 | |  | | ![]() Here in Charlotte it's only a dollar ten or so to ride the bus, cheap compared to gas. They also just put in a light rail that runs into downtown, and you can get on most bus routes from it (it ends just past the transit station), and that's only a dollar thirty. They plan on having the whole thing done by 2030. If I stay living where I am (doubtful), I'll probably be in walking distance of a stop, I don't ever need to drive a car  | |  | |  |
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   | |  | | ![]() See, us Americans scoff at $4 a gallon (when we went to Iceland we calculated it to be $20 a gallon, and although we could have been wrong, it is certainly still higher than what we pay). All of us have cars, most families have two, a sizable amount of us (including my family) have three.
Since the middle class all live away from the center of any city and there is no good public transportation, raising gas prices is a kick in our spoiled faces. There is no possible way for me to go to the high school without a car (there is no high school school bus, I don't know if that is common among high schools). There is no bus stop anywhere nearby, if there is one at all and walking would require taking an hour or two in the morning and in the afternoon. That is not something anyone would like to do, not to mention the only good route is on a busy street.
Carpooling probably would be the best way to deal with it until we get some good mass transit around here. The problem here is that 16 year olds in Ohio (I'm not quite there yet) are only allowed to have 1 non-family passenger in their car and they are thinking of raising the driving age. Boy, that would be a mistake. | |  | |  |
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| written by Tom on May 29, 2008 03:28 |
| | | | ![]() Here it's $1.50 one way, assuming you're making no transfers. It's actually still probably a bit cheaper than gas, a lot cheaper for longer trips, but it's inconvenient considering time spent waiting and total time for commuting. If you have plenty of time on your hands, and don't mind the cold in winter, it's great.
 | Geekofdeath said: | | Carpooling probably would be the best way to deal with it until we get some good mass transit around here. The problem here is that 16 year olds in Ohio (I'm not quite there yet) are only allowed to have 1 non-family passenger in their car and they are thinking of raising the driving age. Boy, that would be a mistake. |
Do you go to a public high school? In Cincinnati at least, most high schools provide bus services, often through Metro rather than a school bus. Students are given passes to ride for free on certain routes during certain times. | | | | |
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 | | | | ![]() On the buses, transfers don't cost anything. You just ask for a transfer, and they are good for a specific amount of time, usually an hour or two, I can't remember which. So if you are doing something like switching buses, or something, just ask for one and use it before the time runs out. | | | | |
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| written by Megagun on May 29, 2008 11:52 |
 | |  | | ![]() The government gives a so-called "OV-jaarkaart", with which I can travel for free on weekdays by buses and trains (and possibly underground travel, too, but there aren't any of those near where I live, so I wouldn't know). Only takes about 10 minutes by bicycle to get to the place where I can get on the bus, total travel time being around 2 hours every day... | |  | |  |
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| written by Tom on May 29, 2008 19:31 |
| | | | ![]() | Raptorjedi said: | | On the buses, transfers don't cost anything. You just ask for a transfer, and they are good for a specific amount of time, usually an hour or two, I can't remember which. So if you are doing something like switching buses, or something, just ask for one and use it before the time runs out. |
It's 25 cents extra for up to two transfers here. | | | | |
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| | | | ![]() | Tom said: | Here it's $1.50 one way, assuming you're making no transfers. It's actually still probably a bit cheaper than gas, a lot cheaper for longer trips, but it's inconvenient considering time spent waiting and total time for commuting. If you have plenty of time on your hands, and don't mind the cold in winter, it's great.
| Geekofdeath said: | | Carpooling probably would be the best way to deal with it until we get some good mass transit around here. The problem here is that 16 year olds in Ohio (I'm not quite there yet) are only allowed to have 1 non-family passenger in their car and they are thinking of raising the driving age. Boy, that would be a mistake. |
Do you go to a public high school? In Cincinnati at least, most high schools provide bus services, often through Metro rather than a school bus. Students are given passes to ride for free on certain routes during certain times. |
Yeah, I go to a public school. There are school buses, but they are for handicapped people and some other... poor people? I don't know what they use those buses for besides handicapped people, but its not for the average person. There is a metro, but not that many people take it, and I don't know the cost. | | | | |
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 | |  | | ![]() Buses here cost a dollar. They cover the whole city, we have a decent system set up. Takes about 15 minutes to get anywhere in city. Transfers are free.
And I actually disagree with your statement of the middle class not living in the city. I'm middle-middle/lower-middle and live near the center of the city. About halfway between the center and edge. | |  | |  |
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| written by Naavis on May 30, 2008 07:57 |
| | | | ![]() Here you pay 2,20 euros for a ticket which allows you to ride buses, trams and the metro for an hour as much as you want. Or you could pay just 2 euros for the same, except for trams-only. | | | | |
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| | | | ![]() | Medeivalstargazer said: | Buses here cost a dollar. They cover the whole city, we have a decent system set up. Takes about 15 minutes to get anywhere in city. Transfers are free.
And I actually disagree with your statement of the middle class not living in the city. I'm middle-middle/lower-middle and live near the center of the city. About halfway between the center and edge. |
Well, not all middle class don't live in the city of course. However, there are a lot of suburban housing development about this area. Most of the city people seem to be poorer. It could also just be the decrepit state of the houses. | | | | |
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| | | | ![]() | Geekofdeath said: | | Medeivalstargazer said: | Buses here cost a dollar. They cover the whole city, we have a decent system set up. Takes about 15 minutes to get anywhere in city. Transfers are free.
And I actually disagree with your statement of the middle class not living in the city. I'm middle-middle/lower-middle and live near the center of the city. About halfway between the center and edge. |
Well, not all middle class don't live in the city of course. However, there are a lot of suburban housing development about this area. Most of the city people seem to be poorer. It could also just be the decrepit state of the houses. |
As I was reading your post, I was thinking 'The houses are just older, and seem-' then I got to you're last sentence =]. That's exactly it. The houses in suburbia are from the 80's, 90's, and 00's. The houses in the city are from the 1880's and 90's.  If I recall correctly, my house was built in 1897 =]. | | | | |
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| | | | ![]() Yes, but these houses literally look like crap, as if nobody cares or can afford to care about their state.
Oh well, the point is that there is a lot of the middle class living in suburbia where, here, there is not a notable bus system. | | | | |
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| written by Nalix on Jun 01, 2008 18:31 |
| | | | ![]() They just put in a bus system where I live. It's reasonably good and it's free. Though if you want to get anywhere you'll need to be willing to wait up to half an hour. And if you need to get anywhere far, six pm is cutting it close. They stop at seven pm. The system is only for one county and it's probably the smallest county in all of New Mexico. I haven't tried it for my work yet since it would leave me stranded. It's apparently free, but probably being paid for with tax dollars. I'm surprised more people don't use it. | | | | |
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| | | | ![]() Having just spent the day riding around buses and on the Light Rail, the Light Rail might as well be free.
They don't seem to do anything to check if you actual paid to get on. I had a bus pass (which counts for the light rail as well), and they never even had a place to swipe the pass or anything. There was also no one walking around checking to be sure you paid to get on. | | | | |
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 | |  | | ![]() What would they do if you didn't pay? Throw you off? : ) | |  | |  |
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