public transportation...what's it like where you live?

In our more rural small village public transportation is non-existent!
Larger towns in out state have bus systems although just within the city limits.
Traveling to other states by train we depended on buses (and walking) for getting around and in most towns farther west the systems were extensive, affordable and some even out into the counties.

...and trolleys in San Francisco!

thoughts and experiences?

Where I live, there is no public transportation infrastructure. It is rather rural and you either have some mode of transport or you use the ole shoe leather express.

When I went to college in the capital of my state, there were buses that went all sorts of places at all sorts of times. It was a little intimidating at first but I grew to appreciate them.

Like the others, where I live public transportation is non-existent.

Not even Yellow Cab or Uber ...

When we go to town, I do see a Bus like Greyhound headed to/from El Paso, Tx.

When I lived in Dallas many years ago I rode the Bus System to work for many years.

I live off the rez, just barely. My northern property line is the southern boundary of the Fond Du Lac band reservation. They have a public transportation program, I'm assuming it's just for band members, but not all their enterprises are -- we get propane and gigabit fiber from them. I've never looked it up. Our county has a program for elderly and disabled people where a van with an elevator will move you around. But again, I don't know the details. There is a bus/shuttle van company that runs 12(ish) vans per day from the MSP airport to Duluth and back and that route is only five miles from my house -- so I can get on a van and take it into the near city or the farther big city. But really, I just drive everywhere. I'm three miles from the closest place I can buy anything which is just a small market and post office and two-pump gas station.

We have rural transit in name only.  If I were to use it, I would have to schedule my trip 5 days in advance.  To get to where the van would feel safe picking me up I would have to walk a minimum of 1/4 mile.   The van is rather famous for not showing in time.   When it did show, it probably would not be able to take me where I wanted to go.  This has to do with linking with other rural transit systems.  It is fully possible…likely….that a trip of 30 miles would take me more than one day.  Finally, there are the direct costs involved. …I think it is $5 one way.  If I wanted to go to the grocery store 4 miles away, it would cost me $10, and I would have to schedule it a week in advance.  Of yes, our local rural transit company has received multiple awards for being the best in the USA.

If I were without my own  transportation, I would be far better off paying someone to take me where I wanted to go.

The above is not a complaint, just a realistic assessment. It is the price I pay for deliberately living in a remote area.

None, including no uber. The largest city in WNC, Asheville, has a bus system that does not cover much of town and the buses run infrequently. Rideshares are available as well in Asheville, but not many of the surrounding towns.

Our UK town has a decent train service to London, it takes less than an hour to get to the city with trains every thirty minutes 5.30am to midnight, but nothing overnight. It's about a fifteen minute walk to the train station. The main problem there is there's no step-free access - it's not easy for anyone mobility impaired or a parent with a baby in a pushchair to access. The bus service is a twenty minute walk away and the key issue there is that it's trying to be both an in-town and a between-town service, which means a trip to the main regional town that would be less than thirty minutes by car takes ninety by bus as it wends a circuitous route through back streets of our town, the next small town, and all the villages en route, plus diversions to villages that are nowhere near en route. It's also expensive. There's allegedly a taxi service, but it's almost impossible to get a taxi to come out, and there are never any at the taxi rank at the train station, either. There are a few decent private hire car services which need to be booked well in advance and are useful for trips to the airport or hospital if we're feeling extravagant or just can't face travelling by public transport. Thirty minutes to the airport by car, but by public transport the trip takes at least two and a half hours and requires a walk, a train, a walk, and then a different all-round-the-houses 90 minutes bus ride!  The trip to the "local" hospital is the same. We need to go tomorrow to have lab draws, as despite living in a town of 20,000 people, it's not currently possible to have a routine blood sample taken at the GP surgery, and will need to leave the house at 11 am to be sure of getting to the hospital by our 1.30pm appointment! We do have a car, but I'm no longer able to drive due to a health problem that affects my speed and distance perception. Hubby has become a nervous driver who stresses out about driving in our own town and can't cope with driving anywhere else now. So we're quite reliant on public transport to get us anywhere we can't walk to.

Our tiny Bulgarian village is blessed with a mini-bus service three times a day Monday to Friday, it's less than twenty minutes to get to the nearest town, which has almost everything we need, and from there we can take frequent buses to the regional city and on to the big city. We've figured out the timetable for the village buses at last at missing them a few times! The route on Tuesday and Thursday is different to the other days, and the mid-afternoon bus leaves 20 minutes earlier than the scheduled time those days because it turns around at our village rather than continuing on to the next village out! There's no official taxi service, and my Bulgarian isn't good enough yet to phone for one to come out from town. But asking in the village cafe will usually result in someone willing to drive to town for a reasonable price. Thinking about aging in place once we move there, we chose a house that's close to the village centre, only a couple of minutes walk to the bus stop, the village shop, and the cafe. Provided the bus service continues, it will be easier to manage there without a car than it is in the UK!