Happy New Year — from the 680News traffic department.
As we start a new year, we are faced with yet another price jump at the pump.
I was just scanning my last year’s gas receipts and was shocked to see that a year ago I paid 74.5 cents a liter to gas up my car.
When something like this happens, it makes me start to think about what I can do to cut back on my driving.
By far, the most mileage I log every day is on my drive to work. So what are my options?
I start work at 5 a.m., so I can’t take the subway since it doesn’t start running till 6 a.m. I have tried to take the all-night buses, but that adds an hour to my travel time and, at the time of night I have to travel, safety is also a concern. So I don’t have much of a choice; I have to drive to work.
One might argue that my case is unique and that those who work more regular hours can use public transit. But, for one of my neighbours who starts work at 9 a.m., her trip via public transit takes 50 minutes, but the drive takes eight minutes. You don’t have to do the math. She already has, and guess how she gets to work each day?
GO Transit is another story. Some swear by it, others swear at it.
Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter’s recent report warns that “GO Transit service is going off the rails due to poor planning and inadequate funding, leaving commuters stuck in overcrowded, tardy trains.” His report goes on to state that Go Transit was on schedule only 89.5 per cent of the time last year, while Montreal’s system was on schedule 98 per cent of the time. “In addition, some types of delays are systemic,” states McCarter, and were not included in the review.
Unlike most European countries, we are not a nation built on a viable public transportation system. Public transit has to be reliable and help us save time as well as money. If it’s not convenient we are not going to use it.
So how about carpooling? Again, there are many who do it and love it, but just as many find it very restricting. If you are lucky enough to find someone who shares your work schedule, who works at or near your work place, as is reliable then maybe carpooling is for you. But again, that’s a big “if.”
So what can I do to cut back on my driving? Well, I can try and be more conscious of the errands I run and bundle them based on location. That might help a bit. But, I think the sad reality is that even if the gas prices jump to $2 a liter, I will just have to “suck it up,” pay the price, and keep on driving.
A defeatist attitude perhaps, but I really don’t believe that I have much of a choice.