Benefits of Riding to Work

This was part of my email invite to join Ride to Work day. It summarises some of the reasons i like going car free.

By the way, if you're interested, Ride to Work day this year is Wednesday 17 October.

How much is 13 minutes worth?

This advert caught my eye as i was reading an article online. It's part of the advertising for Brisbane's latest in a series of ill-advised toll road/tunnels.

If this road's main achievement is cutting 13 minutes on airport travel - is that really worth 4.8 billion dollars? If 13 minutes is so crucial, wouldn't it just be smarter to leave home 13 minutes earlier? I'm sure there are much better things to spend 4.8 billion on - such as public transport for one. That kind of money could buy more than a few buses or trains.

Birthday Express

This week i enjoyed a friend's birthday dinner. I also enjoyed the trip there. For a 19km journey (including through the city in peak hour) it took just 26 minutes on the express train. Friends (including the guest of honour) spent as long as that stuck in traffic.

For the record it also results in about 1/9th of the greenhouse emissions according to the Queensland Rail Emissions Calculator.

Record Low Price

For those who read last week's post about 5 days of free travel, no i did not set a new record for number of free trips in a week.

But i did set a new record for economy. The entire week's travel totalled $27.56 (for 18 journeys) which is quite a bargain compared to the 3-figure weekly cost of car travel.
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ps. of course, the maximum i pay per week is 9 x $3.58 = $32.22, but when some of the 9 paid trips are off-peak or 1-zoners, that amount goes down.

Lunchtime Conversation

Today I had a celebratory lunch with colleagues to mark the completion of a recent project. During the talking the subject of travel came up.

While some were talking about places for "cheap" parking ($10 per day) and others mentioned getting $75 parking fines for leaving their car somewhere too long, i mentioned that i was already on free travel for the rest of the week.

People were impressed (and slightly awestruck). I explained that along with my daily commute, i had attended a lunchtime seminar on Monday, and visited a friend in hospital on Tuesday, and so Wednesday morning 8am was my last paid trip for the week.

Even the bus fare to the lunch was free. As will every other fare for the remaining 4 and a half days this week.

Stay tuned - i may set a new personal record :)

Paid for 9, Got 10 free

This is the ad for the new '9 trips then free' deal. On the flyers (they were handing them out at train stations) it says "What a break" under the picture - which i guess explains the billiard balls.

Speaking of which, i set a new personal record for free trips last week. My 9th trip was Thursday morning. Then for free i travelled...

Thursday 3 more trips, Friday 3 trips, Saturday 0 trips, Sunday 4 trips.

All up, i paid for 9 and got 10 free. A new personal record - and quite good value.

A pleasant exchange with an elderly man

I did a quick jog tonight - to catch the 5:19 train. Catching my breath in an almost empty carriage, an elderly man asked me if this train stops at Albion. Between catching my breath, and the station announcer on the loudspeaker it was hard to hear his gentle voice.

"I beg your pardon." i said

"Albion station?" he asked again.

"No, that's the other way." i informed him

"Isn't this platform 4?" he said, puzzled.

"No, It's platform 3. Platform 4 is just there." i said, pointing the way.

"Oh, thank you very much." he said, and made his way quickly off the train. Well, quickly for an older man. ;)

I felt good about it. I saved the man some confusion and probably half an hour of being lost (had he stayed on board). It was another one of those pleasant little stranger-exchanges that i enjoy on the public tansport network. :)

Buy 10 Get 8 Free

I've mentioned before about the Free Travel policy in Brisbane (well actually, across the South East Queensland network).

Last week I counted that i got 8 free journeys, after paying for my first 10. That's some kind of bargain for people who support public transport.

The news get's even better. Starting from next week, the number of paid journeys reduces to 9.

It's quite possible that some weeks i might get more free travel than paid travel. That's like getting 50% off.

Free Travel

One of the great things about public transport this year has been the new "10 journeys, then travel free" offer. And this week i've taken great advantage of it.

As the name suggests, only the first 10 journeys in a week are paid for. This week (as well as going to work) i made trips out on Monday and Tuesday nights. So leaving work on Wednesday was my 10th trip.

Today i had free travel. Same goes for Friday. And anywhere i want to go this weekend.

The other great thing about it is that it caps my travel costs. I live in zone 2 of the public transport network (a $3.58 fare during peak time) so the maximum i ever pay in a week is about 35 bucks. Obviously this compares very favourably with the costs of running a car.

Panic stations

Today at my work there was a helpful email advising employees of the closing down of a nearby car-parking facility. In the minutes afterwards i heard at least 3 fairly alarmed conversations of car-commuters unsure of their future plans. While having sympathy, i do find it a little amusing.

"Independence" is one of the things people tell me is an advantage of car driving. But in reality, travelling by car just means being dependent on a range of different things. Parking is just one of many.

It will be interesting tomorrow to see if people are late for work, after spending time (and petrol) hunting out a parking place and walking from that place; or whether they just leave home earlier to allow for that - which is also ironic for the people who say they drive because it's "quicker". (More on that another time)