. Will need to use it again Wednesday to pick the car up. More often, I use SFMTA to get around San Francisco.
 

Last time ? ... when in the military and hop a bus or train in Europe.

In this town of some 27K, we don't have public transportation.
Growing up in a similar size town, we had city buses my grandmother would take us on from time to time.
But those city buses were gone by the late 60's.
 
That was in 1998 or so. I took a bus and I don't remember what it cost. It's more than a quarter of a century ago.
 
Last time I used any Public transport was back in the early '70s. I was quite poor when I got out of the Army after Vietnam, I hadn't yet bought a car, so I took an RTD bus somewhere to somewhere downtown L.A. that I need to be(I forget). I had to pay for 3 or 4 transfers, each costing 25 cents.
 
It was january or feb time when I had to take my car to the garage to have it's annual MOT inspection and repairs... I took the bus home which was about 2 miles.. and got the bus back to the garage later... It cost nothing, because over 60's here get free bus travel ..


Living on the edge of the great Metropolis I regularly take the overland train into the city ( 30 minutes) then use the tube trains around the city... costs about £9.70 return for the train fare , including as many subway trains as I want to take in any one day......the train fare is reduced by a 1/3 for seniors...
 
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A few weeks ago, I took a cab from home to the mall, only because every time I go to the mall, I have to park a mile away from the door and dodge cars backing out. When I come out of the mall,if I don’t come out the door I went in, I sometimes forget where I parked and then I am stuck walking all over the mall parking lot.

A cab ride is only about 5 miles awa, so round trip I pay about $35.00 with tip.
 
Mitch86 said:
When I was a kid many, many years ago, I used to ride the trolley cars on Broadway in Manhattan Island in New York City. They had electrical transmitters to receive electricity from the wires strung above the street. They rode on rails installed in the street.
Click to expand...
My city had "trackless trolleys" when I was young (though the tracks were still there for many years). The trackless trolleys were essentially buses that had the big arms (I think they were called pantographs) on the back that reached up to the electrical lines. Sometimes the arms would jump off the lines and the driver had to get out and muscle them back onto the lines. Occasionally, a couple of male passengers would get off and help. The drivers had to be careful to stay exactly in the lane because much variance would make the arms jump off.

When crossing over junctions, sparks would fly. I always found that exciting (I was easily-awed as a kid).
 
Only time I remember using public transportation was in 1959 when the Navy paid for the train ride from Pennsylvania to Chicago. I don't remember how I got from the train station to the Great Lakes Navy boot camp.
 
For my last job, when I worked for a major Hotel located downtown.

For the first years I worked for them, we had dedicated parking at a garage.
Then the last year I worked there, they did away with this service.

I decided to try riding the local bus system to get to downtown.

A short walk to the stop through a quiet park.
The stop was for an Express type of bus service and I bought a monthly senior pass.

Getting to work was usually no problem, but the ride home sometimes was a chore.
My shift sometimes ended at the same time as school were ending.
Often times the young teenagers would try taking over, taking over seats and challenging other riders.
When I knew the timing would put me in this situation, I'd head over to the main library a block away,
and relax for a time searching for books to check out.

Retired and never boarded public transportation again.
 
2014, in London. Used the red buses once, and the black cabs several times. 1999, used the Metro in Paris, and one cab.
 
It wasn't actually "local", but back when I frequently traveled by air I would sometimes drive to a bus terminal about 30 minutes away. From there, I could take a bus to Logan Airport in Boston. It was about a one-hour, 50 mile ride. IIRC, a round trip cost around $15 and parking at the terminal was free (as opposed to $$$$$ at the airport). Both the busses and the terminal were very clean, comfortable, and efficient, as opposed to Logan airport which was a squalid, disorganized stockyard.

I haven't lived in an area with "public transportation" for many decades. The last time I took a local bus was probably in the 1960s.

(I have no idea what an uber is or how it works, but we don't have them in this area. :rolleyes:)
 
Lived in the inner city in high school and when I first started working. No car so I rode the city bus or walked.
For a while I worked nights and they sent us home in a cab. That was when I first married so probably early 1970's.
After I got married the husband drove. After a few years we got a second car and I learned to drive.
Moved from the city to the country and been driving ever since.
 
A couple of weeks ago. I’m limited to when and where I feel comfortable driving. It’s also less expensive and less hassle to use my bus pass than to search for parking. It’s reasonably efficient. I always allow my self too much time catching the bus.
 
I took a bus when living in town and it didn't cost very much but it took a long time to come and arrive at destination. A cab ride from where I live now, about 5 years ago, cost $20.00 and only one way.
 
If a cab ride qualifies, the last time was in 2018, after I came out of the nursing home. I had to take cabs to go to the MD's, grocery shopping, etc. I live in a rural area, where everything is at least a half hour drive. One way cab fares of $40-60 were routine.
 
I don't have to go downtown often but when I do I usually park my vehicle at a park and ride lot and take the light rail to downtown. It's a lot cheaper and I don't have to deal with the frustrations of driving the roads in the downtown area.
 
When we go to Vancouver, even if we drive there, we leave the car at the hotel and take the Sky Train. It tends to stop close by to where we want to be. Otherwise it’s cab/Uber or walk. We do this in other large cities.
 
As expected. Those living in rural areas have an excuse but not those in urban areas. Worse here in The West. Many people, seniors or not, have relied on their cars so much, they NEVER use public transportation nor even know anything about how to do so, even when say their cars are being serviced. Instead they will likely ask others with cars to drive them wherever. Worse, there are large numbers of urban people that will drive their vehicles even a short few blocks instead of walking on urban streets to say buy a few light groceries.
 

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