Into Training

[kevin_standlee]

My new commute is amenable to using the Altamont Commuter Express commuter train and dedicated shuttle bus. I can leave the apartment at 6:45, walk to Fremont/Centerville, catch the train right after 7 AM for the twenty-minute ride to Great America, walk over to the dedicated shuttle bus, and I walk though the door a few minutes before 8 AM. That's 75 minutes to travel what would be about 30 miles by car, and based on Monday's drive, I don't think I can drive it too much faster than that during commute hours.

The cost per round trip, based on using 20-single-ride tickets, is $6.85. That's slightly more expensive than the gas on the van (based on the van getting 20 MPG), but far less stressful than driving, particularly in stop-and-go commute traffic on I-880/CA-237/US-101. The ACE ticket includes the shuttle bus ride; it's not a separate service that runs on an uncoordinated schedule.

One drawback is that there are only three ACE trains per day, and thus I must leave the office at either 4 PM or 5 PM or else I'll not be able to get home without an enormous roundabout set of bus rides.

I won't take the train every day (I wouldn't be able to go to BASFA on Monday, for instance, if I didn't drive, unless I rode the train home and then immediately drove back the way I came, which is silly), and since I don't plan to be in Fremont more than another three months, this isn't a permanent thing, but I'm happy to get back on the commuter train for a little while and save some miles on my poor abused minivan.

The ACE trains I've been riding seem about 2/3 full. When I see all of the people pouring off of an on to the train at Great America, I think of every one of those people in a single-occupancy vehicle and wish that the people who don't think trains are worth the investment could see it. Even if you never ride the train yourself, the service is making your drive through those areas the train serves less awful.

Comments

[garyomaha.livejournal.com]

I'm envious. We have no rail service here (except for the California Zephyr, which I somehow doubt many take for commuting). No streetcars. No light rail. Just a handful of usually-empty buses traveling around a way too-sprawling town.

[amysisson.livejournal.com]

I have a similar situation here in Houston, except I'm not quite as restricted on the number of buses/trains per day. I can have a stressful one-hour drive to work, or an hour and 20 minutes much less stressful bus and light rail ride in. Although the round trip is $9, I suspect this will add 2-3 years to the life of my car. Plus I can have the money deducted from my paycheck pre-tax and put on my Metro card. Plus my employer will reimburse me parking 2 days per month for those occasions when I have to drive for some reason. Plus Metro gives me 5 free rides for every 50 rides I take. I've gotten to the point where I hate to drive on the rare days I have to do it.

And it just makes me feel good that I'm not adding as much to the traffic and pollution anymore.

[jcfiala.livejournal.com]

Here in Denver I take the bus into work (going downtown) every day. I know it's faster to drive, but between the high cost of parking downtown and gas money, it's cheaper to get a monthly pass. I'm watching the light rail they're building up that goes near my house - once that's up and running, I could walk to the nearest station, hop on the train and probably have a more direct route downtown.

Amusingly, I got to test out walking home from that station yesterday after a snowstorm here in Denver caused my bus to get stuck, so I had to walk home from about the same point so I could get onto a Skype call.

[rono-60103.livejournal.com]

Since moving to San Diego, I've been doing most of my commuting by public transit. This wasn't an option in Chicago where the transit links connect only to and from downtown.

When we were renting in Oceanside, the commute was similar to what you describe, except I had to drive to one of two train stations., usually taking The Kid to school on the way.

Now, I drive to a bus station and catch one bus that drops me right outside my office. Last summer I'd walk to and from the bus, but that isn't practical when it is dark for one leg or the other, even when I don't have the school run.

Qualcomm partially subsides my monthly pass, and I get to use some pre-tax income, which makes public transit cheaper.

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

Seattle is still far behind that 8-ball if you live in the 'burbs (think Berkeley to San Fran for most of us) - the buses are multiple and long - When I do commute, I spend 3 hours doing the commute by bus an only about an hour 15 by car. It's a pretty extreme difference... and there's no train at all.

[renegade500.livejournal.com]

When I moved to my current location 5 years ago, I tested out driving to campus, and driving to a park and ride and riding the bus to campus. (It's an "express" route, as in it makes fewer stops, not as in it goes faster, and is for most people a $5 day/RT ticket, but for me, free.) I found that my commute time, whether I drove in or took the bus was about the same, about an hour door to door, for a 15 mile commute. At that point, it because a no brainer for me to take the bus. I hate dealing with traffic, so I can take a comfy bus, most commuters on the bus are going downtown or to campus and are older, so not a lot of random talking on cell phones, I can sleep or read, I don't spend the gas money or wear and tear. And since I work for the university, the bus is free for us. I wish more people would take these buses, but they actually get pretty good service for people going from the burbs to downtown. There's been a lot of talk about a light rail line here, most people don't want it, but they're very short sighted. We desperately need one, because it would get even more people off our heavily congested highways (Austin is consistently ranked one of the worst traffic cities in the US). We do have a single light rail line right now, but it doesn't go where I need to go, so I still take the bus. If they could build a rail line that came closer to my bus route, I'd be all about that.

[rono-60103.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I forgot to mention one (small) benefit to the slightly longer commute when I take the bus - it is about an hour door to door, including dropping The Kid off at school for the bus, about 45 minutes if I drive, depending on traffic - since I'm usually listening to audio books when commuting (cannot read text on the bus any easier than when driving), I actually get to hear a bit more of the book by taking the bus.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

The last time I had a job in which it was feasible to take public transit to work was in 1991. Palmy days.