Definitely public trans. I've lived without a car for about ten years, then suddenly had to drive two hours a day. Before I knew it, or put two and two together, I was hitting up every stress-relief how-to I could get my hands on. Now I'm about to move to the suburbs and I'm dreading it.

I love when people tell me how dangerous public trans is. In thirty years of using public trans in one capacity or another, I've seen a gold chain stolen and been flashed a couple of times. On the other hand I've seen countless car accidents and known several people who have been seriously injured in them. To me, there is no comparison.

If public transportation was clean and efficient, then public transportation. But if it takes me an hour and a half with 2 transfers to get me to a place that only takes me 15 minutes by car, then I'll drive any day.

I used to live in Ohio where I would take a bus to work every day. It was easy because the bus stop was only a block from my house, and it took me straight to downtown where my office was. The problem is the downtown bus stop was always full of questionable people milling around and I never felt safe when it got dark.

I enjoy public transport much more. I prefer trains, there's something quite serene about it. But I don't mind the bus. Many are surprisingly clean and quiet especially for trips under an hour. I ditched my car for 2 years once and I really didn't miss it.

Picantel is 100% right--when public transportation is faster/more convenient, of course I prefer that. I easily lived in SF without a car--so many areas lack parking that using a bus was very convenient. Now I live farther north and while busses are great for commuting into the city, using my car is far faster for errands.

Once you're over the hump of feeling comfortable loading bicycles onto buses, for long distances I much prefer a bus-bike combination, even in Portland's rainy, cold winter.

More on that here: http://twowheelsandalady.com/2013/01/14/the-winter-commute-a-lady-editorial/

"And this is my daily reminder of reality: seasons change and weather, much like life, is unpredictable and sometimes unpleasant. When we’re enclosed in the trappings of the traditional American way of life, we start to expect simplicity. Couch to car to cubicle and back again. When do we ever really experience anything? This artificial ease keeps us from moving our bodies as intended, from thinking and exploring life beyond a surface that speeds by at 60mph. Humanity has become mislabeled as an inconvenience."

By Lisa Marie at Two Wheels and A Lady blog: http://twowheelsandalady.com/2013/01/14/the-winter-commute-a-lady-editorial/

One of the luxuries for me when I moved out of Pittsburgh to Philly suburbs was driving my car more often. Don't get me wrong, I soon learned the benefits of SEPTA as well, but mainly I drove. Being a single (at the time) young, good looking woman got me a lot of unwanted attention, and riding the bus home late at night with 1 or 2 skeezy looking dudes staring at me was not at all pleasant.

That and I love to drive, and I love my car. Public transport was more like a necessary evil to get around in the city, but never a joy.

I hate driving and am lucky enough to walk (or get a ride) to work.

I live in the Bay Area, too - Emeryville - and while we own a car, we only use it on the weekends for hiking trips and grocery shopping. If you miss public transit, you should move to a more walkable/BART-friendly part of the Bay Area! I BART to work, BART and bus to activities. Love it. So much more chill than driving!

My husband and I sold our cars when we moved to Chicago almost five years ago. Haven't regretted it at all! We primarily get around by walking, and take the train or bus when we're traveling too far from home. If we ever must have a car, we just rent one. The public transit/rental car costs are still far less than the cost of parking/insurance on our cars would have been. And of course, all the walking is great exercise!

It's nice to live in a city where both are good options, but I got tired of going underground. I had a hard time learning my way around since I never saw the above-ground city. Now that I have a car again, I really enjoy my little commute, seeing the trees change with the seasons, getting some sunlight and fresh air, and singing along to the music. I am lucky enough to have a sort, pretty drive with minimal traffic, and it's great.

I live in Seattle, where it is by far faster (and more pleasant) to drive. I used to have a 3 hour commute every day, which would have been a 40 minute commute if I drove. But I really didn't mind it. In the mornings I slept, and in the evenings I read. I was reading about 2 books a month! I almost miss the dedicated reading time now. For me it is worth not having the responsibility of a car.

Living in a geographic location with good public transit is such a beautiful luxury. I used to love my hour-long GO Train commute to Toronto, and when I lived in Toronto before that the subway was wonderful. I'd rather take the subway than drive any day.

