How to Get Around on Public Transit

by | Oct 27, 2017 | Blog Item, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Download: Getting Around on Public Transit

Better for the climate, safer and simpler for you

Transportation is the biggest source of climate-poisoning carbon dioxide in the Bay Area. Sharing rides means less of these pollutants in the air. Far fewer people are injured on public transit than while driving or riding in a car. And when the transit trip is over, there’s no need to park – just walk away.

Get a Clipper Card

Pay your fare with Clipper, the electronic token.

  • Cheaper and simpler than cash
  • Good for all Bay Area buses, light rail, trains and ferries
  • Available at transit stations and many stores, or online at clippercard.com

Tips for riding the bus

  • A good transit-riding outfit leaves your hands free. Stow the books, umbrella, packages etc in a shoulder bag, or a backpack you can unsling on one side when you step in.
  • Almost every stop has a sign telling the Stop ID, and a phone number to call to find out when the next bus is coming.
  • Wait where the driver can see you.
  • Touch your Clipper card to the card reader as you get on.
  • Senior and disabled riders up front.
  • Hold on if you stand.
  • Your stop? Pull the cord above the windows or press the red button near the back doors to ask the driver to stop the bus.

(How do you know when your stop is next? You can tell the driver where you want to get off, or use your cell phone app)

  

 

 Try These Handy Transit Apps

  • Free
  • For laptops, iPhones or Android mobile phones
  • There are many more online

Wayfinders – How do I get there?

  • 511.org – Go to this site on your internet browser.
  • Google Maps – Your mobile may have come with it. If not, go on your browser to maps.google.com

Enter your starting address and destination, and select driving, transit, bicycling or walking. A list of routes appears, with an estimate of trip time and cost. A map shows your location, the route, and the destination. If you allow GPS tracking on your mobile, the app shows where you are, the route and destination throughout the trip.

Tracker – When will the bus really show up?

Swiftly is like 511 and Google maps, but uses GPS to locate the actual bus or train and estimate when it will arrive. (Google and 511 use the schedules.) It can suggest alternate routes, too.

Download Swiftly at www.goswift.ly/download/ on your mobile, then to swyftapp.com to select Muni, AC Transit, Caltrain etc. from the list.