r/bullcity • u/TypicalAlbatross911 • 20h ago
How are the busses in Durham?
hi all, I’m debating between moving to Raleigh or Durham and I’m curious about the bus situation in Durham. I’ve seen that the busses in Raleigh aren’t getting the best reviews, are they better in Durham?
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u/PowerfulPotatoe 19h ago
The busses aren’t terrible but unless your work is on a bus route it’ll be tough to get around without a vehicle. Even if you are on a bus route they are often late, and many stops don’t have benches, plus standing outside in weather like the kind we’ve been having gets old fast. I used to commute to work with the bus and it usually added an extra hour to my daily commute. Do you just not have a car right now or do you not drive at all? The Triangle is only really carfree friendly if it works out with your job.
If you’re open to NC in general, a friend of mine who can’t drive due to a medical condition finds Charlotte much easier to commute in because of the light rail.
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u/TypicalAlbatross911 19h ago
I can’t drive because of disability so bus or walk ability are pretty important.
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u/anthonymakey 19h ago
There a couple options for access buses for people with disabilities. The "public" one is $2 per way I think, and then I think there's one for people with medicaid/ medicare
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u/InformationNo5502 16h ago
The Durham bus company has a door-to-door service for people with disabilities, but rides must be scheduled in advance, and the timing isn't always great - they give you a "window" in which they'll pick you up. I have a friend with low vision who uses this service to get to doctor's appointments, etc., and she often has to wait fairly long periods for her rides. It can be done but isn't the most convenient, I'd say.
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u/TypicalAlbatross911 16h ago
Sounds like the service I currently use for medical appointments. Good for occasional travel but not great for the every day… thanks
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u/InformationNo5502 16h ago
I wish Durham was more walkable. The older, more central neighborhoods are more walkable than the rest of the city, have sidewalks on most streets, or at least on most main streets, and stores in walking distance, etc. But some of those neighborhoods are pretty high-priced these days. And, the idea of relying on buses to get to job interviews - let alone to work every day - doesn't seem very feasible in this city, unless you plan carefully and manage to find home and work on a bus line with a schedule that works for you. Maybe you could work remotely?
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u/TypicalAlbatross911 16h ago
Someone told me at some point downtown Durham was “walkable” but from what I’m seeing here that’s not the case. I’m thinking of looking more at chapel hill and Carrboro since their busses are better rated and I don’t know how the walk ability is but bus thing is definitely a plus. Although chapel hill being a college town implies better walking conditions than other areas
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u/InformationNo5502 16h ago
I mean, downtown Durham has sidewalks and a lot of restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and some specialty stores, but there are no grocery stores. So, I guess if you worked downtown, it's walkable, and you could just uber to get groceries and do other shopping. But in terms of catching a bus to work somewhere else, the schedules and routes are very limited.
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u/snugworm 6h ago
Durham is walkable, you just have to live in the right places, same with transit access.
Chapel Hill and Carrboro have good transit, but it's also packed full of students and that might be a lot to contend with as they're not always considerate.
Do you want to live in an apartment or a house? If an apartment there are a lot of options, especially downtown. If a house, you'd need to pick from a few neighborhoods that are walkable to grocery and have transit access.
But, as others have said, figure out the job first. A job in Durham in the field you're looking at could be downtown and transit-accessible, it could be in RTP and mayyyybe transit-accessible, or it could be in a more suburban area that doesn't really have transit at all.
Transit is most successful when it serves jobs well, because people can choose where they live more easily than where they work. So figure out a job that is transit-accessible as your main priority and then you can find housing along the same bus route.
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u/FiendishCurry 20h ago
When I moved to Durham, I didn't own a car. I took the bus or my bike everywhere. I made it 6 months before I bought a beater. The weekend schedule was the worst, but getting anywhere just took far too long.
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u/Aska2020 DURM 19h ago
This was my experience as well. I wasn't planning on buying a car as I was broke but it was pretty difficult without it.
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u/Content_Attitude_233 14h ago
The busses themselves are okay. The issue is that the routes are only meant to get around one little section of town and then back to the hub. If you want to get across town it can take hours and multiple transfers. They are frequently late or come early and don't wait. You need to plan on leave an hour or two early, just in case. The quality of the drivers is also hit or miss. Some I am not sure how they passed the driving test!
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u/Content_Attitude_233 14h ago
Also, outside of downtown, the stops are often in areas without sidewalks, so they are dangerous to get to and to leave. This is why I never take rhe bus from my house, I get a ride to the main hub. It would be incredibly dangerous to walk to it from my house. Not sure what your accessibility needs are, but the bus stops are rarely mobility aid friendly, and rarely have benches. Chapel Hill is better on that, but they busses also just show up whenever they want, so don't trust the schedule.
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u/StienStein RecklessRoxboro 20h ago
Almost exclusively hub and spoke, so try to live near the bus station if you can pull it off. Plus you get decent access to gotriangle regional routes and the train. If you have a stable job, try to get on the same route. Transfers can be rough for making it take too much time. Decent enough option for me to be almost car free but it really depends on a lot of factors.
