I live in Paris. Regular city for bikes, but the bus and metro is great. You never have to wait too much for the metro, it's cheap.

I live in Riverside, California. A lot of the sidewalks suck for skateboarding, but they seem to be okay for longboarders. I see a ton of people biking every day, so I guess it's fine for that. Driving is pretty fast for the most part, although the freeways get very crowded. The buses go all over the city and to nearby cities, but I can't stand riding them, which I do nearly everyday. They get crowded a lot and one in particular is frequently late. Not to mention the crazy people that sometimes get on. The Metrolink and Amtrak trains pass through here, which I think is awesome because I love riding trains.

>>270993
Pic related. It's the city I live in.

Vancouver.
-Biking is really well done here, bike lanes everywhere, specific bike streets and drivers are for the most part respectful of the bikers and pedestrians. The only obstacle is the endless amount of hills.
-Driving can be a nightmare. The city is really stretched from west to east so there can be tons of traffic at peak hours heading east or west which causes lots of congestion due to the tightness of vancouver. hills and pedestrians also cause a lot of issues for drivers as you always have to look out for them.
-The streets are fairly well maintained. The sidewalks can often be covered with moss due to all the rain, but it's very easy to travel by skateboard. Especially going downhill, but you gotta speed check or else you'll end up torn in two.

>>270994
>>270993

Bahahaha. I'm a UCR student.

Riverside is pretty badass for biking in general. Terrible for everything else.

>>271018
Haha, no way. I live right next to UCR.

>Riverside is pretty badass for biking in general
It seems like it. I see packs of those bikers in spandex every weekend and they are always really happy. I want to get a bike soon because it's going to be getting too hot to get around without a car.

NYC. I love our public transportation even if it is ugly and frustrating at times. It's nice to go out and party and be able to take a train home at any hour of the night. I didn't realize how stressful owning a car was until I was able to get rid of it.

Now that I own a bike, my life has gotten even better, but that's a direct result of the bike lanes.

Denver, CO

Traffic isn't too bad besides the morning rush hour. I lived carfree for the last 5 years and had no trouble with a bike/lightrail/bus. At least in the metro area. Lightrail is fast and convenient, the bus sucks which is why I started riding a bike around. Drivers are surprisingly courteous and aware even when I blatantly disobey posted signs and traffic laws on my bike. Great city imo!

>>271030
I think the city could use a few more bike lanes though. In the other boroughs, the roads could use improvement and more bike lanes as well.

Harrisburg PA. Local public transit is a joke at best. However, I live within walking distance of the Amtrak station which has frequent electrified trips to Philly and NYC.

NYC faggot here also. I bike everywhere. For anything under five or six miles, trains take more time, cost $2.25, and are boring as hell.

If it's raining or I'm heading to the outer boroughs at night, I'll take the train so I don't die. But if it's a dry twenty-five degree day, I will sooner bike to East New York than take the train.

You americans probably haven't even heard of it but I live in Uppsala, Sweden. It's 40 minutes north of Stockholm by train and one of sweden's major university cities.

I currently work at the Stockholm Arlanda airport halfway to Stockholm which means I have to take the bus to the train station and then a commuter train to the airport itself. Public transport is overall really good, although the rail system throughout the country has experiences problems during winter with failing signals causing delays. Buses are reliable as fuck and will go even in blizzards which is great for us who live a few km from the city centre. My commuter train is the Regina type from Bombardier and it seems quite easy to maintain since it is relatively reliable compared to the "ordinary" trains. It is also very comfortable and fast.

I'm hoping for trams in my town and a commuter line to Stockholm but until then, the buses and trains will do just fine.

Washington, DC
Auto traffic is shit, takes at least an hour to go anywhere. Metro is great, they're building a line out to Dulles Airport, Metrobus is meh, Circulator bus is great, commuter rail is awesome, they're putting in light rail, which I expect to be awesome

Dallas, TX (suburb of). Car centered. Traffic is really bad only at rush hours. HOV lane system is not effective. DART bus system is meh at best. DART rail is good; but not a very complete "system". OK place for biking, mostly flat. Some bike lanes, some bike/walking trails.

