The Bus Will Get You There Yet

(The first in an experimental series in which Molly Ivors attempts to suss out the potential of public transportation to and from Liberal Mountain.)

The cold, hard, facts: A monthly bus pass costs less than a tank of gas.

Here on Liberal Mountain, we have two cars. One is a minivan which assures us it's a low-emission vehicle, but gets crappy gas mileage (about 20 mpg). It has a 26 gallon tank which, at current prices, costs us just over $100 to fill. We generally do so once or twice a week. The other is a small economy car which mostly belongs to the teen now. That gets slightly better mileage (about 30 mpg, on average), but also has a smaller tank. We generally spend about $50 filling that one weekly.

A bus pass for one adult for one month, entitled to bring up to three children free, is $35.

Of course, we live together and work together, and so can often travel together. According to Mapquest, the trip from the ocelot-infested wilds of Liberal Mountain is 15.68 miles. That's just over 30 miles roundtrip, so one gallon in the small car, one and one-half in the large one. $4-$6 dollars a day = $20-$30 a week = $89-$126 per month. That gets us to and from work, but it doesn't get lunch or shopping or anything else done. And as I noted, our monthly gas bill for the van is about $450, and for the small car about $225.

Another problem: the bus doesn't actually come here. We have two choices, then. We can either (a) call the rural route bus, which is like a jitney and runs $2 per adult, or (b) drive to a place where the bus will meet us, preferably a parking lot where we can leave the car all day, maybe at a shopping center or similar. There are two places I can think of off the top of my head: one, a strip mall with Wal-Mart and Sam's Club and Barnes & Noble and stuff like that; the other the local library. The strip mall is 9.15 miles from Liberal Mountain, the library is 8.3 miles. So getting to either of those would mean driving more than half the distance to work anyway.

The next county over also runs a bus to our campus, though on a much more limited schedule. It is  5.86 miles to that stop, but there's nowhere safe to park the car.

This summer, I will be conducting a series of experiments on the financial and environmental impact of these options. I'll also calculate in what one might call the PITA index, that is, how much of a pain in the ass this whole process is. I expect this to be pretty high: any of these routes means 2 transfers, one at the local university, and one downtown.

In doing so, I hope to bring to light some of the problems with our current public transportation system.

Comments

[D. Sidhe]

No park-and-rides there? Big parking lots near a clustering of bus stops, occasionally even known as a "transit mall".

[chiggins]

Okay, 15.86 miles.

Depending upon the hilliness of your local terrain, that's about 75 minutes by bike at 12 mph (not a difficult pace to keep once you get used to it).

"But," you say, "I have things to carry, and groceries to pick up on the way home."

That's a good point. This is where I would suggest looking into an xtracycle.

"Oh, that's nifty," you say, "but there's hills and there's no way I could pedal that thing, with groceries and a kid almost 16 miles."

It does seem that way, but that's when you would take the next step to this. That beautiful little red motor is a Stokemonkey, which gives you electric assist, and allows you to pull off this.

So now, you're considering it, and then notice that the price tag for such a machine has gone up into scary territory. There's no way you can even imagine putting that kinda bread into a bike, even one this nifty.

Well, when my wife and I started doing calculations on our auto payment, insurance, and gas bill back in January, we figured it would take about 3 months to pay for itself, and then did a little more cypherin' and realized that for what we were paying to keep our car, we could actually put some really nice bikes together that we'd enjoy riding. With the amount of gas you're using now, even if the autos are paid for, it still wouldn't even take a year to pay for one super-xtra-bike.

We haven't sold the car yet, that step's probably about 4-6 weeks away, but we're down to using the car about 4 times a month. When we do, we'll still have ZipCar available to us (that's a nice backup). But so far, since we put together one S.U.B., and one touring-type bike with some kid-carrying capacity, it's working out really well.

It's not as convenient, obviously, as driving, or always as fast. But I've acclimated to the slower pace, and actually I can beat the cars commuting in by a good 5-20 minutes.

I've also dropped about 5-10 lbs so far, and noticed the other day that I could bound up a flight of stairs without getting winded. And I never used to get out of my car after a commute with a huge smile on my face.

It's not something everyone can do obviously, but it might be worth lookin' into.

[Ripley]

I'm not familiar with the terrain and roads in your area, but have you considered a scooter? If not for the two of you, then maybe for the teen? For trips that don't require a lot of storage, it could be a real money saver.

