Reply to What would it ACTUALLY take for you to consider biking or taking the bus, in lieu of motoring?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm in the minority here, but I love DC buses. I live in southern Columbia Heights between the U street and Columbia Heights metros and there are many bus options. So many up and down 14th street, up and down ~11th up to Ft. Totten, the crosstown H buses. I could go on. What makes it great is that there are so many options, so while the H2 may only come every 20 minutes the H4 also takes me just about where I need to go and they both stop a few blocks from my house. I take the bus to work every day because the 8 minute walk to the stop is a nice way to start and end my work day and because the bus ride takes the same amount of time as driving.

I love the buses because they work for me. Most people in the suburbs do not have the density of options that I do. That's what is needed - more buses that come frequently and reliably.  Same for the metro, though that's much harder to do.

I don't ride a bike so no informed opinions there. [/quote]

I am with you to a certain degree. I prefer the bus to the Metro and ride at least 2 buses daily to and from my home in Chevy Chase, DC to either my job near GWU or the Friendship Heights Metro Station. I live a good 20-25 minute walk from the closest Metro Station. Our closest bus route -- the E6 -- was eliminated, opportunistically by WMATA, during COVID. 
However, after commuting via public transportation (including bike-share, bus, Metro, and walking) since we returned to a hybrid work environment in Fall 2021, I can honestly say that I wish I could afford to drive. I am so tired of checking bus schedules, waiting anxiously in vain for buses that fail to arrive, and standing, walking and rushing about in the rain, in the cold, and in the dark. I am oftentimes the only person on the streets walking home in the dark. Other routes, including the E4 and the L2 are okay, but often involve a 20-25 minute wait each, which added up, makes my commute of 7.3 miles last over an hour.

If I need to stop on my way home, for anything, I've got to figure out how to resume my journey and have had to expend energy at the end of a long day trying to hustle up and put together various modes of transportation, including bike share, bus, walking and Metro. It is utterly exhausting.

I'll gladly welcome free bus rides post 7/1 and will continue to commute via public transportation; however, it'll be only because I cannot afford to park downtown that drives this choice, not because it's easier or more convenient -- because it's not for me. Relying on public transportation in DC -- again, at least for me -- is inconvenient, very time-consuming, frustrating, restricting, and inefficient as a daily option.
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I'm the PP you responded to. Your points are fair. It is annoying to have to triangulate between multiple sources to figure out what the real arrival time is for each bus. Sometimes the WMATA app is accurate, sometimes it's right on DC Next Bus, and sometimes it's Google Maps. I think my biggest gripe is less about how often the buses and metros come and more about just giving riders a consistently accurate source for the next arrival at every stop. [/quote]

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