As an avid user of the CalTrain system here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I started to think about how much thought goes into public transportation when people are sifting through the homes for sale.

Now I know gas prices have retracted a little but it’s still very expensive to commute long distances not to mention all the wear and tear on your vehicle. Plus we live in a world where everyone really needs to think about what we can do to help save the environment.

So with this in mind, I thought I would take a look at some of the public transportation systems in a few of our larger major metros across this great nation of ours.

Phoenix, AZ

I want to start off with Phoenix because my good friend Nick Bastain, who is the Sales and Marketing Director at a site called RailLife, was one of the inspirations for this post.

Phoenix has developed an approximately 20 miles light rail system that runs from the Christown Spectrum Mall in Northeast Phoenix thru Downtown Phoenix and ends at the Tri City Pavilions in Mesa. It takes approximately 57 minutes to travel the 23-station line with the trains reaching top speeds of 35 mph between stops. For more information about the METRO Light Rail System, visit www.RailLife.com or www.valleymetro.org.

Portland, OR

When I lived in Portland back in the late 90’s, I would take the MAX Light Rail into Downtown everyday. TriMet’s MAX Light Rail system connects Portland, Gresham, Beaverton, Hillsboro and the Portland Airport. The trains run every 5-15 minutes roughly between 4:30 a.m. and midnight.

But Portland has not been content with just the Max Light Rail and has constructed the Portland Streetcar, which connects the South Waterfront, Portland State University and Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in NW Portland.

Boston, MA

The “T” is a Boston legend with 5 subway lines that cover pretty much anywhere you want to travel in the Greater Boston Metro area. The subway in run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority which also oversees the city’s Rail, Bus and Boat systems.

For the subway system in particular, there are many areas that it hits. Some of the outstretch tentacles of the subway are as follows:

The Red Line runs from Cambridge in the Northwest to the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston in the Southwest and the Braintree, MA in the South.

The Green Line runs from Newton, MA in the West to Central Cambridge at the Lechmere Station.

The Orange Line runs from Malden, MA in the North to the Jamaica Plain “JP” neighborhood of Boston.

The Blue Line runs from Downtown Boston to Rever, MA in the East.

The Silver Line runs from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston to Logan International Airport, the Boston Marine Industrial Park and City Point.