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Transportation and portability


MondoBurger

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Hi folks! First time poster here.

When I finish up school this spring I'm planning to invest in an ENG kit and start freelancing. One thing that concerns me is my lack of a vehicle (financially, it's just not in the cards right now). I live in Toronto so I have access to a pretty extensive (and much maligned) public transportation system, but is it ridiculous to expect that I'll be able to transport myself and my equipment to and from locations on the subway?

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Your main issue is going to be getting to your job on time and having a ride back home when you're done. That's assuming your jobs are within the city. 

 

If it were me I would focus on getting a car first. You can always rent the ENG gear until you get enough jobs to where it makes sense buying your own. 

 

I wish you the best of luck. 

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I'm with Miramontes. We start at 4, 5, 6 in the morning anywhere in the LA area and get home at all hours. (I did a 17 hr day yesterday that was 68 miles away from my house.) Not sure you can count on public transportation to do all the gigs out there. I'd go car 1st and rent the gear and decide what kit you really need.

CrewC 

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Are your gigs car-friendly (and enabled)?   In LA I don't think freelance work is possible w/o a reliable car.  In SF mostly the same, although it's starting to become a serious expensive hassle downtown etc..   You can take a small pkg on public trans if you live near a station and the gig is near a station, but you are limited in what you can bring (no furni pads, stands, sandbags, not much of a real cart, no long fishpole etc) and you may need a plan B for getting home.  And then there is your bet on the on-time-ness of the public transport….being late to a call because you took a bus isn't much of an excuse.

p

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I've been working in NYC for almost 10 years without a car.  It's certainly doable, but you have to either allow plenty of extra time or budget for cabs.  My light rig - which gets me through almost all my jobs - is a backpack, a Pelican 1510 with my bag strapped to the top, and my boom pole velcroed to my bag.  I love being able to bring a small and very capable kit. 

The rig I described is also very easy to fly with - I just check the backpack in a suitcase with my chargers, and then I can work for 2-3 days on what I can carry on.  I haven't had my gear lost in transit yet but it's good peace of mind.

Edit to add - I work on exclusively OMB gigs where I either boom or put the boom on a stand.  I'm a doc/doc-style guy so this makes sense for me.  I'd probably want to carry more gear if I was doing more feature/commercial/episodic type work.

Edited by Abe Dolinger
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I didn't have a car for several years at the start of my career and it is doable. Jason summed it up perfectly. Now that I have a licence I am more then happy to return the goodwill and give other crew a lift. 

As others have mentioned it limits the kit you can take. Basically you only pack what you can carry. When I travel to a gig these days by public transport I am always worried I don't have something I need. 

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I don't think public transportation is more expensive than owning a car (including gas/oil expenses). When you can afford a car (not new at first) then buy it. I don't have a car right now. I am moving with public transportation. When public transportation isn't the best option; I am telling to production to pick me up from a point.

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I'm living working in London (UK) and don't own a car- for a lot of jobs it's actually more hassle and expense (especially parking in the centre).  On the occasions I need one I'll either rent (I'm a member of a car rental 'club') or get a cab.

You do have to do some streamlining of gear, and really think about how to carry it, though (part of this is making sure it doesn't scream *expensive kit*, too)

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Another NYC-er, this time one that owns a car, but nearly never takes it on a job.

To any call within the city limits, I take a Taxi or Uber, and invoice the receipts.  When I first started, mostly doing ENG gigs with a 3-ch mixer kit, I would lug my kit on the subway or busses, but I've gotten too old and cranky for that.  I haven't had a client balk about the taxi receipt in years.  Note: I live downtown in manhattan, so taxi to most places is $10-$15.

I'd suggest you do the same, though perhaps productions work differently in Toronto.

e.

Edited by Solid Goldberger
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I'm sure that there are ways to do a lot of gigs (as varied as they are) without a car/van in large metro areas but my work takes me from Arizona to NoCal and all points between. All the jobs have different gear requirements. We always have parking provided so that is never an issue. I can't imagine it otherwise after all these years but I'm sure it's doable. Still I'd get the car/van 1st, rent the gear until you figure out your needs. Hope it works out however you do it.

CrewC

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Having lived and been in lots of big cities, I can say that it really depends on how reliable mass transit is and where it actually goes. In cities like London, NYC, and Chicago the mass transit can get you just about anywhere, and taking a cab is pretty easy. In LA, you need a car just to live there, let alone work. I've never been to Toronto so I can't comment on that, but think about how often you take mass transit now. Is it your main mode of getting around? Are the gigs you want to get going to be in the city or will you need to travel outside the city for work? Is parking in Toronto a giant pain in the rear? Do you want to have to rely on others to get you to where you need to be or would you rather just drive yourself? How bad is the traffic in Toronto? Is driving more of a headache than it's worth? 

Edited by dfisk
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i took a Citibike Bike Share to exit a shoot recently.

My small form factor, infamous "awesomely awesome sound" rig  and mics, recorder. bits are in the Rapdom T-311 Messenger Bag that is attached to the front carrier and used a boompole carrier across my back while pedaling.

The train ride to Clinton Hill Brooklyn was hell and a walk. I took the bike from there to Williamsburg Brooklyn (20 mins) and took the L train back to Manhattan.

 

citibike awsesomely.jpg

bikes.jpg

Edited by Gerard-NYNY
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Thanks for all the input guys! Mostly, I was concerned that in limiting my kit to what I can carry on my person I'll be restricting myself too much to be useful, but for many of you guys, who seem to be doing doc style work such as I'm interested in, this doesn't seem like much of an issue.

Seeing as I currently have no use for a car in my daily life, it just makes more sense to invest in equipment instead. You don't have to rent a parking spot for a mixer or put winter tires on it. Plus, for the times that I'll need my own wheels (and my gamble is that it won't be too often) uhaul, autoshare, and zipcar seem reasonably priced.

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Your worry should be getting a job first. You can rent gear and transpo. It would be awful to lay out all the $ and find out no one wants to hire you. Just because you have gear doesn't mean you're going to work.

Edited by Mirror
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So far public trans has worked ok for me in the SF area if the gig is in the downtown/Market St corridor, and is very simple.  I really miss having my furni pads, stand for the boom w/ sandbag and a few other tricks but have lived without them when I had to.  Note that SF's public trans is really nothing like the NYC or London subways, in terms of reach, number and locations of stations, frequency of trains and length of the "transit day".  Re BART, if there is a significant delay you are hosed, since there is only a single route for most of the system.  

p

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