I played chicken with the train.....

     A giant car-sized sinkhole opened up on one of the roads I take to work each day. The city has sworn up and down that it will be fixed within one week. Oddly enough, everybody laughed long and hard, knowing full well this city doesn't do anything fast. It will be a miracle if it was fixed in that time frame.

     Consequently, I decided I will take the transit, more specifically the new LRT, to work everyday until it's fixed. Well, the LRT isn't new, but the station on my end of town is. It's been open for two months now. So hey, I thought I would give it a try. Is it easier/faster to drive to the station and take the LRT than it is to drive all the way downtown and park?

     First I need to remind all my hoards of readers of something. Maybe you didn't know it, but I was an avid bus taker for years and years. I diligently took the bus from my house for a 50 minute ride all the way downtown and back after work. Yip. Froze my ass off in the winter and starved for oxygen on the hot days of summer. Frustrated at late buses, no seats (standing for almost an hour sucks), filthy seats smelling of puke and ketchup. Sick all the time from being exposed to everybody's coughs, colds, and germs. That was me. My stomach still turns when I remind myself of the anger and stress I felt every day. 

     I did my time and I was more than happy to switch my committment to driving. Anything was better. Traffic tie-ups, accidents, trains in the way....I happily sat in my car and sang along to the radio and reminded myself it could be worse, I could be on the bus. The drive can take 35 minutes in summer to the same 50 as taking the bus in the winter, or longer, so it wasn't really about making the trip faster. It was just...quieter, less stressful for me.

     But the new LRT station intrigued me. There it was, right there, only 10 minutes away. Not a crowded, smelly, germ-infested bus, but a shiny new train, all air-conditioned and clean. Maybe the combination of driving a bit and taking the train a bit would lessen the stress I felt when taking the bus the whole way. So I thought, here is a perfect opportunity to try it. So I did, and have been for two whole days.

     First, the parking lot is a gravel pit, and not even a particularly well groomed one. No way I could bring the bike and park it there. Second, and most surprisingly, it's no faster. It takes about 40 minutes to drive, park, get on the train and get downtown. Third, it took me longer to get home. Leaving the parking lot after work was a nightmare. It was like trying to get out of Northlands after a concert. Very slow. Why doesn't the parking lot have more than two exits? Don't ask me.

     Those are my first impressions, and all are negative. Right now I would say that I am not going to switch. I'll see if that opinion changes by the time they get the sink hole fixed.