I Rode From Washington to Boston Using ONLY Public Transit! 

the synths went hard

Thank you so much! I have to give the vast majority of the credit to Jackson, he always works his magic on these!

​@@MilesinTransit your friend playing the guitar 🎸 looks like the guy on the cover of the book: Man in the Rockefeller Suit. *I'm in Wilmington Delaware 🤤🥱😴😴😴😴😴😖😩😫

Absolutely phenomenal

One of the few, if I only in video ads worth NOT skipping

🤔

Also not-do-fun fact: it’s also (slightly) cheaper to take an Amtrak from Boston to Springfield than it is to take two commuter rails and an orange line from Boston to Lowell.

I LOVE those $7 Boston-Providence Amtrak fares

Also love the $5 Amtrak fares between Baltimore and DC, while MARC is $9 and it takes longer!

You say that like I don’t want an excuse to through my money at Amtrak

Interesting facts brother👏👌

Kim Jong-un is always here to bring the cool facts

There is, or was, a sign in Chester PA reading "What Chester Makes Makes Chester."

​@@TomHoffman-uw7pfIs it what Chester makes makes Chester what it is?

Kim what are you doing here your country needs you. But also, as a Trenton resident, thank you for the history!

That means a lot, thank you!

@@MilesinTransit You're one of my favorite youtubers, you deserve it 100%

I once took a train from New Haven to DC (not Acela) and oh, I regretted it a lot.

Cause you are not transferring bro local trips are free with Amtrak tickets

One of the wonders of the Northeast in 2023 is the ability to attend Washington Spirit games despite living in Philadelphia. I usually take a Northeast Regional to DC, enter the Metrorail system, and pop out a healthy walk from Audi Field. The return trip normally involves the last train out of DC, arriving in Philly just after midnight.

Sun Tzu reference appreciated. Also what do you think of think of video idea: How the Soviets almost gave America High-Speed Rail?

99% of the credit goes to Jackson! Thank you so much - we really should put these on Spotify sometime

To be fair they took mostly local public transit routes over a very long distance. This would be like going from say Rotterdam to Berlin distance wise all on local trains. And honestly looking up that route on google maps shows taking several different trains for even an optimal route. If I was going to take non-flight transit from DC to Boston I would just take the Acela line which is zero transfer shot from DC to Boston taking about 6 hours 45 minutes. I guess you might not call the Acela/Amtrak "public transit"... but it is? Like what is public transport really mean? Transport taken enmasse by the public? Or does it have to be specifically owned and operated by the government? Amtrak technically has its primary share holder being the US government. I personally can't really find a good definition for "public transport" that excludes amtrak without excluding lots of other privately owned local transit companies that are often called public transport... With that said... yes the US has atrocious public transit. But the northeast actually is like one of the few spots that does have some actual transit infrastructure. And that specific route is actually a super active zero transfer route! I'd argue it's really an achievement that there is a way to take a series of smaller shorter local transit hops along that line and actually pull it off. I could only imagine what Rotterdam to Berlin would take taking smaller route trains considering that the route google suggests includes the entire Germany section of the trip being a highspeed train line and it ends up taking 2 hours longer to travel the distance despite being comparable distances using service lines comparable to Amtrak/Acela.

The direct route takes 7 hours

it takes the very same time to get from far south-western to far north-eastern Germany by local trains as well - a bit longer distance, but still doesn't make such a big difference

O say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave

You do realize that there's also a direct high-speed rail line that takes 6.5 hours, right?

I'm not sure if they were ever that busy though! If I had to guess, I'd say that smaller systems have actually had better ridership recovery rates because they were always a lot more reliant on people who have no other option but to take transit, rather than middle class office workers.

