So the light rail opened this last weekend. I didn't dare facing all the crowds that the weekend would bring so I decided I would go to work this morning by light rail. So I drove to Main and Sycamore, found the park and ride, parked my car, walked to the crosswalk. As I was waiting for the green flashing man to appear the train arrived. I quietly entered and found a seat (wasn't hard to find one)...and then I enjoyed the ride to work. I had miscalculated on how long it would take to get to work so I didn't get to work as early as I wanted to, but it was fine.At lunch some of my co-workers wanted to ride the light rail to Macayo's, a couple of stations to the north of us. So we walked to the station and awaited the next train going north. Three trains came going south...none going north. We waited for about fifteen minutes. Then we opted to just skip it and went to a local restaurant across the street. Better luck next time.
After work I walked to the station and waited for the train to come. As it came I could see it was crowded. I get into one of the cars...standing room only. So I stand right at the stairs. I'm holding my book in one hand and holding on to the rail with the other. The train took off and I fell backwards! Opps. I just hope that the Channel 3 news camera who was riding in our car did not catch that on video! Luckily there was someone who helped me so I didn't fall all the way down. That started the ride home. The train was so crowded! I didn't get a seat until we got into Tempe. It took a little longer to get home...not quite sure why...maybe all the crowds. There were a couple of times where we stopped for an extended period of time. But it was fine.
So the debate is: do I go by express bus like I used to, or do I convert to taking the light rail? Light rail is cheaper, faster in the morning, I only have to take one bus, and it drops me off right in front of my office building. Express bus is somewhat faster coming home, I definately get a seat, but I have to wait in the morning for almost a half an hour to make sure that I get a seat. So winner? undecided. I'm sure once the hype goes down and things normal out that I would then be able to judge which way to go. So we'll see... stay tuned for more details...
3 comments:
You should take the light rail to work and the bus home. :) My husband usually takes the express bus to work because it's fast and it drops him off at the same subway station across from the hospital. But he does have to take the metro home because the express bus isn't running anymore by the time he gets off work. Of course, the metro takes twice as long and he has to take another bus from the last metro station to our house.
Unfortunately, the express bus stop and the light rail are about 10 miles away from each other. :)
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