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I know people tend to rate DC higher than Boston, but having lived in both places, I can say it's VERY easy to live without a car in Boston, and impossible to do in DC. Many reasons:
Impossible? No. Unless you live in the far suburbs. I know of many people that live in DC without a car. I will be one of them in the next few months.
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1) DC actually has pretty poor Metro coverage for important parts of the city. Georgetown is a surprisingly far and unpleasant walk from Foggy Bottom (about 20 mins to Wisconsin and M). And, it's just as long to get from Adams Morgan to the closest metro stop, even though the name of the Metro stop is Adams Morgan!!!
While true on the coverage. DC is a very nice walkable city. Wide sidewalks leading to wherever you need to go in and around downtown DC. Georgetown is NOT that far from Foggy Bottom. It only takes me 5 minutes to get to Georgetown from Foggy Bottom. Besides, they have circulators, buses, and shuttles that come by the Foggy Bottom metro stop to Georgetown every 5-10 minutes or so. BTW, the name of that station is Woodley Park Zoo because that was the original station name. Adam's Morgan was simply added years after.
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2) DC has extremely poor coverage of the suburbs. The commuter rail is very important to the transit system. How easy is it for people to get into the city without driving? In DC, there isn't a real commuter rail (VRE is so crappy it doesn't count). And the metro doesn't go anywhere near deeply enough into the population base. In DC, the only option for most of the rural population is to drive to a stop that's close to the interstate, at which point they've gone most of the way to their destination. Plus, there isn't enough parking.
It's easy to get into the city w/o a car. Park your car at Vienna, Franconia, New Carrolton, Morgan, Largo, Shady Grove, Falls Church, Van Dorn, etc. etc., and get on the Metro. VRE and MARC are pretty good commuter rail systems. And trust, with the traffic in DC and how it gets even worse inside the beltway, I assure you they haven't went to the most of their destination time wise.
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3) In DC, most of the jobs are actually in the suburbs, positioned around the beltway (and generally not close to the Metro). In Boston, plenty of jobs are in the Rt 128 corridor, but I have gone to meetings all over the Boston metro area by taking the commuter rail out, then catching a short bus or cab ride the rest of the way. I live in the city, so I do not need a car, period. In DC, I could live right by Union Station, but if I had to go out to Reston or Rockville a lot, I would be hosed.
There is actually a station in Rockville and your ills for Reston will be alleviated in 2015 when the Silver Line opens for service there by way of Tyson's Corner and Dulles International Airport. Unless your name is New York, most cities have their jobs in the suburbs considering that is where most people live in a large major metro area. It's not fair to compare a system that started in 1897 to a system that started in 1972. Of course Boston would be extensive right now. But if you live in DC, you can go without a car.
I'm surprised Philly made it on people's lists. Philly's subway system isn't that extensive. But I gotta gives props to the Regional Rail which connects many suburbs with downtown. I live in a nice Philly suburb and there's a train station 2 mins where I live that can take me downtown in 25-35 mins.
Keep in mind, it's best overall Mass Transit, not just subway. BART is only a small part of San Francisco's mass transit network and I'm pretty sure those numbers you posted are for only one portion of the MBTA's modes which include, Subway, Commuter Rail, Commuter Bus, Rapid Bus, Metro Bus, Ferry and Water Taxi. Even still, they fall short of DC or NYC.
That being said, I agree that DC is the best given the size of the city and the extent of the coverage. It's also the cleanest and most up to date network I've ridden in the U.S. It reminded me a bit of Madrid's Subway and Buses.
Keep in mind, it's best overall Mass Transit, not just subway. BART is only a small part of San Francisco's mass transit network and I'm pretty sure those numbers you posted are for only one portion of the MBTA's modes which include, Subway, Commuter Rail, Commuter Bus, Rapid Bus, Metro Bus, Ferry and Water Taxi. Even still, they fall short of DC or NYC.
That being said, I agree that DC is the best given the size of the city and the extent of the coverage. It's also the cleanest and most up to date network I've ridden in the U.S. It reminded me a bit of Madrid's Subway and Buses.
Yes, you're right...but those numbers are SUBWAY RAIL ONLY for each city, so it's a fair comparison.
I would have to say NYC for the fact that is does a great job of covering the city. The extensive subway system that covers larges parts of the city ( 4 out of the 5 Boroughs ). Also, the system is 24/7 with express and local trains. There is also the massive network of bus lines running local and express through out the city.
Staten Island has the Staten Island Railway, that runs trains along the coast of the Borough, and it connects to the Staten Island Ferry; a ferry system that runs 24/7 that connects the Boroughs of Staten Island to Manhattan. All this for the cost of $2 for a one way trip ( Express bus is $5 one way) and the SI Ferry is free. One can easily buy a MetroCard that has a prepaid amount ( 2,10,20,50,etc) or buy a monthly card for $81.
There is also the LIRR, and the Metro-North Rail. This city moves millions with ease. The fact that I can be Uptown, take the A, and end up in the Rockways, 31 miles later, all for $2 is amazing.
NYC without question. It certainly has its problems, but no other systems in the states has anything near the coverage that the MTA provides.
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