Observations regarding taking the train to work

[brooksmoses]

(This being precipitated by my accidentally mis-juggling the logistics of yesterday evening in such a way that I found myself pulling into the apartment parking lot at 11pm and realizing that I had forgotten my car and left it at work.)

Walk to train station: 20 minutes.
Wait for train, getting ticket from kiosk, etc.: 15 frantic seconds.
Train ride: 10 minutes, $1.75.
Wait for bus to arrive at the train station: none.
Wait for bus to leave the train station: 10 minutes.
Bus ride: 10 minutes, free.
Walk from bus stop to office: 2 minutes.

Total for future trips, if I allow time to get my ticket rather than randomly choosing a time to leave without consulting the schedule and then finding that the train shows up at the same time I do, is a touch less than an hour. For comparison, driving is 20 minutes, plus 10 minutes walk in from the parking lot.

I'm not at all sure if this is worth doing as a general habit or not; it does take longer and cost more. But it's not sufficiently unreasonable as to be out of consideration, certainly.

Comments

[leback.livejournal.com]

I wonder whether you might be able to shave a few minutes off by taking a bus up El Camino instead of walking all the way to the train station... Is still not going to be nearly as quick as driving, but if it's more relaxing (say, if you're spending twenty minutes reading a novel instead of grumbling at traffic/hunting for parking), the extra time can turn out to be worth it.

[brooksmoses]

Hmm; I might have to look into that. I'm not at all sure if it's more relaxing or not; I don't really find myself grumbling at traffic much, and the parking hasn't been a problem this year at all. Sometimes the variety is good, though.

[leback.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I figured you weren't nearly as much of a Type-A driver as I am... I grok the "road rage" concept rather too well. This is but one of many reasons I think I really don't belong on the road. :-)

Nifty that your parking situation has been better. I imagine that takes a lot of stress out of the getting-to-campus thing, and saves some time, too...