Lewis BarbaraThe transportation structure of American cities is extremely developed, and in order to understand the existing diversity, it makes sense to get acquainted in advance with the basic rules of travel in a particular city in the United States. We offer a brief overview of the public transportation system in American cities.
New York City
New York City is a bustling and crowded city that has everything you need to get around: 24-hour subways, comfortable buses, free ferries and even a cable car that offers spectacular views of the city. Before you can use the New York City subway, you must apply for a so-called MetroCard. It is a rechargeable card that you use to pass through the turnstiles of subway stations. Station machines accept both cash and bank cards. MetroCard can be purchased for a single trip, with payment for completed trips, but the most convenient for tourists will be a card for an unlimited number of trips. New York City subway lines should be separated by letters and numbers, not colors. In front of each turnstile is indicated the direction of the subway, so before you go through the turnstile, you need to orient, which line you need. After passing through the turnstile, you will not be able to switch to another line. Bus lines are also worth identifying by letter. You can enter them by MetroCard as well as for cash (Attention! Buses only accept coins without change).
Boston
Boston’s public transportation consists of subways, buses, commuter trains, and water shuttles. In general, the public transit network is called Public Transit or simply T, it’s worth focusing on this letter, not the M as we are used to. Locals use mostly the so-called CharlieCard, which is rechargeable. Tourists can also buy single-day or weekly Linkpasses. The Boston Metro (or just the T) consists of red, orange, blue, and green lines. Some lines are surface lines, but most are underground. The colored lines are in turn divided into letters depending on the direction needed, so it’s worth paying attention not only to the colors, but also to the letter designations. Buses in Boston are usually a bit slower than subway lines, but the trip itself will cost less.
Washington, D.C.
A pleasant surprise for visitors to the U.S. capital is the fact that many of the city’s attractions are within walking distance. Nevertheless, transport network of Washington is excellent, everything, as they say, is for people. There are subways and buses in the city. The subway consists of 6 colored lines, there are surface and underground lines. The fare varies depending on the day of the week and time of day. To avoid confusion, it would be useful to buy a pass for a day, week or month. The pass is valid in both the subway and buses. Locals use a rechargeable SmartTrip card.
Chicago
Chicago has a city subway and bus system, as well as commuter rail and bus routes. The subway in Chicago is mostly elevated, named unusually with the letter L and has 8 branches. The reusable public transportation card is called the Ventra. You can also buy single-use tickets, but there are passes that can be used for 1,3,7, or 30 days. Ventra cards are valid not only in the metro but also in buses. The so-called ChicagoCard, which also gives you unlimited use of both the subway and buses, is also available in the city.
Seattle
Public transportation in Seattle is called Metro, but it includes not only subways, but also buses, trolleybuses, commuter trains and steamboats. However, the most popular form of transport is the bus. In the city there are both regular buses and buses type express. You pay at the beginning of the trip, at the entrance there is a special machine that takes cash without change. You can also use the ORCA card. This is a contactless rechargeable card for any number of trips.
Miami
The Metrorail elevated subway system, Metrobus bus network, and Metromover monorail reliably cover the entire metropolis of Miami, so the only problem with getting from sight to sight is the presence of traffic jams, but not the choice of public transportation. The subway consists of 2 branches, green and orange, and has a total of 23 stations. The subway runs until midnight.
Los Angeles
In the city of angels there is both the subway (5 branches) and buses (about 200 routes). One-day or one-week passes can be used to get around. Boarding and payment on buses is done at the front door of the bus. The subway in the city is part underground and part surface. It covers the San Fernando Valley, Hollywood, Koreatown, South Bay, Long Beach, Harbor Gateway, Norwalk, Pasadena, East Los Angeles, El Monte, and, of course, DownTown.