One of the easiest ways to spruce up your green travel is to use public transportation when you visit a new city. Traveling as a group eliminates the amount of Co2 you emit into the air, reducing your carbon footprint, and ensuring those blue skies stay blue, and don’t fill up with nasty gray smog.
To make your green travel that much easier, we’ve summarized subway systems in a few cities with notable public transportation advancements.
Boston: MBTA
Although not as big as its famous sister, New York City, Boston does utilize its Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to the best of its ability. Boasting the oldest subway system in the country, Boston’s red, green, blue, and orange lines help you get all over the city in a matter of minutes. Each color-coded line runs both above and below the ground.
The line that covers the most ground is the green line. Broken into different branches (B, C, D, and E), the green line will take you to the outskirt towns of Brookline, Cambridge, Allston, and Newton. For Fenway Park, take any line except the E line to the Kenmore stop. The B line will take you through the college area of the city, passing Boston University and ending at Boston College. The C and D lines are known mostly for their Brookline destinations, and the E line passes through Symphony Hall, Berklee College of Music, and the Longwood Hospitals, ending in Jamaica Plain. Green line, green travel.
The red line spans from the Cambridge area (where you’ll find Harvard and MIT) through the center of the city into South Boston and the smaller, suburban cities of Quincy and Braintree.
The orange line runs from the residential areas of Saugus, Malden, and Charlestown, to the Italian North End neighborhood, and through to the gentrified area of Jamaica Plain.
Easiest to get to from the airport, the blue line reaches from the beaches of Revere, through Logan Airport, and ends in the center of the city at Government center.
Most trains run about 3-5 minutes apart during rush hour, and about 8-10 minutes apart during daytime lulls. Service starts around 6 a.m. and ends around midnight, but runs a bit later on weekend nights. Passes can be obtained through automated machines for multi-rides, weekly and monthly timeframes.
San Francisco: BART
Subway service in San Francisco began in 1972 and has come quite a long way. Up its hilly streets and across the bay, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system makes it easy to cross the water and get anywhere on land.
Recently, BART announces that most of its 700 railcars would be replaced with new, more energy efficient ones in the coming years, making green travel to San Francisco even greener. All of the lines except orange cross the bay and hit Embarcadero, Balboa Park, Colma, and the San Francisco International Airport.
Take the red line to head north through downtown Berkeley to Richmond, and the yellow line to head towards Pittsburg, Bay Point, and Rockridge. The orange line, like the red, goes to Richmond, but also passed through the Oakland Airport and down to Fremont. Lastly, the blue line runs from the southern area of the city toward Oakland, and hooks down across the bay over to the airport.
Trains operate until midnight every night, and service begins at 4 a.m. on weekdays, 6 a.m. on Saturdays, and 8 a.m. on Sundays. Waiting time normally lasts around 15 minutes, but runs more frequently during rush hour. Bikers beware: bicycles are allowed on the cars during the day except for at rush hour (7-9 a.m. and 5-7 p.m.).
For another green travel opportunity, try the famous san Francisco trolleys. It’s great way to see the city without having to go underground, and its hop-on, hop-off service allows you to follow your desires and get off whenever something on the street interests you. There are no specific stations and stops, so it’s a green, easy, and carefree way to see San Francisco.
London: The Tube/Underground
Now, here is a remarkable subway system. Looking at a map of the Tube/Underground is like looking at a contemporary abstract painting – there are lots of pretty colors going every which way, but you’re not quite sure how they make sense. When you’re lost in London though, this multi-colored madness will be the best thing that ever happened to you.
Eleven color coded trains all intersect at some point in the middle of the city. The circle line (yellow) is the most convenient, making a circle around the downtown area and intersecting with all of the other colors at some point. The central (red) line, cuts the middle of the city from east to west, and the Jubilee (gray), Northern (black) and Victoria (blue) all move in diagonal regions north and south. Bakerloo, District, Hammersmith & City, Picadilly, and Waterloo & City all run from outer parts of the city through the center of town from different directions. Each line runs on a separate time table, but for the most part, trains run from 6 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.
Compared to Boston and New York, the Tube’s network of underground stations and trains are sparkling clean, with sophisticated automated timing systems, and a clear, soothing British female voice that announces the next car and reminds you to “mind the gap.”
Oyster cards are rechargeable passes that work in lieu of a ticketing system. Remember where you keep it – at most stations, you need it to get out as well as in.
Beijing: Dixia Tiedao
If there’s one city in the world that needs a public transportation system to boost its green travel, it’s this one. Due to Beijing’s population crisis, resources are slim, and pollution is a serious threat to the surrounding environment and the breathing ability of its citizens. Separated into four Ring Roads, traffic in Beijing is astonishing at best, so taking the subway is one way to be more efficient.
The Mandarin name for the Subway is written in Mandarin characters, but look for the Pinyin signs labeled “Dixia Tiedao.”Since the 2008 Olympic Games, most signs also include English translations to make it easier.Looking at the subway map may be confusing since lines that are not in service yet are already planned. Pay close attention to whether or not a line is actually operating (some won’t be done until 2015) before you plan a journey.
The six lines that are in service are Lines 1, 5, 8, 10, 13, and Batong. The Batong line runs in a circle around the first Ring Road, and the others intersect it running east to west, and north to south. Some lines were added for the Olympic Games to give easy access to the venues – these are the air-conditioned ones, so take advantage of these in the summer. Be careful when your trip crosses over the Sihui stations, where you have to get out of the train and switch tracks to continue on the same line. It’s a little confusing, but carrying a subway map with you will help.
New York City: MTA
Like London, the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is ultra complicated and incredibly colorful. Organized (although it may not seem so at first glance) by letters, colors, and numbers, the easiest way to consider the subways here are by destination, not by label.
Almost all of the lines gather, intersect, and join between the area of Grand Central Station and Rockefeller Center. There is the easiest point to show direction of the different lines:
For trains from Manhattan to the Bronx (and reverse), take lines 4, 5, and 6.
For trains from Manhattan to Brooklyn (and reverse), take lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, B, and D.
For trains from Manhattan to Queens (and reverse), take lines J, M, and Z.
Note that more lines exist throughout the five boroughs, and that transfers are easiest before you cross the East River from Manhattan, rather than in the Bronx, Brooklyn, or Queens. Staten Island is separated by a ferry system and the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR).
All lines except two are open 24 hours a day, which makes green travel more accessible than most other cities in the world. And with all of the people that board flights to New York every day, taking strides to use the subway goes a long way.
© Cheapflights Ltd Andrea Mooney
