Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Cities With the Best Public Transportation

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"Reality is that Atlanta successfully hosted the Centennial Olympic Games in the Summer of 1996, more than a decade ago."

Wow, I've been involved with the Olympics since the mid-80s, including IOC meetings at the Lausanne headquarters and elsewhere. Not only do I attend the Games but I visit the cities beforehand.

Atlanta is universally ridiculed for its handling of the Games. It's held up as an example of what not to do.

As the New York Times noted in its wrapup:

"In the wake of the bomb explosion in Centennial Olympic Park, a distressed transportation system, glitches in the IBM computer system and tacky commercialism, the president of the International Olympic Committee was muted in his assessment of the Games in his speech at Sunday night's closing ceremony."

This from a guy who -- otherwise without fail -- closes every Games with a "best Games ever" quote.

Atlanta was the Samaranch's exception.

How did this turn into a defending Atlanta post? LOL. If I start defending "my" San Jose, CA, I know I will be put down so I won't even try. :-)

My votes are for:
NYC but only once you get here ($7 for an all day metrocard). Mass Transit isn't the easiest from the airport

Washington, DC - National Airport So easy to take the Blue or Yellow line from the airport ($6.50 for a one day pass). Dulles is ok, take the Washington Flyer shuttle bus.

Boston - Logan Airport there's a free shuttle bus to take you to the train station, and from there, the city is yours (now $9 for a one day pass)

The Bay Area A friend of mine did this going home to SF. Why when he had plenty of friends willing to pick him up, I will never know, as he's not a normal BART rider. But he liked his experience (which may not bode well for my next trip to the Bay Area!). (no daily pass here, I don't think)

I hear that the Dallas/Ft. Worth area will have better mass transit from the airport to the city within the next 7 years...right now, better stick with a rental car.

That's my vote, and I'm sticking to it (until someone jogs a memory)

So THAT'S whst the screen name REPETE alludes too? Thanks for going back and digging up an ancient post-mortem ... and from a news organization that, in recent years, has proven to the world how truly untrustworthy its "all the news that's fit to print" really is! And that's coming from me, a former employee of the NYT!

Again: Atlanta successfully hosted a summer Olympics, which is something no other U.S. city (i.e. New York) will likely ever do again in our lifetimes due to the present political state of affairs in this world.

Guess what, Newsboy, time hasn't changed the failure of Atlanta.

And it doesn't change what Samaranch did or did not say. Were you there?

It wasn't just the transportation, it was the computer problems, the bombing and the bribery scandal. It wasn't just the NYT's Jere Longman, one of the world's top Olympic experts, who felt that way. (Longman is no Judy Miller.)

And I'd love to take a wager on whether the Olympics will be back in the U.S. in our lifetime ... the IOC isn't the UN and it's money, mostly in the form of TV contracts, that drives their decisions.

Time to take off your Atlanta blinders ... or change your screen name to HOMER.

Apologies for the threadjack ...

In steering this back toward the topic, is there any reason for a new airport to be built without a rapid system into town? That's where Chicago earns a lot of points in my book. although the hike to the train at Midway seems a bit long ...

Well in my view, the better the public transportaion, the better the city. All these places are on my list as first-choice weekend trips, depending on what kind of airfare deals I can get.

Thanks so much, everyone.

IN REPLY TO REPETE (with apologies to other posters to this worthy thread topic):

You were right about one thing: The Olympic movement is sadly all about money and politics, and not about sport or the goodness of mankind. Having witneseed and been a part of the Games up close and personally, that was the most disappointing reality.

As for computer glitches, the 1996 Games marked the first major workd event that used the new emerging technology known as the Internet to disperse information; it was unproven but helped captapult us to where we are today.

And justice was served: Bill Campbell, mayor of Atlanta during the games, is serving time in federal prison for corruption that went on throughout his administration, if not specifically related to the Olympics. Eric Robert Rudolph, the long-sought Olympic Park bomber, is also serving his sentence of life behind bars (though clearly no one can place blame on the city or Atlanta planners for what he did anymore so than you could blame New York for 9/11! Atlanta was a victim, not an accomplice!)

