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[bookishone]

The trouble with the bus (class issues aside, I don't want to get into that debate) is that you aren't always assured of getting off at the right stop. Even when I ask the driver, which I hate to do because I'm shy, I worry that he will forget, and in a strange city I don't know when to be "prepared" to get off. Am I supposed to request a stop, or will the bus stop automatically? If he's stopping now, is it for me? How will I recognize the right street/building and know that we're passing my stop, if he forgets? etc. Plus the anxiety over finding the bus stop, making sure it's the right stop, reading the correct schedule, getting on the right bus, making the transfer, having the right change, etc. It's fine if it's a city I've lived in for a while (used the busses in suburban DC/Maryland to get to work no problem), but a strange city? On my way to a stint as guest speaker? Yikes.

On the other hand, I *love* the subway/metro/T/tube/whathaveyou. Plenty of maps, change machines, I've never taken the wrong train or had trouble finding my way to and through the station, and as long as I pay attention and get off at the right place, I am assured that the train will indeed stop at my stop. I can even follow along on the little map that's often printed inside the car. Subways can be just as crowded and dirty and filled with the desperate members of society as busses may be, but at least I know where I'm going and that I'll get there without having to make a fuss about it. I understand about how subways require much more cost, construction, disruption etc. to be installed, and busses run relatively "light" in comparison, but I'll take a subway over a bus any day.

I do have a friend from grad school who had a campus visit in NYC and was expected to take the subway to campus. She was not very familiar with New York, so it was an added stress for her to navigate the New York subway system (more confusing than most), but she made it there just fine. I wonder if the school presented the subway to her as a historical transport system of which the city is proud....

[jonesey]

Subways can be just as crowded and dirty and filled with the desperate members of society as busses may be...

You've just nailed my reason for not taking public transportation.  Unless you have to, I just don't see why you would want to, that's all.  I like not being surrounded (pressed on at all sides by) a bunch of other people, hacking and coughing on me, spilling their drinks, etc. 

[qrypt]

Collective action / public goods problem here.  Those who can afford it use private means, and then oppose proper public funding of public transportation - and then surprise surprise it works out that public transportation is inconvenient and unpleasant.  It's the same dynamic that makes many southern public schools remain such dismal places.  And of course it is also a self-reinforcing dynamic, one that individuals can't fix with their own choices/transactions. 

Meanwhile there are all sorts of externalities from private transportation, costs that aren't being borne by drivers - in essence a public subsidy *to* drivers. 

So, we are confronted by politics.  On this particular issue, one person I do *not* draw inspiration from is Margaret Thatcher. 

[wegie]

The trouble with the bus (class issues aside, I don't want to get into that debate) is that you aren't always assured of getting off at the right stop. Even when I ask the driver, which I hate to do because I'm shy, I worry that he will forget, and in a strange city I don't know when to be "prepared" to get off. Am I supposed to request a stop, or will the bus stop automatically? If he's stopping now, is it for me? How will I recognize the right street/building and know that we're passing my stop, if he forgets? etc. Plus the anxiety over finding the bus stop, making sure it's the right stop, reading the correct schedule, getting on the right bus, making the transfer, having the right change, etc. It's fine if it's a city I've lived in for a while (used the busses in suburban DC/Maryland to get to work no problem), but a strange city? On my way to a stint as guest speaker? Yikes.

Come to London!

It may be annoying to us locals, but the buses are gradually all implementing a system where a recorded voice and a screen display tell you what the next stop is.

[neutralname]

Yes, they have that in many towns and suburbs these days.

Can't you also get a GPS built into your cell phone so you know where you are? 

[secretweapon]

It amazes me to meet, as I sometimes do, people who have done PhDs, bought houses, had children, written books, and mastered classroom management... and are afraid to take a bus. 

[samspade]

It amazes me to meet, as I sometimes do, people who have done PhDs, bought houses, had children, written books, and mastered classroom management... and are afraid to take a bus. 

Having been dragged out to the Southside of Chicago to see the Sox play at Comiskey by my cousins (I am a Cub fan), I can undestand why people hestitate to take public transportation in some areas. There are some weird people who ride the El.

[daurousseau]

Reed has a nice events calendar:
http://events.reed.edu/

Maybe they should have a bus page, with pictures of visiting speakers riding public transport. 

From the airport
Take Tri-Met MAX light rail or bus from downtown or the airport for $1.70. From the airport taxi-limousine area, take the Redline MAX to the Hollywood Transit Center. Take bus #75 heading to Milwaukie. Get off at 39th Avenue and Woodstock Boulevard. Walk down the hill on Woodstock to campus. Travel time varies; plan on an hour and a half. To find out when the next bus runs, call 503/238-RIDE, or check online at www.trimet.org.

http://web.reed.edu/apply/gettingtoreed.html

It does sound like a bit of a trek.

Don't think the OP could be talking about Reed. OP mentioned a well-endowed school. Definitely rules Reed out with its paltry endowment.

[jonesey]

Collective action / public goods problem here.  Those who can afford it use private means, and then oppose proper public funding of public transportation - and then surprise surprise it works out that public transportation is inconvenient and unpleasant.  It's the same dynamic that makes many southern public schools remain such dismal places.  And of course it is also a self-reinforcing dynamic, one that individuals can't fix with their own choices/transactions. 

Meanwhile there are all sorts of externalities from private transportation, costs that aren't being borne by drivers - in essence a public subsidy *to* drivers. 

So, we are confronted by politics.  On this particular issue, one person I do *not* draw inspiration from is Margaret Thatcher. 

I actually agree 100% here.  I'm all for public transit funding (as well as public education).  We need more, not less, of these sorts of things. 

I just found the Thatcher quote amusing, not a mantra to live by.

[sagit]

Well, it's one thing support public transportation and I have no problem taking a bus.  Except, where I live in a rather densely populated area of the US there is no bus/train system that could take me from home to work (unless I walked 2 miles to get there and another mile to get to work).  Sometimes its not about avoiding it but about availability.

Now for the OP, yes I would be annoyed to have to figure out some new city's bus system to get to invited talk!  Most places I've lived, the public transportation is NOT easy to figure out so I guess that's my bias for any bus or train system.  In my opinion, if one is invited to give a talk at another institution, it is that institution's responsibility to make sure you get to and from their campus.  That's just common courtesy.

[bewildered]

Only in America... What's wrong with public transport: brings you where you need to be, in comfortable conditions, at a reasonable price.

When I've given invited talks in the UK, France, Japan, and South Korea, I was either picked up or told to take a taxi. 

[drangie]

barlinkhorse, can you give us a report on how it all actually went?

[daurousseau]

The trouble with the bus (class issues aside, I don't want to get into that debate) is that you aren't always assured of getting off at the right stop.

The solution to this problem in today's world is to get on the cell to someone who knows where the right stop is, and describe everything along your way. When you say, "there's a Maaco coming up then Rose's Gifts and Guns," they'll say, "You're almost there...pull the signal and the bus will leave you in front of the burnt-out Waffle House."

In other words, riding the bus is just like driving the car.

You make a good point. In fact, it can be generalized to life. In life, you are never assured of getting off at the right stop.

[polly_mer]

The solution to this problem in today's world is to get on the cell to someone who knows where the right stop is, and describe everything along your way. When you say, "there's a Maaco coming up then Rose's Gifts and Guns," they'll say, "You're almost there...pull the signal and the bus will leave you in front of the burnt-out Waffle House."

In other words, riding the bus is just like driving the car.

I don't know how to respond to this post.  I'm laughing too hard to do anything other than say "We clearly inhabit vastly different worlds".