Help Navigating the Big Cities

Big cities—Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, etc—are great places to live and fun places to visit. However, whether you’re just visiting or planning to ditch your quaint country cottage for a chic urban flat, you’ve got to know how to maneuver the city. Of course, public transportation systems are different depending on where you are. Comparing the MTA (NYC) and MBTA (Boston)? Yeah, you’ll discover a number of differences. Follow this advice, though, and soon you’ll be a pro no matter which metro system you’re using.

• Plan your subway trip before you leave — Long before you duck into the subway station, use maps and online resources to plan out your subway trip. A number of Web sites will help, if not do most of the work, when it comes to choosing a train line, figuring out transfers, directions, and more. Google “Hop Stop” for a great subway trip planner (has trip planning for New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, and more).
• Figure out how much you’ll be using the subway — Will you be in NYC for a weekend? Chicago for a week? San Francisco for two hours? Be conscious of how many days you’ll be in the city. Even more, how often do you think you’ll use the metro system? This will help you decide on which subway card or ticket to buy. For instance, Boston’s Charlie Card will save you 30 cents every time you use the metro system, but it might not be worth the effort to acquire the Charlie Card if you’re only using the subway once to get to the airport. Just plan according, and look up each city’s respective subway ticket purchase options.
• Pay attention to service alerts and delays — Subway systems are great for getting from point A to point B, but none of them are flawless. Construction and maintenance have to be done, and this often causes train delays or temporary line closures. Major notifications will be identified near subway entrances and communicated over loudspeaker systems within the subway tunnels, so take off your iPod while you’re waiting.
• Pay close attention to the train directions — sometimes it’s all too easy to find the right train and then get on one going in the wrong direction. Be particularly conscious of which direction you need to go in (uptown, downtown, outbound, inbound, westbound, etc). Listen, if you don’t know which direction you need, just ask somebody for help! You won’t look foolish. It’s better than going in the wrong direction and ending up confused and lost in a foreign area of the city.
• Use the subway system as much as possible — If you’re staying for a while or moving, just get acquainted with your new public transit system. Choose various lines and just hop on and off at various stops. In this way, you’ll learn the geography of the city and also get acquainted with the metro system!

And realize, subway systems aren’t just for the main metropolitan areas. If you’re visiting or moving to a suburb just outside a major city, it’s still likely you’ll be connected to the major metro system in some way. For example, if you’re moving into one of the many condos in Jamaica Plain (a neighborhood right outside the Boston metropolitan area), you’ll still have great access to the MBTA. So keep these tips in mind, too!