4 ms·

I've actually done the city center to suburb commute where a shuttle bus was the final leg of the journey. I walked 10 minutes to the train station, rode the t

I've actually done the city center to suburb commute where a shuttle bus was the final leg of the journey. I walked 10 minutes to the train station, rode the train for 20 minutes, and then the shuttle for about 15 minutes. The shuttle waited for the train to arrive. In the evening, I did the reverse. Interestingly, there was a core of about 10 other riders who started their journey in a different suburb. They drove to a train station, rode it downtown, switched trains, and then rode out to the suburb. The key for them was that it was time competitive with driving and the transfer didn't add nuch time. The conductor for the outbound train would hold it if the inbound was late. It worked well for everyone, at least until the suburub stopped funding the bus. I was able to find a less convenient transit alternative, but it was slower and added a 1 mile walk on the end though a not quite pedestrian friendly environment. Everyone else ended up switching to their cars.

ryukoposting 3y ago
Did a similar commute myself (out of Minneapolis to an edge suburb, via a train, then a bus, then a smaller shuttle bus). Likewise, there was a core group of about 10 of us who had almost the exact same commute. In that scenario, though, we were living in a much smaller city than those discussed in the article. We commuted that way for a combination of reasons- folks either couldn't afford a car, couldn't drive for medical reasons, etc. I bought a cheap car and cut my commute time in half, since I could take a much more efficient route to work than the bus could. The rail portion of my commute had been great. The shuttle worked well too, since all the jobs in that area were concentrated in a couple industrial parks. The only problem was the bus that took me out of the city, and to the shuttle. I'm left with many "what ifs" about commuter rail in small cities.

ryukoposting 3y ago

Did a similar commute myself (out of Minneapolis to an edge suburb, via a train, then a bus, then a smaller shuttle bus). Likewise, there was a core group of about 10 of us who had almost the exact same commute. In that scenario, though, we were living in a much smaller city than those discussed in the article. We commuted that way for a combination of reasons- folks either couldn't afford a car, couldn't drive for medical reasons, etc. I bought a cheap car and cut my commute time in half, since I could take a much more efficient route to work than the bus could. The rail portion of my commute had been great. The shuttle worked well too, since all the jobs in that area were concentrated in a couple industrial parks. The only problem was the bus that took me out of the city, and to the shuttle. I'm left with many "what ifs" about commuter rail in small cities.