One other note - if you're able to change your driving habits significantly, don't forget to notify your insurance carrier. You might be able to save some premium $ for lower annual mileage. (Yes, I'm an ex-insurance guy.)

[DrDick]

These are problems everywhere in small town and rural America. Here in Missoula, we have a pretty good bus system for a small city (about 60K), but there are severe limitations. People living outside of or on the fringes of town have limited options, the number of routes is limited, and the buses only run hourly, at best. It is not a problem for me to take the bus to work (or bike on nice days), but running errands and shopping are a major hassle. For the record, I lived in Chicago for 12 years and routinely used mass transit there. I think Krugman pretty much nails it in today's NYT column.

[mattt]

Good experiment. I did this math a couple of years ago and keep redoing it, as gas goes up while real estate goes down and the bride and I consider moving closer to work.

Don't forget to consider car maintenance and depreciation costs that come with that mileage. There are tables out there if you don't want to do the calculation; I recall a figure of 54 cents/mile average actual cost with gas at $3. Go to kbb dot com to figure the resale value of your cars, and they'll tell you how much that figure drops for each mile you drive. And your insurance co may lower your rate if you tell them you're not using the car to commute anymore.

[chiggins]

Depending upon the hilliness of your local terrain, that's about 75 minutes by bike at 12 mph (not a difficult pace to keep once you get used to it).

80-ish minutes. Had coffee, spotted the error. Which, of course, I regret.

[Mudge]

An interesting attempt to maintain the bucolic lifestyle and minimize transportation cost.

I trust your attention to detail will equal your use of distances like 15.68 miles. You might be able to cut that to 15.50 if you judiciously hug the edge and centerline of the road during the drive.

My suspicion, though, is that a bicycle in your part of the country is dangerous in summer and impossible in winter.

[Omnes Omnibus]

Has one considered capturing a number of ocelots and training them to pull a buggy or sleigh - depending on the season? Just a thought.

[K. Ron Silkwood]

May I interest you in the Mad Max scenario? Steal a Hummer, crush other vehicles on the road, take their gasoline. That way you will also have lots of practice before the Islamomexicans invade.

[may]

We are in a very similar situation. About 20 miles to and from the college town from the mountain in the middle of nowhere. No buses until you are almost there. And those are little shuttles between several adjacent more urban communities. Biking is not safe and a child and things like groceries make it even less likely. As do mountains and ice.

We made the choice to live in the middle of nowhere, and that decision effects everything else along the way. We car pool, don't run to the grocery store very often, have the best cars we can for the situation etc.

I have been annoyed lately with the righteousness directed at some of us who do have to drive say a 40 mile round trip, or who do have to own a larger or, god forbid, 4 wheel drive car in order to make it up and down the ice covered or mud covered mountain with the large canine companions during different seasons. (And we didn't move to some development on a mountain side, the house has been here more than 200 years).

My assorted points are: biking is great where you can do it, as is walking. I have always used public transit in my urban days and we use the train or bus now to get to the major urban centers. Having a 4 wheel drive high axel vehicle clearly isn't for everyone, but having one which is as green as possible when it is a necessity, shouldn't lead to nasty personal attacks. Gas prices should be high, but not just to make a few Enron types rich. Higher efficiency vehicles are a must. And better transportation in rural areas is imperative.

[Ruth]

Have you thought about offering transportation for a fee to a limited number of others at your school? Making a little ride-on service available at your community bulletin board or online could give your expenses a little lightening of the load.

[rageahol]

may:

perhaps instead of whining about the "righteousness" of some people, you should be out agitating for that better transit infrastructure. the only people i see doing that regularly in my neck of the woods or are bike advocates.

join us.

[Captain Goto]

About half of my life ago, I was working for a company on the east end of town, living in an apartment five blocks away. I failed to take advantage of the green possibilities and drove to work anyway, mainly because I was a lazy fuck who wanted to sleep an extra 15 minutes, even with flex time.

My laziness became a moot point when said employer bought 300 acres in ex-fucking-urbia and proceeded to plop down 20 miles north of town (where of course, all the restaurants sucked). No public transit, of course, but the company did offer bus service from the old plant to the new site, which of course required getting up 3 hours earlier than I had previously. I decided to pass on that option.

I decided to split the diff and got a place about eight miles out--first an apartment, then my first (and so far current) house. I definitely like the urban options, even though (or perhaps because) most of my life has been spent in the burbs--I had *no* desire whatsoever to live that far from town.

