Big cities—Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, etc—are great places to live and fun places to visit. However, whether you’re just visiting or planning to ditch your quaint country cottage for a chic urban flat, you’ve got to know how to maneuver the city. Of course, public transportation systems are different depending on where you go. Comparing the MTA (NYC) and MBTA (Boston)? Yeah, you’ll discover a number of differences. But there are certain points that can help you travel like an expert no matter where you are.
- Plan your subway trip before you leave — Long before you duck into the subway station, use maps and online resources to plan out your subway trip. A number of Web sites will help, if not do most of the work, when it comes to choosing a train line, figuring out transfers, directions, and more. Consider using “Hop Stop” as it’s a great resource for subway trip planning.
- Figure out how much you’ll be using the subway — Will you be in Boston for a weekend? Seattle for a week? San Francisco for two hours? Be aware of how many days you’ll be in the city. Even more, how often do you think you’ll use the metro system? This will help you decide on which subway card or ticket to buy. For instance, Boston’s Charlie Card will save you 30 cents every time you use the subway system, but it might not be worth the effort to get the Charlie Card if you’re only using the subway once to get to the airport. Just plan according, and look up each city’s respective subway ticket purchase options.
- Pay attention to service alerts and delays — Subway systems are great for getting from point A to point B, but none of them are perfect. Construction and maintenance have to be done, and this often causes train delays or temporary line closures. Major alerts will be posted near subway entrances and communicated over loudspeaker systems within the subway tunnels, so take off your headphones while you’re waiting.
- Pay good attention to the train directions — sometimes it’s all too easy to find the right train and then get on one going in the wrong direction. Be particularly conscious of which direction you need to go in (uptown, downtown, outbound, inbound, westbound, etc). And if you’re not sure which direction to take, just ask! you won’t look stupid or unprepared, I swear. It’s not as bad as choosing the wrong direction and ending up uber lost.
- Practice using the subway system — If you’re visiting for a while or moving to a new city, take some time to learn the system. Get on and off the subway in different areas, making sure to pay attention while you do so. In this way, you’ll learn the geography of the city and also get acquainted with the metro system!
And realize, subway systems aren’t just for the main metropolitan areas. Moving to a neighborhood just outside the city? Keep these tips in mind, anyways. It’s still likely you’ll have access to major subway lines. For example, if you’re moving into one of the many condos in Jamaica Plain (a neighborhood right outside the Boston metropolitan area), you’ll still have great access to the MBTA. So keep these tips in mind, too!