Why do YOU use MBTA Commuter Rail? (Boston: cost of, train)

[frischee112]

I am doing research on why commuter rail service in the Northeast and Chicagoland is more heavily used than those in Western Cities such as Los Angeles despite the horrific traffic there. So what are your reasons for taking the train instead of driving or the bus?

[holden125]

Traffic, but particularly ease cost of parking. It's a quick and easy 20 minutes on the train and I can read instead of hitting the brake pedal every 10 seconds. Traffic on the streets of downtown Boston also is not fun at rush hour.

My personal opinion is that the difference in ridership rates across regions is cultural. My dad took the train to work, as did his dad. People in large northeastern metro areas or Chicago have been riding the train to work for 100 years. It's normal here. To people in LA and most other western cities taking anything other than a car to work is outside their realm of experience. All sorts of connotations people here would think insane (only poor people take the train/bus, etc.). In some places it's changing, but I recall the movie "Singles" from about 1992. The guy was proposing a light rail in Seattle, and his boss kept saying "we're westerners--we drive our cars." Now they have the light rail in Seattle, Denver, etc., but it's still not as culturally ingrained.

[kmann-sherborn]

It's usually a more predictable commute, and much less stressful if I have to go to Boston during rush hour. I'd rather read the paper than stress out about traffic and why the heck Massachusetts can't seem to get rid of the darn tolls.