Do you have a long commute through heavy traffic? How in the hell do you do it every day? Do you enjoy the commute, or do you sit there, stuck in traffic, and think about how your life is being sucked away while you breathe in other people's exhaust fumes? Do you find the commute stressful or relaxing? Would you give it up if you could?

Do you take any steps to reduce the environmental impact of your commute? Do you drive a fuel efficient car, car pool, work a flexible schedule, work at home, use public transportation, bike to work, walk to work, or telecommute? If you don't, do you have a reason, or is it just not important to you?

I guess my question really is, though, how do you stand it? Is it worth it to live and work where you do? Would you change your commuting situation if you could, and what would you give up to have a shorter commute? If clean, reliable, efficient public transportation were available, would you use it?

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Answers

My husband and I live in San Francisco and drive to work in San Jose (him) and Mountain View (me) every day. Yep, it sounds hellish, but it hasn't been bad.

For 3.5 years, we commuted separately to San Jose and Redwood City (my old job). Our schedules were totally different, he has to be in by 9am and I could come in any old time. So I got into the habit of sleeping in and leaving our apartment at 9:30 or so; traffic wasn't bad at all at that time.

But now I have a new job in Mountain View, and on my first day, our junker car that my husband was driving died. It also turns out that our offices are only about 7 minutes away from each other. So now we drive together in prime commuting time, but we can take the carpool lane, which absolutely rocks. We literally save 45 minutes to an hour and whiz by some horrific traffic. Now that we're carpooling, I notice that practically everyone on the road is a solo driver. Yeah, this is really obvious, but you get to thinking about what could be saved (the environment, sanity) if just 20% of those people carpooled.

So now by carpooling I get a little extra time with my husband every day. He does the driving, so I can also catch up on my sleep if I need to. And, we have been stopping for dinner on the way home a couple of times a week, which is a nice treat, since we never used to go out on weekdays before. Instant date night!

Is this worth it? Well, we have a rent-controlled apartment in North Beach, San Francisco, with parking, that allows us to have our cats, across the street from the grocery store and within walking distrance to our gym and the place we watch Buffalo Bills games with our friends during football season. Every time we think about moving down onto the peninsula closer to work (i.e., Silicon Valley, which is really one big office park/suburb that you can't walk around like you can in SF), we decide we can't give our current situation up. Practically, we would instantly double or even triple our rent if we moved. We have a good deal. We like living in the city. It's working for us.

http://www.schismatic.com/

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Yes, I have a thirty minute commute but no, it's not that bad. See, I live Downtown and work in the suburbs, which is the exact reverse of about ninety percent of Memphis commuters. The opposite lanes from me (westbound in the morning, eastbound in the afternoon) are always clogged tight, while I zip along in the light traffic going the other way.

Add in that the Eclipse is such a hoot to drive and that it has an excellent stereo in it and my ride to work is one big party. And my employer doesn't really care when I get to work, so even if I do get hung up in a rare snarl (or a not-so-rare train delay on Broad Street) it doesn't matter.

So there you go.

Harold - wonderland 2 - http://jennyseat.freeservers.com/wonder/

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I walk ~1/2 mile to the train. Ride commuter rail ~35 min. (during which I can doze or read) then take a school bus shuttle ~10 min. which drops me at work. End of day: reverse process.

The expense is probably greater than driving/parking, but I love not having to bother with my car. In fact, I did this commute for several years before I even owned a car. Now I'm like a little old lady who never takes her car out of the garage except to go to church on Sundays. (I even get a discount on my automobile insurance because I don't use my car to commute).

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I commute a total of two miles to work. Even if I hit every red light on the way, it's still only ten minutes. The plan for this summer is to bike to work 2-3 days/week. It's an easy ride and I love being outside.

However, I have to commute forty miles each way to the university (Santa Cruz to San Jose State). Last night, CalTrans decided that the roadside grasses and tree limbs really *had* to be trimmed during the 5 pm commute which necessitated closing a lane...on an already overly congested highway. The only saving grace was that the heat wave had broken and it wasn't unbearably hot.

I tried taking the shuttle to class. Three weeks into that little experiment, the bus I was on was involved in a horrific accident. I decided at that point that if I was going to die on Highway 17, I'd rather be the one behind the wheel. My truck is in good repair, and while it doesn't get the greatest gas mileage, it does better than a lot of the other vehicles on the road.

