Comments on: Obama and Energy

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:58:04 +0000

Caltrain every day from San Francisco to Mountain View. My job’s in Cupertino, though, so I take a shared shuttle from the Mountain View Caltrain station to Cupertino. Caltrain rocks; on time, bikes allowed, booze allowed, naps allowed, no traffic.

By: Abacus

Abacus — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:48:02 +0000

I started trying to take the bus to work once a week back in the spring. My commute is about 50 miles roundtrip, so I feel a bit guilty about the amount of gas I use everyday (at least the hubby makes up for my commute with his four-mile roundtrip commute). I kept this up for several months until circumstances arose that didn’t allow me to be gone from home for more than ten hours at a stretch (there was nobody to let the dog out). Unfortunately, public transportation is aimed at people going the opposite direction than the way I drive. The only thing available to me is the Santa Barbara City buses. Riding the bus increases my commute time from one hour to three hours roundtrip.
Once I got my road bike and I was able to work something out a couple of times a month with dog care, I would take my bike with me on the bus in the morning, and then ride my bike home after work. The time was almost equivalent to just riding the bus both ways, and now I was getting over two hours worth of exercise. This has died down since the time change. The last time I rode my bike home from work was the week before we changed back the clocks. Now it just gets dark too early. I am hoping to start back on the bus to work, bike home once there is a little more daylight.
So really, the only thing I am doing right now is storing a bike at work that I ride to lunch. I bring my lunch nearly everyday and take the bike to the beach or downtown. I have pretty much cut out all short trips with my car. I have improved my gas mileage by two-three miles per gallon since I have cut out in-town driving. Fat Back and I also started taking the bus downtown (twelve miles) occasionally. There is also the added bonus of both of us being able to drink when we do this.
I would definitely take public transportation to work if there was something even remotely more convenient. I love riding the bus because I can just relax and read a book or stare out the window.

By: Lola (Grandma Drescher)

Lola (Grandma Drescher) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:56:07 +0000

I plan to retire and just stay off the roads, sit home and make adorable things for Molly. (I will have to get in the car and take it to the post office though)

By: erica

erica — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:35:54 +0000

We are a one car family and I commute about 11 miles via foot and train. I also have a cup that I take with me for coffee and I use it every single day. And I mostly bring my lunch to work (90% or the time). Sometimes it blows my mind how much trash could be saved if even just the people in my office stopped eating take out every single day, and used reusable cups for the sometimes multiple coffees each day from the place across the street. Could you imagine what we could do if nationally/culturally we could be less resource intense? It could be amazing. I sure hope Obama can motivate.