The MUNI Chronicles: going one mile in one hour
i ride public transportation to work. over-all i’m greatful for it. it enables me to get around the city relatively easily and not have a car. boiled down, i guess it saves me about $500 bucks a month. but SOOOOOOMETIMES …
ok - the above title is a little misleading, but not far from the truth. MUNI recently changed around some of its “light rail” lines (which i put in quotes because in my mind light rail denotes something fast, and well, let’s be honest here) - mainly affecting the one i use to go to work. the first week it was AWEFUL. one morning, i waited at a station for my train for 35 minutes. that’s WAIT time - not even including travel! i took a lot of cabs that week. so, it’s been getting better from there, but not a lot.
this morning, i waited for bus A for about 10-15 minutes. rode on that for about 10 minutes (apx 6 blocks - i know i could walk that far in that time - more on that in a sec). got to the station to wait for bus B (light rail) and was there for about 15 minutes. by the time the train came, there were so many people waiting for it, it was more crowded than normal. and when that happens, it seems like the bus takes even LONGER to get to your destination. i was on that for about 10-15 minutes. so it took me about 45 minutes to an hour to get to work today.
let me put it in perspective. i commute within a seven-square mile city. i work about one mile from my apartment. it took me almost at hour to go a little over a mile. i used to commute out of the city, and that’s how long it took me to go about 50 miles! granted, you can’t compare traffic, driving, pollution, boredom etc - i’d take public transportation over than any day. but still.
now … i know i could walk. on a good day it might take me a few minutes longer to walk, but on average i’d say it’d take me about the same amount of time or less. the problem is, it’s such a pain - even more so than riding the bus. i already usually have two bags. if i walked - especially during the summer - i’d at least need a change of shoes, if not a change of clothes. plus, it’s cold a lot in the mornings, rains a lot, is foggy a lot. i don’t want to walk in that, or worse - have to ride a bike in that!! i’m SOOOO not that kind of person. i want to get to work looking put together and professional, not sweaty and wearing my gym clothes.