Waiting forty-five minutes in subzero weather for buses is another story, however. Cars are expensive necessities to live in most places, including where I am now. It's difficult to get around without one. I am fortunate to live a half-hour walk from work and I walk as much as humanly possible.

Sadly where I live there is no system that is available for me to take to work. There is a bus route but it does not start until 8am, and I start the day at 7. Thankfully I only have a 15 min drive and thinking in spring I’m going to try biking to work and back every once in a while.

Now back on the public transportation I love the eco friendly idea but I remember having to that the subway and bus to school and back and it was a nightmare. Maybe it was just Brooklyn, NY but people were so rude, always had to rush and it was stressful. So mix feelings, I like being lazy and not having to drive but at the same time I don’t have to deal with sleezy people..as well as able to go grocery shopping with no hassle of getting the items home.

I was wedded to my car for many years and so many things about not having a car seemed just unthinkable--all the carrying! the waiting! --but I recently sold my car and am psyched to be without it. Some things are a drag, of course, but driving is way more stressful than I ever realized. It's good for me to remember that we can live without having what we want or being where we want at the drop of a hat.
And let's not forget doing some small bit to not contribute to global warming!
I am lucky to live somewhere with good public transport that makes this choice pretty easy to pull off. My hat goes off to those who do it under much more challenging circumstances.

I've been without a car now going on 2 years and I'm in no rush to go back. I even recently moved to be closer to work and live in a more walkable, transit friendly part of town. People always tell me that having a car is much more convenient but there is nothing convenient about the rising cost of gas, paying ridiculously high monthly parking fees for work, unexpected car maintenance and being stuck in traffic. This lifestyle is of course not for everyone, but I’m young and I have no kids so it works for me. My level of stress has not been this low in years. Oh, and did I mention I live in Los Angeles?

I take public transportation to work - the big train (VRE), not the metro - and love it. The commuter express buses various places are also quite convenient if I have a meeting elsewhere. However, if we're going to go into the city in the evening or on the weekend, we drive in. Parking and traffic are less of a problem and it then becomes easier to get yourself in and out by car. It all just depends.

I am really big into grouping my car errands to spend as little time running around by car as possible. Sometimes it means putting off getting something for over a week at times, but it's a way less stressful way to do things.

Public transportation. I rent a Zipcar about once a month for errands that are impractical via bus/subway. I don't miss daily driving at all.

So far I always managed to live in cities with good public transit. Last year I even had the luxury to work within biking distance. But public transit access is one of the main decision points when picking an apartment. For everything else, there is ZipCar (Modo)

I live in NYC, so I haven't driven in over 8 years. I take public transit every day. When we visit our parents, we take the Amtrak, MegaBus, or occasionally a ZipCar. I don't miss driving for a second.

Public transportation. Although I'm guilty of contradicting that for convenience at times.

One of the best things about my apartment is the short walk to the train station. I get a monthly bus pass through my employer. 10 minutes to walk to the train, and about a 10 minute ride downtown and I'm there. I usually listen to music on my commute. Sometimes I'll see a friend on the train and chat for the ride. One day I was sitting on the train near three different friends all from different circles.

It's made the commute fun again. Besides the social aspect, it reminds me of when I was younger and had fewer worries. The train, bus, or station is warm. A walk in minus 30 degrees sounds daunting but the warmth of the train station makes me smile.

Three years ago, after job loss and running out of money, I tried to sell my car. No takers and I was gutted to have to sell musical instruments instead. I'm still trying to recover from that. In fact, if someone wanted to buy my car today I'd take them up on it and head for the guitar shop.

I have a car, but I end up taking public transportation for everything save Target runs, heavy-duty grocery shopping, and visiting my friends that live out in Nope-ville (It's stupidly inconvenient to get to West-Town from Uptown). I'm in like with the magical built-in reading/fantasy football/daydream/reading fanfiction time. What I don't love? The guy who might be septic that sits squashed up next to me.

It's a trade off.

When I lived in a neighborhood of Boston I got rid of my car for over 10 years and loved it. I walked and took the bus or the T everywhere. The exercise was great and I loved the people-watching. Now that I've moved out of the city I still have the option to take public transport to work but it involves a 10-minute walk to a 25-minute bus ride to a 15-minute T ride to another 15-minute walk so it's become too cumbersome a commute. So now I drive. Boo.

