I need a little perspective...

[citrinesunset]

Don't know if I'll get any answers here, but humor me: for those of you who have lived/worked/attended school in metropolitan areas, and relied largely on walking and public transportation such as buses or subways/trains to get around (that is, transportation where you get off at certain stop and may still need to walk a little to get to your actual destination), what would you consider a reasonable amount of time to spend walking to a particular destination? In a single day?

I'm going to be trying my city's bus system this fall to get to school, and it's admittedly not the greatest public transportation system out there. I'm trying to get a little bit of perspective on what's normal.

Comments

[xtricks.livejournal.com]

It really depends on the city. I walk three blocks to my stop here and less than that to my workplace (and it was similar when I went to school) but we have excellent transit (also, my commute is abut 25 mins, during the morning rush hour).

In LA, my commute was 1.75 hrs during rush hour and .75 at 2 am. I've been known to easily walk a half-mile or so but I also know folks who are less urban who will walk a mile to a stop.

But I've been committed to not having a car for over 20 years now, and that's different for many people who see public transit as a second choice to preferred car ownership.

[citrinesunset.livejournal.com]

My thing is, it looks like the nearest stop I can get is a good mile from my actual destination. Which...isn't ideal, but I think I can manage.

[xtricks.livejournal.com]

I'm big on folks using public transit but in this case, do keep in mind the textbook issue. Can you carry however many books that amoutn of time?

[citrinesunset.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's an issue I'm definitely keeping in mind. I'm going to play it by ear, and try to figure out the bus routes a little better, too. Because I would have time to catch a connecting bus if there is one -- the routes are just confusing to figure out.

[fiwen1010.livejournal.com]

I walk half an hour in each direction to university. I'm not sure how far it is, but that's how long it takes me. I'd walk anything up to 45 minutes - an hour would be too much to do twice, but I'll do an hour and a half return trip

[citrinesunset.livejournal.com]

that sounds pretty close to what I'm estimating.

[rm.livejournal.com]

In NY I pretty much don't have to walk if I don't want to. Generally, it's very hard to be more than a half-mile from any public transit and most people don't have to walk more than say, a 1/6 of a mile to a train.

But walking is a way of life here, so even with the awesome public transit, I probably walk 2 - 3 miles a day just between all my errands and stuff.

[citrinesunset.livejournal.com]

I like my city, but someday I'd definitely love to live somewhere with a stronger public transit system like that.

Good to know walking is pretty normal, though.

[verasteine.livejournal.com]

Okay, so I live in a suburb and work downtown, so connections are pretty good. Even in the summer, when they are redoing my tram stop and therefore I have to walk ten minutes to the nearest stop, I still manage my commute in about 40 mins. But you know, European transit system, totally not applicable to your situation.

[citrinesunset.livejournal.com]

It's nice you have good connections over there. I live in the suburbs, but here it's not that easy to get from the suburbs to the city. At least, not my city. Others may differ.

Your experiences are totally relevant, though! I just wanted to get an idea how much walking a person can do before it starts to get a bit extreme. :P