Mass Transportation

RJA recently communicated to me (via instant messenger) that he was somewhat surprised to not see some commentary regarding our city's fine mass transportation system, given that I am now relying upon it.

This is somewhat due to the high frequency of rides I've been offered. So far the Greek, the Rocket and my lovely wife have all volunteered at various times to haul my useless ass to and fro. However, inevitably, OC Transpo is the beast that will not be denied.

This morning I tried to get to work using only the city's mass transport system. Unfortunately said transport system is largely oriented, at least in my neck of the woods, towards moving suburbanites into the downtown core in the morning, and then bringing them back again. However, OC Transpo has a fairly good trip planner which will give you routes based on origins, destinations and time criteria, and I (somewhat foolishly, in retrospect) relied upon it to find me a route.

The route in question involved catching an express bus to the Eagleson park & ride and then transferring to a bus to run up Eagleson to my place of employment in the north. This, unfortunately, didn't work out so good. I got to the park & ride okay but the station in question is undergoing a fair amount of construction work, meaning that stops aren't as well marked as one might like (or, really, at all). This lack of clarity contributed to me missing my transfer and a subsequent bail-out by my lovely wife.

During the day RJA wished to discuss my travails, and in the course of that conversation he pointed out that I could take one particular bus all the way from Eagleson up to my place of work, without any transfers at all. The automated trip planner didn't suggest this, presumably because it requires me to do some walking to get from my house to Eagleson. However, this walk is only a slight extension of the walk I used to do every day to get to Job A.

Being able to take one bus directly to and from my place of employment is a very exciting prospect, and well worth a little bit of a walk. Subsequent discussions with my lovely wife clarified the timing of this trip and my alternatives to get around outside of the most convenient hours. She's even suggested a route which trades my walk for an equivalent wait at a local strip-mall, which may become appealing as the temperature drops in the months to come.

As it happens, the Rocket volunteered a ride home today after work, so I didn't get to test this new route. However I was able to ascertain where the bus goes and note that the closest stop is literally right outside the building I now work in. It literally could not be more convenient.

Well, ok, they could add a few more trips in the morning and at night. But really, now I'm just complaining gratuitously.

I look forward to trying it out tomorrow morning.