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They let "normals" use that? I remember seeing it as a kid but thought it was only for "important people".

 

They used to let us commonfolk ride it in the 1990s. That's when I rode it with some Ohio Congresspersons whom I was lobbying, er educating, on the need for good train service to their districts. I haven't even bothered to ask to ride it since 9/11.

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

They let "normals" use that? I remember seeing it as a kid but thought it was only for "important people".

 

They used to let us commonfolk ride it in the 1990s. That's when I rode it with some Ohio Congresspersons whom I was lobbying, er educating, on the need for good train service to their districts. I haven't even bothered to ask to ride it since 9/11.

^How long have you been a rail lobbyist, er educator?  My first time riding it was in 2006.

Since the mid-80s.

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

Cool, were you upset when the railways were being shutdown in the 60s/70s?

 

While we're on DC, here are a couple pics of their system:

 

 

Cool, were you upset when the railways were being shutdown in the 60s/70s?

 

 

I was born in 1967. I got upset later.

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

In Cleveland; heavy / light rail, brt, bus; ColumBUS; Nati just I75; Dayton bus; Montreal / Toronto / Vancouver / Chi / LA- trains...hoping for London's underground sometime this year.

All right, I'll try and personalize these a little

 

Amtrak - Auto, or 'A' train - took this in 1976 just before my brother was born. My mom, grandparents and I took loaded our car on the train and then rode a sleeper car down to Florida. First time I was ever on a train. I was 4 yo at the time

 

SI Ferry - growing up on Staten Island, it was the most direct way to NYC. Most vivid memory, unfortunately, is standing on the deck, and putting my hand on the rail, and realizing that a pigeon had just pooped there. I still get nauseous thinking about it.

 

Spain - Metro in Madrid - first time out of the country as a Junior in HS. Interesting in that it was clean, and the map was easy enough to read that a kid who was barely literate in Spanish could navigate it with relative ease.

 

Greyhound / Trailways - most frequent way of commuting back and forth to Syracuse from home (at that point in upstate NY) when I was in college. I met some very interesting people (both good and bad) on those trips. One time I sat next to a girl who was running away from home in Rochester to meet her father for the first time in Kingston. I actually got to watch as she met him the first time at the bus depot.

 

Cleveland Rapid - rode it every work day for the better part of 4 years (2000-2004) when my job didn't require me to have a car. Great system, but they need more space between the seats. Long legs jammed into the back of the seat in front of me = unhappy AJ93. Most of the time I just stood.

 

Amtrak again - 2007, my wife and I, and our 2.5 kids (she was preg w/ third at time) rode from Cleveland to LA, and then ultimately Carlsbad. Got sleeper cars and everything. Best/ worst trip I've been on.

 

Caltran (or whatever it's called) - connected us from LA to Carlsbad. Cleanest, nicest train I was on for the whole trip, and they gave complimentary donuts / coffee. Plus, you got to ride down the coast and see the views.

 

NYC Subway - rode it plenty of times visiting friends / family in NYC.

 

 

OK, you've got to be a railbuff if you rode (and remember the name of) CalTrain Los Angeles! And you've got be older than me if you rode Conrail's NYC commuter trains, which were turned over to MetroNorth in 1981 (unless, of course, you were a kid which it doesn't sound like you were).

 

 

Railbuff indeed. 

 

 

I was either four or five when I rode a ConRail train (to Yonkers and back to Grand Central)...just once..either in 77 or 78 (moved to LA in Summer 1979).

 

Funny I see Metro-North trains all the time these days when I visit NYC (I seem to be at Grand Central a lot) but I've never had a reason to ride them. 

 

The CalTrain in LA ran right behind the houses across the street from me (grew up in Northridge in the San Fernando Valley) Station was a sidewalk, basically..no parking/shelter..only about 1/2 mile away.  I was 9/10 when it ran..in 1982 (maybe '83) I think. Metrolink's Ventura County Line (rode it now and then) runs there now on the same track (Amtrak runs there...Coast Starlight/Pacific Surfliner...as well)..Metrolink station is further west (and far more substantial). 

