New commute

Last week my company opened a new Austin office. I made the commute for a week and then over the weekend, I decided to finally try something that I’d been putting off for years: trying Austin’s Capital Metro bus system to travel the 11 miles from our house out in the ‘burbs to the heart of downtown. After doing a little poking around on CapMetro’s website, I plotted my route (which isn’t much of a route considering it’s a 1-way “flyer” route with no transfers and limited stops from my neighborhood to downtown).

I started this week off with my first experience riding the bus to work. I have to say, it was quite a pleasant experience. The ride was smooth, seats were comfortable, no one on board was licking windows and the ride took the same amount of time had I driven it myself, at a fraction of the price.

According to Commute Solutions, my monthly commute costs are ~$350. I’m not sure how accurate that is considering I don’t have a car payment and my downtown parking is paid for by the company, but once you factor in maintenance, gas, insurance, wear & tear, it’s not hard to see how expensive commuting to work actually is.

Bus fare for the Flyer is $1 each way (and I think it’s even less if I buy a 31-day pass, which I’m thinking I’ll do this week). The drive time is the same and I don’t have to contend with the stresses of rush hour. I can sit back, relax and enjoy the ride by just looking out the window, opening my laptop or reading a book.

To me it’s a win-win-win-win. I won’t be incurring the costs of a commute, riding the bus is more environmentally friendly, the difference in commute time is nonexistent to negligible and, most importantly to me is the alleviated stress of the commute. It’s amazing how quickly I realized the commute was putting me on edge. The commute on the bus allows me just the right amount of time for some much-needed downtime.