University of Dayton - MyLife

Mass Transit Commute

With the price of gas soaring this summer, and probably never coming back down significantly, many Americans are changing how they commute and how often they drive. People are thinking twice about driving to pick something up from one store instead of waiting and combining errands. I, like many people. am turning to mass transit to commute to work. I'll briefly describe the difference that taking public transportation makes for me.

If I drove to work each day, I would put 15 miles on my car each way. My morning commute would take about 20-30 minutes, while my evening commute would take anywhere from 30-60 minutes. I would park for free in a parking garage under my office building. I would use over a gallon of gas each day, although I would be able to listen to music in the comfort of my own car. I would add up about 150 miles per week, just commuting to and from work.

Taking the MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority), I drive 3 miles each way between my house and the nearest train station. I park for free in a parking garage at the station. The train leaves every 10 minutes towards downtown, and it takes 20 minutes to get to my stop. From there, I either walk 10 minutes to my office building, or I take a free shuttle that stops at my building. My company pays for the MARTA pass, so the only expense I have is the gas I use for 6 miles/day, or 30 miles/week, of commuting. There is a fair amount of waiting involved for the train and the shuttle, but I can read while waiting and riding the train. Also, the time it takes to get to and from work is always the same, since I don't deal with traffic. It's about a 40-minute commute total each way.

For me, taking the train each day is convenient and saves me a lot of money. For others, there may not be a rail station near by, so car-pooling might be a better option. Either way, people are finally taking action to cut down on fuel consumption. This is caused by painful increases in prices at the pump, but the silver lining is that we're being more financially and envrionmentally conscious.

Jun 19, 2008 9:24 PM Permalink