I've never lived anywhere with (functional) public transportation, so I can't imagine being without a car for the long-term. If I lived in a city where all my needs were in walking distance, and there was a good transit system that wasn't super-scary, I might consider it, but living where I do now it would be impossible to do without a car.
(Not just being a spoiled brat here, I live in a very small town and both my job and the nearest grocery store are in another town about 20 miles away. No car = no work or food.)

I love to drive and can't imagine ever taking public transportation ever again. The city I lived in it was always scary to use public transportation. We only had one car and sometimes no car back in those days. Jury duty was the worst. Having to take the bus all the way downtown and riding it home when students had gotten out of school. I overheard some stories and was witness to some things that no one would believe. I would love to wear a cam and ride it now. Of course I would stick out like a sore thumb and probably wouldn't make it far!

My mother also went without a car for a while. I worried for her every day. She had to take three buses and some were commuter for her place of employment, and they were still scary. She will do whatever it takes to never be without a car again.

Light rail was worse than the buses. So slow and you're in a car with no security. Whenever we had to take that, rarely thank goodness, we always had some kind of roving/raving lunatic either on the train or at the stop. I guess there are places where it's not like that but my experience was rarely a good one.

i love my car and feel a lot of stress and anxiety if i have to use public transportation to commute (as i do in icy/snowy weather). transit adds two hours to my daily commute, which is the time i use to have a relaxing morning routine or get chores done when i get home from work instead of cram cleaning on the weekends. plus, the ability to stop on your way to/from somewhere is a boon to spontaneous errands.

i briefly considered not replacing my car after it was written off in an accident (not my fault, btw), but the cost of car-sharing wasn't tenable to me plus, again, i'd feel like i was wasting my time if i didn't use those times using the service with excellent economy and organization.

so, yeah. das auto über alles!

As an apartment-dweller in the Boston area, public transit is a fantastic option. I even have a roommate with a car who lets me borrow it for larger shopping trips so long as I pay for gas now and then.

I would prefer public transportation if it was a good enough system and if driving was more inconvenient. Living in San Francisco, I would say the public transportation is not quite where I would like it to be, so I prefer driving, even if it means dealing with traffic, bad driving and impossible-to-find parking.

I don't even want to think about how many days/months of my life has been wasted standing waiting for a bus that sometimes never comes..... I don't drive but if I had to do it all over again definitely would drive. It got to the point where Toronto transit service was so bad that I could walk home in the same amount of time it took me on the bus (55 min.) so for years I walked.

Public transport definitely. I used to live in Paris, where there's an amazing bus and metro system with stops every few blocks that can take you anywhere in the city with no worries about traffic or parking. On my block, the bus arrived every 7 minutes and the metro every 3-5. It was soooo much cheaper and more efficient than having a car. Plus, I could meet my friend on the opposite side of the city for drinks, be there in 20 min. and not have to worry about driving home. I could also travel alone as a young, single woman day or night without fear.

Unfortunately, the public transportation in most U.S. cities is just not up to par with that in Europe.

Today is one of those days where I WISH I could take public trans to my job (alas, I live 32 miles from the office, and it's not feasible). I was driving along to work, every thing was all hunky dory, and I was looking forward to doing homework during my lunch break (I'm a nerd) andddddd my check engine light comes on...FANTASTIC.

I ditched my car four years ago when I finally moved into the city. I metro to work and to most activities, and take a bus when it is appropriate. I do get a zipcar or cars2go a couple times a month and am thrilled with the option, but have no desire to own a car again.

Another Seattle person here. I took the bus for years and enjoyed the time to read. Then the ride got more crowded, buses started to pass by my stop full, I could no longer read because I was standing getting my arm ripped out of the socket as the bus flew down 99. The total trip crept up from 40 minutes to over an hour. Then I drove one day when I had an appointment and made it door-to-door in 12 minutes. I gave up the bus.I need a car anyway because I do activities with my dog that require it and also because I garden a lot. I would be happy to use it less if the bus was more pleasant.

I grew up in a city with no mass transit of any kind -- the sort of place where people will drive from one end of a shopping center to the other -- but I left my car at home when I moved to NYC for college. The subway was novel at first but now seems absolutely essential, and a decade on it's hard to imagine myself ever wanting to own a car again.

