3 ms·

Curious what would be a good bus system? I've only ever lived in the US and can honestly say I've never seen one.

by city41 3y ago

jghn 3y ago
I use the busses in Boston all the time, and have been for over 20 years. Way back when it was a pain but ever since bus tracking apps showed up on the scene about 15 years ago it's been a smooth experience.
- fnimick 3y ago
  I live in Boston and would still use the T buses as an example of bus service as an afterthought. The buses are loud, uncomfortable, bus stops frequently have no shelter and are on busy roads with no buffer from 2-3 lanes of traffic, and there are almost no dedicated bus lanes so the bus gets stuck in the same traffic as all the cars.
  - inferiorhuman 3y ago
    In San Francisco Muni shelters are largely all the same whether for street level bus or tram. They're all equally awful because they were designed to be inhospitable in an attempt to prevent people from sleeping at them. https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser-col-4/public/feature-image/2017/170525_shelter_06.jpg https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser-col-...
coldtea 3y ago
Plenty of bus stops, special bus lanes, modern buses, air-conditioning, clean environment, frequent on-time schedules, and plenty of routes to take you to/from all major city areas and suburbs. No crazies and violent crime either. Of course the city also needs to support walking the final 300-2000 ft to your destination after the bus stop. If most of your stops are some BS office or industrial zone, with roads build for cars, no shade, no shops, and nothing to do around, it's pointless.
Daishiman 3y ago
Buenos Aires has about 200 bus lines with fairly high frequency (2-7 minutes during peak riding times) and almost all lines have overnight service, albeit at low frequency. Bus rides are highly subsidized. Congestion can get pretty bad during the day but you can get anywhere you want within the city.
ben_w 3y ago
The Berlin one… mostly doesn't suck? At least in zone B[0]. I don't trust them to not get in traffic jams in zone A. They have USB chargers and WiFi on half of them. [0] Zone A: core; Zone C: the part of the commuter belt outside the city limits; Zone B: between A and B — https://sbahn.berlin/en/tickets/the-vbb-fare-explained/fare-zones/ https://sbahn.berlin/en/tickets/the-vbb-fare-explained/fare-...
Falkon1313 3y ago
I was pleasantly surprised at San Antonio's bus system. They were everywhere downtown, frequent, and even had lines that go about an hour out of the city. I was only there as a tourist though, I don't know how well they'd be for day-to-day life and cross-town trips. In other cities where I have used buses regularly, I've found them to suffer a bit from limited routes, transfers, it taking 2 hours to get anywhere, and then buses stop running too early at night.

Curious what would be a good bus system? I've only ever lived in the US and can honestly say I've never seen one.

by city41 3y ago

Curious what would be a good bus system? I've only ever lived in the US and can honestly say I've never seen one.

jghn 3y ago

I use the busses in Boston all the time, and have been for over 20 years. Way back when it was a pain but ever since bus tracking apps showed up on the scene about 15 years ago it's been a smooth experience.

fnimick 3y ago
I live in Boston and would still use the T buses as an example of bus service as an afterthought. The buses are loud, uncomfortable, bus stops frequently have no shelter and are on busy roads with no buffer from 2-3 lanes of traffic, and there are almost no dedicated bus lanes so the bus gets stuck in the same traffic as all the cars.
- inferiorhuman 3y ago
  In San Francisco Muni shelters are largely all the same whether for street level bus or tram. They're all equally awful because they were designed to be inhospitable in an attempt to prevent people from sleeping at them. https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser-col-4/public/feature-image/2017/170525_shelter_06.jpg https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser-col-...

coldtea 3y ago

Plenty of bus stops, special bus lanes, modern buses, air-conditioning, clean environment, frequent on-time schedules, and plenty of routes to take you to/from all major city areas and suburbs. No crazies and violent crime either. Of course the city also needs to support walking the final 300-2000 ft to your destination after the bus stop. If most of your stops are some BS office or industrial zone, with roads build for cars, no shade, no shops, and nothing to do around, it's pointless.

Daishiman 3y ago

Buenos Aires has about 200 bus lines with fairly high frequency (2-7 minutes during peak riding times) and almost all lines have overnight service, albeit at low frequency. Bus rides are highly subsidized. Congestion can get pretty bad during the day but you can get anywhere you want within the city.

ben_w 3y ago

The Berlin one… mostly doesn't suck? At least in zone B[0]. I don't trust them to not get in traffic jams in zone A. They have USB chargers and WiFi on half of them. [0] Zone A: core; Zone C: the part of the commuter belt outside the city limits; Zone B: between A and B — https://sbahn.berlin/en/tickets/the-vbb-fare-explained/fare-zones/ https://sbahn.berlin/en/tickets/the-vbb-fare-explained/fare-...

Falkon1313 3y ago

I was pleasantly surprised at San Antonio's bus system. They were everywhere downtown, frequent, and even had lines that go about an hour out of the city. I was only there as a tourist though, I don't know how well they'd be for day-to-day life and cross-town trips. In other cities where I have used buses regularly, I've found them to suffer a bit from limited routes, transfers, it taking 2 hours to get anywhere, and then buses stop running too early at night.