Ten-odd years later, my ex pulled out, and in quick succession said employer showed me the sidewalk, putting me in a financial hole which effectively precluded me from keeping up with home maintenance. When no jobs materialized and I decided to go back to school, living on a grad school stipend and occasional raids on the 401K didn't help.

Perhaps I could have sold the place right then and gotten an apartment, but the place would probably have required some $20K of work to be sellable, rents near the campus weren't terribly friendly, and besides I decided that my kid had been thru enough changes in her brief life, so I decided to stay put.

I might have been able to take the bus on occasion, but for a lot of that time I was chauffering the kid to a private school with no bus service--one of the few that didn't qualify for said service from the local school districts.

Now the kid mostly lives with her mom in the city, and I'm working for an outfit that's 17 miles on the *other* side of town. More exurbia--and again, there's no bus service there at all. Did I mention that I fucking *hate* industrial park developers?

I have long *dreamed* of being able to walk five blocks, get on a metro car, read the paper, and get off five blocks from work, but I can't see it happening in my lifetime.

[Chris Rich]

Peak Oil is upon us and the arrangements enabled by it are about to fall apart.

The sooner you can return to a human scale of life, the better off you will be.

I lived 52 years and loathed motor stinkpots for all of them. Yes the isolation and privacy is lovely but the stranding, like some beached whale, will be severe.

Look for rings of ghost towns beyond the human scale of every urban metro center with abandoned particle board palazzo's housing raccoons and other wildlife like those dead regions of eastern Montana.

Oil was a happy fluke that was a bridge to somewhere better. Now the choice is bearing down and you don't want it to become your bridge to nowhere due to addiction to a stink pot.

[Jemand von Niemand]

I owned a VW Vanagon until 2004, when I confirmed my status as a Californian, a San Franciscan, and a DFH all in one fell swoop by donating it to our local PBS affiliate, KQED.

The adult monthly bus pass on our Muni system is $45 ($35 for 'Lifeline' users; $10 for Youth, Seniors and Disabled). I commute to and from work on BART, which is another $110 per month. When I absolutely want or need a car, there are several CarShare alternatives to rent one for a day, or more.

I understand that voluntarily giving up (or drastically limiting the use of) a gasoline-burning vehicle, and relying on mass transit, isn't an alternative to some drivers (e.g., a family with one or more secondary-school-age children). But, for people that might be able to make that choice, at least sit down and consider what your life would look like if you did.

[Interrobang]

I'd love to be able to bike places, as it would extend my range without forcing me to use the transit, but...

...not only is the weather here really inhospitable for bikes ~6 months of the year (snow, ice, -20C and less windchills), but I'm disabled to boot. And no, as far as I'm concerned, a tricycle is not an option. (I already lose my dignity completely for 4-6 months a year; enough is enough.) Biking isn't the answer for everybody, guys.

[rageahol]

Interrobang:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velomobile

[merl]

I work graveyard shift. To take a bus 13.2 miles, I would have to get up at 4pm. I would arrive appr 3 miles from work at 11pm. I wouldn't get home until 1pm. That's not much time for bathing and sleeping or eating.
4 hours to go 13.2 miles.

[Molly Ivors]

Responses:
*Nope, no park and ride, at least not at this end of the county.
*Liberal Mountain is actually, you know, a mountain. Or at least a big, steep hill. (We're about 1200 feet above sea level). Biking is not an option: I still have the scars from trying it when I was a kid living here. And I think I'd kill a scooter in a week.
*Jemand, this is the project exactly. What would it look like? I'm doing it in summer because my schedule is generally less stringent then, and I think all this will take some getting used to. I do have small children, obviously, but our day care is on our campus, and that makes things a lot easier.

[Owen Williams]

If this were another blog, I'd suspect you were constructing a hypothetical set of circumstances to prove the impossibility of transportation without cars. You live 15 miles from work, miles from bus stops, and oh yes, high up on a mountain.

I don't think you're going to find an easy, non-PITA solution to this problem. The only real option I see is a big change: move.

Failing that, driving "more than half the distance to work anyway" would cut your costs by 30-40% (although the carbon associated with driving to a parking lot and then the bus driving into town may not be a net improvement). And, if you trade in your minivan and get a more fuel-efficient used car (not new!), you could cut the cost maybe half.

