trail rail vs buses and shuttles- general questions (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: mover, neighborhoods)

[nankjay]

i've been reading about the trail rail as a good way to get around...does it make local stops??? I only see stops really spread out throughout miami, ft lauderdale and wpb

also...was told some cities are adopting shuttles to help people get around....and the demographics of people riding them migtt be better than the buses

anyone w, experience with city shuttles??

also...anyone with experience riding the buses?? I know transp is difficut in general but are the types of people riding the buses as bad as I hear or is it safe without any other kind of option.

(I put this in separate thread because it is a general question that is a separate topic..hope that's ok)

Thx for your help!!! I am in process of finding walkable and accessible neighborhoods but the realtor i am working with brought up a good point...basically the heat makes it diffficult to walk anywhere, even close and I am very sensitive to heat.

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by nankjay

i've been reading about the trail rail as a good way to get around...does it make local stops??? I only see stops really spread out throughout miami, ft lauderdale and wpb

also...was told some cities are adopting shuttles to help people get around....and the demographics of people riding them migtt be better than the buses

anyone w, experience with city shuttles??

also...anyone with experience riding the buses?? I know transp is difficut in general but are the types of people riding the buses as bad as I hear or is it safe without any other kind of option.

(I put this in separate thread because it is a general question that is a separate topic..hope that's ok)

Thx for your help!!! I am in process of finding walkable and accessible neighborhoods but the realtor i am working with brought up a good point...basically the heat makes it diffficult to walk anywhere, even close and I am very sensitive to heat.

tri rail only goes north and south along I-95 pretty much. Generally speaking there are no destinations one would really want or need to go to along 95 that would warrant taking the tri-rail UNLESS you are using it to get to your job in another county. In that case you would take the tri rail and then from there take a bus, shuttle or have someone pick you up. I have known of a few people to take the tri rail, all liked it a LOT. Miami is the only city that links tri rail with a few modes of transportation (bus, heavy rail called metro rail and then you can also get to the metro mover which is a bus/shuttle type elevated system through out the downtown Miami area).

Bus: my brother was a big bus rider a year or so ago (he has a car, just liked taking the bus) and a friend of mine from NYC who comes down here to visit every so often also takes the bus when he is here. Neither of them seemed to have any problems or issues with the people on the bus.

Can not tell you much about shuttles, sorry.

Heat, well yeah thats pretty much any and everywhere in South Florida. You will not be able to escape that. Also you will show up to your destination pretty sweaty so that is a major draw back to mass transit here in Florida.

[crisan]

Originally Posted by nankjay

i've been reading about the trail rail as a good way to get around...does it make local stops??? I only see stops really spread out throughout miami, ft lauderdale and wpb

It is a good way to get around counties as Wild Style said. I used it every weekday and loved it because I was able to get tons of studying done. Travel time on the BCT (county buses) from Tamarac to the Tri-Rail Cypress station was about 45 minutes.

The biggest issue most people had was that the Tri-rail would be late and then passengers would miss their connecting buses. They would have to wait up to an hour for the next bus. This was also the case with BCT being late to Tri-Rail. I really didn't mind since I was able to study.

You are right that there are few stations north of Miami. You would probably stop at Fort Lauderdale and have to get through the rougher parts of town to get to the Sunrise. Even so, the only routes I saw west were to Plantation, Davie and Lauderhill. So your route would include additional stops unless somebody was willing to pick you up at, say, Broward Mall.

Originally Posted by nankjay

also...was told some cities are adopting shuttles to help people get around....and the demographics of people riding them migtt be better than the buses

anyone w, experience with city shuttles??

I have taken the Tamarac shuttles and the passengers are mostly the elderly. I looked at Margate's shuttles and it is pretty much the same idea as Tamarac. The shuttles stay within city limits and most go round in circles. However, some routes will cross city lines to stop at major shopping centers. For example, Margate has a route to Coral Springs Square Mall. You can then take a bus down to Sunrise and the people are decent in that area.

BCT has routes that run directly east to west and routes that run directly north to south (vice versa).

Originally Posted by nankjay

also...anyone with experience riding the buses?? I know transp is difficut in general but are the types of people riding the buses as bad as I hear or is it safe without any other kind of option.
.

When I didn't feel like waiting for the Tri-Rail, I would take different routes throughout Broward County with the buses. I never had a bad experience. Bring a good book or lots of music.

[StilltheSame]

It is just awful for planned, reliable travel. And the weather makes it difficult to have comfortable connections (waiting in the rain and/or heat). Because traffic in SFL is so unpredictable, connecting buses are often early or more often late and you are subject to the elements. I think the public transporation system is tragically flawed in the tri county area - as a result few use it.

[crisan]

Originally Posted by StilltheSame

It is just awful for planned, reliable travel. And the weather makes it difficult to have comfortable connections (waiting in the rain and/or heat). Because traffic in SFL is so unpredictable, connecting buses are often early or more often late and you are subject to the elements. I think the public transporation system is tragically flawed in the tri county area - as a result few use it.

I have to agree with this as I would wake up at 5 am just to make it to my 7:30 class. The professor would lock the doors on us. When I told him my situation with the BCT and Tri-Rail, he said, "I know there are earlier trains you can catch."

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by crisanmos

I have to agree with this as I would wake up at 5 am just to make it to my 7:30 class. The professor would lock the doors on us. When I told him my situation with the BCT and Tri-Rail, he said, "I know there are earlier trains you can catch."

Tri-rail, busses and metrorail all force you to wait outside without air conditioning. Pretty stupid in my opinion. As for your professor I would complain to the department chair and/or the dean to put that "professor" in its place. At a college of adults you cannot restrict access to a class a student paid for. All they can do is deduct from grades and in my opinion any who do are idiots. When a student at FIU I had one of those losers try and pull that on me but the dean straightened him out quickly.

[crisan]

Originally Posted by tallrick

Tri-rail, busses and metrorail all force you to wait outside without air conditioning. Pretty stupid in my opinion. As for your professor I would complain to the department chair and/or the dean to put that "professor" in its place. At a college of adults you cannot restrict access to a class a student paid for. All they can do is deduct from grades and in my opinion any who do are idiots. When a student at FIU I had one of those losers try and pull that on me but the dean straightened him out quickly.

He did give us access to the lecture but he would lock the doors for pop quizzes. I never thought of complaining since I needed him to write a letter of rec.

[crisan]

Okay, so this is a little off topic but I still wanted to share this video. I knew that our public transportation was terrible but I didn't realize it was like this on purpose.

I found the video on another thread in CD. It is about how GM and others fought against decent public transportation.

It is about 1 hour long.

Taken for a Ride

[hurricaneMan1992]

You may want to change your realtor who says walkable areas are not possible in hot climates. Hong Kong and Singapore come immediately to mind. Now Miami is no Hong Kong or Singapore, but there are walkable areas, especially near the beach. However, public transportation in Broward, and Tri-Rail in particular, is a joke.