Save some gas, ride a subway...
I got a good laugh from one of my students last night. A big part of it was something he sent me which is, in truth, an example of why I changed my daily commute pattern over the last week.
For those of you who didn't know (probably most of you, cause this is kinda boring stuff), I have been driving from my home in East Amherst almost every weekday morning to a parking garage by our new office downtown in Buffalo. With the route I had to take (North French to 990 to 290 to 190 to Niagara St) I could spend as much as an hour and 15 minutes on the road, was doing 25 miles one way and was essentially blowing over 2 gallons of gas a day just on work. Plus parking down town is expensive.
So then I had a great thought last week. Why not take the train? What train, you might ask. Simple, this one:
Yes, the 'train to nowhere' isn't quite as nowhere as it seems. I've started riding Buffalo's Metrorail, and I've realized that the opinions on this system are a lot harsher than they should be. Yes, some design mistakes were made in the creation of the route - the above-ground pedestrian mall just really didn't do the trick. But interestingly enough, the route is, overall, really useful.
As an example of how useful, I can tell you this: I am now driving 8 miles from my apartment to University station each day, as opposed to 25 miles to a parking garage. All told, I drive about 19 miles overall a day as opposed to 50 or more. I can pay $55 a month for a rail pass as opposed to $75 for my parking garage. I only need oil changed every 16 - 18 weeks as opposed to every 10. And I've heard renewed talk of the MetroRail being extended soon to go further north. Don't get me wrong, I like my car and I like to drive sometimes, but I think public transit, especially when it's something like the subway or other non-road-based traffic has so much potential to help a city, especially one like Buffalo. If you're a Buffalo resident and you think that the MetroRail, done right, could help this city, I urge you to write to our state sentators and congressmen (and women) and tell them you support expanding the metro-rail to help make convenient transport a great alternative to having to drive everywhere. Believe me, it's worth using, and 23,000 people (the approximate daily ridership already on MetroRail) a day can't be wrong on that.
So in closing, I no longer am experiencing this:
Thanks to Ed Corbett for that.
For those of you who didn't know (probably most of you, cause this is kinda boring stuff), I have been driving from my home in East Amherst almost every weekday morning to a parking garage by our new office downtown in Buffalo. With the route I had to take (North French to 990 to 290 to 190 to Niagara St) I could spend as much as an hour and 15 minutes on the road, was doing 25 miles one way and was essentially blowing over 2 gallons of gas a day just on work. Plus parking down town is expensive.
So then I had a great thought last week. Why not take the train? What train, you might ask. Simple, this one:
Yes, the 'train to nowhere' isn't quite as nowhere as it seems. I've started riding Buffalo's Metrorail, and I've realized that the opinions on this system are a lot harsher than they should be. Yes, some design mistakes were made in the creation of the route - the above-ground pedestrian mall just really didn't do the trick. But interestingly enough, the route is, overall, really useful.
As an example of how useful, I can tell you this: I am now driving 8 miles from my apartment to University station each day, as opposed to 25 miles to a parking garage. All told, I drive about 19 miles overall a day as opposed to 50 or more. I can pay $55 a month for a rail pass as opposed to $75 for my parking garage. I only need oil changed every 16 - 18 weeks as opposed to every 10. And I've heard renewed talk of the MetroRail being extended soon to go further north. Don't get me wrong, I like my car and I like to drive sometimes, but I think public transit, especially when it's something like the subway or other non-road-based traffic has so much potential to help a city, especially one like Buffalo. If you're a Buffalo resident and you think that the MetroRail, done right, could help this city, I urge you to write to our state sentators and congressmen (and women) and tell them you support expanding the metro-rail to help make convenient transport a great alternative to having to drive everywhere. Believe me, it's worth using, and 23,000 people (the approximate daily ridership already on MetroRail) a day can't be wrong on that.
So in closing, I no longer am experiencing this:
Thanks to Ed Corbett for that.
