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| - I only want three things from a transit system:
1. To get from point A to point B in a reasonable amount of time (less than an hour if in city limits) and in reasonable comfort.
2. Reliable service. If the schedule says a bus will arrive at a particular time, then the bus will arrive within about five minutes of that time. If the schedule says buses arrive every 10 minutes, on average, then I expect to wait no more than about 15 minutes.
3. Affordable fares and passes. Because price is one of the only areas in which public transit has the potential to be directly and immediately more convenient to a person than individual car ownership, prices to passengers should be kept to a minimum.
Before moving here, I heard all sorts of trash talk about Port Authority, but really, it's a decent transit system. I use it to travel to and from all three of my jobs, and I have yet to be late because of the bus. As such, Port Authority easily meets my first two transit requirements. As for price, I miss San Francisco's $45 Fast Pass, but I'm willing to pay a premium for the reliability that Muni couldn't offer. Still, $75 for a Zone 1 pass is a LOT of money when you're paid minimum wage--which I'm sure is the case for many passengers.
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