I got close to buying one recently, though: Hurricane Sandy meant my train didn't run at night for nearly three months (it's back now, whew), and I had no other way to get home if I had to work late. It was surprisingly stressful, and I felt trapped -- like a grounded teenager. But honestly, if it came to that I'd rather have moved than started driving again. It was a good reminder not to take 24-hour trains for granted. They really do make my life better.

I have lived in Los Angeles for the last 10 years. I fell victum to the shared idea that "if public transit were better I would take it". Steep parking charges at my new place of work led me to try the bus. After that first trip I was hooked. I am now the constant defender of public transit in LA. Its here, it works, its affordable. Good bye car, hello Big Blue Bus!

I so greatly preferred living in cities where I had access to good public transit. Subway time was time to read and decompress; bus time was always a little less civilized, but at least I had music. Now I live in a place where that's not so much an option, and I own a car; while I like the convenience, I dislike the hassle. I do at least get to ride my bike more here, which means quick neighborhood trips are healthier. (I was always too intimidated to ride my bike in NYC -- and never had an apartment big enough for bike storage.)

Public Transportation. I moved from Chicago to LA just a year and a half ago and miss the CTA so much. People are such terrible and aggressive drivers in LA, going anywhere is stressful and biking here is downright scary.

It sooo depends on where you live! In Boston and Chicago, I was perfectly happy with public transportation -- I read a lot more when I took the T and the El. In Colorado Springs where the public transportation situation was dismal, I had a really old used car and a bike. The bike was my favorite mode of transportation there. Now that I'm in St. Louis, which has okay public transportation but not fabulous, I have a nice new car. I have to admit to enjoying the luxury of owning a car and not being at the mercy of the train schedule to plan my day. I do miss that commute reading time, though.

I drive. Public transportation in this city is abysmal.

Another Seattleite here. I'm not sure what the others are complaining about - I LOVE our public transportation. I have a 15-minute bus ride to/from work (downtown), where I can read, listen to music, or - best of all - just close my eyes and rest for a few minutes. I love passing by all of the cars when I'm in the bus-only lane on parts of 99. It helps that there's a bus stop a block away from my house, and two blocks away from my work.

Even if it wasn't so convenient, I would never drive to work. First, I hate driving (it stresses me out). Second, it's extremely expensive to park in a garage downtown, and my bus pass is provided by my work. The only place we drive is to the grocery store (which we could probably avoid if we didn't go so infrequently and get 4 gallons of milk each time we go).

How fast will it get me there? That's all I care about. Sometimes driving is much faster, sometimes the bus/train combo is. I always check on Google Maps based on current traffic before heading out.

I'm in the same boat as you, for five years I had to reverse commute across the Bay Bridge to my job in Emeryville and would envision that a city job near public transportation would improve my mood since traffic and tolls were so aggravating.
Two years later and I take the pathetic N Judah door to door and it's in no way an improvement. You'll just be trading one set of annoyances (money, parking) for another (interminable waits during rush hour for overcrowded buses shared with ranting, smelly lunatics). Just this morning I had to high tail it out of the first car and into the second when the raving bum headed right for me. Don't kid yourself that you'll be quietly reading in a seat on MUNI arriving in a reasonable timeframe unmolested by odd smells...It does make for better stories to tell your friends though.

Left the US for Asia 8+ years ago and gave our cars to family - was at least an hour each way to/from work, more in snow or on mornings we left home after 6am [spouse and I worked 100 miles apart]. Now use combo of walking, bikes, buses, subways, taxis and hire a car with driver if we want a break from the city. Our health improved dramatically - we feel 10 years younger now than we felt when we left the US. Even our kids prefer the bus to taxis [and are willing to hurry themselves up and leave home earlier to make up the time difference]. Lots of my local friends love the novelty of driving, but the reality of the local situation is that it is often cheaper to take a taxi than it is to park at your destination [not to mention the door to door service].

I absolutely love public transportation. The train is my favorite. I cannot take it where I live right now but still love it when I can use it.

