The train is a mixed bag

Hey there,

I'm one of those patsies that moved away from the city so I could buy a nicer house on some land. of COURSE the good job is now 55 miles away, and consists of one of the very worst commutes in these United States: the I95/395 North corridor from Virginia into Washington DC.

On the best day the commute from my house to work by car is 1.5 hours to, and another 1.5 hours home. An average day is 2.5 hours one-way. The worst day I have ever had it took 8.5 hours to get home. Granted, that was during a snow storm in which 105 people managed to tangle their cars together, killing 2, because they thought it was OK to drive 65mph on an icy highway.
Guess what it was like on 9/11? OK - don't.

Still, I am a typical American, who loves the freedom that driving my own car brings. But even the most individualistic among us has limits. When gasoline reached $3 per gallon, I realized that even driving a Honda (well, a minivan, but still a Honda) was costing me $120 per week just for gas, never mind the miles and maintenance. Even a Honda breaks if you drive it almost 800 miles per week.

So I tried car pooling. In a word...ugh. Unreliable. Unfriendly after the first week's "honeymoon". Inconvenient. There are days when I or other poolers simply have to go home early for some urgency or other. It is a major pain in the patootie to have to call and say either: "I have to catch a bus" or "Can everybody leave early today?". It's the same frustration to get a call from the others: "Carl has to go home - can you be ready to go at noon?"

Then I checked out van pools and the bus. Very expensive. Very clique-ish. Try taking a seat that someone else thinks belongs to them. Whew-boy.

So I finally decided to try the train. $76 for ten one-way trips. That's cool. $76 per week instead of $120. Oops. The train goes to Union Station. I need to go to 16th and M. Add $16.50 for 10 metrorail rides. Oh. The closest metro station to my work is 4 blocks away. DC blocks can be pretty large. So on bad weather days, it is a pain. The train one-way is...1.5 hours. Well, at least I am not driving.

Next: what in the Sam Hill is WRONG with train designers? Did they go to school with Al-Qaeda? These cars are a disaster. I am 5'6", and not "large". The seats are too small for me. I pity the average 5'10" guy with a few extra pounds, and I think those over 6' qualify for federal disaster aid if they try to ride the train. There are no arm rests. Try a 1.5 hour ride where you have no place to put your arms. Try it. You will call Amnesty International. 6 cars. 1 bathroom. Guess which car fills first?

Next: The trains have the worst on-time rate of any system I have ever seen. Whether the cause is mechanical breakdown, "switching problems", or right-of-way delays (commuter trains have to give way to every other rail transport, including hand-cars, it seems), the Virginia Rail Express seems to arrive at my destination on time about 50 percent of the time. I know, airlines aren't much better, but how often do I fly?

There are benefits:
1) I can use my laptop. Sort of. I have an air card from Verizon. I just have to "reconnect" about 1,000 times along the way. Seems there are a lot of dead spots.
2) I can sleep...if you call dozing for 1 minute 60 times sleeping. Remember how comfortable the seats are?
3) I don't have to pay parking. Oh, wait. Yes I do. I pay my work for an underground space at my building. It took me 12 years to get that space as I waitied for people to retire. I am not giving it up just because I ride a train. What if I want to drive in? It happens.
4) My car is lasting longer. Good thing. I put 190K miles on it in 5 years. It's a Honda so it should go at least 300K before I have to get rid of it, not because it doesn't run, but just because I am so sick of driving it (hey - topic for another blog!).
5) There is scenery - the train travels North along the Potomac River - many beautiful sights.

I long for the day when someone learns how to make a comfortable train car. I long for the day when mass transit in the United states is as reliable as, say, the Soviet Union in 1935. I long for the day when I can ride an enclosed, elevated, moving walk-way all the way from the train station to the front door of my job. In other words, I am dreaming.

It's a long way from perfect. Heck, it's a long way from better-than-acceptable. But it's what we have, and it's what I will put up with since the environmental whack jobs refuse to let us: a) find new oil, b) burn coal, c) drill for oil, d) build nuclear power plants, e) build refineries, or f) basically become energy independent. As long as these loonies drive our politicians, we are at the mercy of the OPECS and the Chavezes of the world. So:

Happy training to me,
happy training to me.
happy #$!!$#**#%& training to me,
happy training to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!