How do I stand it? There are some nights where I can't, where I think "Fuck it! I don't need a degree!" but I know that it's just frustration talking. I try to make it as easy as I can--good tunes, a cd player, plenty of water, allowing enough time. Beyond that, it's a conscious effort to not get bent about it. I'm graduating in December, but pushing straight thru to the MBA program at the same university, so this commute's gonna last another three to four years, easy. It'll be worth it in the long run...or so I keep convincing myself.

If a light rail system was made available that was a)dependable, b)affordable, and c)scheduled so I didn't have to sit around for an hour, then yes, I'd switch to public transpo in a heartbeat.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Until a year ago, I lived in San Francisco and worked in Cupertino, and had an hour long commute each way. I resented the time, but it wasn't that bad because I could take 280 which normally doesn't have a lot of traffic. That's the key, to me. I listened to NPR the whole time and got very informed about current events, and ate my breakfast (dry cereal) as I drove. Baseball was also a nice accompaniment.

Then we moved down here and I now have a 10 minute commute and if I have to go to the city I feel all intimidated. What a wimp I've become.

My husband, on the other hand, was working in Oakland. From SF to Oakland was usually about an hour, but not in bad traffic. From the south bay to Oakland was always more than an hour, in traffic. It was bearable during the summer but after the clocks changed and he was getting home after dark every night, he could barely stand it. Luckily, about that time he got a call from a company down here and now he has a ten minute commute too.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I live in Seattle and commute to Redmond, as does the SO. We take the car on some days, but generally the hassle isn't worth it. The commute across the lake SUCKS. So usually we drive the car to the park 'n' ride (about a mile away) and take the bus from there. It's really quite nice.

In fact, I wrote about it in my journal yesterday. (Normally I don't pimp my site here, but seriously, I just wrote half an entry about this subject yesterday.)

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Before I moved house and job I had a half hour bus ride followed by a half hour walk (in one of the rainiest places ever). Now... I have a TWO MINUTE stroll to work. It is so wonderful to be able to relax at home for my entire lunch hour! Only down side is that everyone at my new job goes past my house twice a day. I am just waiting for someone to show up on my doorstep when my house is a mess or for someone to see me doing something embarassing :p

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I live on the northwest side of SF and work on the east side, down by the Bay, in the Financial District. I ride Muni - sometimes it takes 30 minutes, sometimes an hour and a quarter, to get across town. You just never know... I leave at the same time every morning, but never know when I'll arrive. The price is right though, $35 a month.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I have a two hour drive to work each way. All of it is through smaller towns with traffic lights and heavy traffic so it takes me forever to get to work (about 35 miles away). I am only a part-time worker because I'm still doing the school thing, and this is at my father's company, but it still is one hell of a long drive.

I don't mind it, though. The reason that I live so far away from work is because the neighborhood that I'm in is the nicest one between work and home. I suppose that in some aspects, that makes the drive worth it.

I refuse to use public transportation. I'd hate like hell to have to sit next to someone while they're so sick and coughing their germs all over me before I even get to work. *Laughs*

Overall, the only way I tolerate the drive is because it really is a beautiful drive. There are nice homes to look at, other people, a few nurseries with beautiful flowers, etc.

Meghan from Strangely Enigmatic.



-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Short answer: Lifelong Transit/Bicycle commuter, recently got a motorbike to get to a new job, but would go back to transit in a second.

Essay answer: We have lived in Noe Valley in San Francisco for several years, and can't move out for reasons any Bay Arean would understand. Our home is convenient to most destination on public transit, my wife takes BART to her office on the waterfront and I used to take my bicycle through San Francisco and on Caltrain to my jobs on the Peninsula. But now I work near Half Moon Bay and the local county bus service rescheduled their formerly-usable service after I started the job. Even with taking my bike on board the bus, using transit and having the job are incompatible; so I bought a motorbike.

I'm disappointed, riding a bicycle to work every day was joy. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to ride the bicycle. Even through San Francisco, which most people assume would be maddening. On the contrary, the worse the traffic, the better it is for a cyclist. Of course, a cycling utopia would be no car traffic at all ... :-) The hills in SF are generally avoidable as long as your destination isn't on top of one, all the signed city bike routes follow flatter streets.

Now that I don't have my bicycle with me all the time I feel like I'm at the mercy of mechanical trouble, running out of gas, slippery pavement...

