Good Public Transportation!!!! (Columbia: how much, college, taxis)

[innocence123]

What Is Public Transportation Like In Cola Is There A Major Busline And How Much Does It Cost. How Often Does It Run. Does It Have Many Thoroughfares. How About Taxi's How Much Do They Normally Run???? If You Didn't Have A Car Could You Make It In Columbia????

[Woodlands]

You may want to check their website for schedule and fares. I have not rode on teh bus in years. The quality of the vehicles has improved considerably, I am not sure about the quality of the service, though they have extended the route over the years CMRTA

[Captain Worley]

The bus system doesn't really work for me, but check out their routes and you might be able to figure something out.

Decent numbers of taxis due to the fort and the airport, but you can pretty much forget about hailing a cab. You gotta call them.

[Iraqvet]

Columbia without a car. Hahahahaha. Have fun with that. But all jokes aside, you would definitely need a car in Columbia. Everything is so spread out in Columbia and IMO, public transportation is a joke. I don't know how much it has improved within the last couple of years but when I was there the buses did not have extensive operating routes. Basically from what I saw, the buses were only good for getting around downtown and the outlying areas.

[sonofaque86]

CMRTA - Routes & Schedules

[waccamatt]

My roommate sometimes uses the bus to get to and from work. It isn't the most convenient mode of travel, but if you live and work in-town it is certainly a viable option. If you live or work in the suburbs it is a less viable option unless both places are on a bus line.

[ranger17]

id guess that public trans there is very similar to up here ( or in most cities for that matter ). All originally designed to handle the load in a metro setting, then as the population sprawls outward to the burbs it's "limitations" show up more frequently. Up here there is interest in rails to help out, but again useage depends on where one lives.
As gas jumps, interest in public options increases so it's always good to know if there are ways to get around besides one's own auto

[carolinagrrl29]

I agree with the previous posters. If you are staying in the downtown area of Columbia, as long as you can stick with the schedules, taking the bus is an option. You can walk to pretty much anywhere downtown, as it's a college town anyway. Once you hit, the suburbs, though, you MUST have a car to get around conveniently! There's great info about the city at columbia.cities.sc.

[Njincola]

No reliable public transportation,you must have a car to live in SC,buses only run in certain areas main st,colonial drive,farrow rd,beltline,broad river and two notch and that seems like every 2hrs unless u know that bus schedule you just standing out there for nothing until a bus finally comes along.Now the taxis I see them all the time but I don't know what there rates are,probably high being the the buses don't run that often and the cab drivers know this.

[melskybell]

Can you take bicycles on the buses?Mel