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Commuting sucks.
- Thread starter Queen_Dopplepopolis
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Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Barefoot and in ten feet of snow.DaveMage said:Uphill both ways?
Eridanis
Bard 7/Mod (ret) 10/Mgr 3
Here's another bad commuting story.
I started a new job in New York City last month, and I'm taking the train into the City. I love it so far - an hour twenty each way, but the dedicated reading time is fantastic! (I'm almost done with Robin Hobb's Tawny Man trilogy because of it.) Anyway, last night was the exception.
There was a nasty storm with 40-mph winds that knocked quite a few trees down in the NYC area - including one that fell directly on my train! And not only on my train, but it fell through the window of the locomotive. Can you imagine what the conductor must have felt when that tree swang through and busted out the window? I don't envy him if he took today off... We ended up being stuck for an hour and a half while they got a chainsaw crew out to remove the tree. No one was hurt, luckily, and everyone made it home, eventually.
Anyway, the news report in today's paper had a great quote from the Metro North spokeswoman, speaking about the tree hitting the train: "The train usually wins in these situations."
I started a new job in New York City last month, and I'm taking the train into the City. I love it so far - an hour twenty each way, but the dedicated reading time is fantastic! (I'm almost done with Robin Hobb's Tawny Man trilogy because of it.) Anyway, last night was the exception.
There was a nasty storm with 40-mph winds that knocked quite a few trees down in the NYC area - including one that fell directly on my train! And not only on my train, but it fell through the window of the locomotive. Can you imagine what the conductor must have felt when that tree swang through and busted out the window? I don't envy him if he took today off... We ended up being stuck for an hour and a half while they got a chainsaw crew out to remove the tree. No one was hurt, luckily, and everyone made it home, eventually.
Anyway, the news report in today's paper had a great quote from the Metro North spokeswoman, speaking about the tree hitting the train: "The train usually wins in these situations."
Vraille Darkfang
First Post
Jeez!
What's with all this 4 miles 20 minutes crap? Or 30 miles 45 minutes? I live 30 miles from work, get there in 25 minutes (no, I don't speed). Is the east coast really that bad? I'm living in (semi-rural)Missouri, but Yeesh. The longest communte I had was 45 minutes when I had to duck off the freeway & take the back roads due to an accident.
I thought my communte was long. Apparently mines' a wee little thing. (And my wife's 2.3 minute 2 mile would really drive you crazy). (Note: she can't walk it, as it's right along the major road & walking it would be akin to coating yourself in Sweet & Sour sauce and walking into the lair of a Red Dragon).
What's with all this 4 miles 20 minutes crap? Or 30 miles 45 minutes? I live 30 miles from work, get there in 25 minutes (no, I don't speed). Is the east coast really that bad? I'm living in (semi-rural)Missouri, but Yeesh. The longest communte I had was 45 minutes when I had to duck off the freeway & take the back roads due to an accident.
I thought my communte was long. Apparently mines' a wee little thing. (And my wife's 2.3 minute 2 mile would really drive you crazy). (Note: she can't walk it, as it's right along the major road & walking it would be akin to coating yourself in Sweet & Sour sauce and walking into the lair of a Red Dragon).
Queen_Dopplepopolis
First Post
The Universe used to travel 16 miles to work. It usually took an hour and a half or so. I travel about 20 miles and it takes me an hour.Vraille Darkfang said:
It's really bad.
Tyson's Corner is the 2nd largest office block in the US (next to NYC) and there is no mass effective mass transit to take people there so they all drive. It sucks. BIG TIME.
Vraille Darkfang said:
As Queen D already said: yeah, it really is.
Pretty much any major urban area has awful traffic these days. Until you actually have to drive in such an area, it's hard to comprehend -- I moved to the Chicago area from Green Bay, WI, then Madison, WI...and I had no idea of how bad traffic could be.
It's 16 miles from my house to my office, in downtown Chicago; most of that is on an interstate. According to switchboard.com, that's a 21-minute drive (and, I suppose, maybe it would be at 3 a.m.). Realistically, it's at least a 45-minute drive during rush hour, and it can frequently take well over an hour. Heaven forbid you try and drive it if it's snowing...2 hours, easily. (This is why I'm very thankful that taking the train is an option for me; I rarely drive to work unless I need to have the car for some reason, like driving to an off-site meeting.)
The East Coast is often even worse. The cities are older, the downtown areas are smaller, and many of the roads are 200+ years old -- they're narrow, and often not laid out in a straightforward fashion (since they're often old horse-and-cart roads).
Washington DC has several other problems, in addition. The area is cut in half by the Potomac River, and there are precious few bridges across the Potomac, thus making those bridges enormous bottlenecks. In addition to the offices serving the government, there's been a lot of high-tech growth in suburban DC, and housing has just sprawled in the area, with the infrastructure (roads, mass transit) being strained to keep up.
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MojoGM
First Post
I feel your pain.
My g/f and I both work in Boston and live north near the NH border. We drive Route 93 (which everyone in the area knows as a nightmare).
We don't even go all the way into the city, we stop outside and take the subway in.
Morning commute is about and hour at least, if we're lucky.
Home is at least 1 1/2...sometimes closer to 2.
If only the commuter rail were cost effective for us, but the amount we'd spend is WAY more than what it costs us to drive in together.
My g/f and I both work in Boston and live north near the NH border. We drive Route 93 (which everyone in the area knows as a nightmare).
We don't even go all the way into the city, we stop outside and take the subway in.
Morning commute is about and hour at least, if we're lucky.
Home is at least 1 1/2...sometimes closer to 2.
If only the commuter rail were cost effective for us, but the amount we'd spend is WAY more than what it costs us to drive in together.
Eridanis
Bard 7/Mod (ret) 10/Mgr 3
DaveMage said:In order to go 30 miles in 25 minutes you would have to average over 70 mph.
So, you LIE (about speeding)!
Unless...you have some sort of transporter technology you are keeping from us....
Or, he may live in Montana or the Dakotas, where 75 mph is the daytime speed limit (IIRC).
Vraille Darkfang
First Post
DaveMage said:In order to go 30 miles in 25 minutes you would have to average over 70 mph.
So, you LIE (about speeding)!
Unless...you have some sort of transporter technology you are keeping from us....
70 MPH for 25 minutes equals 29.1 Miles. Now, my Crusie Control ain't the best so I could be going 72-73 MPH, but I DON'T speed (I know the cop I pass every morning on the way to work is parked SOMEWHERE along my commute route). He writes a lot of tickets, so it keeps me honest. Also the 30 miles is what the Department of Transportation CLAIMS is the distance. We can't trust the DoT to fill in a pot hole, let alone do basic math.
So I'll rephrase myself.
I drive what the DoT claims is 30 miles at what my cruise control claims is 70 MPH.
I mean it about the cop. I have yet to go to work without seeing him along the side of the road pointing his little radar gun at everyone who passes. Really annoying. (More so for those unaware of his presence so he can nail them going 80 to try to get to work on time).
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