I really don't have anyone but myself to blame for my long commute; but I love my coworkers and my job, it's very creative and flexible and the beach is across the street. Unfortunately I can't have all that and a bicycle-able commute.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I work 50 miles from home. I have to drive through downtown Atlanta to get to the office, and my total commute time per day is anywhere from 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours.

I absolutely hate it.

I do it because I got the job 7 years ago when I lived closer by. Eventually my life shifted toward the South side of the Metro area, but my job stayed where it was. It was gradual. First I moved another 10 miles away, then another five, then another eight. Next thing I knew, I was on the other side of the state (or at least that's how it feels).

The same job on the side of town in which I live pays an average of $10,000 less per year than the area where I work. I have seniority over everyone here, including the owner. I am valuable, and compensated fairly well for being so valuable.

If I could find something close to home within even $5000 a year I would take it without hesitation. I would save so much in gas and mileage, and I'm sure I would live longer if I didn't have to deal with seething road rage every damn day. Atlanta has horrible drivers, everyone seems to be under the impression that they are the most important person on the road, and my stomach just boils every day as a result of dealing with these rude ass people.

My commute is the one pure misery that I have in my life. I don't enjoy the time in the car enough, even though I love music. I just end up tuning it out because I am so busy thinking about whether or not I should flip off the dickweed that nearly took off my front bumper cutting me off. I come home angry a lot, and it takes me a good half hour to get back to normal. I don't like that at all, it's not fair to my husband.

Beth, I envy you for not having to deal with it. It's not worth it. For some reason my brain won't allow me to take a big loss and take my chances. Our money is tight, and I live in fear of suddenly not having enough to pay the mortgage, so I continue to trudge cross country to my job. Never start doing that if you don't have to.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

When Brenda and I got married we lived in New Orleans, near the Tulane campus. The first thing I did was sell our car and buy two bicycles. They had a good public transportation system. You could get anywhere on the bus for a quarter, with a transfer, and the bus came by within 15 minutes.

I have had jobs where I was able to walk to work, or ride my bike.

Once, Brenda rode her bike through colored town and car-pooled, from the Interstate, until a German shepherd attacked her. That was it, for bicycling, for her.

To find work as a techincal writer I have to go where the work is. That often involves a commute.

When I moved to Atlanta, I lived close enough to the factory to ride a mountain bike to work.

I didn't own a car, for a year. I shopped on foot, with a net bag.

Most of my co-workers commute. They talk about how to get from point A to point B a lot at work. Traffic in Atlanta is bad, and getting worse. The public transporation system sucks. Most of the city commute long distances, one partner in one direction, another partner in another. If there are teenagers, they have cars.

We just bought a house in a new neighborhood. It's about the same distance from the factory as the apartment we were in, but the roads are narrow, with hills, and blind turns, and I'm scared to try it, on a bicycle, for the traffic. I don't think it's safe.

I work flex time, and go in early, to beat the traffic, come home early, for the same reason.

If I could work at home, I would. There's no reason why I couldn't, except that the company is Mickey Mouse about it.

Some people telecommute, once in a while, but nobody works most of the time, at home.

The air quality in Atlanta is bad.

There's a wreck on the Interstate every day. Gridlock.

Gas is high, insurance is high, maintenance on a vehicle is high. Nothing to be done.

The commute sucks, work sucks, then they gyp you out of your retirement, and old age sucks.

Television sucks. More and more, books are television. I sound like the hitchhiker in Five Easy Pieces, dry-rubbing her hands and saying, "Filth."

As Chef said, in Apocalypse Now, when the tiger jumped out of the bushes at him, "I didn't make it out of the 8th grade for this."

Or, as the bumper sticker says, "For this I spent 8 years in college."

I went to college as long as I could, suspecting this was what came next.

I was right. Alas.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I've been lucky over the last 4 1/2 years, in that my "commute" to various jobs has been under 20 minutes. Right now it's 10 minutes from my front door to my cubicle and I don't have to even look at the freeway. I know I'm very lucky, having commuted between 30 to 90 minutes to former jobs in the Los Angeles area, but that's all going to change.

See, I absolutely hate the direction my current job has taken and the short commute isn't enough to keep me here. So I'm looking for a new job. I know the chances are very good that the next job I get will be in Santa Monica or Culver City or someplace like that, which would mean a minimum of 45 minutes on the freeways. Considering I hate freeway traffic, this will pose a very interesting dilemma, especially since my car broke down this weekend and I have a feeling that it's going to require a lot of work to get it running. It's way past time for a new car.

