help me?

[tonksy]

i have been looking for information on the national best public transportation. where is it? i guess my google skills suck because i haven't found much. anyone know of a site like this? i am looking to move.

[breakingnews]

Originally posted by tonksy
i have been looking for information on the national best public transportation. where is it? i guess my google skills suck because i haven't found much. anyone know of a site like this? i am looking to move.

I've heard unofficially that DC's Metro is the country best public transport ... though I'm not sure how the buses are.

The T in Boston has also been rated very highly.

I still think the sheer size of NYC's MTA tops any other city. It runs 60-70% on time, and carries a fuckload of commuters and passengers daily. Also has the highest penetration rate in the sense that New Yorkers are more likely to use mass transit than in any other city in the country.

Really really shitty ones include:
Philly's SEPTA
Atlanta's MARTA

I don't have much experience with the West, but Denver's bus system, though small, fucking rocks.

[breakingnews]

I just realized what you're asking (that you're looking to move).

I would check Natl Highway and Transportation Safety ADministration - that would lead to some good stats.

[tonksy]

i suppose i should be more specific. i am looking to base my location on whether or not i can live and support my children without driving. dc is out as is nyc....i was thinking philly but now i wonder....and minneapolis/st. paul. i've been to their public transportation websites, but i suppose i wasn't looking for propaganda on the matter....moreso the laymans view, you dig?

what makes philly's so bad? this distresses me...i thought i was making progress.

[FileNotFound]

Well I've been on SEPTA for the past 3 years.

It's not "horrid" but it's nothing amazing. The delays are frequent on the EL and buses. The Regional on the other hand is clean and fast (but twice as expensive).

Worse yet, there are homeless all over the EL, in addition to characters that make you feel a bit uneasy.

Sucky thing is that SEPTA does have a policy which says that if a ride is delayed you ride free. Well the catch is that since almost everyone has a monthly pass you get nothing...

[tonksy]

so it is an honest to god transportation system that i can sorta rely on? thanks. philly is ranking pretty high on my lists of possibilities.

[russotto]

Metro DC train (MetroRail) is great. Buses not so good -- DC considers them an adjunct to the train rather than a system in themselves. (besides, buses suck by nature)

Philly (SEPTA) has very comprehensive public transportation which will get you there. Eventually. Uncomfortably. And probably with a few bus changes in bad neighborhoods. But it will get you there.

Atlanta's got pretty much nothing.

[SteveDallas]

Is not bad. IF you are going from one train station to another on the same line. If you have to involve the buses, or transfer between different trains, you'll probably have trouble.

That's my experience, anyway.

[Undertoad]

What do you do / want to do for work?

[tonksy]

umm..i have out of the job market for a little over 2 yrs but before that i was running a pizza joint, before that the navy...oh and i'm a pretty good waitress, done some bar work...nothing stellar. i figure that there's restaurant everywhere prolly a good place to start and look for a better job from there.

[Undertoad]

What other needs for the young uns?

[tonksy]

just daycare and in a couple years, a good school system. i saw that philly had a zoo and my girls would love that...OOH! and a good library system, that is a definite need.

[Undertoad]

OK. I b'lieve our Mr. Sycamore is best suited to work out exactly where you should live. You could follow him to East Falls but I'll wager the schools aren't up to snuff. There are a whole set of cheap apartment places out Ridge Ave., just after the border, which busses serve a lot. That could get you a suburban school system, mobility into town if you want to work there.

(edit) You could go to the main line and pay 1350 for an apartment, and walk to the train, but the kids would be in Lower Merion school district (which is for example where Kobe Bryant went).

[tonksy]

Originally posted by Undertoad
OK. I b'lieve our Mr. Sycamore is best suited to work out exactly where you should live. You could follow him to East Falls but I'll wager the schools aren't up to snuff. There are a whole set of cheap apartment places out Ridge Ave., just after the border, which busses serve. That could get you a suburban school system, mobility into town if you want to work there.

thanks, UT. i appreciate it

[SteveDallas]

Originally posted by tonksy
just daycare and in a couple years, a good school system. i saw that philly had a zoo and my girls would love that

I'm down on the zoo. Their reason for existence appears to be to find ever more inventive ways to separate parents from cash--the latest is a hot-air balloon ride . The Franklin Institute, for example (also worth a visit), certainly has restaurants and gifts shops that they like people to spend $$$ at. But once you're in the exhibits, you're in the exhibits. You can't walk 10 feet at the zoo without encountering a concession stand or some kind of overpriced (IMHO) extra attraction.

But that's just me. YMMV.

Toad's right. And you can probably find cheaper apartments than Lower Merion, with almost-as-good schools, and easy access to the trains. For instance, I know you have to add in 10 years of inflation, but we rented a two-floor townhouse with a finished basement for $750 until we bought our house in 1994. It was half a block down from the Morton station on the R3 regional rail, and in the Springfield school district.