Damn, you're younger than me! :(

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

For me it's only been Chicago, Cincinnati Metro, and NYC MTA.  Although I lived in NYC and commuted for a year, so having the hindsight to be able to compare a purely auto commute (Cincinnati) vs the purely mass transit commute is extremely valuable I think (although I did have a car in NYC). 

 

 

  • 1 month later...

Cleveland-rapid, BRT, Bus

Cincinnati-Bus

Chicago-L

New York-Subway

Long Island Railway

New Jersey- Some commuter rail

Washington D.C.-Subway

Toronto-Subway and Streetcar

Bay Area-Bart

San Francisco-Bus

San Fran to Palo Alto-commuter rail

Krakow, Poland-Streetcar and Subway

Rome-Subway

Edinburgh-Bus

Scotland-commuter rail and bus

New Orleans-streetcar

 

I think this is it.  Not a bad list for only being 21.

 

 

 

 

I'm sorry to say even though i live in the Northeast i haven't been on much.  Not even the NYC subway system.

 

Systems so far

 

PATH System every line at least 2x

Hudson-Bergen LR at least 15x

NJT Rail 4 lines and about 30x

Amtrak Keystone 1x

Patco 1x

 

By the end of this year

 

Baltimore Light Rail

Amtrak Northeast Regional to DC

DC Metro

NYC subways at least 5 lines

Metro-North New Haven line

Septa > Tram , Regional Rail , and Subway-EL

Amtrak Regional to Boston

ACES (Atlantic City Express)

Amtrak Keystone 2x

 

 

  • 2 years later...

As a daily commuter:

 

CTA rapid transit and buses (Chicago)

Pace buses (Chicago suburbs)

Metra commuter trains (Chicago)

MBTA subways and light rail (Boston / Cambridge)

SEPTA commuter rail, subways, light rail, and buses (Philadelphia)

MTA subways and buses (New York City)

 

As a visitor / occasional rider:

 

Amtrak

Washington Metro

MARTA rapid transit (Atlanta)

MTA Long Island Rail Road

MTA Metro North Railroad

PATCO rapid transit (Philly / South Jersey)

Portland MAX light rail

Portland Streetcar

Pittsburgh "T" light rail

Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (Northern New Jersey)

London Underground

London buses

Docklands Light Rail (London)

UK intercity trains

Queen City Metro buses (Cincinnati)

TANK buses (Northern Kentucky / Cincinnati)

Detroit people mover

Jacksonville, Florida people mover

Jacksonville, Florida buses

 

I've also ridden and/or helped restore and operate vintage Chicago 'L' trains, NYC subway trains, and various streetcars and interurbans at Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine, Shore Line Trolley Museum in Connecticut, and the Illinois Railway Museum outside of Chicago.

 

Updating my list to add:

 

London Overground

Eurostar high-speed rail

Paris Metro

Paris RER

Los Angeles Metro (subway and light rail)

San Diego Trolley (light rail)

BART (subway)

San Francisco Muni (light rail and heritage streetcars)

San Francisco cable cars

Washington DC Metro

MARC

Virginia Railway Express

Metro North Hudson line

CGRTA

Metra

Pace

St. Louis Metrolink

San Diego Trolley

Amtrak

Columbus COTA

Pittsburgh Light rail line

Dallas light rail

Ft Worth-Dallas Trinity River Express

Dallas McKinney Ave streetcar

 

Copenhagen Metro

London Tube

Chicago RTA

Cleveland RTA

Columbus COTA

Pittsburgh T

Berlin Heavy Rail

Berlin Streetcars

Prague Streetcars

Rome Metro

Detroit People Mover

Paris Metro

St. Louis Metrolink

St. Petersburg (Russia) Metro

Moscow Metro

DC Metro

NY Metro

San Francisco BART

Portland Streetcar

Seattle Light Rail

Athens Metro

TGV High Speed Rail (France)

St Petersburg-Moscow Rail

Italy High Speed Rail

Amtrak Cascades

Amtrak Pennsylvanian

I've moved around so much I'm probably missing a few, but I think this is everything...