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Bus - In most cities, minor bus routes terminate at a subway stop or major bus route, allowing passengers to transfer. But in Ottawa, every single minor bus route merges with and follows the same corridor across downtown. This means: 1. many buses are duplicating the same routes, 2. you have to wait for a dozen other buses to pass before yours comes, 3. there are literally dozens of different routes that pick up at every single downtown stop, making the stops crowded and disorganized, 4. minor routes are too long and too infrequent. However, the city is scared of the bus driver union, which has organized the routes to be as labor-intensive as possible, so it never gets fixed.

BOAT - Ottawa has a canal so you can boat right through downtown, and dock within a short walk of tourist attractions, restaurants, and shopping. A couple of restaurants even have their own docks! Obviously, boating through Ottawa is just for pleasure, but how many other cities can you drive and park a 40-foot motor-yacht across the road from a downtown shopping mall?

CYCLING - Ottawa has miles upon miles of bicycle paths that cross the city, and follow every river and canal. However, they are narrow, have a speed limit, and used by pedestrians. So, it's a great for casual cycling, but poor for commuters.

ROADS - The traffic really isn't too bad compared to most cities. And the road system isn't particularly remarkable in any way.

Melbourne.
We have a lot of commuter train and the largest tram network in the world
BUT it is poorly operated and maintained - for the past 40 years every government regardless of Liberal or Labor have focused on building freeways and defunding public transportation
Now patronage is surging and it aint coping

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

METRO - It's like a subway, but it runs on rubber wheels, because the government was too cheap to build a proper rail system. So it's loud, migraine-inducing loud. Wear earplugs!

ROADS - Montreal's roads are crumbing, because the government is too cheap to build quality roads. Sink-holes are common, because the government is too cheap to properly maintain underground pipes (fact: Montreal loses 40% of it's drinking water to leaks. For comparison, Toronto loses 10%)

CYCLING - Montreal has a bicycle sharing program for tourists (it's "cultural", so the government throws money at it). But you can't cycle anywhere, because the government is too cheap to make bicycle lanes that would be useful to commuters.

In summary, the Quebec and city governments throw all their money into "cultural" programs, and leave no money for "infrastructure", making transportation shitty for residents. But you go all day speaking and reading only French, and that's considered more important than bridges that stay up.

Aberdeen, Scotland -

Everything is basically shit. Busses are all over the place and never on time, streets are narrow and they're re-doing all the ye olde cobblestone roads to make it look more quaint or some shit. Potholes and the worst road repairs make cycling a total effort coupled with only tiny strips of cycle lane put there to make the final sum of all their lengths sound good on paper. Driving is rediculous with huge rush hour tailbacks that don't need to be there because local politics/idotic pressure groups always fuck up any bypass/upgrade works to the point where they don't serve the original remit. Pisses with rain all the time. Huge wage disparity what with all the 'oil capital of europe' shit so be prepared to get accosted on public transport by junkies while simultaneously getting shit from dickheads in their italian sportscars when you're on your bike.

Thankfully with an international airport and ferry terminal leaving and going somewhere less soul destroying is easy.

Swansea, Wales

Shitloads of hills, so walking any great distance that isn't along the shoreline is a pain in the bum - shortly followed by a pain in the feet. Coverage of bus routes can be a bit meh in places, and timekeeping seems to be an issue in some places. On the upside, they crafted a dedicated right-of-way out of a dual carriageway, turning it into a one-way system for anyone not allowed to use it. Unfortunately, they installed stupid traffic lights, so nobody ever goes anywhere. Got on a bus out of town yesterday - lights turned red just as it was about to move off. They turn green, and the set in front go red as it's approaching. Same for the next set, and the set after. Before you know it, five minutes later you've stopped at more lights than bus stops and you still haven't escaped the city centre.

I live in Los Angeles, in the Hollywood area, right by LACC.

The area I specifically live in is pretty nice, I can actually walk or ride to just about anything I want. And there is a subway station two blocks from my house.. but I'd say where I live is the exception rather than the rule..

METRO - I was surprised to find out that LA has subways and light rail lines, they have their share of issues. The lines don't all connect, and I've been told they are controlled by different transit authorities, so there are complications with transfers and etc. If you live close to a station its actually pretty nice, and fairly priced, but stations are few and far between.