I'm another Seattleite and I'd say it depends. It can be a hard town to get around in without a car -- did that for 8 months while living in a "walkable" neighborhood and still thought it was kind of a pain. I now live in a neighborhood that is really nice but sort of out of the way, so there isn't a lot of bus service there. Commuting to work is great, I live 2 blocks from the bus stop and work downtown so it is a straight shot and takes 20-30 minutes depending on traffic. However, getting to pretty much any other part of town by bus takes forever and requires multiple transfers, so I just drive. It works out, but I do miss living in a truly walkable city -- that is my preference over both driving and transit!

OMG, I would LOVE to take a subway or el train into work! Unfortunately, the only rail in Houston is about a mile long and already in downtown Houston (so you'd have to commute just to get to the thing) and it's at street level adding to traffic and car accidents. You have no idea how mad it makes me that the city doesn't do El trains instead of street level rails. I've vacationed in DC, NYC and San Francisco and I just love taking the subways there, it's truly a luxury when you live in a city where it takes over an hour to get from a suburb to downtown, where many major companies are located. Subways are just sooo fast and I've never had a problem with safety or cleanliness.

On the subway in SF, my cousins and I were talking to some young guys who helped us figure out which train to get on and I mentioned how nice the subway was which they thought was really funny. People who grow up with something so convenient have no idea how amazing it to those of us stuck with a daily 2 hour commute. The only option here is the bus, which a lot of people use to do the park and ride to downtown, but it's just not as fast or convenient. I've never used the park and ride myself, but I can imagine several scenarios in which it could be a pain and you can't stop to run errands in town on the way home. A well laid out subway/el system could take care of all these issues. Not to mention alleviate rush hour stress.

That said, there are times when I'm very glad i have a car- big shopping trips, moving, taking my baby nephew places, and when I need a place to nap on my lunch break!

I've never learned how to drive and I am proud of it. I've planned where I live around public transit access, biking, walking, and a village lifestyle, because I see it as the only way to have a sustainable future.

I am in Boston. if it were not clients in the Burbs, our car would have been ditched years ago. It's on it's last cylinders, and when done, we will be officially carless. when we do the calculus, walking/zip car/rental on as needed basis is a whole lot less expensive than buying and maintaining even a clunker in town. However, I am healthy, run my own business, and live in mass transit Valhalla. I count my blessings.

In Vancouver, I love the convenience of the skytrain but hate taking the bus. I used to have an hour commute each way to school on the train/bus and I loved it because it let me do all my reading for my classes, prep for tests, or just take a nap. But I also got on/off at the first/last stop, so I was always guaranteed a seat and the bus came so frequently that I could wait for the next one.

I live in a very walkable neighbourhood, and my (new) job is just a quick bus ride away. But I still use my car to go out on the weekends or make Costco runs. If you're not going anywhere along the skytrain or you're traveling outside downtown, it's almost way faster and more convenient to drive.

I loved the LisaMarie quote. Brilliant. Well, maybe not even brilliant, just - obvious. Brilliant in point out the obvious ? . Something like that.

Setting up rude people on mass trans as a factor or messiness or, unfortunately even efficiency (really really unfortunately) is not really an option in the car vs mass trans debate. In fact for many of us who are dedicated to lowering our own personal carbon footprint, it's just not an option at all. There's almost no excuse to own a car if you live within a city. Maybe if you have a family. Maybe. But even then...

We absolutely have to make mass transit work. No if's and's or buts. We have a lot of mediocre leaders. If they don't hear from the public, us, they will continue making mediocre and poor decisions.

"We have five times as much oil and coal and gas on the books as climate scientists think is safe to burn. We'd have to keep 80 percent of those reserves locked away underground to avoid that fate. Before we knew those numbers, our fate had been likely. Now, barring some massive intervention, it seems certain."

-Bill McKibben

Read the full article, Global Warming's Terrifying New Math:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719?print=true

Good for you JazzyCat! And JoeLo!

LA - schoolin the rest of us!

"I would be happy to use it less if the bus was more pleasant."

A 100% guarantee it never will be. You gotta reverse that equation.

I adore public transportation! In my neighborhood in Seattle, it's easy to get downtown really nowhere else, via public transportation. I work from home and minimize my driving my planning my errands weekly. I wish our local coop was in walking distance, or wasn't 40-60 minutes via bus. I could walk to the other grocery store, but I have to make the tradeoff for less packaging (we push toward zero waste) and higher quality.