@@MilesinTransit That is a good point! A lot of times it is hard to objectively remember things. One thing I have noticed, though, is that the threshold of size and density for transit to be useful can fall off very suddenly. Portland, Oregon is famous for being transit friendly---but if you go to Vancouver, Washington, across the river, while transit is okay, it quickly drops off. But in terms of size and density, there isn't a gigantic difference. So a city of 300,000 people at 2,000 people per square mile will have maybe a tenth of the transit options of a city of 600,000 people at 4,000 people per square mile. (Numbers made up for convenience) I don't think there is anywhere in the NEC that can't support local bus service---even "rural" Connecticut is dense enough to have many passengers. But often people's attitude towards transit drops off outside of cities. Also, in that region, since there are lots of long distance trains and buses, the local buses might not be very popular? But I don't know, it has been a while since I have been there, I mostly know about the West Coast. Some of my Oregon videos, including my MAX speedrun video, might put some of my misconceptions into context!

It was like that in the late 70s in MD. I'd be the only passenger on a bus going right past the front gate of the University of Maryland. That's one of the largest colleges in the country.

Thank you so much! They basically just gave me free reign (I don't even know if they watch the ads honestly), and it was so much fun to put this together!

For your next trip whenever it is kan you photograph the driver of every vehicle and introduce yourself and get their name because you will never see these people again, 😢never. ❤

I was going to comment about this since I now have the funds to get it. Oh well hope I can pick it up with the discount soon.

"Falls" is a synonym for creek or stream. But the only place you see it in that context is in and around Baltimore.

Thank you Supreme Leader

I'm glad this one could stand out! It's definitely a played-out genre, but I always watch them when they come onto my feed because it's always so fascinating.

It truly is one large city

Ooh, that's good

Thank you so much!

Oof, that would've been bad!

I gotta give the Maryland flag points for being unique, but...I stand by the fact that it's just so butt-ugly!

PS: When next Greyhound adventure with your Girlfriend? :D

I - as another European - am also a bit irritated, since I always complain about how bad public transport is in my country and especially in my area and town. But then - the next bus stop is right around the corner, only 10 meters away, the local train station is a 20 minutes walk away and from from there I can get a train to the big city three times per hour and even a few long distance trains per day. And I am complaining!!!! 😅

He picked an inefficient and unnecessary complicated route on purpose. There are many trains every day that leave from DC and take you all way to Boston. Both express and regional

I don't know if its the same in most of Europe but Public Transportation here usually refers to state-funded services that tend to be limited to said state. You can get direct transit between cities and multiple states but thats gonna be through train services like Amtrack or bus services like Greyhound or Flexibus. DC to Bostons is about 450 miles (724km) which is about 8-9 hours in car.

@@TooSmalley Here in Germany, it is basically the same. We have Deutsche Bahn (in the end funded by the federal government) that operates long distance routes between cities and states and is involved in some states' public transport. On a state level, we have mostly state funded public transport running busses and trains and sometimes also operating the busses inside the cities. Since we have 16 states and each one of them tends to make things a little different, it would take far to long to go into detail. But let me take as example my route to the next big city: I can use trams and busses to get to the main station (or just walk). The busses and trams are operated and funded by my city (VBBr). From there, I could either take a long distance train to Berlin (operated and funded by Deutsche Bahn/federal gov.) or - what I usually do, since they are going three times every hour - I would take the local commuter train to Berlin operated by ODEG (50% owned by the state owned italian railway company and 50% privately owned). And since a couple of months, we have the 49-Euro-Ticket, which is valdi for all public transport all over Germany (49 Euro per month). This makes it basically possible to travel from Freiburg im Breisgau to Flensburg for only that ammount of money, as long as one only takes public transport. Using long distance routes, the ride would take around 9 hours, by car around 10 hours and by public transport anything between 15 and 20 hours.

Thank you so much!

Thanks so much!

Oh my gosh, that's amazing! Thank you so much!

Thank you so much!! I've gotten a few offers but I'm being a little picky because I don't want to do stuff that isn't completely relevant to what I'm doing.

Thank you so much!!

@@elijahk.7501 True! Miles has a certain vibe though.

Amazing to hear! Thank you so much!

You must be prophetic!

Heck yeah, thank you so much!

Thank you!

Thank you!!

Thanks so much!

Thanks so much! I don't know how I'm going to deal with Maine - I use 2019 numbers for my least used videos, but Maine is one of the few states where the least used station has changed since then! (OOB to Freeport)

Thanks so much!

