(yes, I know that NCSU students ride for free anyway)

http://ridetta.org/Home/News_Events/4-06MayFreeRidesandBike.htm

Quote :

"Research Triangle Park, N.C. – Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) will give commuters some relief from higher gas prices next week… turning off the fare boxes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (May 2, 3 and 4) with three free ride days."

Also, cyclists:

Quote :

"TTA is also giving bike riders a break in May. To encourage commuters to try getting to work by bike or by bike/bus combination, cyclists will ride free on all TTA buses during “Bike To Work Week,” from May 15-19. Area businesses, fellow cyclists, universities, the state and other transit agencies with TTA will be promoting “Bike To Work Week.” For more information, visit GoTriangle.org."

5/1/2006 8:58:02 AM

the main thing that turns me away from riding the tta is that once it's in rtp, i need to take another bus to my job. waiting for two buses seems like it would take too long

5/1/2006 9:10:11 AM

^so you can bring a bike on the bus? kinda weird

5/1/2006 9:12:15 AM

i think you actually attach it to the front of the bus

5/1/2006 9:50:28 AM

^^^people do it every day in real cities

hell, have you ever ridden a subway train?

hell, have you ever ridden any public mass transportation?

5/1/2006 9:54:30 AM

if it was faster to take the bus, then i would.

5/1/2006 9:56:29 AM

I love taking the bus to work.

5/1/2006 9:59:08 AM

yeah, the bus takes forever

5/1/2006 10:05:25 AM

depends where you work really. If in the city this is awesome! Otherwise it's eh..

5/1/2006 10:14:03 AM

Maybe i just have a lucky route, but it takes about 35 minutes to get to work on the TTA for me (vs. about 25 if i drive).

of course, now that I'm coming in at 10a.m., the bus is no longer an option for me.

5/1/2006 10:15:24 AM

TTA is too much trouble. For me I'd have to drive to Cary, hop a bus, ride to Durham, and then hop a shuttle bus to get to work. Total time is close to 2 hours and I still have to get in my car and drive to Cary.

It sounded like such a nice idea. Get on the bus, read a magazine, relax and enjoy the ride. But, the long ride, the fact that I still have to crank my cold car and drive to the bus station, the thought of missing a bus and being delayed even further, and the fact that it still isn't free makes my 35 minute drive to work seem pretty nice.

5/1/2006 11:41:40 AM

I wish public transportation was better with keeping on schedule. I haven't ridden TTA so maybe they are, but CAT buses are terrible. I'll make sure to get to the stop around ten min before the time in case it's early, and then most of the time it's up to a half hour late, or it's also completely skipped one scheduled time and come at the next one (which is often an hour later). I would love to use the buses more often, but it's just ridiculous to have to set aside two hours just to get to north raleigh.

5/1/2006 1:03:25 PM

what are you going to north raleigh for?





fuck sprawl

5/1/2006 1:05:48 PM

I'm not anymore, that was something I was looking at if I accepted a particular job.

And I agree with your second comment

5/1/2006 1:15:44 PM

Spend five minutes and drive to a park and ride. There is one right down Tryon road from me, maybe a five minute drive. It will save me 30 minutes on the bus trip to RTP cutting my total transit time this summer down to about an hour and five minutes per trip to RTP during rush hour. That's not bad. And I can read/do homework on the bus.

5/1/2006 3:50:15 PM

Two years ago I was living in Durham and working near NCSU

I didn't have a car so I biked to the TTA stop and rode the bus to Raleigh. It took about an hour, verses 30 min by car. But it was relaxing and really nice to not have to fight traffic myself. I would definitely do it again.

The problem with bikes though is that they only have slots for 2 bikes on the front of the bus. So if you have a bike and the rack is full, you have to wait for another bus. That only happened to me once in all my years of riding but it sucks. And if more cyclists start riding b/c of the free incentive then it might be more common.

5/1/2006 3:57:53 PM