What's the long distance (CARTS) public transport like? (Austin, San Marcos: home, buses)

[bluejeans]

A couple of the routes are a fair bit less direct than a car ride, and the longer ones seems geared towards people needing occasional trips to downtown, not daily commuters. What's their on-time running like? Does anyone use the longer distance ones for commuting? And if anyone here is from SoCal, how does it compare to things like Metrolink and the Kern County regional buses? The latter seemed underused, I'd go from Bakersfield to Santa Clarita several times and I was often the only one on, especially past the grapevine.

[ashbeeigh]

I don’t think you’ll get a lot of answers here about CARTs. I am a social worker and had a client need to get from east Austin to downtown San Marcos for a meeting and she had experience with CARTs before and was able to navigate the process but it seemed overly complicated and the schedule was hard to understand. I don’t think I would rely on it being your everyday option, honestly. But got every once in a while things, sure. We are VERY CAR oriented here.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

If I'm not in a hurry, sometimes when I'm in the 620 and I-35 section of Austin metro, instead of taking I-35 to Wm Cannon, I'll exit at 620 and take that road to 2222 and come in to Austin from the west for some of the most scenic views in the city. Then take to Mopac to Wm Cannon to South 1st area in far South Central Austin. And sometimes I'll take 620 all the way to 71 and come into Austin thru Oak Hill and SW Parkway to Wm Cannon. But usually I'll take I-35 or MoPac to South Austin. There's lots of good alternatives to get through Austin.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

If I'm not in a hurry, sometimes when I'm in the 620 and I-35 section of Austin metro, instead of taking I-35 to Wm Cannon, I'll exit at 620 and take that road to 2222 and come in to Austin from the west for some of the most scenic views in the city. Then take to Mopac to Wm Cannon to South 1st area in far South Central Austin. And sometimes I'll take 620 all the way to 71 and come into Austin thru Oak Hill and SW Parkway to Wm Cannon. But usually I'll take I-35 or MoPac to South Austin. There's lots of good alternatives to get through Austin.

You had better not be in a hurry if you consider taking 620 and 2222 over I-35 ...

I would just take 45 & MoPac Toll // Express Lanes.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

You had better not be in a hurry if you consider taking 620 and 2222 over I-35 ...

I would just take 45 & MoPac Toll // Express Lanes.

I know. That's what I said - if I'm not in a hurry. Sometimes I just feel like driving but not on the interstate. I don't take that route often but every now and then I like to. But usually I'll take MoPac or 35 simply because it's quicker and I just wanna get home or where ever it is I'm going.

Maybe I got it wrong, but I thought the point of the thread is alternate routes into Austin, from one end to the other, so that's why I posted what I posted.

[ashbeeigh]

I think the alternative transportation OP was looking for was public transportation. I take Airport to Ben white to mopac to 45 to 1626 to Kyle when I have the time, but that’s clearly not what OP was looking for.