This is week #4 taking transit to work and back. Overall, things have gone well. Mornings (i.e., GOing to work) have all run perfectly so far, with a consistent door-to-door 55 minute travel time. Evenings (heading home) have mostly worked well except for the connection with Burlington Transit, which is scheduled to depart at the exact time the train is scheduled to arrive, which works fine if everything is exactly on schedule. But if the train is even a minute late it means either waiting for the next bus or walking home, which both get me in the door around the same time.
In any case, it has been a good month to try it out because it has had a variety of weather conditions. Last week’s rush hour snow did not affect the trains but it sure did affect the buses that connect with them. Despite some occasional inconvenience on the trip homeward, I was heartened to learn that by not driving the approx 1000kms I would have driven to work this month I saved a whopping 520kg of carbon dioxide from going into the atmosphere. I know, that sounds like a lot and it isn’t like I drive a Hummer. You might be surprised how much pollution you add to the world by driving: lookup your vehicle’s mileage (”highway” driving is for highway speeds without stops; “city” driving is for stop-and-go which includes most rush hour driving) then use a carbon calculator to estimate your emissions.
Filed under: travel & transport