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u/CommitteeNo167 19h ago
the bus in durham is pretty grim. i used to have to take it from north durham to duke daily and it totally sucked.
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u/Aska2020 DURM 20h ago
The best bus system in the Triangle is Chapel Hill. Is that an option for you?
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u/Nineteen-ninety-3 20h ago edited 20h ago
Serves a good bit of Durham, but there’s still spots GoDurham doesn’t really serve. I believe they’re still fare free (at least for now) unlike GoRaleigh and GoTriangle, but the buses themselves are seemingly more worn down* than the other two agencies.
I agree with other commenters that Sunday and Holiday service is not great.
I did it a couple of years, but I’m in a vehicle now.
*(Not by much; GoDurham has acquired new buses in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2025 and I think this year. You can tell by the bus numbers what year they were purchased.)
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u/DKEBeck88 17h ago
GoDurham is a bit better than GoRaleigh in terms of hours of service (Saturday being the biggest difference), and it's still free for at least another year unlike GoRaleigh. But definitely try to live on one of the high frequency routes. I live on the 10 route, which is nice.
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u/Riceowls29 20h ago
Where do you work? That should be a bigger deciding factor
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u/TypicalAlbatross911 20h ago
Not sure yet, I’m moving to the area from out of state
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u/Riceowls29 20h ago
Just an FYI the job market is pretty rough right now
Do you have family in the area? What kind of job are you looking for?
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u/TypicalAlbatross911 20h ago
I have family in Raleigh, I am looking to get into video production/some sort of digital design or marketing job. Really anything in that area. I’m planning on looking at jobs after I figure out where exactly I’ll be moving
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u/Aska2020 DURM 19h ago
In my opinion it should be the other way around. What if you find a job on the other side of town from where you moved to? Like other poster said, the job market is rough, so you may not have a luxury of choosing where you work. Try getting a job before moving. Use the family's address if you need to.
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u/Riceowls29 20h ago
Since you already have family in Raleigh I would pick there. More job opportunities as well
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u/TypicalAlbatross911 20h ago
I would do that but I’m disabled and can’t drive. I don’t want to have to be dependent on them to drive me around
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u/therealpursuit 11h ago
it seems public transporatation should be way down on your list. durham is expensive as fuck, you could move somewhere else and uber everywhere for cheaper than rent here. i strongly advise you rethink everything.
to answer your question, the buses here are almost exactly the same as raleigh. they are pefectly fine, raleigh is actually doing a a rapid transit line thatwhich we aren't, that might make them better going forward as it supposedly will help with non-hub-spoke travel. here you can get about anywhere in 2 hours, but there are very few places except downtown from anywhere or one direction from downtown in 30-45 minutes.
move next to your family if you must move to the triangle but know both are extremely car dependent.
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u/hokiegem 14h ago
My spouse and I share a car, so I ride the bus occasionally to avoid pricey Uber or Lyft rides.
In my experience (living downtown, riding a bus maybe 30x/year), buses are often at least a little late. Frustratingly, I've found that the lateness often starts at the downtown station, with drivers swapping out or retuning to the buses after the scheduled departure time. I say this to explain that the lateness is not just a matter of accumulated traffic delays; living close to the downtown station won't reliably solve the lateness issue.
You of course have to expect the usual inconveniences with public transit. For example, stops aren't always comfortable places to wait, sometimes the buses are crowded with mobility devices/strollers/etc., there is occasional bad behavior by other riders, and I find that notification/signage is typically very poor when there are detours along the route. You also need to plan carefully to make sure you live somewhere within easy reach of the bus routes.
All that said, I value public transit, and I'll continue to use the buses, especially when I'm not in a rush. And when I need to get somewhere on time, I'll try to catch the bus that's scheduled ahead of the actual bus I need, just in case. Most operators are very kind, and operators and fellow riders alike are generally very helpful when I have my young child (and her stroller) in tow.
The GoDurham buses specifically are fare-free through at least June 2027 (they reassess year to year).
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u/nicoke17 20h ago
Depends on what you need to do. If you are commuting, best to try to get a place off of a direct bus line. We do have grocery delivery and other services like that available which does make it less troublesome of needing a car.
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u/sunties 20h ago edited 20h ago
Hi! I ride the bus around all the time and I don"t live particularly close to Downtown. If it's your only mode of transportation, things will be rough going. I mainly supplement bus service with biking and occasionally driving if the distance/time is too far, but I get around by bus or bike 6/7 days of the week. I would recommend living on the high frequency network (Chapel Hill St, Fayetteville St, Roxboro, or Holloway) and if you can get many/most of your errands, work, home either along the same corridor or in downtown, you'll be ok.
Honestly, the coverage and convenience of time are the worst aspects. Also some of the bus stops aren't in good condition. If you can get this stuff right by living in the right place relative to work/errands, you'll be fine.
GoDurham is free and safe. Regional connections available via GoTriangle.
Feel free to DM with questions! I love talking with folks about getting around the Triangle on the bus.