In a rare bout of rationality, I finally bought into my own downtown St. Louis yuppie urban hype. I started taking the train to work in Clayton instead of driving like I’m a suburbanite from O’Fallon burning 10 gallons of dinosaur oil a day in beige mid-size family sedan. My old commute was anywhere from 12 minutes (best case) to 45 minutes (worst case). Now my commute is 35 minutes every single day. Here are five reasons that it’s such a hit:
- You get some decent exercise. Seriously, walking ~20 minutes to and from each Metro station does wonders for my energy levels. Normally in slug-like office worker mode I went from heated garage to company parking walking maybe 2 minutes total, spread across the entire day. It’s a real noticeable difference and my heart rate is up after breakfast and before dinner. I feel great.
- It’s relaxing. You can stare out the window and listen to your iPod / read a book / people watch instead of thinking about how the guy in front of you can’t stop riding the brakes. If you are tired you can nod off a little bit, try that while driving in bumper to bumper.
- It’s cheaper than buying gas, period. If your employer has a mass transit pre-paid spending account it’s even better. If my company had the foresight to offer PERC, commuting to work would literally be free. Some quick math: If the Metro costs $720 a year to ride ($60 monthly pass) the tax deferred amount is a savings is around $252 per year. Even though my car commute wasn’t that long its still marginally cheaper without the tax break. (Plus all the wear and tear on the car should drop well over 60% if you have a typical commute).
- It lets you listen to more music. In the car you have to pay attention to the road no matter how tired you are, so you can’t really focus in on that news story or the song thats playing. With my new constant 35 minute commute time I can enjoy most of an album or a solid playlist. This is a big one for me.
- The MetroLink is on-time and clean. A foregone conclusion you may think. Let me ask you this: when was the last time you took a ride on BART (San Francisco), the Chicago train, the T (Boston), or a urine soaked NYC subway and didn’t feel a pressing need to rinse your hands in disinfectant after leaving.
Unfortunately this doesn’t apply to our soon-to-be-screwed friends who live west of highway 170. You have no access to public transportation and come January 2nd, 2007 the main commuting route (highway 40) in St. Louis will be shutdown. To be honest I don’t really have any sympathy. If you choose to live 2 hours from your job and have no problem buying that much gas from our Iranian and Saudi friends more power to you. I’ll be casually strolling down to the station at 5pm with a little kick in my step and a smile on my relaxed face. Enjoy those red-taillights!