The Bike and The Bus

My commute’s a piece of cake: eight miles to work and never any traffic. But I woke up one morning last week and wondered how I’d get there without a car. Turns out it was easy.

Friday morning I set out from home on my bike. Destination: Wal-mart, where the CDTA’s #7 bus arrived at 8am. I’d studied YouTube videos showing bus bike racks, so I knew what to do. It went on the rack just like it supposed to and I bought a $3 ticket that would allow me to ride all day. In downtown Albany I switched buses and a few minutes later I was dropped off around the corner from work. The ride home was similarly easy —and the rain added a little dimension to the experience.

Some people may look at this as an empty gesture, but I’m not so sure. If I can leave the car at home two days a week I’ll save two gallons of gas. A drop in the bucket, but what if a million people joined me, or ten million? That would be significant. But let’s see if it still seems like a good idea in December.

7 thoughts on “The Bike and The Bus

  1. Comment: I think it’s great that you’re making an effort to be more energy-efficient and leave the car behind.

    Question: What was the commute time for the bike ride-bus-another bus trip, as opposed to your eight miles by car?

    Not a criticism… I’m all in favor of the biking/busing, but I am wondering about the practicality, time-wise.

  2. Actually, it wasn’t bad at all.

    My drive is usually under 15 minutes. The bus trip was 30 minutes. Then figure another 10 minutes for biking and “get there early” time.

    I listened to music on the bus; next time I’ll probably bring a book.

  3. I’ve been wanting to try this for years. Unfortunately, there is really no convenient way to get to Menands from Niskayuna by bus.

    I’d probably be better off biking the whole way along the bike path (which I’ve also wanted to try).

  4. I’m thinking of trying it just by bike this week.

    In the morning it’s down a big hill and flat the rest of the way. On the way home, however…

  5. Don’t live in your neck of the woods, but the same things are going on here in CT. Our company bought a bike rack due to the increase in riders. One guy bikes 25 miles, each way, to work a few times a week!

    One of my brothers is doing something similar to you, Rob. He tossed his bike on the bus’ bike carrier and rode the bus to Hartford, then biked the 15 mile route to his office, southwest of the “city”.

    Good stuff!

  6. So, you traded a less-than-15-minute car ride for a 40-minute commute by bus/bike? Times two?

    You’re spending 50 more minutes per day commuting than you were before.

    I guess if you figure that it’s your workout time for the day, and if you appreciate the reading time on the bus, that’s your own deal.

    However, I would find that whole extra 50 minutes very hard to give up in my day!

  7. Good point —and I’ll be the first to admit that there’s no way I’d do it every day.

    I don’t really consider that “workout time”, though.
    For that I crawl out of bed and go running at 5:00am.

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