Tipping Point

I’ve settled back in to the daily commute with the new job. It’s not too different than what I had previously. I’m just one stop further on the T (i.e. local subway). And yet I seem to be see-sawing back and forth. The commute has just tipped over an hour. If I told you that I had added an extra ten minutes to my commute (there’s a longer walk too), that doesn’t sound too bad. But if I tell you that my commute now can take over an hour (about 70+ minutes), you may cringe (unless you have a worse commute, which there are plenty out there). Now if I tell you the same 70+ minute commute takes me less than half that time (about 30 minutes door to door at peak commute times) to drive, you may think I’m crazy.

I’ve always been pro-public transportation. I get a ton of reading done. I sometimes crank on an interesting knitting project. I’ve had some crazy subway sittings that are priceless. And needless to say it’s better for the environment and my wallet. But where is that tipping point where you value your limited personal time against all these other elements?

I have a monthly $59 commuter pass. However, on occasion, I’ve had to drive in and boy does that hurt. One, I have an awesomely nice and comfortable car. Second, the commute is less frustrating - I take a different route than my bus and the flow of traffic is just that a flow not a quagmire. And finally, I’m there in no time. That’s an extra 45 minutes I just freed up: to dawdle getting ready in the morning, sleeping in, or even to get into work earlier and crank more efficiently. And that’s just at the beginning of the day. There’s another 45 minutes I get to pick up at the end of the day - getting home that much sooner. Some nights, the commute hurts at the end. I just want to be home. I’m hungry, tired and done with the day. But am stuck on a bus or else waiting for a bus.

What’s kept me back is… I’d like to say the environment but it’s the money. Parking is $11/day, potentially more. On a good month that’s $220/month. So not even counting gas money that’s no chump change. Basically I’m saving $2,000 a year by not driving. And saving the earth in my little way.
Then comes last Wednesday night. I was finally on the news… indirectly. The MBTA (umbrella company for subway, busses, etc) is not doing so well. Budgets aren’t working out and maintenance isn’t getting done. The whole system is breaking down. The delays are getting longer and more frequent. On my way to work, I’ll hear about a disabled train up ahead causing delays. Well, I finally was on one - the mother of all disabled trains.

I’m on my way home from work. The irony is that I decided to leave ‘early’, i.e. not stay late. It was just after 6 pm and I was engrossed in my book, just near the end, although probably wouldn’t finish it during this commute. It was on Louis XVI’s trial and I was riveted even though we all know how that went for dear old Louis. We stopped just shy of the stop before my stop. Nothing unusual. The operators pop onto the intercom every few minutes saying they are working on the problem and we’ll be moving soon. I hear this spiel several times a week. Well, long story short. I finished my book. And finished the paper I had with me. It’s a good two and a half hours stuck. The subway just broke down and nothing they did could get it going. They finally had us deboard. At first we envisioned jumping off the subway car into the dark tunnel with the rats scurrying away and all of us trying to remember which is the third rail so that we don’t get electrocuted. In reality, they just pulled another subway train up behind ours and had us walk from one to the other. Except you didn’t know this. As we walked single file through empty subway trains, I felt like I was walking to my death in a light hearted way (probably because I had just read about Louis on his way to the guillotine). It was surreal.

All in all, I enjoyed the adventure. I had nothing I was late too and we had air (and AC) for a good chunk of the time. There was a comradery amongst us crammed in the subway with folks taking turns offering their seats to stand. Granted, by the time I got home around 9:30, I was ravenous and the cursing the fridge was empty. And I had done the math and realized that the time it took me to get from work to home was the same length of time it took me the week before to fly from Costa Rica back to the US (to Atlanta where my lay-over was). Just to put it in perspective.

So will I crumble eventually and start taking the car? It’s been a few days and not yet. I do wonder, if this wasn’t the tipping point, what will? Or perhaps, it’s better not to ask.