Back on the Train

Well, I am back riding the train every day after three weeks of driving in to work. It was very nice of work to allow me to park for free for three weeks because of my sprained and broken ankle. So a big shout out to work for parking!

But with having driven for three weeks, I have a new found tolerance for the train. There are benefits and drawbacks to both.

Driving

1. I have my personal space
2. I can listen to NPR
3. I have more freedom to come and go

Train

1. I can sleep, knit, read, and work on my blog entries.
2. There are not regular 1-2 hour traffic jams.
3. I leave as early as I did driving and actually get home earlier on the train.
4. I don't have to fill up the gas tank as often.

I guess the train kind of wins out.

On a frustrating note, the MBTA is planning a 25% rate hike which would make my pass cost $250 a month. This is without making the service any better. I think it is insane. Some days, I feel like everyone just wants a bigger piece of my paycheck.

Also, I wrote this before the commutes of the last 36 hours, which were a nightmare. Well, a bad dream. Monday evening, I walked to the subway that takes me to the train station. I waited over a half hour for the subway, which is supposed to run every six minutes. Because of the delay, I missed my train and had to wait for the next, a local, which got me home an hour late.

Then Tuesday morning, my train was stopped for quite some time due to "signal problems." Then when we were finally able to move again, the powers that be turned the express into a local so we added another 20 minutes to a very late train. By the time we arrived at my stop, the train was an hour late.

It is a toss up as to which is better.