CYCLING - Its southern california, so the weather is always ideal for biking. Right by my house there is a nice and well stocked bike shop, and directly across from it a community run bike co-op. The big tip that I was given about riding in LA is to never ride on a street people know the name of, just side streets. Biking around is very doable, the only issues appear if you have to go somewhere far- LA is very spread out.

ROADS - Often poorly maintained, there are many of these in LA. Sometimes they make sense and form a grid or other easy pattern, but sometimes they start to get wonky as they deal with the hills and valleys inherent to our geography here.

For me personally, its not too bad, and apparently they are building a huge network of bike lanes in the next few years, and adding more subway lines. So in the next 5-10 years, I could see LA being pretty accessible to non-car transit.

>Chico, California

NOTHING is further than 5-10 miles away, and school/job/bars are all within 2 miles. There are no "seedy" neighborhoods, so I can take as many shortcuts as I want.

Feelsgoodman

Perth, Western Australia.
I moved to Perth from out the back of Woop Woop in Tasmania about six months ago. Tassie only has a population of about 500,000 and is very spread out so there is no mass transit aside from a couple of bus services in the cities, generally it's car trips either on the highway, country road or city with no congestion.
These are my impressions of Perth.
Train: Very impressive, lots of stations, trains are always on time apart from the odd occasional union dispute. Aboriginals always sit either at the very front or back of the train so they're easy to avoid. Also the trains are super clean and don't have any advertisements on them which makes for a nicer trip.
Bus: Not as good as the trains but still very handy, certain train stops are also bus stations so transfering is easy.
Car: I only bought a car recently and rarely use it however the highway/freeway system is fairly intuitive and the traffic at rush hour sets you back about 10-15 minutes which i think is decent.
Bike: I don't ride but a lot of people do. Perth is very flat and has a lot of cycle paths, I'm not sure how usefull they'd be for commuters but you definatly see a lot of people enjoying them.
Taxi: Bastard taxi drivers frequently ignore you, rip you off or are rude.
All in all the public transport in Perth, I think, is fantastic. The TransPerth website is good to use and the smart rider cards are easy as hell to use and save loads of time and a bit of money. Also cheap as chips fares.

Portland, Oregon. I get everywhere by bike, and sometimes ride recreationally. Although the city is portrayed as bike utopia, riding during commute hours can be highly annoying because few people have any sense of urgency or awareness when it comes to transporting themselves. Although motorists are respectful, they are inattentive, distracted, and very hesitant about taking advantage of opportunities, which can slow you down as well. A lot of motorists take five seconds to realize that the light has turned green and to finally accelerate. The pedestrians here are total morons, and completely disregard what their parents should have taught them as children about looking both ways before crossing the street. Most other cyclists also suck, as they ride on the sidewalk or counter traffic, blow through stop signs and stop lights, etc. Basically, the most fun time to go for a ride is when few other people are out -- and I say this as a fast and aggressive rider that rides in traffic everyday.

Our streets are falling a part and are full of potholes, and the city government cares far more about installing bells and whistles like poorly designed cycletracks than they do about repairing the streets, which present a hazard to both cyclists and motorists in their decaying state.

I hardly ever take public transit. Although it is supposedly the best in the country, it still takes 2-3 times as long to get to your destination compared to those who bike or drive.

Drivers hate it here -- the streets are narrow and don't allow for much maneuverability.

I suppose I actually have it good here compared to other cities, but I find the way things operate here to be thoroughly obnoxious.

>>271001
I was very impressed by your smooth streets and relative lack of potholes. It makes Portland, Oregon feel like a third world country. Your wider streets also allow for more maneuverability for the cars. Still, it seems that a lot of motorists downtown have to wait forever to turn right because of the waves of pedestrians that they have to wait for.

Moscow, Russia.
Traffic here is terrible, batshit insane planning and amount of cars both contribute to 2-3 hours jams on every major road.
Public transport it ok, but it still moves on the same roads so you can't really appreciate it.
BUT, metro is beyond awesome, stations are everywhere, it's pretty congested during rush hour, but if you want to get somewhere fast it's the best way to do it.
Using bike for actual travelling is not the best idea, there are no separate roads for it, and riding on a roadside is not safe at all.