Okay, but why do you live two municipalities away from your place of work?

In fairness, because you don't travel at rush hour, your commute will never be easy to transit-ize. You are traveling, more or less, against rush hour and outside of rush hour, and in a direction that few people travel.

I'm also pretty impressed you can do that trip in 30 minutes, even outside of rush hour.

Finally, the obvious mode for you is to occasionally ride bike. It's less than 30 km each way, so my guess is you could do it in less than an hour if you tried hard.

And this is my point precisely - opportunity cost of using transit. It is easier and possibly cheaper to take transit to my place of work. I fortunately live a walking distance from a Skytrain station.

The community bus (which runs on the 1/2 hour, if it comes) picks me up at the end of the street and deposits me at the station. Then the irritation starts. Technically I have a 2 zone commute since I cross a bridge. It is only a 5 stop trip. My co-worker has more stops but is in "the zone" so is a 1 zone ticket. There's the first $3.50. Parking at work is $3. I'm now stuck at work and can't do errands on my lunch hour on on the way home.

The return trip is not so much fun. 2 zone ticket back (for my 5 stops) and usually walk home. It's downhill and the community shuttle is rarely there when I hit the station. If it's snowing I will endeavor to connect to the shuttle since waiting in the snow is still preferable to sloshing through it. Still not able to do errands until I get home to get into the car.

Now make this trip outside of Translink's notion of rush hour or on a weekend. Nope - lots of walking since the community bus only runs once an hour. The walk is through a not-so-savoury part of the city so any commuting outside of "rush hour" will include the car.

Option - leave car at the park and ride. Good thought - but our city has the only pay park & rides so factor in another $2 to the 2 x $3.50 for a total of $9.

Yes, I know that a pass is cheaper - but that's only if you work at least 20 of the days in the month at a location served by public transportation. If you have a sick day, vacation or a change in report point you're overpaying. Books are good - if you remember to take the car to buy them since you can't purchase them from the ticket machine at the station. Wouldn't that be easy? Pop in your credit card and buy a book right then and there.

Buy a daypass when you go downtown or have a day's worth of errands - but you can't get them on the bus. The machines aren't set up to print a day pass ticket, which happens to look a lot like the single trip ticket. The local bus only runs every hour (if it comes and is going the right way on the route) on weekends so it's not efficient or effective to use even when you don't have firm deadlines.

So I'm waiting for a smart card that will let me pay for the amount of transit I use. When I only go 2 stops from work to the mall for shopping I won't have to pay a full 1 zone 1 1/2 hour ticket. When I cross a zone line I won't be jacked for a whole extra zone for one stop. I'll be able to load it from my computer - just like a Starbucks card or a Grouse Mountain card.

They are building a lot of condos in my area. Hopefully Translink will start a more reliable and useable community bus - every 20 minutes during rush and 1/2 hour at ALL other times. People work and do errands on Saturday and Sunday - a time when you can really nedd 2 cars to get around. If they build it we will come. But until I can be sure of getting home safely and to work reliably the car will still be heavily in play.

And this is my point precisely - opportunity cost of using transit. It is easier and possibly cheaper to take transit to my place of work. I fortunately live a walking distance from a Skytrain station.

The community bus (which runs on the 1/2 hour, if it comes) picks me up at the end of the street and deposits me at the station. Then the irritation starts. Technically I have a 2 zone commute since I cross a bridge. It is only a 5 stop trip. My co-worker has more stops but is in "the zone" so is a 1 zone ticket. There's the first $3.50. Parking at work is $3. I'm now stuck at work and can't do errands on my lunch hour on on the way home.

The return trip is not so much fun. 2 zone ticket back (for my 5 stops) and usually walk home. It's downhill and the community shuttle is rarely there when I hit the station. If it's snowing I will endeavor to connect to the shuttle since waiting in the snow is still preferable to sloshing through it. Still not able to do errands until I get home to get into the car.

Now make this trip outside of Translink's notion of rush hour or on a weekend. Nope - lots of walking since the community bus only runs once an hour. The walk is through a not-so-savoury part of the city so any commuting outside of "rush hour" will include the car.

Option - leave car at the park and ride. Good thought - but our city has the only pay park & rides so factor in another $2 to the 2 x $3.50 for a total of $9.

Yes, I know that a pass is cheaper - but that's only if you work at least 20 of the days in the month at a location served by public transportation. If you have a sick day, vacation or a change in report point you're overpaying. Books are good - if you remember to take the car to buy them since you can't purchase them from the ticket machine at the station. Wouldn't that be easy? Pop in your credit card and buy a book right then and there.

Buy a daypass when you go downtown or have a day's worth of errands - but you can't get them on the bus. The machines aren't set up to print a day pass ticket, which happens to look a lot like the single trip ticket. The local bus only runs every hour (if it comes and is going the right way on the route) on weekends so it's not efficient or effective to use even when you don't have firm deadlines.

So I'm waiting for a smart card that will let me pay for the amount of transit I use. When I only go 2 stops from work to the mall for shopping I won't have to pay a full 1 zone 1 1/2 hour ticket. When I cross a zone line I won't be jacked for a whole extra zone for one stop. I'll be able to load it from my computer - just like a Starbucks card or a Grouse Mountain card.

