Dumb 5:30 a.m. ?: Public transportation

[geojen]

I rode the bus for awhile in East Lansing. The pluses:
No driving, the bus literally picked me up right in front of my house, no parking responsibilities, cheap, cheap, cheap.

The downsides:
The schedule sucked, especially after 6 pm. Basically, if I missed the 5:45 bus, I had to stay on campus until 7:30 for the next bus. But, this will vary depending on your public transportation system. While not totally sucky, East Lansing has a ways to go in the route-timing department.

Also, you will have to put up with some weirdies, but that is with everything. I have been on the bus with a drunk man who insisted the driver "take him downtown, damn it" even though he was on a bus that did not go downtown. I was also forced to listen to an old lady tell me where she keeps everything in her purse once--even her used tissues!

Overall though, I didn't mind the bus. Yes--you give up some freedoms in that you cannot pick and choose when you want to leave because you have to stick to their schedule. But IMHO, the positives outweighed the negatives.

That being said, because of the sucky schedule and me having to teach night labs, I only rode the bus for 1 semester....then I drove to campus

[ceejay74]

I live in Minneapolis and I don't have a car. I take the bus, walk, and very occasionally (once or twice a year) hire a car or call a taxi. I agree with most of the other comments here--you do see some mentally ill people on the bus, some drunks, some teenagers who like to talk big and swear a lot, some eccentric chatty old people--but if you mind your own business you usually don't get approached or even noticed.

I also agree, though, that as early in the morning as you'll be leaving work, you'll only see other people going to and from work, and maybe a few travelers if your bus goes by an airport or train station.

Does your workplace reimburse public transportation? Mine offers pretax bus passes, which saves me some money. My husband's job lets him purchase his on a company credit card. Anyway, $60-$70 per month for total transportation costs is much better than most folks, I guess!

[Scanner]

Well. . .being the very, very adventurous guy I am. . .I took the forum's advice and rode the bus to work yesterday.

And it was mostly what everyone said, although I was just about the only white guy on a bus about half black and half hispanic. That being said, it was not street bums and wine-o's. Just normal people trying to get where they need to go.

I will say it did lengthen my day by about an hour, mostly because the bus interval pick up time. But it saved me about $5.00. And that's just calculating gas money.

If you figure the IRS allows. . .what these days. . .$35/mile to write off ( ??). . .I would think a conservative $.10/mile goes into repairs (wear and tear on car).

So. . .my roundtrip is 52 miles. . .that's an additional $5.20 so. . .I probably saved $10.00/day by commuting.

(you get to think about these things on the bus )

All in all. . .I will definitely use it as much as I can. . .however, when I am trying to go from my office to hospital or hospital to office. . .and I am on a tight schedule, I don't think I'll do it. It's just too long.

Like today. . .I had to leave work at 2:15 and be at my office by 3:00. It's just too dicey.

But when I work overnight. . .I will definitely use it.

[vsjhoc]

If you figure the IRS allows. . .what these days. . .$35/mile to write off ( ??). . .I would think a conservative $.10/mile goes into repairs (wear and tear on car).

The IRS Standard Business Mileage Rate for transportation expenses paid or incurred beginning July 1, 2008 has been increased to 58.5 cents per mile. This is up from the 50.5 cents per mile rate covering the period of January 1 through June 30, 2008.

[atomicrc11]

If you do end up riding the bus more, I would suggest subscribing to you local news paper. That's what I do and it really helps time pass. Commuting on public transit is one thing that still drives newspaper circulation. I have no qualms about either myself or any female friends I know taking public transit in Boston. There are some dicey neighborhoods and it's not so safe to be a lone female there, but in general on the buses and trains it's quite safe. Just using common sense and notifying a driver of any issues can avoid most problems.

[Scanner]

I get car sick reading in a moving vehicle.

[zetta]

For comparison, if the bus took an hour, how long does your drive take?

[atomicrc11]

If reading makes you sick, may I suggest an iPod with some free Podcasts on the way to work?

[SusanP]

I don't think it would hurt to check it out. Like others have said, the type of passengers on buses depends on where you live, what time of day is it, etc. I would expect to see an unsavory character every now and then, but you will probably see more people like you than you think.

It's probably worth it if you're almost falling asleep at the wheel at times. That's happened to me before on the 1-hour drive back from taking the kids to visit their grandparents, so I usually keep my 4 year old talking to me so I stay awake. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have someone to talk to.