I think that'd be a valid course of action 😂

Thanks so much, glad you found it!

Yeah, if I had missed that 6 AM SEAT bus, the schedule would've worked out better to get Commuter Rail from Wickford, but the earlier trip meant I could catch a previous train that doesn't go all the way down!

Septa may also go further south as well but I think septa is more focused on getting back to West Chester and over to Lancaster first

@@jbreezy101 SEPTA can't even keep their current equipment maintained and they've been undergoing decades of downsizing. Until the State stops sabotaging their funding, I highly doubt there will be any expansions in the near future.

Yeah but Metro North is only planning to do the Hudson Line via Hells Gate, the other lines will still go to Grand Central still

@@jbreezy101 SEPTA is not going to extend trains into Maryland if Maryland doesn't cough up the funding.

@@23h109hh New Haven Line would access Penn Station via Hells Gate. Phase 2 would be to bring the Hudson Line down to Penn Station via Empire Corridor.

Thank you so much!!

Thank you so much!

Thank you so much!!

One rule for me when it comes to content: always make an impression.

Thanks so much!

Thanks so much!!

I LOVE eating grape tomatoes on their own. Top 3 food.

That means a lot, thank you!

We had a politician whose idea of "taking the train to work" involved boarding a Metroliner (Acela's predecessor) in Wilmington, DE, and popping out of Union Station DC, a few blocks from his workplace.

Aleena and I have been talking about starting a series where we try to visit as many NPS units as possible using transit! Glad to hear we're not the first ones to have thought of that.

I was getting close to 40k steps each day for 4 days. You'll certainly have your work cut out for you lol. But that'd still be super awesome! There's still plenty that I havent seen!

@@mdav97 We'd definitely need to incorporate bikes for some of the more far-flung ones. And some of the ones out west are flat-out impossible without multi-day bike rides, unfortunately!

@@MilesinTransit If you do this, you'd have to go to the Fire Island National Seashore via the Montauk Branch. There are ferries by different stations along the branch that go to the private Fire Island communities within the boundaries of the seashore. But if you want true parkland/wilderness, take the Watch Hill ferry from Patchogue.

Thank you so much!

Not to shill, but the entire Miles in Transit music library is on Patreon! Jackson and I keep talking about how we should make a public album though, so potentially stay tuned??

@@MilesinTransit Ooh! now that i know its on patreon i think its fine, as it does take alot of work!

Thank you!

Bad news, Ned Lamont is proposing a 44% cut to SLE service and about 12% to the New Haven line. Ridership and costs. I trust Ned, so it must be a tough situation in the outer burbs for offpeak rail. Counterproductive but it’s the news.

@@kitchin2 I hate to add to the bad news, but coming from Boston (I'm a regular commuter on the Providence Line from it's namesake city) and MBTA hasn't seen the expected gains to justify extension beyond Wickford Junction, so they've tabled any ideas about extending to Westerly for the time being. It's a shame but it makes sense because Wickford Junction, which just opened 11 years ago, nor the also new-ish TF Green/Warwick Stations (2010) have not hit the ridership targets that the T had hoped for when they were more ambitious about extending into Rhode Island. A trip to Kingston or Westerly could one day be in the cards if ridership were to improve though and with the T's plans to electrify the entire Providence Line, that would have an immense benefit for future extension plans down the line. On the bright side, Rhode Island did gain another station on the line with the opening of Pawtucket/Central Falls, which is how I discovered Miles' channel! From one transit nerd to another, thanks for being such a cool nerd. >:3

Ayyyy thank you so much!!!

Thank you so much!

The next 1-2-3 was far enough away that it would've negated the benefit of not having to do the walk. Believe me, I'd always rather be on the IRT - I was shocked that the A was coming first!

Thank you!

What would be the fun in taking a direct train?

I'm so glad to hear that! I feel like they're anything but relaxing, but I'm glad they are to someone! ;)

Thanks so much!