So I've been using mass transit to get to work the last few days, which isn't that bad, and once I pick up my bicycle from the repair shop today, I'll be biking it. I'm looking forward to that.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Man, I've really got to pay attention to my e-mail address when I post. Sorry.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Like Jan, I drive from Seattle to Redmond every day. (Jan, when you talked about all the food possibilities at lunch, I thought you were in Bellevue!). I've taken the bus sometimes, but it takes a long time and requires a transfer (and I'm not at Microsoft anymore, so no free pass).

I do keep myself on an early schedule, which helps a lot! I get to work at seven am -- twenty five minute drive. I leave at four, or maybe at seven pm. if traffic is bad, I sometimes stay on the east side and go to a movie.

I like where I live (Capitol hill, I own a co-op apt) and wouldn't want to move over here.

Seattle does have a good traffic website, so I can easily alter my route if needed.

Anita of Anita's BOD and Anita's LOL

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I used to drive 40 miles one way to work, I hated it. I worked a 4 day work week, 10 hours a day, just to lose 2+ hours of driving a week. We live out in the country, my job was in the closest city. The traffic was horrible, the cost immense, no chance at public transportation.

Now I work at home, my commute is 2 feet, or down the hall. I love it, I actual can get something done in my house, and see my husband.

He still commutes 40 miles (in the opposite direction of my last job) and actual likes the drive, the scenery is beautiful and there is only a short distance of any heavy traffic.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I live in Alameda, which is a small town/island right off Oakland, and work across the San Francisco Bay in San Francisco. I take the ferry every day and love it. I read the New York Times in the morning on the way to work, and work, read, or simply look at the Bay on the way home; last night, I got to see a whale, and it was incredible.

I don't mind the 20 minute boat ride, or the ten-minute drive to get to the ferry from my place, or the ten-minute walk from the ferry to work, because it gives me time to get in or out of work mode. My gym is right between the ferry dock and my office, so I exercise every morning before work . Plus, the strict ferry schedule ensures that I'll be in and out at certain times of the day, and I like the structure it adds to my day.

Long live the ferry! Long live public transit!

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-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I can't stand the thought of driving to work every day, and have never, ever done it. I hate to drive. My husband tried driving to work when he lived in Boston, and couldn't stand it either. So we now refuse to live anywhere where we can't get to our jobs on public transit, on our bikes, or by walking. Sometimes this can be tricky, but I honestly have NO IDEA how people can stand to live any other way.

I have a number of coworkers who drive every day; they say there's no other way to get to work from where they live. And I always ask them, "Why do you live there then?" Most people look at me like I'm insane, like it is simply unimaginable to consider how you're going to get to work or the grocery store when you pick a place to live. We live one block from the BART station, near a number of bus lines, and within walking distance of campus and an outstanding grocery store. I work part-time at Berkeley and part-time in the same office as my husband in the SF Financial District. Total commute time for these locations almost never exceeds 30 minutes. When my husband lived in SF, his Muni time ranged from 20-70 minutes, depending, because Muni is whacked. As a previous poster noted, however, the price was right.

Generally, I think that the argument people always make about how there's no public transit where they live is a copout. If people weren't willing to live in places that lacked public transit, no one would build without putting in bus/train lines, and public transit would be clean, reliable, and efficient. But most people I talk to never give a second thought to how their personal decisions affect the range of commuting choices they have. And then they gripe to me about their commute, and how I'm so lucky that I don't have to do the same thing. And I say, "It's your choice to live in a place that lacks public transit." And then they get mad at me. Oh well.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

At the moment we commute by car (Sabs and I are both working for the same company) -- it's a ten minute drive from Berkeley to downtown Oakland on the Shafter freeway.

Before that, Sabs used to drive me to my job in Arlington and then go to his office to pick up his tickets for the day before heading out on drive-about (he was a roving tech). It was a 20 minute drive if Sabs drove me and almost an hour on Metro and the shuttle to my office park, which is why I started going with Sabs instead. The other reason was that if I missed the shuttle, I'd be waiting for 45 minutes before the next one came by and there wasn't another mode of transport from the Metro station to my office.

I hated that about that office park, though it was a really nice office park and I miss that job now.

Before that I commuted into DC via bus (5 mins) and Metro (30 mins). The on-train time was just enough that I could get a fair amount of reading done (like my homework while I was in grad school) and the walk from the Metro downtown to my office was about 10 mins long and very pleasant.