I really do miss living in San Francisco and having no car, I think if people are going to be convinced to not drive out of convenience, it has to be cost-prohibitive to do so (high gas prices, parking rates). My husband and I share one car, and I don't see why we would ever need another car, but we really wish we could have those lovely light rails and multiple bus lines of San Francisco in Seattle.

I think Public Transport is best for me I prefer Metro Train or Cabs. But I don't Like bus as transport because some time many buses are not clean or full of rush.

For us (in Singapore) public commute is a way of life, not chosen but rather imposed. Cars are heavily taxed not just while purchasing (an entitlement to drive can leave you poorer by 80 to 100K!) but also while using due to ERP, etc.

The goverment encourages residents to use public transport, which by the way is top class. So, to commute from point A to B we sometimes have more than one mode - either take the well connected train network or the take the bus services.

While we do miss the convenience of a car, we do enjoy traffic free roads, world class transport at reasonable price and more greener environment!

Your choices are too limiting. I bike...everywhere that is 50 miles or closer (sometimes more). I have never owned a car and used to do the public transit thing, but in the city nothing beats a bike.

Public transit if it offers good service. I lived in Vancouver, BC for years and the service in the city of Vancouver was great - buses, skytains but I now live outside the city and public transit is just terrible.

I live in Vancouver now and I am not giving up my car. We are looking at moving to a flatter part of the city where it is easier to walk to the library corner store etc. However there is no way I am hanging about at bus stops in the dark, carrying groceries or potting soil home by bus, not going to a political meeting because it ends too late or many other things that it is safer and more convenient to do by car. My friends who have given up their cars are always looking for someone to drive them.

It seems obvious that the preference of public vs private transportation depends upon the area you live in and the availability of safe, clean, convenient fast public transit.
However I can't picture how to carry home a load of materials from Home Depot to start a project immediately on one of my frequent runs there, or multiple bags of groceries either.

I would love to be able to rely on public transport, but it just isn't feasible in my area. Even with recent measures, it's hard to undo the damage caused by years of funding cuts. As is, it would take at best an hour for me to get to work using public transit. By car I can get there in less than fifteen minutes.

The fact that I work nights makes it all extra inconvenient.

Unfortunately I currently live in a city which greatly lacks in the area of public transportation, which has led my partner and I to purchase our first vehicle. I love having a car for the convenience for things like groceries, as well as visiting our family (6.5 hours away for both of us). I'd rather rely on transit though for the most part, as one, it feels more cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and I get to read/listen to my music in complete solitude. Very pleasant. Hopefully we one day move back to a more transit-friendly city. I'd ideally love to be a 1-car family for a LONG time!

Husband drives because it's more convenient, and I take public transportation because it's more convenient. It's cheaper to take the DC metro and all the bus systems than to pay for a second car's insurance, upkeep, etc. and parking in DC. Of course there are sacrifices, like waiting for the bus in the rain or being stuffed into a very busy train car. And there are delays, as well, but I don't consider them to be any more frequent or bothersome than an accident on the road causing a traffic jam for someone in a vehicle. I like the freedom of not having to find parking in a busy city. For that convenience and freedom, I can deal with the quirks of public transportation.

Being without a car for me would be like Captain Kirk without the Enterprise. It would be like being stranded. No thanks, I will always own a car.

I also find it amusing some of the people living in NYC posting saying they don't own a car as if somehow that is a given if you live in NYC. I was born in NYC and me and my friends all had cars by the time we were 18. Native New Yorkers will tell you it is a ridiculous stereotype because most New Yorkers, like most Americans, like to travel and not exist only within their own community. For real freedom in a country so big a car is necessary.

Sorry to break it to you but you are not living sustainably if you take advantage of any modern conveniences. The only "sustainable future" is the one where the human population is not allowed to keep growing and where we go back into the woods and live off the land.

I don't know if it's the stereotype as much as it is that people don't really need to own what they can rent. ZipCar lets people rent vehicles on an hourly or daily basis, so even weekend trips are easy. And because ZipCar provides insurance coverage, all you have to do is maintain a license.