 

Amtrak: Northeast Corridor, Cardinal, Empire Builder, Cascades

Atlanta: MARTA rail

Boston: MBTA T and commuter rail

Chicago: CTA buses and rail, Metra, Pace buses

Columbus: COTA buses, Ohio State CABS

Dayton: RTA buses

DC: Metrorail

Greyhound

Indiana: NICTD South Shore Line

NJ: NJ Transit regional rail

NY/NJ: PATH

NYC: MTA rail

Philadelphia: SEPTA regional rail, subways, buses

Pittsburgh: PAT buses, T, Duquesne Incline

Portland: TriMet buses, MAX light rail, Streetcar

Seattle: Metro buses

 

edit, thought of a couple more...

Cincinnati Metro

Boston T

San Francisco Streetcar, Muni, & BART

NJ Transit

NY MTA Subway

Greyhound

 

Updating mine...

 

Amtrak (Lake Shore LTD)

Cleveland WRTA

Chicago El & CTA buses

Indy Bus

MegaBus

 

Over the next year, probably Phoenix bus & light rail and Munich (and other cities in Germany) transit.

trains only, not buses:

 

Cleveland

Chicago

NYC

Washington DC

Boston

Toronto

Detroit (people mover)

 

Various European cities in England, Germany, Italy, France..

 

Greater Cleveland RTA, SORTA (Cincinnati), Amtrak, NYC Subway, MARTA, MBTA (Boston), Metropolitana (Rome), TGV/Eurostar (England, France, Italy), Greyhound, CABS.

 

These lists just make me feel depressed! I need to travel more

Cleveland

New York

Chicago

Toronto

DC

London

Milan

Paris

Rome

Amsterdam

Venice

No updates from me. Since I've started this thread the furthest away I've been is NKY.

 

sux

My additions would be Nashville, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Harrisburg. I'd been to each before but had never taken the bus to get around.

  • 1 month later...

PARTA (Portage County)

NYC Metro (NYC)

GCRTA (Cleveland)

Amsterdam Transit (Don't know the name)

San Francisco BART

NYC (multiple)

Boston T

Washington DC metro

Cleveland GCRTA

Denver (16th St. Shuttle)

 

Intracity Bus:

Cincinnati

Chicago

Washington DC

London

Toronto

 

Intracity Rail:

Detroit People Mover

Washington DC Subway

Paris Subway

London Subway

Toronto Streetcar and Subway

Chicago L

 

Intercity:

Megabus, Boltbus, and Greyhound in the US

Eurostar (Rail from London to Paris through the Chunnel)

Akron Metro RTA

Tucson Sun Tran

Pittsburgh Port Authority

Philadelphia SEPTA (both trains and subway)

Montreal Metro and STA

Toronto TTC (subway and streetcar)

Seattle (Sound Transit-rail and bus, King County buses and trolleybuses, Seattle Center Monorail, the SLUT streetcar)

Portland streetcar and TriMax

Vancouver SkyTrain and buses

Minneapolis Hiawatha Line

Washington Metro

Norforlk HRT

Greater New York (MTA buses, subway,  metro north, PATH)

Nashville MTA

 

intracity

Bolt Bus

Megabus

Rail

Cleveland GCRTA

NYC Metro

Boston MBTA

San Fran BART

Paris Metro

Barcelona Metro

Bilbao Metro

Amsterdam Metro

Rome Metro

Prague Metro

Berlin U-Bahn

 

Several Eurostar trips throughout Europe.

 

Bus

Boston

San Fran

Florence

Capri

Naples

Rome

Berlin

Kent State Parta

 

  • 2 weeks later...