I absolutely, categorically, _refuse_ to sit in traffic and contribute to pollution for any length of time if a clean, reliable, efficient means of public transportation is available.

Sabs took my bike down to the shop yesterday and got a new tire put on the front, and picked up a used bike for himself.

The bike into Oakland from Berkeley is only about 5 miles and durnit, we need the exercise. So barring any more interruptions from my health, we'll be biking to work in short order. When it rains, we will take Bart.

I like taking subway/train to work -- it's soothing, it helps ease the transition from at home (asleep) to at work (awake and functional) and in reverse going home, it helps me unwind with my hands free to read, sew, listen to music.

Biking will be a new experience. My hands won't be free, but I'll have the opportunity to get to know the new neighborhoods in this area better and to get back into shape after 5 years of relative sloth.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I forgot to mention that one of the other things I miss about riding the train to work, is the people.

I'm a die-hard people watcher and I got some great opportunities to surreptitiously sketch random folks on the train.

It's also a great way to meet people, if you have the energy and confidence to talk to complete strangers.

The downsides to that are during tourist season (in DC at least) when the population on the trains skyrockets, and they're already overloaded during rush hour, and picking up stalkers -- folks who just won't leave you alone after asking you for the time.

Also, since I don't actually drive myself, living near a place with public transport has always been a _necessity_ not an option. The biggest change for me here in Berkeley, is actually having a _nice_ walk to the grocery store instead of a stress-fraught one across a busy street that doubles as highway access. I like living in a town with quiet side streets and a bustling town center.

Heck. I like Berkeley. Proximity to BART, near enough to bike to work, walk to the shops, libraries and bank, and a great university campus right up the street. What more could a pedestrian want?

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

Instead of doing my homework, think I'll answer this, even though I don't have a commute remotely similar to what the question sounds like...

Since I live in Davis, we have great public (well, university) buses, though the line I live on is very very late at certain times, so that's how I get to school. I walk to work, since it's five streets over and a 15 minute walk. I usually try to live within a half-hour's walk of school in the event I miss the bus or have to go to campus on a weekend. And next year I'm moving a few streets closer, so woo hoo =)

My commute's lovely. I just dread the day where I move someplace more cosmopolitan and need to worry about getting a car and things like that. Knowing me I'll try to live in the same town as where I work, since I haaaaaate driving. I pondered getting a job in Sacramento this summer, but trying to get to it was going to be a pain without a car, so forget that.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2000

I've never owned a car and I never want to. This limits the places I can live and work, especially in North America, but trust me, I am not someone you want on the road. Too nearsighted, too easy to distract.

Currently I live in a European city on the 60th parallel. My commute is great: 20 minutes from home to downtown in a bus, option of switching to metro halfway through, or biking during the short summer. My last commute was awful: intersuburban route involving two or three buses whose schedules didn't mesh, so that I always had to spend up to 15 minutes standing in the freezing cold in the middle of nowhere.

Please support public transportation, particularly the plush kind that actually has a chance of getting people out of their cars: Light rail. Bullet trains. Bar cars ` la Mary McCarthy. Enclosed stations with grocery stores and other services. Nice spacious buses with comfortable seats - they do exist, just not in any US city I've lived in.

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

I have a 45min to 1-hour bus-ride or a 30min busride plus 20min on the tube, all depending on traffic and weather. Bus is best (they're double decker) but most dependent on traffic. then again the tube is often overcrowded and hot and smelly, and sometimes delayed. You just get a feel for it. I will be biking into town soon.

however, the question of living where there's no public transportation.. I mean sometimes isn't rent cheaper in those areas? Someone above was talking about 'choosing' to live somehwere, sometimes people are 'choosing' where they can afford to live... then again most of the places I know with absolutely no public transportation are planned suburbs where they want to keep the rabble out.. but where I live there is no tube (subway) line, and that's definitely one reason why the rents are lower here.. I wanted to live closer to public transport but I couldn't afford it.

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

I HATE MY COMMUTE!

Although I work in Bethesda, outside of DC, traffic on the capital beltway is awful. I call myself "back road betty." I can get from Columbia, Maryland to River Road in Virginia without setting a tire on the main highways. It takes a little longer to use the back roads, but it is more pleasant, and seems faster because I am MOVING!

I also flex my work schedule. I get in around 10:30, and my commute takes about 40 minutes. If I left anywhere between 6:30 and 8:30, the time more than doubles. So I try and get up early and have a life before work, since I work late. But I don't have to sit in traffic after a long stressful day either.