Millions of people each year seek out Centennial Olympic Park to experience and remember the good things that came of the 1996 Games. I dare say time does heal wounds for those who choose to allow it.

OK-- I am going to NYC in May. Does one airport have better/easier public transit than the other?

If you have the option, definitely fly into LaGuardia (LGA), which is much closer to Manhattan and an easy cab ride.

(Public transportation options exist for all 3 airports, but they are a hassle & extremely time-consuming compared to a taxi or car service. I've done 'em all -- anyone who says differently is delusional.)

Having used nearly every one commented on in this thread as a tourist, and in Chicago, as a Southsider- I have this to add.

DC's rocks. You can't expect any city's lines to go EVERYWHERE- the entire intrastructure needed would preclude too much else- I "got to" every one of those places designated as under-busable or nada. I WALKED a lot besides riding every single Metro line.

NYC's is nasty for a tourist. And you nearly getted trampled if you try to ask a reasonable question. There is no good place to stand to ask. I found nearly everything by following mobs (Yankee Stadium) or by interpreting grunt's and vague pointage- I did it, but it was NOT user friendly. And it also had a kind of intermittance express/ local/ oh no that's not after 9pm etc. etc. type of exception thing going on nearly everywhere. Good maybe for locals, not for others. It was dirty period.

Chicago's is great where the tourists and the Northsiders roam. It isn't for the rest of us- which happens to be the majority. It's getting better- but it IS 90% buses, not els or trains or undergrounds for us and also in our weather and security/safety issues- well, not optimal. Orange line is barely a beginning. I could NEVER exist in Chicago without a car, if I lived anywhere South of Pershing Rd.

NorthShore, you are right- from your side. Not my side. Even our trains, except for my Joliet- ROCK ISLAND Metra, are WAY WAY too few in number as they ray out from downtown to the S or SW. Buses end at 95th St. or 111th St. There is another whole world way, way beyond to 200th PLUS. See the PBS stations this week and view Chicago Southwest Suburbs- Birthplace of Chicago. Bet you rarely if ever been to any of them. Ever been to the biggest outdoor sculpture garden/display in the world at Governor's State University in Park Forest? I doubt it.

For instance I can get downtown, but I can't get to U.S. Cellular Field. I can go BY it and wave- but no exit. So I have to go downtown and then take another system back. TERRIBLE. Everything was made for DOWNTOWN, not for the "other", and NOT for now BIGGER mega-areas for business in Chicagoland (like Oakbrook, Orland Park, Tinley Park Corridor etc.)

Also our trains in some instances and els are absolutely nasty. seetheworld, if you think the D.C. are bad! LOL! I helped deliver a woman's baby on the bus in 1965 and afterwards you couldn't even see the stains. LOL! I'm not kidding, the major train from straight South has just gotten a "possible" bathroom after 4 or 5 discriminatory petitions. D.C.'s are chariots of the Gods by comparison.

I just took a Chicago bus down Archer Ave. from my parents in Ashburn (2 more transfers on Kedzie etc. in 20 blocks- besides). It took me an hour to get into the downtown vicinity and the ride got dicey at times too- strongly noticed that all us females huddled together by instinct. Equipment is better than decades ago- that's for sure. But I could have made that ride FROM MY HOUSE, which is 18 more miles away in 1/2 the time as the bus ride from my parents' house took. This is absolutely horrible.

Just another's view!

And also, not one woman I know besides myself would have taken that ride with me. Not the least of the reasons being olfactory.

well i have lived in 4 major metro areas, and travel extensively around the country for work. I have had to switch to utilizing public transportation whenever possible. here is my opinion which I believe is based on some good extensive experience:

NYC: let's face, it the subway system can get you anywhere you want to go in Manhatten. Penn Station now is linked to Neward Airport via NJ transit as well. Access into Jersey via NJ transity is good too. so I rate NYC as very high in terms of accessibilty and coverage. Cleanliness and Quality are not top notch, but it gets the job done. Some rides (i.e. to the airport, to the sporting stadiums) are lenghty though.

