Public Transportation: SF vs. Boston (best, cost, better, rates) - City-Data Forum

rascal-c · 01-05-2010, 12:30 PM

Hey everyone,

I'm wondering how the SF public transportation system holds up to the public transportation in Boston - it would be great to hear from someone who knows both well.

I have lived in Boston and NYC and am now living in LA. I actually like LA as a place to live but hate, hate hate the driving. I grew up not driving and have never been comfortable with it. It really is an impediment to my life here and I would love to get back to a city where I don't really need to drive.

I'm looking at grad school and Berkeley is on the list. If I move to SF and live in the city proper, but attend school at Berkeley, will I be able to get around easily without a car compared to how one can get around in Boston? For reference, I lived in Brookline when I was in Boston - still near the trains and with great bus service, but not "in the city." I know that compared to NYC public transit SF won't measure up - but how does it compare to Boston?

Thanks!

gogetta · 01-05-2010, 12:33 PM

The Bay Area has great PT and so does Boston from what I hear, but I only have experience with PT in SF Bay Area. If I recall correctly BART was named the best PT system in the country a couple of years ago so I will go with SF.

johnatl · 01-05-2010, 12:35 PM

I think San Francisco, well the Bay Area in general really, outdoes Boston in this department.

rah · 01-05-2010, 01:10 PM

For public transportation serving SF there's:

MUNI (buses, light rail, cable cars. SF only, with a couple lines that go to San Mateo and Marin counties) - roughly 700,000 passengers a day (about 550,000 bus, 150,000 light rail, i believe)
BART (heavy commuter rail/metro hybrid. SF, east bay, some of the peninsula, soon to expand to San Jose) - 350,000 riders a day
Caltrain (commuter rail. SF, Peninsula, San Jose, Gilroy) - 40,000 riders a day

there are several other public transportation systems in the Bay Area, all of which except for VTA serve parts of SF too:

AC transit (buses, Alameda and Contra Costa counties) - 240,000 riders a day
SamTrans (buses, San Mateo county) - 50,000 riders a day
VTA (buses and light rail, Santa Clara county) - 135,000 riders a day (102,000 bus, 33,000 light rail)
Golden Gate Transit (buses, ferries, Marin and Sonoma county) - 13,000 riders a day

There are some other ferry services too, as well as some more commuter rail lines that serve other parts of the Bay, such as ACE and capitol corridor, which take you from the east or south bay to the central valley.

as far as public transit riders as a percentage of commuters, as of 2006 SF and Boston are neck and neck (although according to this graph http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US...tterns2006.png SF was a little higher than Boston in 2008):

Boston: 31.6%
San Francisco: 30.29%

Rockford101 · 01-05-2010, 01:11 PM

This is a very close call, but I think I would go with Boston.

The two cities are VERY close, however, in terms of public transportation.

tmac9wr · 01-05-2010, 01:12 PM

As far as ridership, Boston does a bit better than San Francisco. But it's not as if they're in two different classes. It seems like BART almost acts as both a commuter rail and a subway...while Boston's subway acts as more of an urban railway with a separate commuter rail system. From what I can tell, you shouldn't have much problem getting from San Francisco to Berkeley.

Daily Ridership

Heavy Rail (Ridership/Mile of Track)
San Francisco: 354,800 over 104 miles (3,412)
Boston: 479,300 over 38 miles (12,613)

Light Rail
San Francisco: 186,200 over 71.5 miles (2,139)
Boston: 237,700 over 25.4 miles (8,489)

Commuter Rail
Bay Area: 40,300 over 77 miles (523)
Boston: 138,700 over 368 miles (377)

I'll be back later with some maps if no one posts them...but I have to finish up some work.

rah · 01-05-2010, 01:19 PM

^how exactly did you figure out the riders per square mile number? It looks to me like you took the total number of riders per system, then divided it by the length of miles that each rail system is...i could be wrong, but wouldn't that be average number of riders per mile of track, and not riders per SQUARE mile?

tmac9wr · 01-05-2010, 01:29 PM

You're right, my brain was only 50% focused on the forum and 50% focused on work haha. I should probably only do one thing at a time.

Fixed!

Cliff Clavin · 01-05-2010, 01:52 PM

The BART is an excellent system (fast, quiet, smooth ride), but operates more like Boston's commuter rail. Great for getting from one city to another, but doesn't offer much help at a neighborhood level. More often than not, you're a good cab ride from the nearest BART station which IMO defeats the purpose. Fare rates are even based on distance, like the commuter rail.

I've never used the MUNI light rail system, so can't comment there. MUNI buses are very convenient in downtown SF though. I've ridden them a number of times.

Overall I'd take Boston's subway system over the BART mainly for the convience factor.

adambos · 01-05-2010, 02:32 PM

Boston easily wins in this category. SF is heavily dependant on buses, while most of Boston proper is on the "T", that is the train. The BART is more like a commuter rail, which you cold use to get into SF from the east bay. It seemed like many more people lived car free in Boston than in SF, although it is CA's best bet. Good luck!