Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Why I Drive

The time for gloating about the Biodieselmobile is past. Last week I put 100 miles on the thing in just under three days. Granted, some of those miles were because of two trips across the Lake (in horrific traffic, I might add) that I take infrequently but just happened to occur on the very same day! And my bus-riding son had a scheduling problem that required my (and the car's) attention. But it got me to thinking: what is it that makes me jump in the car, when we live in a walkable neighborhood with two great bus lines and one mediocre one within easy walking distance.

The answer is: time.

The bus doesn't go where I'm going when I need to get there. The bus takes too long. The bus has a bad connection with another bus that requires me to stand and wait. The return trip puts me back at the house later than I can reasonably get there. I get in the car because I want to GET THERE FASTER. I do not want to be inconvenienced.

Another part of the answer is: poor planning. As in "Ooops, I worked on this article for far too long and now I have to be across town in 10 minutes." Leap in the car, drive impatiently in bad traffic, heart pounding and stress level rising in direct proportion to how late I left the house to begin with.

When I was a suburban driver of a minivan (a bigger gas hog than I ever wanted to admit), I planned my errand days very carefully. I made a loop. I never back-tracked. I tried to do errands in a central place, found dry cleaner, grocery store, pharmacy and even coffee shop all where I could drive and park just once. No zig-zagging for me. I was proud of that.

Now I'm urban. Two grocery stores within walking distance. (Three, actually, but the third is kinda scuzzy and I don't like shopping there.) I have been known, recently, to send the kids to pick up bread, milk, salad items. They like it and (don't tell them) it's exercise.

It's the other stuff. Getting across town to pick up my orthotics. Going to the doctor (whose office is not really on a bus line, but it's close). Getting to the downtown library in time for my son's Japanese lesson. Going to the movies, church, choir, meetings, and so forth. It's just too dang convenient to jump in the car. And yet...

...when I was younger, and had no car (and no driver's license), I rode the bus all the time. I carried a book. Later on, I carried a tape player (today it would be an iPod) and listened to music. I lived slower.

Living slower - is that such a bad thing?

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