Or maybe you should get a horse?

[chiggins]

Molly: re: biking up a mountain: that's where the Stokemonkey comes in. Give it a look.

May: There's what you want, and there's what you get. Moralizing aside, if you're using 80 gallons a month to commute, then get ready to account for $700/mo for gas. Maybe not this month, maybe not next, but it's coming. If you can swing it, you're all good.

[may]

rageahol: I do agitate for better transit infrastucture.

chiggins: I don't get your numbers. 2 gallons a day is 40 a month. There are SUVs that get 20 mpg. I already know the reality the future holds. I wasn't whining about it either.

You proved my point. Why assume things about whether I'm working for change or the gas mileage of my car? I am pointing out that there are different realities that we all face. Really, should we just suggest that everyone move to the most temperate parts of the country and abandon the other areas because it requires too much oil and electricity to heat or cool them? It seems rather knee-jerk to me to make that kind of assumtion just like making blanket assumptions about cars.

And it isn't just cars that are burning up oil. Try houses, farm equipment, lawn mowers. I think harping only on cars (which certainly should get better mileage and which undoubtedly are overused) keeps us from looking at the larger picture of conservation, alternatives, and new technologies. Great wipe out high gas mileage SUVs and do nothing about poor insulation, inefficient furnaces, high thermostats, gas guzzling leaf blowers and lawn mowers.

[chiggins]

may: my numbers are pessimistic, I'll give you that. I don't know many raised axle 4x4's that will get 20mph going up a mountain. So, revised (and caffeinated): if you're using 40 gallons a month, then $300-$350 a month is probably a realistic prediction within a year or two. I have no predictions when the actual shortages will hit.

And I didn't say anything about "whining", that was rageahol. In fact, I didn't say anything about anything else (lawn mowers, billboards in Times Square, wide screen TVs, nascar, whatever). We push electrons around with fossil fuels for the stupidest of reasons. I'm doing it by posting this comment right now.

Really, should we just suggest that everyone move to the most temperate parts of the country and abandon the other areas because it requires too much oil and electricity to heat or cool them?

Suggest or don't, at some point, and probably soon, there's going to be areas that people live in that are impossible to sustain on their budgets if they live too far away from where they make a living, or if it requires too much cheap energy to pull it off. Tucson's what comes to mind for me, but it's not the only place that will face these kinds of challenges. How will any building in New York over about 6 stories work out when running an elevator costs $3/trip?

It seems to me that it won't be a judgment by the government (or community or commenters on a blog) about whether or not one's particular place to live is too energy intensive. It'll be a matter of fixed supply, increased global demand, and the resulting increase in the price of heating and commuting. And maybe I'm totally off-base, but I think that'll be pretty self-selecting for what's feasible and sustainable for each family.

And what makes you think I'm not also looking at other places where conservation can make a difference? Assume me? Shove you! Oh yeah, says who!...

(I do enjoy the fact that people who care about this stuff save our best and most passionate arguments for each other. Mmmmm, our young- tastes like chicken.)

Cheers to ya!

[Aurona]

Go Green! Sell the tank, and get an electric truck, via phoenix motorcars. This is the truck Ed Begley has (HGTV's Living with Ed). The production starts Fall 2008, customers beginning 2009. 220V, range currently 130 miles, with an option (hopefully) of 250 miles. Don't need solar panels, just an outlet. I'm an ex-So Cal person who moved to San Francisco and got the bug for mass transit (cable cars, BART, trolleys, etc.). I now live in Seattle and have a backup Saturn, but commute via bus. Its my preferred way of living. Eventually, I'd love to get a little 'lectric car, maybe in a few years when the money (and retirement) are there. Good luck with the hunt.

[mndean]

The further you are from work centers, the more you're going to have to pay to live there, eventually much more. Go far enough out, and you'll have to be quite well off to absorb the cost. Bus service will never reach you because it'll be uneconomic and filling your tank will begin cutting into your budget not just for luxuries, but essentials as well. Now if you're willing to live a more spartan life just to be far enough away from others (for whatever reason), have at it, it's your money. Those of us in the more densely populated areas won't begrudge you that. We just won't subsidize you anymore. The cost of the carbon used to live each kind of lifestyle (urban, suburban, rural) will be accounted for. For me, it's not a matter of moralizing, but of cold economic fact that the cheap energy that fueled our wide range of lifestyles is coming to an end.