In NYC, London, Hong Kong, Singapore or Tokyo, I'd prefer public transportation. It's actually a burden to have a car. (e.g. You parked at Covent Garden, then have lunch with a friend in Leicester Square and went shopping near Piccadilly Circus. Then you have to walk or talk the tube all the way back? So annoying.)

Living in suburb of Toronto right now, away from subway, only national trains nearby. I do enjoy using my car for groceries and other heavy stuff. I would have never bought 2L soda pop if I had to take public transport or walk.

There are grocery carts that are wonderful for lugging heavy items hither and yon. Everyone in a city should give them a try, at least once.

What I find fascinating about these conversations is how no one mentions lobbying their local and state governments for better transportation options. I guess our lives have completely been privatized now. But getting involved in civic life USED to be a major part of life. Now, no one dares mention it.

I have such a love-hate relationship with both driving and public transport. My husband and I have 1 car. He commutes 45 miles and drives, while I commute within the city where we live so I take the bus. The problem is, the bus is so terribly unreliable that often times it takes me just as long (if not longer) to go my 5 miles via bus as it does my husband to go 45 miles via car. On the other hand, when I run errands on the weekends and am driving, I realize how much I hate being behind the wheel!

Anyways, my vote is for public transit. I just wish I lived in a city with a better system.

Since I've been riding the bus I HATE driving. It's such a hassel. Sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, and being able to focus on that when I have a TON of other things to do.

I am much calmer when I ride the bus because I get to relax, read a book, look over class notes, or whatever else comes to mind. I like to use this time to spend some time reading over articles and catching up on my social media so I'm not on it at work or all day when I get home.

Houston's transportation is getting better but not where it should be on a city this large.

I prefer the train to the car when going to work, even though it takes twice as long as driving. I can nap, read, do whatever on the train. On the road I have to be alert at an hour that I'd prefer not to be alert, and am sharing the road with people in the same boat.

I so loved getting to take the SEPTA in and out of Philly. Loved getting to read or decompress. I now live in a driving town without good public transportation and its not as good.

I actually like both. I lived in Miami for most of my life, then I moved to NYC, then back to Miami. I'm planning to move back to either LA or NY once I finish uni. Anyway, public transportation in South Florida SUCKS! I have to wake up at 6:30 am to get to my 9am class on time. I have to take two buses, the second one which is ALWAYS late, so I get to school literally 10 min before class. My last class ends at 12 and I get home at 2:30 taking the bus. In Miami a car is your life, especially with Miami weather being 90 degrees in mid winter.

While in NY I loved and hated taking the subway. Its cheap (relatively) and most of the time reliable. I lived in Elmhurst and went to FIT, about 40 min train ride more or less, taking the 7 then the 1. But I hated walking to the grocery store 6-8 blocks away or running errands taking the train. And I missed being alone in my car as well, who wants to be in a subway train looks like it's about to vomit people.

I would love to live in either NY, London, or LA (depending where I get a job) but I feel like those cities are just either/or when it comes to transportation. Ideally I would prefer somewhere where I could take pub transp., use my bike, take a cab (too expensive anywhere, especially Miami), or drive my own car when I choose to (owning a car in NY it's too expensive), or walk as well.

I commute with a car, but try to take public transportation for other outings. Where I currently live is a 15 minute drive from work, which stretches into about an hour on public transportation, with transfers, in the cold and wet half the time (hi, Seattle). I've done it a few times out of necessity, and it was a uniformly unpleasant experience (oh great! the bus driver's shift is over, so he is dropping me at some random-assed bus stop to wait for god knows how long until the next bus arrives! and the whole reason I took the bus in the first place was to avoid driving in the snow, so I get to freeze my ass off waiting in the snow in my office clothes, too! NICE). I would absolutely take the bus if I was looking at more than a half hour stuck in traffic as my daily commute; I used to do that when I lived farther away, and taking the bus and being able to zone out/do other stuff for that time was MASSIVELY better than driving, even if it took a bit longer. Either way, you're wasting a ton of time on your commute, at least one way you can relax a bit and catch up on your reading.

Other than that, I'm centrally located within my neighborhood, so basically everything I do aside from work, I just walk to. When I venture out of my hood for non-work related reasons, though, driving and parking downtown or in a lot of the other fun areas is too much of an expensive, shitty experience for me to not take a bus. I just plan a bus schedule ahead, and that way I can also feel fine having drinks without having to worry about paying overnight parking/my car getting towed/cab fare/etc. because I wasn't comfortable driving home.