Anyone know how Honolulu can afford a 5.3 billion dollar light rail line but Ohio can't? That's $45,000 per resident there.

Anyone know how Honolulu can afford a 5.3 billion dollar light rail line but Ohio can't? That's $45,000 per resident there.

 

Because their Government wasn't against it!

Is Honolulu even a dense city?

 

 

 

Rail:

SEPTA (Philly)

NYC

Boston

Amtrak (OR, MI, IN, OH, IL)

Portland - gorgeous, great service, ran often (except at night... Chose to walk instead of waiting 35-40 minutes for a PDX bus, at 11p on a friday night) - used it 6-7 times in Oct. - bought day passes at kiosks that were curbside, NO waiting for people paying on the bus.

Cleveland - only 2 or 3 times (gasp!)

Chicago - the L

Madrid (doesn't really count, only once, to/fro airport to downtown during a layover)

 

Bus:

Cleveland (don't live near the rapid, so if I take RTA, it's the bus)

Portland (just rode it for several days for the time in Oct)

Dakar

 

 

As of January

 

Amtrak , Regional , Keystone

Boston MBTA , Regional Rail , all Subways , a few LRT and buses

CT Transit , a few lines

CT Rail Division

New Jersey Transit , Regional Rail , all LRT , a few buses

PATCO

PATH

SEPTA , Suburban Streetcars , Regional Rail , a few buses , Subways

Long Island Bus

Long Island Railroad

Hudson Valley buses

Metro North

NYC Subways , half the system

 

By December

Amtrak , Acela , Lake Shore Limited

Cleveland RTA

Chicago EL

Metra

DC Metro

MARC

MTA Light Rail

VRE

 

Anyone know how Honolulu can afford a 5.3 billion dollar light rail line but Ohio can't? That's $45,000 per resident there.

 

Because their traffic jams are legendary, and the rail system would save time over driving. The FTA's prior scoring criteria gave high marks to projects that generated "hours of user benefit" compared to operating and capital costs over 30 years. So the more users, the more time they saved and the less cost the better. Given the cost of Honolulu's project, the hours of user benefit must have been pretty substantial to offset the cost.

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck

  • 3 weeks later...

USA:

GCRTA (Cleveland)

COTA (Columbus)

Metro (Cincinnati)

Amtrak

 

Canada:

Translink (Vancouver)

 

Japan:

JR East (Tokyo, above-ground rail lines, incl. Tokyo Monorail)

JR Central (Kyoto, above-ground rail lines, incl. Shinkansen)

Kyoto Bus (can't remember the company name)

Tokyo Metro (Tokyo, subway)

Toei Metro (Tokyo, subway)

Yurikamome (Tokyo, people-mover)

Chiba Monorail (Chiba, suspended monorail)

 

Tokyo's mass transit is amazingly extensive and is by far the most efficient transit system I've ridden on my otherwise very short list.

“To an Ohio resident - wherever he lives - some other part of his state seems unreal.”

  • 1 year later...

Updating my list

 

Intracity Bus:

Cincinnati

Buffalo

Montreal

Albany

Schenectady

San Francisco

Chicago

Washington DC

London

Toronto

Denver/Boulder

Sacramento

New Orleans

 

Intracity Rail:

New York City Subway

Detroit People Mover

Washington DC Subway

Paris Subway

London Subway

Toronto Streetcar and Subway

Chicago L

Montreal Subway

Denver Streetcar

Buffalo Subway

New Orleans Streetcar

Atlanta Rail (MARTA)

Philadelphia Subway

Salt Lake City

 

Intercity:

Amtrak - California Zephyr (Omaha-San Francisco)

Amtrak - Adirondack (Montreal - Albany)

Greyhound, Boltbus, Megabus

Eurostar (London - Paris)

  • ColDayMan changed the title to What Mass Transit Systems Have You Ridden?

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