Transport Tycoon Forums

Due to disability, I'll never be able to drive. So, I have to rely on buses and trains. The world feels a lot bigger, since I have to plan my travel to center around bus stops and train stations. Like, I can't go to somewhere 2am, because busses stop before then. I'd love to hear advice or experience from others that have relied on public transport entirely. (even if it was a choice, or due to economic reasons, etc)

After an accident that turned my car to a total loss, I chose not to buy another car, I spent better part of the following 3 years relying on public transport, friends, and taxi. After that I moved halfway across the world and the 2 first years was spent similarly depending on public transport, because of administrative issues converting my license to another country and getting a car on down payment. The last 2 years I have seen myself return to rely on public transport of multiple reasons, now in periods I have car driving full time, periods with absolutely no access to car, and periods where I part time borrow cars and part use PT. As long as I am within urban environments taxi is a flexible option, and when planning to consume alcohol that option is much preferable than driving anyway. Driving under influence are being treated stricter all the time.


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I don't care much for driving - I generally find it stressful and/or dreadfully boring - and am fortunate enough to live in an area where you rarely feel a need for automotive transportation either. Even travel on weekend nights isn't a big problem, since night bus lines and local trains keep running. Not that I do that a lot, though. Plus, I get a relatively cheap student ticket for the whole area (though the university itself is even cheaper ). Longer-distance travel is generally quite fast and comfortable too.
The one thing that puts me off is when the train/bus turns into a sardine tin, but that situation generally doesn't last long for me, and local buses on bumpy roads are a bit unpleasant anywhere, of course. Reliability, cleanliness, comfort certainly have rarely been a problem in my area. In summary, I suppose the best advice I can give is to live in the right place...

I live in London, so public transport is the only parctical choice to get around. It's well managed in London, especially that owned by TfL and has lots of investment. Being young I get buses for free, and train cheap. It means I can do and see lots more in London and the wider area and enjoy it more without having to buy tickets carry money etc.
Oh, and we have some 24 hr buses and trains

As a member of embassy staff, I had an SUV and driver to take me wherever I needed to go. An alternative to public transport to consider.

Wow. I suppose you could call that personal rapid transit How high of a position did you need for that kind of service?
Also, if I got that for free, I'd take it of course, but generally, I don't even like riding in cars that much. Strange, eh?

Hrrm, well, public transportation in large cities is usually not an issue ... but frankly it's one thing if you don't have to rely on it (I walked home more than once because one thing or another happened, or because it was quicker than waiting for some rare night bus, or...) and an entirely different thing if you 100% must use it; and the comfort of taking buses etc with a wheel chair (for example) is again something entirely different than just walking on them. Never mind if you are blind and try to navigate some public transportation system. Even though accessibility gets more attention these days, it's still very tough to get around and one ill-placed stair case might mess up all your careful plans ^^;

Also, you might occasionally want to buy something large/heavy and usually you want a car for that, unless you always get that type of stuff delivered.

I do rely entirely on public transport, but then again I live in Sweden where it's not a big deal to do so. I can get wherever I want practically any time of the day. On weekends, both trains and buses run throughout the night. On regular days, the so called "night buses" operate all night too. On occasion, I opt for a taxi (or Uber) to save some time.

Longer journeys are usually done by train, although Sweden is so long that flights are a reasonable option both price wise and time wise.

As I can't drive, I too am reliant on public transport the majority of the time, though I don't normally require to go somewhere at 2am.

I have to travel a lot for meetings in various parts of the UK, and fortunately, these are all in places easy to get to by rail from Manchester (except maybe Derby, which is a pain and takes forever).

As for locally, the vast majority of things I need are within easy Walking distance, and even then I could hop on a bus that comes every 10 minutes from just outside my house to go further afield. The Buses into Manchester come less frequently, but still run often enough to be useful, they do however take forever (30-40 minutes) and I believe the last one out of Manchester leaves far too early for a proper night out (I think it's around 11pm).

Taxi's where I live are rather affordable as well; for example, to get to Airport, which is 20 miles away, it costs just £22. Where I used to live that was 5 miles away from the same airport, they used to charge £15, and this was back in 2006 when fuel was about 70p a litre! Though some of these Taxi driver are slightly insane (including travelling at 80mph down 30mph streets!).

As for flying Domestic in the UK, if you're going to the likes of Aberdeen or Inverness, then it is a competitive form of travel, same as when going to Northern Ireland (35 minutes on a Plane versus 8 hours on a boat, I know which I'd prefer!), however, the flights between Manchester and London aren't quite as competitive on time due to the early arrival time required for check-in and security, however, can be competitive on price!

