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Ride the Bus, Train and Subway

Public transit is a great way to get around your town or city, and it’s a great skill to have! In this activity, learn what your local transit system looks like, and compare transit systems around the world!

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Plan

  • Have you ever taken the bus, subway, train, or any other public transit in your area before? If so, how was your experience? 
  • How much do you think the fare will be for the bus or subway in your area? 
  • Why is it important to have public transit that connects throughout the community? Does every area of your city have the same access to public transit? 

Do

  • Research your local transit systems: look up different routes, times of operation, travel direction, and familiarize yourself with these maps.  
  • Then, the person leading this activity will call out a destination (something like the mall, or a common location in the community).  
  • Everyone should identify how they would get there using public transit. You can all pretend you’re starting at a single location (like your meeting place), the nearest station to your home, or even your house if you are comfortable sharing where you live. 
  • After this, look up some transit systems around the world, and discuss how the two public transit networks compare! 

Review

  • Was it easy to find the transit map and system information? 
  • Was it easy to read and understand the maps, or was there a learning curve? Were there routes that only operated at certain times? 
  • What are some ways you can be safe when taking public transit? How much money would you need to use the system? 
  • How did your town/city's transit compare to transit systems around the world? 
  • Remember to submit your activities on our Scouts for Sustainability Take Action Map

Materials

Maps of local transit routes (paper or virtual) 

Keep it Simple

To simplify this activity, just talk about the local public transit systems as a group, and explore the maps together! 

For Virtual -Use virtual maps and share your screen to trace routes. You could also share a link and have everyone trace routes on their own.  

Take it Further

Get up close and personal with your public transit system by creating a plan and taking a trip on the system. As a small team or Section, decide where you want to go, when you will go and plan a route to get there (this might be done on a weekend, rather than an evening meeting). Maybe you can visit a local museum, farmers’ market or other point of interest. Afterwards, review the trip, including how easy and accessible it was.