I Hate Transit

I can't really pretty up the title anymore than that. I grew up in Calgary where if you don't have a car you're condemned to stay at home and starve to death. I've never been without a car, be it my parents or my own. If I had to make a pros and cons list about transit it would look something like this:

Pros:
1. Saving the environment
2. Don't have to worry about parking

Cons:
1. It REALLY SUCKS
2. See number 1
3. See number 2 (you get the idea)

My newly revived hatred of transit began about 3 weeks into my stay in Melbourne and coincided with the commencement of my job. I work as a substitute teacher, or CRT (Casual Relief Teacher) as they're known here. Part of my job description is that I visit a variety of schools, taking over from teachers who are sick or have prior commitments that day. Without a car, this can get somewhat tricky. First some background about Melbourne's transit system.

Okay, the system here isn't at all bad. It's actually quite comprehensive. If you're traveling somewhere close to your home then there's really no problem getting around. The system is comprised of buses, trams and trains. I think the 1st and 3rd are pretty obvious and don't need further descriptions but I will go into the trams. These are akin to Calgary's LRT but much more rickety and squeaky. They are tracked and run on electricity, however, they operate like buses in that you need to indicate you want to get off at the next stop or the driver will just carry on. For the first few rides on the tram, I usually glued myself to the window in the fear that I would miss my stop (which are handily numbered). I'm a bit more relaxed about it now. The transit system breaks Melbourne up into two zones. Zone 1 originates in the city centre and extends at least 15-20 kilometers out (I think). Zone 2 covers areas outside of zone 1, and is generally the suburban areas of Melbourne. Zone 1 tickets are $3.50 one way and Zone 1 and 2 together will cost you $5.50. Now back to my initial carping.

The company that I work for generally calls the night before to inform me of a job opening. Once I accept said job I then open up the transit site on the computer and proceed to obsessively map out a route to the school. This can take anywhere from 15 minutes to about an hour (I'm serious). I first look at what the site suggests then take matters into my own hands by pulling out the transit map and poring over the train, tram, and bus routes closest to the site. Once I've settled on a route, I consult the website for the timetables of each vehicle and then coordinate accordingly. These nightly productions leave me worn out and unenthusiastic for the day ahead. So far my job assignments have been far enough away that it takes me two hours to get there and I travel through both zones. Yesterday my route included: tram, train #1, train #2, bus. Spending 2 hours (one way) walking, tramming, training and then busing is not my idea of a good time. At the end of a chaotic day my desire to get back onto a bus is about as strong as my desire to poke my own eyes out. Not to mention I'm spending about $50 on transit a week.

To rectify the situation and after much complaining and whining after only 3 days of using transit extensively (yes, I am that spoiled) we have now bought a car. Nothing fancy, just a '94 Toyota Corolla that'll get me from point A to B in some comfort. Yes, I'm leaving a carbon footprint and no, I don't care. As for parking, pfft, I can always use a pay lot.

So here's to my last week of transit and to my upcoming life of absolute luxury.