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1. Embed this notice
   Adrianna Tan (skinnylatte@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 24-Feb-2025 05:54:06 JST Adrianna Tan

   Public transit in major U.S. west coast cities with senior parents.

   My parents are great with transit. They lived all their lives with good transit systems (elsewhere). They don’t want to drive ‘on the wrong side’ so on our trip around the west coast we’ve largely taken buses and taxis.

   1. In SF, go to the Clipper kiosk at Embarcadero with your passport or ID to purchase Clipper cards for Seniors. This makes most rides around $1. BART prices also come down significantly.

   2. In Monterey, they paid cash with single dollar bills to the bus driver on MST buses. It was pretty easy. Also a buck instead of the usual $2.

   3. In LA, we went to the metro station machines and bought metro cards that we could ‘charge’ for $0.35 for most one way rides regardless of distance. This was off peak pricing. Regular is $0.70. Still very cheap. We paid cash in 35 cents in coins in buses.

   4. In Portland, they got on any bus and said ‘day pass for seniors’ then got that, in a ticket, for $2.80 each. Unlimited rides.

   There are free transfers within 2 hours on most bus systems.

   In LA, even though most people think it’s easier to go long distances in cars, they really disliked doing that. We took a cab to Santa Monica from Beverly Hills, they found it extremely boring to be in traffic for so long, and they asked to take the LA metro back instead.

   #Transit #SanFrancisco #Monterey #LosAngeles #Portland

   • Embed this notice
     Adrianna Tan (skinnylatte@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 24-Feb-2025 06:01:14 JST Adrianna Tan

     in reply to

     And here’s how we’ve traveled between cities.

     SF to Monterey: we took the Coast Starlight from Oakland to Salinas, and then the Amtrak thruway to Monterey. (If you book Oakland or Emeryville to Monterey on Amtrak it includes the bus. You can also book a pickup from SF, but I don’t love that bus terminal)

     Monterey to LA: a coworker drove us, in her pickup truck, on the 101. It was 6 hours of farmland. Truly shocking to see the vast space of central California sometimes. No matter how much I see it.

     LA to Portland: we flew Alaska Air from Burbank. I’ve learned that Alaska + Burbank (instead of United + LAX) is the only way to have a decent and maybe even good flying experience. United and LAX are bad experiences all around.

     Portland to Seattle: we are currently in the bus. I bought a ticket through Flixbus. The bus ended up being from another company (MTR western) but is decent. A little nicer than Greyhound. We are used to long distance buses / coaches anyway.

   • Embed this notice
     Bobsee (bobsee@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 24-Feb-2025 06:04:54 JST Bobsee

     in reply to

     @skinnylatte Thanks for the info. Hope your trip was restful and interesting. I lived in Alaska for a long time and love Alaska Airlines. Have only flown into LAX, usually on United, but will try Alaska Air next time into Burbank.

   • Embed this notice
     Adrianna Tan (skinnylatte@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 24-Feb-2025 06:06:31 JST Adrianna Tan

     in reply to

     • Bobsee

     @Bobsee a friend who lives in LA says one of the downsides of doing Burbank airport is, sometimes at rush hour, cabs and rideshares want to go across town and it can be hard to get a ride out. If someone’s picking up, or if you can rent a car, it’s great.

     Leaving from Burbank is excellent tho. Once you walk in, it’s TSA immediately and there are only 5 gates total

   • Embed this notice
     Jeff Miller (orange hatband) (jmeowmeow@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 24-Feb-2025 06:08:30 JST Jeff Miller (orange hatband)

     in reply to

     @skinnylatte Flixbus seems to have been a successful replacement for Bolt Bus in Seattle to/from Portland. I have done Seattle to Portland as a bus day trip a couple of times.

   • Embed this notice
     Adrianna Tan (skinnylatte@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 24-Feb-2025 07:33:56 JST Adrianna Tan

     in reply to

     • Tim Richards

     @timrichards yeah $0.35 one way for them is amazing.

   • Embed this notice
     Tim Richards (timrichards@aus.social)'s status on Monday, 24-Feb-2025 07:33:57 JST Tim Richards

     in reply to

     @skinnylatte IMO visitors underestimate the LA Metro, it's a really good (and cheap) way to get around.

   • Embed this notice
     Adrianna Tan (skinnylatte@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 24-Feb-2025 07:49:01 JST Adrianna Tan

     in reply to

     • Tim Richards
     • Stacey Campbell

     @stacey_campbell @timrichards ahem, being from Singapore I found Melbourne’s transit perplexing

   • Embed this notice
     Stacey Campbell (stacey_campbell@aus.social)'s status on Monday, 24-Feb-2025 07:49:02 JST Stacey Campbell

     in reply to

     • Tim Richards

     @timrichards @skinnylatte It does a reasonable job for people living south of the Santa Monica Mountains, but it's woefully inadequate for the million plus LA residents who live in the San Fernando Valley, esp the central and western parts of the Valley.

     There's talk of plans to improve things, but any completion date is going to be well after my expiration date.

     This is the problem with being born and raised in Melbourne, it spoils you for public transport, and everywhere else is a let down.

     https://laist.com/news/transportation/subway-or-monorail-for-the-sepulveda-pass-metro-and-local-residents-weigh-their-options

   • Embed this notice
     Adrianna Tan (skinnylatte@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 24-Feb-2025 07:49:35 JST Adrianna Tan

     in reply to

     • rednikki

     @rednikki yeah we will see. I might leave that for the summer

   • Embed this notice
     rednikki (rednikki@toot.boston)'s status on Monday, 24-Feb-2025 07:49:36 JST rednikki

     in reply to

     @skinnylatte Aw, Seattle! Are you going to take the ferry to Bainbridge Island while you’re there? (Not sure February is the ideal time…)

   • Embed this notice
     Adrianna Tan (skinnylatte@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 05-Mar-2025 07:43:36 JST Adrianna Tan

     in reply to

     • Michael Kohlman

     @NoRomBasic yes! It’s so good

   • Embed this notice
     Michael Kohlman (norombasic@mastodon.world)'s status on Wednesday, 05-Mar-2025 07:43:37 JST Michael Kohlman

     in reply to

     @skinnylatte And for the Tech Geeks, Monterey is also using the first-in-the U.S. open-standards, open-loop contactless fare system. No passes, no accounts needed, automatic fare capping, automatic transfers, MasterCard, Visa, Smart Phones, pretty much any NFC payment device will work. Discover and Amex before the summer is out, looking into Zelle as well. if registered with login.gov, auto senior discounts, auto veteran discounts, plus some other cool stuff coming in the next 22 months.