I would love to live closer to work, but just can't afford to. I would love to work closer to home, but there aren't many good design firms in the suburbs. So I am putting together my own web site so I can start freelancing and work from home.

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

Jennifer: I used to live in Davis and work in Sacramento, and I took the Yolo Bus. It didn't run very often, but it was usually on schedule. If you can take the Express it's okay, but the other one goes through West Sac and can take a really long time, like about 40 minutes to downtown Sacramento. (And of course Sacramento's bus system sucks, so unless you're working downtown or somewhere where light rail goes you may be screwed.)

Honestly, though, I kind of enjoyed it, because the bus was air conditioned (my car wasn't), parking downtown was ten bucks a day (they lowered parking rates to five bucks after that and the bus suddenly got less crowded ... nice going, Sacramento), and I could read or sleep or just relax on the bus. There weren't enough buses to go around, though, and it sucked when it was standing room only and I was in my high heels. Don't miss that.

I have never understood why there is no light rail line between Davis and Sacramento. Or Elk Grove and Sacramento. Or Folsom and Sacramento.

I know lots of ex-Davis folks who got jobs in downtown Sacramento and moved to midtown. You can get around easily here on a bike or walking (or the bus in a pinch -- it's two blocks from my house and goes right downtown for fifty cents), and housing is much cheaper than Davis. In fact, I moved here while I was still going to school in Davis because I spent less time at school than I spent at work, and this way my commute was against traffic. Unfortunately Yolo Bus doesn't really work in this direction, so I did have to drive to school.

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

Trouble: I think the issue you describe is probably more common in Europe than in the U.S. Unfortunately, I don't think most Americans with enough money to choose want to live near public transportation. It's a lot easier to catch a bus in a poor neighborhood here than in an upscale suburb.

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

I can't believe some of the travel you people are doing every day! And driving it as well? It sounds hellish. I commuted to Edinburgh for a few months last year - which breaks down into a 25 minute walk or ten minute drive to the subway, ten minutes on that, fifty minutes on the train and a ten minute walk. I liked the train fine (it's a really scenic journey and I read hundreds of books), it was just the time it ate up out of my day.

Work takes up so much of a day anyway without having to add hours of travel on top, and I really resented the way it sapped my energy, made me grumpy and gave me little time to enjoy with my husband. Now I am back to working ten minutes down the road from my house, and I even cycle it sometimes, so I can go home for lunch. I'll never do the commuting thing again...

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

Yeah, Yolobus is kind of the fly in the ointment every time I realize I have to go to Sac...it doesn't stop even remotely near any of the places I need to hit (including the job). Massively annoying. In the event I did move to Sac, I'd do midtown too. But not happening for another year at least...

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

The post about public transportation being more accessible in lower income areas holds true in Houston, with one notable exception. Most of the suburbs have Park and Ride that runs into town. Unfortuantely, I live in town and the local routes (as opposed to the Park and Ride) have more limited schedules.

I only live about 8 miles from work, but happen to live in an area that is upper-middle class with few using public transportation. (For the record, when I moved here, I worked two blocks from my apartment. I have since changed jobs, but can not yet justify a move.)

My current commute involves a 1/3 mile walk to the nearest bus stop. The route I ride runs about every 20 minutes (if you are lucky) and from the hours of 6:00 a.m. to about 6:30 p.m. The ride itself is not bad, just the timing and logistics. The bus takes about 25 minutes for me to get to work in the morning and about 35 to 45 minutes in the evening.

The biggest drawbacks are that I am pretty much forced to drive when it rains or if I must work late. The greatest advantages of the bus, other than the obvious environmental benefits, are the money I save on gas, the exercise from the walk, the price ($2/day vs. $8/day for parking), and the fact that when someone asks me to work late at the last minute I can say, "I'm sorry, I took the bus today".

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

I commute from Downtown Seattle (Belltown) to Redmond everyday as well! Hi Jan! Hi Anita! It usually takes 20 mins to half an hour depending on what time I leave home. Never longer then that. I used to commute from Bothell to Kirkland and goddamn if that wasn't worse! In "normal" as in non-rush hour traffic, that drive takes 15 mins, tops. In rush hour? *FOURTY-FIVE MINUTES*!!! So for me, the current commute kicks some ass! And so I can never understand why people complain about the floating bridge. I do get terrified of stalling or breaking down though; on this particular piece of highway, there's *no where* to pull over. No shoulders. It has a little spot on either side to pull over vehicles in trouble, but first the truck has to get to them.

