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I hope this isn't too far out of the purposes of our Rotating Subforum, but I want to introduce you to the sport(?) of extreme public transit, the practice of using public transit systems to cross large distances. This usually involves taking lots of local buses that go to small towns, and then finding another bus route that goes to a (relatively) larger city, and then repeating. Doing this, its possible to stitch together a quite long itinerary, although it often is practically not possible. I thought that this was just my personal dream, but apparently there are people who like it so much they have put together an entire wiki: http://www.epictransitjourneys.com/index.php?title=Main_Page I've never done anything quite as extensive as described here, but I have been on some pretty long public transit journeys (Tacoma to Port Townsend). In a way, I think that there is an experience that can be gotten from mixing transit with outdoor activities that is greater than just, say, throwing a bicycle on top of a Subaru and going to a "natural" location.
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Jan 25, 2016 01:20
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 02:29 |
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I took a train from Christchurch to Greymouth, to Franz Josef, to Queenstown, to Te Anau, to Milford Sound in New Zealand. Not all the same day mind you. But I saw a lot of the country side of South Island and stopped in many small towns and intestine viewpoints and historical locations. It was a great adventure that I would have missed if I flew or drove everywhere. A lot of the tracks were closed because it was winter and there's avalanche dangers so hiking everywhere wasn't really an option. Their bus system is really good. Canada's bus system is terrible in every conceivable way. You either go Greyhound which sucks or pay premium for airport shuttles to get to places like Banff. I did a practicum in Canmore and took the greyhound each day I was there and it's just so bad compared to NZ buses. Gross and smelly, no stopping at viewpoints, no dialogue out of the driver. We really need to step up our game here.
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Jan 25, 2016 01:58
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I'm glad this exists. I had believed it would take me 8 hours to get to philly from DC if I were too cheap to Amtrak, and it looks like I'm right. But a 3am Amtrak or a Chinatown bus is both cheaper and faster: what's the point?
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Jan 25, 2016 15:59
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Holy crap, there's a route from Vancouver to Seattle. Maybe I could use that and Airbnb to go to Emerald City Comicon again on the cheap.
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Jan 26, 2016 18:08
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El Generico posted:Holy crap, there's a route from Vancouver to Seattle. Maybe I could use that and Airbnb to go to Emerald City Comicon again on the cheap. If you go on a Friday make sure you book the ticket. I nearly lost out and had to pay ~50 bucks for an airport shuttle.
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Jan 27, 2016 01:22
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No, because bicycle accommodations tend to be unreliable.
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Jan 27, 2016 01:32
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eldridge cleaver posted:I'm glad this exists. I had believed it would take me 8 hours to get to philly from DC if I were too cheap to Amtrak, and it looks like I'm right. But a 3am Amtrak or a Chinatown bus is both cheaper and faster: what's the point? Most intercity buses require tickets and ID. With mass transit, you can just hop on. In some cases, that could make a difference. 
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Jan 27, 2016 22:21
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Outrail posted:If you go on a Friday make sure you book the ticket. I nearly lost out and had to pay ~50 bucks for an airport shuttle. If you are on mass/public transit, you aren't using tickets.
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Jan 27, 2016 22:25
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Tried doing some training by doing laps on the local bus, but the driver kicked me off
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Jan 27, 2016 22:58
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glowing-fish posted:If you are on mass/public transit, you aren't using tickets. I'm pretty sure a train that goes up and down a line several times per day and is mostly used by commuters is mass transit.
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Jan 27, 2016 23:03
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Outrail posted:I'm pretty sure a train that goes up and down a line several times per day and is mostly used by commuters is mass transit. It depends. Riding an Amtrak train from Everett to Tacoma would not be mass transit, but riding a Sounder train from Everett to Tacoma would be mass transit. But if you have to reserve a ticket, call ahead, show ID, do all of those things, then probably isn't mass transit. That is bourgeois.
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Jan 27, 2016 23:21
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It's the cheapest way to get from Bellingham to Vancouver. I'm pretty sure any publicly available transport that crosses the US/Canadian border will ask for ID etc.
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Jan 28, 2016 05:12
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When I was younger, I traveled around Europe a bit, but I was broke as a joke so I always took a bus instead of a train. The trip that took the most endurance was a bus ride from Dijon, France to Milan, Italy. If you look at a map you'll see that route basically takes you straight through the Alps. I'm sure I would have appreciated the scenic beauty of the trip if I wasn't grabbing my armrests in white-knuckle terror as the bus whipped around hairpin turns on snow covered roads at breakneck speed. I've had some lovely bus drivers before but I swear this guy had some kind of death wish. It wasn't just the speed or the snow either. No, it was the fact that we had about a 6'' border on the side of the road, after which the mountain just DROPS. Like, straight down, into all the pointy bits at the bottom. So you can see your impending doom, hanging just over the precipice, the whole drat time. On the other hand, maybe I was over-reacting due to an unusually persistent hangover. The 300 pound Arab gentleman spilling into my seat certainly didn't seem to mind. And that's the real beauty of transport by bus. You're never lonely, there's always someone pressing up against you or breathing in your face.
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Jan 28, 2016 18:40
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7:30 AM Depart Port Townsend on Route #1 8:46 AM Arrive Triton Cove 9:15 AM Depart Triton Cove on Mason Transit #8 9:35 AM Arrive Shelton Transit Community Center 10:35 AM Depart Shelton Transit Community Center on Mason Transit #6 11:30 AM Arrive Olympia Transit Center Noon Leave Oympia Transit Center on 603 Northbound 1:00 PM Arrive Tacoma Dome Station 1:30 PM Leave Tacoma Dome Station on Sound Transit 594 2:16 PM Arrive 4th and Jackson 2:18 PM Leave 4th and Jackson on 512 Northbound 3:17 PM Arrive Everett Station 4:10 PM Leave Everett Station on Skagit Transit 90X Northbound 4:55 PM Arrive Skagit Station 5:15 PM Leave Skagit Station on Skagit Transit 40X 5:40 PM Arrive March's Point P&R 5:40 PM Depart March's Point on Island Transit 411W 6:15 PM Arrive Oak Harbor 6:20 PM Leave Oak Harbor on Island Transit 6 6:46 PM Arrive Coupeville (Walk Four Miles to Coupeville Ferry Terminal) 9:10 Leave Coupeville Ferry Terminal on Washington State Ferry 9:45 Arrive Port Townsend Ferry Terminal I spent the better part of an hour working this up. Someone in the Puget Sound area try this and let me know how it works.
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Mar 12, 2016 22:51
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A couple of times in college I took transit from Fremont (California) to Davis, about 100 miles away. The last leg of that involved taking the Yolobus, so that might qualify as an extreme sport. I remember trying to spec out a trip to cross California from the coast to the Nevada border. Getting from Santa Cruz or Monterey to San Jose is easy, and from there to Sacramento is no problem either. Where I think it stalls out is when you get up to Auburn to Truckee, although last time I looked was a few years ago. I never tried since it would have involved a lengthy amount of time at a bus station in the wee hours of the morning (which I've done before too, but would rather not).
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Mar 18, 2016 05:31
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Kangra posted:A couple of times in college I took transit from Fremont (California) to Davis, about 100 miles away. The last leg of that involved taking the Yolobus, so that might qualify as an extreme sport. http://www.epictransitjourneys.com/index.php?title=North_Bend_to_Arcata_to_Reno_to_Los_Angeles Arcata to Redding to Reno is apparently the way to go.
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Apr 2, 2016 19:21
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