I still believe in public transportation
Today I wanted to go to Disneyland to visit some friends who are here from out of town for MouseAdventure put on by Mouseplanet.com. My wife had to work and needed the car so I thought I would try the bus. A couple weeks ago I did the sametrip and I was there in an hour, but this being a Sunday and Mother’s Day, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It turns out the trip is only an hour and a half due to a thirty minute wait between the two buses.
I used that time to get coffee, a snack, catch up on some news, and start this article on my iPhone.
Even better the 2nd of the two buses for this trip has reclining seats!
The total fare one way is $3.00, but for $4.00 one can buy a day pass and save $2.00 if doing a round trip. (I have a monthly pass)
I arrived at the bus stop at Katella and Harbor at 9:45 and was inside Disneyland at 9:58 am, just an hour and thirty-five minutes from when I left my house, and already had breakfast.
It may have taken me about 15 minutes more from my door to a Dole Whip Float, but it was surely less stressful. I was able to write this on the way. Even better I didn’t have to stress about driving, parking, or wondering which tram I would get from the parking lot.
While there have been OCTA cutbacks recently, there are still plenty of workable routes to get around Orange County.
Nice! The wife and I always consider riding our beach cruisers from Old Towne Orange to Disney, but we keep forgetting to check if they have bike racks.
Also, we often don’t leave the park until night time, and riding that distance at night seems less than appealing.
The problem with your public transportation system still is that it is not family friendly when you add up the fares and compare to driving. AT $4 for the day pass a family of 4 is spending $16 which is more than parking and the cost to drive the few miles.
We need to adopt some of the same fare pricing for kids on weekends that cities like London have done. IE under 10 was free with paying adult on the tube and on weekends and off peak travel times which saved us a bundle during the week we were there. Every little bit helps and I think we’d get more families on public transit if the fares were more family friendly.