Experiences of Regional Transit to Work

I have to confess that I am a long distance commuter. Have been since my first full time job eons ago. I am not proud of it. For someone who doesn't practice what he preaches, as an urban planner I contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. I take up valuable space on a busy highway, and emit enough suspended particulates to an ever polluted, soupy, and smoggy summer day. Not many of my friends understand the impacts long distance have on my energy levels as the work day wears on, nor do they understand that to drive into Toronto from Hamilton can take as much time as traveling from Toronto to Winnipeg by plane.

So to change the way I commute (which in hopes will change my lifestyle) I decided to take the plunge and take transit. I know, any attempt to take a suburb-to-suburb journey by transit spells disaster. The thought of three-hour trips involving countless transfers from bus, to rail, to bus again, makes anyone discouraged. The only reason I even contemplated was by a dear  coworker who lives in the same city as I do, who recommended a new, more direct regional bus route directly to downtown Hamilton from the 407/Trafalgar carpool lot. I was not convinced at first, until this past week where commuting on the 403 was a disaster. No longer does leaving ten mins early compared to three years ago, come close to sufficing.

Since it was a friday and I was pretty flexible, I decided to take the bus. After racing on the 403 I made it to the carpool lot only to find I was early.  It was a cool and cloudy morning and a bunch of people were already waiting. I know remember why I hated taking transit. When you miss the bus, you have to wait for the next one. For someone who has to go to work by a certain time, it seemed more stressful than driving yourself to work. But once you realize you are early, a sense of relieve sets in.

As the bus waits for its passengers, I put my money in. Having a Presto card certainly makes things faster, and cheaper. For someone who have used the microchip technology as a form of payment in Hong Kong, this is nothing new. In fact, Torontonians are behind the times. There is enough seating that no one has to sit side by side. Its a great feeling to finally go to work and someone is driving for me.

I have to say that this is a new found freedom for me. The fact that I don't need to drive to work seems foreign to me. Because its been so long, I still get stressed when the bus is sitting in traffic, or if it comes to an abrupt stop. I frazzle when the bus is honking the horn. Its all psychological, and will take time to recover. 

Will I take the bus again? For sure. The fact that I can come home without stress or grumbling because there is an accident causing heavy backup, is refreshing.