Also, the huge difference in how you're interacting with your city when you drive vs. public transport definitely keeps me coming back. I love seeing all of the people and being around them (even if it is a little rough sometimes), so I find taking a bus and feeling like a part of the city really pleasant. Driving just makes me think everyone in my city must really suck, since these morons are apparently incapable of understand passing lanes or signaling, etc. Buses are just a lot more fun, if you have the time.

I used to be a diehard car guy. I'm an auto racing fanatic and have loved cars all my life. However since getting rid of my car, I don't miss it at all. I greatly prefer public transit as crazy as it sounds. I can just put some headphones on and read my rss feeds or text friends. It's so much more relaxing than driving a car.

I don't have a car, can't afford one. So it's not really a preference so much as a necessity to take transit.

Even better: my bicycle. I've got just a 9 mile round trip commute each day and it's by far the loveliest, fastest, cheapest, most healthy way to get around.

But occasionally I'll jump on the T. (Like yesterday when the bike paths weren't plowed yet.) I'm longing for the day I can get rid of my car and it's accompanying insurance payment, but for now I keep it for the handful of weeks a year it's required for work.

Oh how I WISH I had reliable public transportation! I live just over the river from Canada's Capital, Ottawa (where I work), in Hull, Quebec. The drive to work is 13km, in about 35 minutes plus a less than 10 minute stop at the daycare to drop off my son. If we were to bus, we would have to take a 30+ minute bus ride to the centre of Ottawa, plus a 40 minute with 2 transfers WEST to daycare, then I would have to walk (in -15 most mornings) the 10-15 minute walk from his daycare to my work. 35 vs 80+ minutes in bad weather and unreliable buses??? I think I'll drive. Even the stress of driving cannot be outweighed by the time wasted busing around with a 2 year old in tow. I wish they would FIX the transportation issues in this country as I would HAPPILY take public transit if it were reliable. (end rant)

bike! followed by train, followed by car. i'm fortunate enough to live in a place (Chicago) where all three are viable options.

I love driving, and I love my car, but I would happily give it up for good public transportation. Sadly, I live in central Florida where the bus system is horrid, and the governor is very against the high-speed rail system we've been trying to implement here. It's too hot most of the year to ride my bike (by the time I made the 10 mile trip to work I'd be drenched in sweat), and everything is so spread out that it's hard to get anywhere without some type of automobile. DC is one of my favorite cities, and the walkability/public transit system plays a huge part in that.

would be more helpful if people indicated names of the cities/towns they talk about

OK, Nato: I've utilized public transportation in Jacksonville, FL, Knoxville and Chattanooga, TN, Tuscaloosa, AL, and of course Atlanta's MARTA system, which is great. With a 24-hour system, public transportation obviously would be the preferred option. Unfortunately, most Southern systems only operate on domestic workers' hours and routes. My real preference would be a pedestrian city with plenty of jobs and shopping within walking distance, and good, well-defined bike lanes. Until I retire to a city with those amenities, the jalopy stays.

Well littlepitcher, bless you for trying!

I live in a large city, San Diego, but I am lucky because my neighborhood is centrally located and I can walk to practically everywhere and our weather is pretty much perfect. I definitely prefer hoofing it and public transportation to the car and I appreciate my location every day.

I guess if you live in a big city like New York or Chicago public transportation is a viable option but for most of us driving is really the only option.

Have not had a car in the last 6 months (it died last August, sold to junker). My boyfriend and I take the bus (we live in Austin) or walk everywhere we need to go. It has definitely helped my time management skills. I love reading on the bus and I BUDGET MY TIME to get places.

I have also lived in cities with major transportation systems--the Bay Area and the DC Metro. As a system, I hands down prefer the Metro over BART. Also was really surprised by how much driving I ended up doing.

However I grew up in a suburb where public transportation was non existant and really grew to love driving. But then I go home to see family and get my fix when I borrow the car! I can't imagine being able to afford a car at this point in life and I'm not too worried about it. We do use a carshare.

Check out Straphanger by Taras Grescoe for more transportation knowledge, his book is excellent!