Chicago: AWESOME transportation system with CTA buses, subway, and Elevated trains. cannot beat the to and from the airport deal (all one low price of $1.75!). I think the EL is cleaner and a bit better qaulity than in NYC )the voice over telling you the upcoming stop and the side of train the door opens is awesome!). chicago public transportation just plain rocks.

D.C. Not the best coverage, but probably the most clean and efficient and high quality. Buses are good here too. But again, not the same type of coverage you get in NYC or Chicago.

these three above I would rate the best in the country.

Only a small town would meet your criteria as all major cities place their airports far outside the city limits to enable city growth, etc. So, the only option for transportation from airport to city center is by shuttle bus service or taxi. However, it has been my personal experience (as a non-car owner/ pedestrian / traveler) that the following cities are most conducive to easy mobility for a visitor based on ease of use local transit systems and/or city layout walkability. New York City, San Francisco, Denver, Portland, Charlotte, Washington, DC, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. These, I admit, are all so (for me) due to their downtown core being well planned and easy to get around without a car. The worst would be Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Tampa, Chicago, Seattle, LA and anywhere else I have not mentioned in my preferred list... for me!

"These, I admit, are all so (for me) due to their downtown core being well planned and easy to get around without a car. The worst would be Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Tampa, Chicago, Seattle, LA and anywhere else I have not mentioned in my preferred list... for me!"

You really think Chicago's difficult to get around without a car? Trains go out to both airports. If you're staying in the Loop, most of the major tourist attractions are either within walking distance or a short train or bus ride away.

Chicago expressways are terribly inadequate. Right now the system is nearly in gridlock because of construction and other logistics problem. Within the core city itself, I don't feel it is that bad, but to go anywhere S, SW, sometimes W, and sometimes even N or NW- you are in a mass of trucking and slow moving or stop/start traffic. Going East is legend for horrendous, but getting better with the end of the huge 6 year project that "redid" the system going into through IN and into MI (94).

Transportation within the city is fine if you live within 50 blocks of downtown or N., NW, or due W of the city. Not good at all for nearly 2/3rds of the population that doesn't.

With the present el constructions/reconstructions going N and S and the I-355 extension being built down to I-80 right now and several other projects finishing (like near Torrence going into IN)- we are a massive work zone.

For the first time in my almost 60 year Chicago experience, there is a big marketing and informational campaign going on re the lack of public transportation for such a large percentage of the population, and also there has just been a big time firing of the head of CTA systems. That the Olympics is going to be, if held in 2016, within a very local and close knit group of venues near the lake, is not going to do much change for the entire City system.

There's a hilarious campaign done in "Chicagoese" language at the present re how to get to GSW, U.S. Celluar, and many other named locations etc. right now. It's like an old Sat. Night Live routine ("Da Bears language)- one is re looking for trees with moss and then directing you to start walking the other way etc. etc.

Visitors think Chicago has good public transportation, but few Chicagoans I know do. We have a huge population of North siders who can't get to my college, for instance. Or to any of the other college campuses or near IN cultural locations like GSU or the theatre and sculpture parks etc. in that immense area.

I-55, Dan Ryan system, I-57, I-88, I-80 and routes to WI too have been either under construction or gridlocked many hours at a time in recent years. Through city driving is better than it was, IMHO.

Philadelphia...from the airport take the train and then you can either walk everywhere or the bus. We are clean and friendly !!! usually

I lived in Atlanta for almost 20 years and can't believe anyone would even suggest that Marta compares to other cities' public transportion systems. I'd be embarrassed to even mention its existence, other than it being useful to get to the airport or a Braves game.

NYC's the best in the US I've seen, but did find San Francisco to be really tourist friendly.