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You really don't need a car in L.A. anymore. Fly into LAX, hop on the Green line shuttle, which will take you to the Green Line, get your $5 Tap Card, and away you go!
They also have an outstanding bus system as well!
The buses all go 50 mph so Sandra Bullock doesn't explode in a fireball.
Can't make an informed comment either way on any of the other cities already mentioned. Public transportation is horribly inadequate in most U.S. cities I've been to.
I just came from my Chicago visit last night and was a different experience for me this time compared to the other places I have traveled to. I wasn't too expensive for me since I stayed in hostel and was dependent on public transportation and not on rental car.
I would like to know what other places have good public transportation which I can use for visiting places in the city? I have already been to NY and Los Angeles so it's put of list.
"Good" is going to be determined by your tolerance for waiting and what you want to do in any city, large or otherwise. One way to determine if it's possible to have a good tourist experience without a rental car is:
Identify places you want to see.
Mark them on say, Google Maps or any app that identifies bus, rail, subway stops
Go to the transit system web site to get some idea of how often the bus, train, etc. services the locations.
Form an opinion about transit-only viability (don't forget about Uber/Lyft!) and then post your places list to the appropriate Citi-Data forum.
Listen to what they say, and be willing to add or delete from your list.
The first time I took this approach was when I visited Cleveland, and I was pleasantly surprised. I was able to go by rail from the airport to downtown (less than $3, I think), and all the places I wanted to see were easily reached by other rail lines. I used a cab once, but only because it was hot and I was tired (otherwise would have walked the 2 1/2 miles). I saved all the locations in a "Cleveland Trip" Google map - that made foot transit a lot easier.
The public transit needs of a tourist are a lot different than those of a resident. My guess is that if you're willing to be flexible regarding your list, can walk a bit, and won't rule out an occasional cab/Uber ride a lot of cities will be "in play".
Some cities might not have a great public transportation system but have one that is fine for tourists.
Recently took a trip to Santa Barbara - we stayed downtown on State Street and waked most places we wanted to go, made use of both the State Street and Waterfront trolleys. We walked to the mission - husband and daughter insisted on ubering it back ($5)
I live in San Diego and travel to Honolulu quite a bit - both places are pretty easy to getaround as a tourist but I'm not sure how good their systems would be on a day-to-day basis.
The first time I took this approach was when I visited Cleveland, and I was pleasantly surprised. I was able to go by rail from the airport to downtown (less than $3, I think), and all the places I wanted to see were easily reached by other rail lines. I used a cab once, but only because it was hot and I was tired (otherwise would have walked the 2 1/2 miles). I saved all the locations in a "Cleveland Trip" Google map - that made foot transit a lot easier.
The public transit needs of a tourist are a lot different than those of a resident. My guess is that if you're willing to be flexible regarding your list, can walk a bit, and won't rule out an occasional cab/Uber ride a lot of cities will be "in play".
You make a couple good points.
In Cleveland, you can get around to all of the tourist things using the bus/train system during normal hours. It is a pretty decent system.
In addition, the Cleveland RTA is pretty good as a resident if you start from Day One saying that you plan to ride buses and trains around town and choose your living arrangements around that.
It is NOT a good system if you work in an adjacent county, if you work late or irregular hours, or if you are out late on weekend nights. In the pre-Uber era, taxis were NOT an alternative in Cleveland as the three times I needed one, i was quoted a three hour wait time (and it was not during a weather event).
Personally, I liked the Philadelphia system a great deal. That is a very tourist-friendly bus system.
My biggest hesitation about public transportation in ANY unfamiliar city is personal safety. If i am driving and wander into a bad area, I can get out of there quickly. With a bus or a train, that is more difficult.
If looking for good public transportation don't bother going to Anchorage Alaska. When I worked at the airport it took me 25 minutes to drive during what little of a rush hour there was. To take the bus required two and a half hours and involved a one mile walk to catch the bus home.
There are a few transfer locations, You have at best a 50-50 chance of making the transfer as several of the routes are designed such that it is impossible to stay on schedule. About the time I left Anchorage the city was kicking around the idea of give city busses that same ability that fire trucks have to change traffic lights as they approach. I hope they canned that idea as it would really mess up traffic.
the only city that I know in the US with good public transportation is NYC (especially the subway system).
for all the other cities that people are citing above, public transportation is either not reliable, not good, expensive or not covering much of the city.
For example in LA it doesnt cover much, and in SF it is very expensive and not reliable.
That is correct. In Chicago, which is reputed to have good public trans, it's good if you live and work near the red, brown, or blue lines and are not in a hurry. Otherwise, it's horrible.
San Diego isn't too bad. I've lived here without a car for the last 5 years. A couple of caveats, however. I would never want to do it if I had small children. Secondly, you really must live within 5-10 miles of your work or the transfers/time will be too taxing each day. Finally, grocery shopping is a major pain-in-the-rearend. On the bright side, it is really inexpensive, not too terribly tacky and it gives me a chance to read instead of drive on my commute. Plus, the $$ I save is phenomenal.
Denver is improving, especially with the recent opening of the commuter rail line from DIA to downtown Union Station. Also recently improved express bus-only lanes to Boulder.
The RTD's on-line routing site is good.
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