Another commute question: from Mt. Lebo to North Shore, give me the backroads!

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by Hopes

That's because it still takes longer via public transportation!

I'll give you an example. Once my car was having mechanical work done, and I had an 11am appointment in the North Side. I had to take a 9:20am bus to be at the appointment on time because the 10:20am bus would have gotten me there late. When the appointment was over, I had to wait an hour to catch the bus home. I didn't get home until near 1:30pm.

A 15 minute appointment took half of my day---over 4 hours. Meanwhile, the worst rush hour traffic would be a 30 minute drive via car. Worse case scenario, the entire trip and appointment would have taken 1-1/2 hours via car.

So, yeah. I'd much rather sit in the damndest traffic jam over taking public transportation! Someone would be insane to prefer otherwise. Public transportation only works if you live on a convenient bus line that has busses every 10 or 15 minutes.

I wasn't suggesting that Pubilc Transit was an Option for everyone...But it seems like you guys never recommend it and prefer. Living in the far suburbs going to work in another far suburb is not for public transit, neither is far suburbs with mid-day/night commutes.

But you guys will suggest driving directions for someone going from City Neighborhood/Inner burb to another City/Inner Burb neighborhood, for these types of commutes PAT is more than adequate alternative to sitting in a car adding to the traffic.

Maybe its me living in the Public Transit capitol of NY.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by greg42

Comparing a rush-hour traffic jam to non-rush bus schedule times isn't a reasonable comparison.

Scott's comment wasn't about commuting. He only made a blanket statement about public transportation, and I felt it necessary to point out that public transportation is very time consuming for people who don't live in an area with frequent service. My area doesn't have a good schedule even during rush hour, greg. I'd love to point out that in non-rush hour traffic, the actual travel and appoinment time in a car would have have been 45 minutes, not 1-1/2 hours. It doesn't matter what time of day I leave. Public transportation takes significantly longer for me than driving even if there is gridlock traffic.

Originally Posted by ashpenni

I also think that the convenience of public transportation is going to be relative to the nature of your trip as well...taking public transportation to and from what would be a 15 minute appointment is different than taking public transportation to and from an 8 hour workday. You're weighing your commute time against a very short task (15 min appt) vs. against a full day at work.

The length of the appointment is irrelevant. Even if the appointment was 8 hours long, the bus schedule could have still added 4 hours onto my day depending on the schedule. Not everyone lives in an area where public transportation is a viable option for commuting. Fortunately, this won't be a problem for you because the T has a good frequency of service compared to where I live. Regardless, my comments weren't in the commuting context, but merely a response to Scott's general opinion about public transportation.

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

I wasn't suggesting that Pubilc Transit was an Option for everyone...But it seems like you guys never recommend it and prefer. Living in the far suburbs going to work in another far suburb is not for public transit, neither is far suburbs with mid-day/night commutes.

But you guys will suggest driving directions for someone going from City Neighborhood/Inner burb to another City/Inner Burb neighborhood, for these types of commutes PAT is more than adequate alternative to sitting in a car adding to the traffic.

Maybe its me living in the Public Transit capitol of NY.

I'm glad you recommended the T for the OP. It simply did not cross our minds because she was asking about driving. You were right on target to suggest public transportation for her particular situation. We should be more aware of that when people ask questions about commuting and provide alternatives.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Scott's comment wasn't about commuting. He only made a blanket statement about public transportation, and I felt it necessary to point out that public transportation is very time consuming for people who don't live in an area with frequent service.

One blanket statement deserves another, eh? "That's because it still takes longer via public transportation!" Maybe for you. I live in a place where I'd have to drive a few miles to get any bus at all, but I still understand that there are places where the transit would take less time at peak travel times. After all, in this case the comparison was the T vs Banksville Rd at rush hour, not a place with limited service at all times of day. The T might have the best chance of being faster, but the buses too have dedicated roadways in some places that make even them faster than driving.

I could drive from here to the Warrendale park and ride if I wanted, and if I time it right it would take a similar amount of time as driving all the way to downtown. I probably would be doing that, too, (or wouldn't have moved here) if I had to pay for parking downtown. But I don't. And thus I maintain a little flexibility. I also don't feel too bad because two of us are in the car, not just one.

Speaking of parking downtown, interesting fact, in Cleveland yesterday the all-day rate cost HALF of what it does in the Pittsburgh garage where we have our leases for the office. I had forgotten how cheap it was there, and I'm somewhat immune to how expensive it is here.

[captainmidnight]

Originally Posted by Hopes

That's because it still takes longer via public transportation!

I'll give you an example. Once my car was having mechanical work done, and I had an 11am appointment in the North Side. I had to take a 9:20am bus to be at the appointment on time because the 10:20am bus would have gotten me there late. When the appointment was over, I had to wait an hour to catch the bus home. I didn't get home until near 1:30pm.

A 15 minute appointment took half of my day---over 4 hours. Meanwhile, the worst rush hour traffic would be a 30 minute drive via car. Worse case scenario, the entire trip and appointment would have taken 1-1/2 hours via car.

So, yeah. I'd much rather sit in the damndest traffic jam over taking public transportation! Someone would be insane to prefer otherwise. Public transportation only works if you live on a convenient bus line that has busses every 10 or 15 minutes.

Just curious, but have you checked out PAT's TDP to see if service is going to improve in your area?

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Scott's comment wasn't about commuting.

It was.