For the past seven years I have lived in, or near, downtown Portland. All of those years I have also worked for the Intel corporation with an office in Hillsboro. And ALSO all of those years there has been a nearly direct train link from my homes downtown, to my office in Hillsboro. But, until today, I had never taken advantage of that mass transit link. Almost anyone can list the benefits to society of utilizing mass transit over single occupancy vehicles (SOV) for commuting to work, but I have two main reasons for why I have not until today:
- I usually work from home. Over the past seven years I estimate I have traveled from my home to the office on average once per week.
- Half of the year, when it is dry and warm enough, I ride my motorcycle which (at least in terms of fuel cost*) is cheaper than MAX and a lot more enjoyable.
So the real cost of using my personal vehicle is far less overall than the average commuter. Since I am saving four trips a week, and half the time take much less fuel and space than a car or truck, I reward myself with the convenience of an SOV trip.
In any case, I decided this year that I’m going to try to go into the office a little more often, and since many of these new trips will be in the cold rainy months I will not be riding my motorcycle. I used to ride in any weather unless it was freezing, but my riding gear is getting thread-bear, is no longer water-proof, and I do not want to spend the hundred of $$ it would take for new gear right now. So, I’ll do the right thing and take mass transit, which I did, today, and here’s the details:
Desk-to-desk time: 1h30m. I left home-desk 9:40, boarded #15 bus line 2 blocks from house at 9:45, transferred to MAX at PGE Park, arrived at Hillsboro fairplex 10:40, walked from fairplex to my Intel-desk arriving at 11:10. Exactly 1/3 of the time was spent walking from the fairplex to my office. Intel runs a shuttle at peak hours in the morning and evenings, but I’d have to leave my house around 8am to catch the last morning shuttle. Since this is when I normally roll out of bed, I’d rather pay the extra time penalty of walking. Not to mention, it is good for me, and gave me time to listen to half an episode of This American Life. While on the train I was able to read everything I wanted to from the Oregonian, and even logged into work via my 3G (HSDPA) cell phone to check my mail and make a few notes on some projects I plan to work on this quarter.
Weather was typical Portland winter: low 40s, drizzly rain. Wearing normal shoes, jeans, and my waterproof shell w/ hood I arrived a my desk slightly damp, but was dry within minutes. Overall a good experience which I plan to repeat whenever I can. Riding home I will be able to take advantage of the Intel shuttle so I’ll save 15-20 mins. And I’m thinking a small electric Razor-like scooter would be perfect to get to and from the train, eliminating the bus/shuttle legs, but also the health benefits of walking. But wouldn’t an electric scooter be fun!
* My 1999 BMW R1100R SE goes 0-60 in 5 seconds, tops 130mph, and still maintains ~ 45mpg in mixed city/hwy riding. It is a 40mi round-trip to the office so on the motorcycle I use less than 1 gal of premium unleaded fuel. Even at $3.50/gal it is still 25% cheaper than taking MAX ($4.10/ round-trip)