I mainly use motorcycles on my own. My further (intercity) travels are either using small "travel" minibusses or trains, there's regular busses but haven't use one. The farthest I've driven a motorcycle is only 20 km (12 mi), so distances outside that would need something else unless I want it. I do walk but it's a mountainous place ! I end up not having bikes because it's a terrible thing getting it up hills compared to walking.

Public transport where I live in is served largely by share taxis/ paratransits (yes I know what they refer for but I got no better comparison). Whilst in the past city I live in they are well known to be terribly slow and highly unpredictable, because of different driver attitudes and traffic condition here (and probably the shorther distance I have to cover in them) sometimes it's not different than using other car-based things (taxis or something like Uber which I haven't use yet). There's city busses but they're mainly from big terminals to other big terminals which is nowhere near or along where I live. The other thing is motorcycle taxis - they're not really public transport though. In the past conurbation I live in there's commuter trains and they're very useful and quite predictable, lately becoming quite frequent that it's close to just-turn-up service. Busses (sometimes with dedicated busways) are also available but tracking the lines and routes they serve get out of hands quickly ! Hence why I don't use them.

I do drive cars, but I don't have access to it for most of now. Have driven intercity on it though.

So, can you rely on public transport ?
Well, that depends on how is it near you. If you live somewhere rural or with bad public transport, you should try getting mobility schemes or such if available. Also, do you really need to go out or back at 2AM ?

About 10 years ago, I moved to NYC and sold my car. I've always been passionate about public transit, and access to a dense 24/7 heavy rail metro was a big reason I chose to move here. I actually liked having a car, and driving it, but all of the hassles of parking and maintaining it eventually soured me on car ownership.

Oddly enough, for most of the past 7 years, including my time in Australia, I've worked close enough to home to walk or ride a bike, So I haven't had a monthly transit pass (Metrocard) in years. I still take the Subway regularly for other reasons, just on average less than once per day. I find in New York, I almost never need to take the bus.

I do rent cars, from zip car or a traditional agency for occasional trips, like moving a large object across the island, or going on a day trip somewhere, a few times a year. Driving in Manhattan becomes much less of a chore if you only have to do it occasionally on your own terms, rather than every day, and if you no longer need to constantly worry about parking.

I've become so used to not owning a car now, I don't think I could ever bring myself to buy one again. It just seems like a huge investment in something that's ultimately a big headache.

Forgot to mention, when I lived in Trondheim, my apartment was a 20 minute walk from downtown, or a 5 minute bus ride to dump me 5 minutes from my apartment, with 15 minute interval except peek hours. Bus was usually crowded so rarely a seat if taking it from downtown. Night bus fare was just slightly less than taxi, so didn’t make much difference expect for waiting time.


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As a student I can take PT for free. I don't have the money for a license, as it's super expensive, so I can't really be bothered with it. When you need to be somewhere at 2AM, consider getting a bicycle; it get's me anywhere PT can't get me. If your city has a bike sharing service, it might be interesting to look into that too. The only downside is if you have to go home at 2AM and you're 60km from home, you're kinda stuck.

Cantanope

I am afraid that a sensible answer depends highly on the place you live. Personally, I gave up car driving for business and leisure some 8 years ago and don't regret it. I have a freeride ticket for the entire country which covers all means of public transportation (trains, ships, telecabins, city transports, overland bus etc) and it works extremely well - in my country, which is Switzerland. Has probably the most dense network.

I even was for 2 years in France for professional reasons and did all France, Benelux and Germany, nearly all by train. Went well and I had a lot of working time in the train.

But that was probably just luck.

F.

The last time I drove was about 4 and a half years ago, when I first moved to London. That was to drive a large car and move my stuff to my place. I'm quite glad for not having driven since; I consider myself a good driver but it stresses me out knowing that I could kill someone with the slightest lapse in concentration, and I find hunting for parking spaces the most infuriating thing ever.

It's a lot easier to do it in London than other British cities. I would find it a lot harder back in Birmingham where I grew up. Admittedly, trains are so much more pleasant than buses, and London has no shortage of them.

I never had a car and Paris / it's suburbs transports are probably the best.
Most bus lines run until 1 AM, and the night buses go almost everywhere in Paris and it's suburbs, even far away.
A lot of bus operators have a line starting from Paris and ending to a far suburb.