Learning the Ropes of Public Transportation in College

If you are attending a big city school far from home, you may be in luck. Most big cities have excellent public transportation systems in place, which means that you can save hundreds of dollars in gas money by leaving your car at home. However, if you’ve been brought up behind the wheel as a driving commuter your entire life, the idea of jumping onto a train or bus can be daunting. But learning the ropes of taking public transit is easy and soon you’ll be riding the rails like a pro.

Many public transportation services have websites that will break down all of the routes, timetables, and fare prices for you. This will come in handy as you figure out where you need to go and how you can get there and back again. As for fare prices, if you know that you will be taking public transportation often instead of walking to your destinations, consider purchasing an unlimited monthly or weekly pass. This will speed up the process of boarding a bus or train because you won’t have to root around your wallet or purse for change every time you need a ride. With an unlimited pass, or even a stored value pass, you just need to swipe your pass over the vehicle’s magnetic sensor and go.

To determine how to use the public transportation system, study the route maps of the buses and trains. Find the closest stops near where you live and look over where those buses or trains can take you because you will most likely be using that stop more frequently than any other stop. Some city transportation services have handy online tools that can help you figure out exactly what buses and transfers you need to take to get somewhere, such as the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Trip Planner, where you can plug in a starting point and destination and the tool will figure out the rest. All in all, the best way to get yourself familiarized with the public transportation system in your city is to get on it. Do not be afraid to use public transportation frequently and to ask bus drivers or train conductors about how to get to your destination. Before you know it, you will know exactly which buses and trains to take to get anywhere in the city and you will have the opportunity to explore more areas of your community than someone who only sticks to places within walking distance.

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 9:57 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.