Summer Transit Challenge, Week 2

Last week I did not ride public transportation, however I did forgo one trip in the car in favor of walking. I’m going to say that counts towards my participation in Transit Miami’s Summer Transit Challenge!

Regarding last week’s experience, I left out some details that I meant to discuss. As my video states, I went to the bank. As I was leaving the bank, my account manager asked me if I’d like my parking validated. I told him that I took the Metromover. "I figured I’d go public transportation today," I said. He said, "That’s not so bad, it’s the bus that is killer."

Again, when I was in the pre-screening for An Inconvenient Truth last week and public transportation was brought up, the speakers complained about the bus system. One of them said, "One time I waited for my bus and hour and a half and it never came. That was my first and last attempt at that."

I’ve never been as fond of buses as I am of metros, because I just find metros more easy to understand and convenient. No schedules, show up and your train will be along shortly. With buses there are schedules and transfers and routes that I really have a tough time at understanding.

As time goes on with this Summer Transit Challenge, it will be interesting what sort of suggestions we can come up with to improve the bus service. I believe the South Florida Regional Trip Planner to be a great step in the right direction. It allows even the most inexperienced rider to figure out a route without having to look at 100 different maps.

Photo credit: Daniel Berger, Flickr