They are building a lot of condos in my area. Hopefully Translink will start a more reliable and useable community bus - every 20 minutes during rush and 1/2 hour at ALL other times. People work and do errands on Saturday and Sunday - a time when you can really nedd 2 cars to get around. If they build it we will come. But until I can be sure of getting home safely and to work reliably the car will still be heavily in play.


ps to previous poster - "..but why do you live two municipalities away from your place of work?"

Pardon my Doh! but anyone over the age of 24 and most certainly those with family and obligations should not even dignify that question with any answer. Some things are not a choice, they are a reality that we live with that may have arrived by circumstances beyond our control.

When was the last time you moved - with all the associated costs and burdens - to accommodate an employment change? How did that affect your family? Are you still in that job? Can you afford to still live there? How does this affect partner/spouse/child/parents life? Did your employer guarantee you a lifetime position in the same location so that you would never have to move again? ARGH.

That question is right up there with what I like to call the Yaletown greenie wheenies who actually have the never to ask a working mother why she doesn't bike to work. I can only imagine Jen's answer to that one.

So convenient to just ignore the difference in environmental costs, eh?

The tragedy of the commons continues...

I'm not solo commuting in a pimped out Hummer.

I drive a small, fuel efficient car. I use it solely to commute. I spend the weekends, and do my shopping in my direct neighborhood.

My analysis expressed the things that are important to me - time with my son and wife. In this equation, they are more important to me than the environment.

Your math may vary.

However, I do think I've addressed environmental concerns in my vehicle choice and transportation habits in my leisure hours.


Here's another way to express the opportunity cost of this exercise. The money I save is equivalent to taking a part time job for 17.5hrs a week, and getting paid $9/hr. This part time job would be in addition to the freelance work I do, and the full time job I do. At that rate, I just don't have 17.5 hours a week to spare.

You have mad an excellent argument for why Transit doesn't serve you. That's the real tragedy of the commons. In Vancouver Transit in so many ways does not serve it's potential ridership.

Civic and Provincial Government brain trust as always approaches the problem by punishing people who use their cars instead of providing reliable, timely, comfortable and cost-efficient alternative.

The last time I checked you couldn't get directly form New West to Richmond without going downtown first. Also Skytrain closes at 11:45pm on a statutory holiday leaving you stranded. Buses that should connect don't. Buses pass you by in rush hour as they're too full making you wait and late. The fares are exorbitant for more than one zone etc. I could go on. One more: Skytrain would rather have pistol brandishing rent-a-cops lurking at stations intimidating users then ensuring fares be paid by installing turnstiles. Oh, the idiocy.

Another tragedy? Responders to blog posts like Dustin who hit and run without making any reasonable argument. They're simply too lazy. Being reactionary is easy. Being thoughtful takes work. Nice work Buzz. Buzz off Dustin.

The new skytrain route to will probably cut 20 minutes or so off your commute. However, I agree about the time thing. I live about the same distance as you from Steveston Highway. To get there by 8 a.m. (when I start) I catch my bus at 6:10 in the morning - and arrive at work at 7:40. If I catch the 5:15 home, I get in around 7 p.m.

BTW - did you know that all the British do is talk about bus and train schedules. It is the number one topic of cconversation after the Royals.

Hadnt thought about the new skytrain routing... still makes for THREE transfers. crazy.

my favourite crazy transit story is the routing you have to take to get from fort langley to maple ridge. they're hundreds of metres and minutes apart via the albion ferry, yet you have to spend hours going the long way around via transit... of course you could just walk on the boat, but that ruins my argument. ;)

@ryan cousineau... my wife is in sales, when we bought here her territory is North Van.. made sense.

also, we were able to find a house in our price range. a house. not a condo, not a townhouse, a home. with a yard. a home that was affordable and wasnt in coquitlam or beyond, we came out ahead.

Buzz and fam .... would love to have you here living in paradise : Salmon Arm ...we have to be practicle ...is this where the job (s) is/are ??....when living in the lower mainland/
( B'by /Van /Coq. ) hubby took the bus to BC hydro office down town , I walked part of the way , then bussed to New West /or cycled ...just to keep my girlish figure ...and it took about 1 hour plus to get from A to B ...possibly cannot compare to places like my home country ...the Netherlands ...more of them, lots less space to cover .....public transportation is a complex thing to deal with .
We have been " one car" owners since 1986 ...with some planning , it has worked for us so far . The occasional car rental .
N.

I would love to take transit rather than driving to work. However, I live in Aldergrove, and there is only one bus that comes out this way. The closest stop to me is about a 15 minute walk away from my house, which is totally not a problem. The issue is that the bus comes by my house twice in the mornings, and those times are after when I need to be at my office. I'm not sure what the schedule is like in the evenings, but I'm sure it's just as bad.

I would love to take transit, but it's just not a viable option for me. Thankfully I'm able to carpool occasionally with some co-workers, so I do that whenever possible. I don't own a bike, and can't afford one at the moment. However, if that does become financially feasible sometime soon, I'll definitely be looking into it.

Overall, this is a good analysis. Transit is designed to serve as many people as reasonable, but it's ridiculous to expect it to serve everyone. I expect that for every 1 person with a transit horror story you'll find 10 with reasonable, efficient, cost-effective service.

One added dimension for your opportunity cost: time spent on the bus is more useful (to me) than time spent driving. Instead of wasting time listening to the radio (sorry, people who are employed by radio stations) I get an hour every day to read something interesting. When I'm not commuting on the bus, my literary throughput goes way down and my intellectual development decreases accordingly.