One day in the next two weeks I am planning an all day public transportation experiment. My plan is to use nothing by public transportation to travel between my home in Winter Haven, FL and a few meetings in Lakeland, FL. I'll document the entire experience and post a follow-up report. Why? How? When? Read below:

Update: You can follow the posts on the Public Transit page.

Background:
Florida is not known as being a public-transportation-friendly state. We Floridians love our cars. As such public transportation is lacking in just about every mode. In Polk County, FL the extent of public transport is the bus system, specifically the Citrus Connection and Winter Haven Area Transit (W.H.A.T.).

When I travel I love trying out/using the public transport in various cities. I wanted to compare/contrast this with the local options. Some have said that the purpose of public transport in our area is to get people to and from work and not serve as a vehicle replacement. The nature of the schedules and the waits between exchanges compound these issues. This is what I have found in planning my trip. If I was going to and from the same location each day the routes/times would become second-nature. Planning a dynamic trip which will feature a number of stops and will perhaps change during the day causes problems. Add to this a schedule which changes from day to day and using the bus system is not so easy.

How:
Sadly there is no rail, so bus will be my primary mode. I have spent some time reviewing the Citrus Connection web site and have determined the route and buses that I will need to take. The route is:

• 7:20 am Walk from my home to the nearest stop (approx 1/3 mile) to catch
• 7:42 am Route 30 (PDF)
• 8:10 am Arrive Winter Haven Terminal
• 8:15 am Route 12 (PDF) from Winter Haven to Lakeland
• 9:10 am Arrive Lakeland Terminal

The plan in Lakeland is not set, it depends on the meetings I schedule, but it will involve a few trips around the town. Eventually I will need to return to the Lakeland Terminal to transfer back to Winter Haven. It will be important that I memorize the departure times of the transfer bus between Lakeland and Winter Haven. The return trip will be the reverse of the route outlined above.

I have informed the people that I am meeting with that I will be using public transport that day and to allow for a somewhat flexible schedule.

When:
Looking at the upcoming weeks it will most likely be either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, but perhaps this Thursday. I have selfeshly selected a window this November to avoid the heat of the Summer/early Fall. Yes the buses are air-conditioned, but the stops and transfer points are not. Nothing like standing still on the sidewalk in Florida in mid-August.

Report:
My plan is to post during the day when I can, but the primary follow-up will be a single post discussing the experience. I'll include photos and some audio in the post. I also plan on asking Bob O'Malley of METROPLAN Orlando to write an opinion piece about public transport to accompany my review.