Public transportation rant

[Flea]

I've had it up to here with taking the bus!! It's taken me 13 months to admit it, although I've come through a lot of denial and stubbornness to get here.

I had a perfectly good pickup that I sold last January amid predictions of gas topping at over $5/gallon. My city has some of the best mass transit in the country, and for the most part I'm pretty happy with it as long as I plan ahead. But today was one of those days when everything conspired against me.

My job is about a 20 minute drive from home. Since it involves a transfer, it takes about 40 minutes on mass transit, getting me there about 15 minutes early (effectively making it an hour's commute.) I take advantage of the time to zone out with some music and read the headlines. My afternoon ride home was a different story today; the bus heading downtown ran late and I missed my connection, which meant an arbitrary 28 minutes cooling my heels. Which meant an expensive sandwich and coffee because my pancreas couldn't wait for dinner.

I got home to find that while I had planned to put off grocery shopping for a few more days, I had no choice but to hit the store today as I was down to half a serving of dog food. Wal-Mart is less than a mile away, but I can't walk it right now because my leg is still twinging. (I probably could have walked it, but I've re-injured it at least a dozen times with previous surges of optimism.) Thankfully my bus line goes right to it (one of the reasons I chose the housing I did!) but I missed the bus home because it went by a minute early. Naturally I couldn't walk home any more than I could have walked there, so it was 45 minutes out in the howling cold waiting for the next bus. Counting the wait times on either end of both trips, that's about two hours out of my day shot to hell.

If I had the resources, I'd cheerfully declare this the end of my experiment and march out to buy a Prius. Today!! I could afford a nice junker, but of course the cost of the car itself doesn't reflect the ongoing gas, insurance, and maintenance. I can afford that ... barely ... but it would reduce my income to near-subsistence level. Not worth it.

Anybody got a winning lottery ticket?



:tantrum:

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I can sympathize. I went 5 years carless. It sucked.

 

[Flea]

Thanks Bob. It's not all bad; I have family in the area and they're happy to let me tag along for errands as long as I chip in for gas. I have a couple of friends I can rely on occasionally too, although I don't push it.

At this point I doubt I'll ever be able to afford a car again. I just don't see my income getting back up to that point. I hope I'm wrong, but my Spidey-sense is definitely cold on this one.

 

[granfire]

Ah, hate those days!
(but shucks, the bus leaving early? mean!)

However, count your blessings: You have a good transit system!

We got the dial-a-ride bus service. Talk about planning ahead: You have to know 24 hours in advance that you need to be some place. That's Ok for going to Walmart, since they do drop you off at the door. But a friend of mine got too sick to drive a while back. Short of calling a cab (didn't have one in town) she was out of luck in terms of getting to the doctor without 'bothering' somebody. (I gave her a ride that day since she could not drive)

 

[ballen0351]

Wow That sucks makes me glad I own MANY (too many if you ask my wife) vehicles. I work over and hour away (2 to 3 hours in summer beach traffic) from my house. The closest store to my house is 15 min by car so going carless is not an option for us. Plus on of the ways I like to relax is just jump in one of the jeeps with the top off and cruse the back roads and dirt roads listening to music and just driving.

You should find yourself an old 4 bangger jeep. They are super simple to work on parts are easy to find. Great in all kinds of weather and can be found pretty cheap and will run forever. I dont own a jeep thats not at least 20 years old and they all run like new.

 

[jks9199]

Have you looked into car-sharing programs like Zipcars? They might be just what you need...

 

[Flea]

Thanks all. I think I'm just going to suck it up and go shopping. Affording the car itself is not a problem, it's just the ongoing costs.. If anyone has suggestions about models with good gas mileage and typically lower insurance I'd love to hear them.

 

[Gemini]

Mopeds have gotten very popular here for the same reasons. Many people living within 10 miles of work use them. In Nevada, if you drive less than 30 mph and stay to the right of the lane, you're not even required to follow motor cycle laws.

 

[jks9199]

Thanks all. I think I'm just going to suck it up and go shopping. Affording the car itself is not a problem, it's just the ongoing costs.. If anyone has suggestions about models with good gas mileage and typically lower insurance I'd love to hear them.

I assume you have renter's insurance. (If not -- get it!) Contact your agent there; odds are good that they'll have car insurance, as well, and you'll probably get a price break on it. Your agent will also be able to tell you what cars have better insurance rates -- or at least which to avoid.

Hit the car websites, and see what they say about maintenance costs. But -- again, you might be best served by something like Zipcar, if it's available. It sounds like you don't need a car all the time or every day, just "when you do."

 

[granfire]

Mopeds have gotten very popular here for the same reasons. Many people living within 10 miles of work use them. In Nevada, if you drive less than 30 mph and stay to the right of the lane, you're not even required to follow motor cycle laws.

They certainly beat walking to the store!

 

[oftheherd1]

Good luck in your battle with public transportation. We have fairly good public transit in northern VA, but not perfect, and I have lately declined to use it. But do pick up slugs to help the road usage. I understand your frustration.

 

[Carol]

Flea, you should talk to Bill Mattocks...he knows his stuff about keeping driving costs down. I think he has cost-per-mile down to an art form.

As far as public transportation -- I absolutely loathe it. I would adapt better to a month without hot water than a month on public transit. Come back later and I'll tell you how I really feel