Yesterday we took a family trip to the zoo. We have ridden the trains to get to the zoo before by driving our van to the train station and parking there. But we had never walked from our home to a bus stop and ridden the bus to the train station. So, yesterday we packed two book bags, one containing our lunch, water and snacks for the day. The second containing diaper bag supplies and water play time materials (swim suit and towel). (The Dallas Zoo has a steam through the children’s zoo section that kids can play in.) Once our bags were packed and on our backs we put our daughter in her umbrella stroller and we walked to the bus stop.
I have to admit that we were cutting the time close, not taking into consideration that the bus might be two minutes early. We missed the bus we were aiming for! But another one came shortly behind and WOW. Have you ridden a city bus lately? They are really nice. And the driver was very friendly and helped us purchase our day pass. Our experience on the DART bus was very pleasant. Then when we got to our first destination, South Irving Station, we walked to the TRE train rail (next door) to await the train. This begins the part of the trip we had taken before. We got on the TRE train to Union Station in Dallas and transferred to the Red Line train until we reached the zoo. (The Dallas Zoo stop is across the street from the zoo, very convenient.)
Our trip home was just as simple, we got on the Red Line, transferred to the TRE and then hopped on a Dart bus. With public transportation this easy and affordable, why do we have our own vehicles? My husband and I got a day pass for $3 each and our daughter was free (she’s 2). They have week passes for $15 and monthly passes for $50. Yes, using public transportation might not be as convenient on your watch, but look at your budget. No car loan, no car insurance, no repairs or maintenance, no yearly car tags or inspections and no high gas prices!!! Now you would have the price of renting a vehicle whenever you traveled by car, but that price would (in our case) amount to an overall lower cost. A much lower cost to be honest.
I wish I could report to you that we were ridding ourselves of our minivan, but we aren’t quite ready for that. But I wish we were. It’s just something to think about. Especially since some cities have wonderful transportation systems.
And on a side note, if anyone lives in the DFW Metroplex area and wants to go to the Dallas Zoo. If you ride the Dart on a Monday or Tuesday show your ticket to the zoo clerk and you’ll get in the zoo for $5. See, even more discounts for using public transportation!
Tracy said,
May 31, 2008 @ 9:35 pm
Where did Taylor sit? This has always been our problem with subways and pub transportation since having kids. Is it even legal for them to ride without a carseat? Let alone safe? I’m so paranoid!
marti said,
May 31, 2008 @ 10:23 pm
There are no seat belts for adults or children on our buses or trains. Sometimes she sat in her own seat and sometimes in our lap. Just depended on what she wanted to do. But it is “suppose” to be safe. And some people with smaller kids kept them in their stroller. It just depends on the room available and what you want to do. I figure the trains shouldn’t ever come in close contact with any other train and the buses only get up to 30 mph max. (The bus stops here are so close they can’t pick up a lot of speed.) I felt like we were all safe. If I didn’t feel safe I wouldn’t continue to do it.
Jocelyn said,
June 3, 2008 @ 8:26 am
I have to say that DART is great for longer distances, but is not cost effective for shorter distances unless you ride it all the time and get the weekly or monthly pass. At least I haven’t found it to be. They recently made it so you couldn’t buy a one-way pass on the bus. So if you want to ride the bus one way, you still have to pay $3. My office is about a 4 minute drive or a 10 to 15 minute walk from my house. With one car, there have been a few mornings when Mark and I couldn’t carpool and I’ve taken the bus or walked. No big deal. But walking in the heat (or cold or rain) in my work clothes is not ideal. And neither is paying $3 for a one way pass (he can usually pick me up in the afternoons). So I haven’t ridden the bus quite as often as I’d expected to. But DART is often a good option. We’re just not getting rid of our car anytime soon.
)