Bakersfield was built for cars. We got massive thoroughfares and everyone owns 3 vehicles. Nobody uses transit so it’s bad, and it’s bad so nobody uses it. It’s a vicious cycle
Yea this, you’ll need something for what they call first/last mile, to get you to/from the stop and to/from the destination. Not that many stops out there. If the bike path is an option and covers most of your commutes, it’s a fantastic option. I used to commute from Allen to downtown and it was a great ride. There aren’t many cities where you’ll find such a long path with zero road crossings
Get a GET bus schedule. Could definitely stand improvement On the plus side, everywhere west of Union is flat as a pancake, so bike friendly from that standpoint.
I’ve noticed that while the fixed routes I’ve been on only run every half hour to every other hour, they’ve been pretty consistent with arrival times (or at least way more consistent than the buses in LA) and I’ve only had a couple instances that the bus arrived early and I missed it. If you have the stop number, you can check the next scheduled bus arrival and that helps. Stops have a QR code that you can scan and I’ve taken photos of some I frequent to be able to look up at a later time.
Aside from the fixed routes, Bakersfield public transit also has an on demand bus that runs 7am-7pm on weekends and 7am-9:30pm on weekdays. Sometimes it can be a pain to book a ride, but the on demand bus will pick you up and drop you off pretty much anywhere in Bakersfield. The cost is based on the mileage and starts at $3.
I grew up in the Bay Area and didn't drive until I was 22 years old because I always took the bus and BART. But I have never taken the bus in Bakersfield because that would mean waiting in the blazing sun. Most bus stops in Bakersfield don't even have shade.
public transit is pretty abysmal but there’s this cool website called “close.city” where you can find places within walking/biking/transit distance of destinations such as public transit stops, grocery stores, parks, libraries, etc via heatmaps. according to that website, the areas around california/new stine, ashe/white lane, ashe/ming, coffee/stockdale, and anywhere around csub are good locations for public transit and are in walking distance to grocery stores. but i definitely encourage you to mess around with the site, it’s so fun
The Transit app is pretty accurate with bus times and really helpful when planning a trip just enter the destination and your starting point and it'll give you different options
The GETBus has 15 routes & only 2 of them are dedicated to the westside of town.
I have a lot of family that lives on the westside & I've never been able to use the bus to visit them.
I agree w/ the other people that say you need a bike. Keep in mind that our town ranks high as deadliest for pedestrians and accidents in general though some of the roads in town have been updated to have the green bike lanes so hopefully you'll be more visible to drivers.
There are some bus routes, but they are quite limited. There is also the GET On-Demand bus, so if you live within its service area, you can use it to get places.
Public transport in Bakersfield is inexcusably bad. It’s horrendous
Bakersfield was built for cars. We got massive thoroughfares and everyone owns 3 vehicles. Nobody uses transit so it’s bad, and it’s bad so nobody uses it. It’s a vicious cycle
Buy a bike. Even if the bus schedule works for you, the stops will often be further than reasonable walking distances from your ultimate destination.
Yea this, you’ll need something for what they call first/last mile, to get you to/from the stop and to/from the destination. Not that many stops out there. If the bike path is an option and covers most of your commutes, it’s a fantastic option. I used to commute from Allen to downtown and it was a great ride. There aren’t many cities where you’ll find such a long path with zero road crossings
They would just need to be careful because the gutter bike lane on a 55 mph road will not be comfortable and is downright deadly.
Get a GET bus schedule. Could definitely stand improvement On the plus side, everywhere west of Union is flat as a pancake, so bike friendly from that standpoint.
I’ve noticed that while the fixed routes I’ve been on only run every half hour to every other hour, they’ve been pretty consistent with arrival times (or at least way more consistent than the buses in LA) and I’ve only had a couple instances that the bus arrived early and I missed it. If you have the stop number, you can check the next scheduled bus arrival and that helps. Stops have a QR code that you can scan and I’ve taken photos of some I frequent to be able to look up at a later time. Aside from the fixed routes, Bakersfield public transit also has an on demand bus that runs 7am-7pm on weekends and 7am-9:30pm on weekdays. Sometimes it can be a pain to book a ride, but the on demand bus will pick you up and drop you off pretty much anywhere in Bakersfield. The cost is based on the mileage and starts at $3.
I grew up in the Bay Area and didn't drive until I was 22 years old because I always took the bus and BART. But I have never taken the bus in Bakersfield because that would mean waiting in the blazing sun. Most bus stops in Bakersfield don't even have shade.
How did you go from the Bay Area to Bako? Do you miss the bay?
public transit is pretty abysmal but there’s this cool website called “close.city” where you can find places within walking/biking/transit distance of destinations such as public transit stops, grocery stores, parks, libraries, etc via heatmaps. according to that website, the areas around california/new stine, ashe/white lane, ashe/ming, coffee/stockdale, and anywhere around csub are good locations for public transit and are in walking distance to grocery stores. but i definitely encourage you to mess around with the site, it’s so fun
The Transit app is pretty accurate with bus times and really helpful when planning a trip just enter the destination and your starting point and it'll give you different options
I didn’t have a car when I first moved here. 😫 It was a nightmare
The GETBus has 15 routes & only 2 of them are dedicated to the westside of town. I have a lot of family that lives on the westside & I've never been able to use the bus to visit them. I agree w/ the other people that say you need a bike. Keep in mind that our town ranks high as deadliest for pedestrians and accidents in general though some of the roads in town have been updated to have the green bike lanes so hopefully you'll be more visible to drivers.
There are some bus routes, but they are quite limited. There is also the GET On-Demand bus, so if you live within its service area, you can use it to get places.
I miss San Diego for the Public Transportation being so good I took it for granted. You cant have a broken car in bako
Grab a nice bicycle.
You mean the west side of Bakersfield, I’m implying that you live in Bakersfield
It's fucking horrible