Decided to take a look at Spain here and, only on local transit, you could go all the way from Madrid to the French border in a day! (767km, or 480mi) It also involves merely two trains; the one lone regional train from Madrid to Barcelona (9h30 with no amenities other than a toilet!) Then any regional from Barcelona to the border town of Portbou, sadly no way to get to France. One could also take one of the two Regional Madrid-San Sebastian trains and then commuter rail to the border town of Hendaye. Though that is a shorter route

I mean, I’m not sure which exact route you had in mind in Germany, but it doesn’t take a day (as in ~24h) to do a similar route like this in Germany. Since you mentioned south west Germany I picked Freiburg as my starting point and going to Hamburg (which is about 500mil, so similar to DC-> Boston) takes a little under 13h (assuming all 6 transfers are reached). Berlin is a similar story at around 14h. So it’s still slow, but it’s not 25h slow.

@@eechauch5522 actually pretty much an entire day, to be precise 20hrs51min to 22hrs21min. Freiburg is good, but still not in the far south-west. Neither Hamburg nor Berlin are in the far north-east. From Berlin you can go another 3 hours north by train to get to Stralsund, and 1 more hour going east from Stralsund to Sassnitz. I looked up the ride from Weil am Rhein, located far in the south-west at the border to Switzerland and France, to Sassnitz on Rugia in the far north-east. Looking it up right now at 11:10 AM I'd even have a similar departure time like he did in the video: he bought the ticket at 11:23 AM and the train departed at 12:15 PM. In my example from Germany the train would depart from Weil am Rhein at 12:02 PM and take only 20hrs51min, with 9 transfers / 10 trains being necessary to get to the other end of the country. Taking only regional services obviously: 1) 12:02 PM Regional Express Train RE7 to Karlsruhe Central Station, 18 stops, arriving 2:21 PM 2) 2:28 PM Commuter Train S9 to Mannheim Central Station, 14 stops, arriving 3:22 PM 3) 3:35 PM Regional Exrepss Train RE70 to Frankfurt (Main) Central Station, 15 stops, arriving 4:45 PM 4) 5:19 PM Regional Express Train RE30 to Kassel Central Station, 11 stops, arriving 7:34 PM 5) 7:46 PM Regional Train RB83 to Göttingen Station, 10 stops, arriving 8:45 PM 6) 9:04 PM Metronom Regional Express Train ME RE2 to Uelzen Station, 19 stops, arriving 11:47 PM 7) 11:59 PM Metronom Regional Train ME RB31 to Lüneburg Sation, 3 stops, arriving 12:25 AM 8) 12:45 AM Erixx Regional Express Train erx RB83 to Büchen Station, 3 stops, arriving 1:08 AM 9) 4:58 AM Regional Express Train RE1 to Rostock Central Station, 14 stops, arriving 6:50 AM 10) 7:00 AM Regional Express Train to Sassnitz Station, 22 stops, arriving 8:53 AM Most of the transfer times are rather short, but you'll notice the 3h50min transfer at Büchen - a common issue when traveling regional services in the middle of the night

Thank you!

Ooh! Good to know!

LIRR and MetroNorth share the same ticket style - I had always thought 1-7 are fare zones, but the zones go all the way to 14; perhaps they use a additive double punch system?

@@macaddct1984 It's possible. MNR goes to 21, so 7 would be all you need, but at the same time, the zone is printed right there.

Same

Thank you both!!

@@MilesinTransit You’re welcome!

A valid mode choice given Cecil's less-than-impressive performance

Thank you so much!

Thank you so much!!

Thank you! The thing about that is that I have so many videos in the backlog where I didn't have that kind of thing in mind, so it might be hard to edit around that...

He usually films episodes months before he posts it on RU-vid.

Thankfully I live up in Boston, where it's been totally fine. The pictures from NYC are pretty freaky though!

@Leonard Wilson some of his associates do reside in the other areas

@@jasonwyland5198 associates? 🤌

@Matt Adamski his friends and otherswho have appeared in his posts like New Brunswick New Jersey.

Seriously ! I want a full album 😂

Thank you so much! That is something we've talked about doing...

Thank you!