As for the environmental impact; I feel *really* guilty about that. I have two friends, both of home live within 15 mins of me, and we all take our own cars to get to work. We even arrive at around the same time. I'm all up for coming in together, but they don't seem to dig it, or we never get around to arranging it. And because of my health (and the fact that I don't own a bike right now) there's no way I could bike to work. I used to telecommute every now and then, but right now I don't have Word or the special tools on my iMac at home that I'd need to do that.

I've commuted my whole life. Back when I lived in Toronto, it took about 45 mins to get to my highschool. First bus, then subway, then bus, then a 15 minute walk. And that was about the standard until college - then I lived across the street from the building.

One thing, is that I love the separation between work/school and my life. I don't like to be that close to my work. I like to keep it separate. Also, when I drive, I decompress. It's like I'm rushing a bit to get ready in the morning, and on the drive I can just listen to music and drift in my thoughts a bit. On the way home, same deal. I'm pretty laid back too, and it's very rare for other drivers to get to me. So I just sort of relax and open the sunroof or watch the rain. No biggie.

If Seattle had decent public transportation, that didn't take over an hour to get me from home to work - *AND* if I had somewhere to park my car during the day, then yes, I'd definitely use public transit. I *love* taking the bus or the subway. People watching is one of my favorite hobbies :)

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

I drive alone every day from Fremont to Sunnyvale.  Its 15 miles and takes me only 20 minutes, door-to-door. BUT, I arrive at work by 5:45AM!  (And I get home by 3:00 in the afternoon.)  I have carpooled over the years, but I'm not currently in one.  I'd take public transit only if I could walk (to work or home) on at least one end AND take no more that 30 minutes to get to work.   I don't mind the drive, but only because of the hours.   I enjoy living in Fremont; I'd be more likely to change jobs to shorten my commute than to change my living location.

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2000

My commute takes 45 minutes to an hour, depending on traffic.... but I don't drive, I take public transportation. The morning trip isn't bad, because my bus stop one of the first on the route, so I always have a seat, a window to look out, and my Discman to keep me happy. The trip home is hellish, because my bus is one of only two that run from Boston to Chelsea. It's always mobbed, and people actually get into fistfights as they trample each other to get on -- apparently being the very first person onto the bus is incredibly important. I usually end up standing, clinging to a pole, right next to Stinky McArmpit. But, from what my friends who drive tell me, taking the T is far better than trying to drive every day.

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2000

I would bloody love to drive to work ... but I can't drive, and I work in central London, where it costs 20 pence for five minutes' parking.

So I have to get the train, or the tube. And it's bloody horrible. At least in the car you're alone with your thoughts, you're guaranteed a seat, and you have the radio. And you can ring people on your mobile. Whereas I'm stuck in a tunnel, my mobile isn't working, I don't like walkmans (can't sing along - what's the point?), and I've got half of London trying to sit on my lap. And in the summer months at least 75% of them have BO.

The only way to make it a decent journey is to leave the house before 7 am. And that kind of sucks.

One of these days I'll start my own online journal, and it will be full of me bitching about commuting.

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2000

"Generally, I think that the argument people always make about how there's no public transit where they live is a copout. If people weren't willing to live in places that lacked public transit, no one would build without putting in bus/train lines, and public transit would be clean, reliable, and efficient. But most people I talk to never give a second thought to how their personal decisions affect the range of commuting choices they have. And then they gripe to me about their commute, and how I'm so lucky that I don't have to do the same thing. And I say, "It's your choice to live in a place that lacks public transit.""

Some of us enjoy living out of the city, away from the horrible amount of people and crime. I would never move into a city just to save on a commute. My husband agrees and he's the one with the long drive. The sacrifice of commuting is worth being able to walk outside and be in the middle of trees, grass, and quiet.

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2000

Well, there ya go. You chose living out of the city over having a short commute. Okay with me.

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2000

Yeah, flame on you.

Dean

"Some of us enjoy living out of the city, away from the horrible amount of people and crime. I would never move into a city just to save on a commute. My husband agrees and he's the one with the long drive. The sacrifice of commuting is worth being able to walk outside and be in the middle of trees, grass, and quiet.

-- Suzy (suzy@cyberbabies.com), May 30, 2000. "

-- Anonymous, May 30, 2000