I rode the bus 28 times in April, a new monthly high for me. My trips were mostly on the #3 Vista, as usual, but I took the #14 Hyde Park for the first time, and I shepherded my daughter and four of her friends on the Roosevelt bus one afternoon. It was the first city bus ride for all but two of them. They had a blast; they weren't even fazed by the fact we had to catch the Roosevelt because the Vista had been delayed by a flat tire!
I had ten car-free days in April, yet I still wound up driving 351 miles, 100 more than in March. But with a total of fewer than 1,200 miles logged so far in 2007, I felt safe asking my insurance agent for the low-mile discount available to those who drive less than 7,500 miles a year. It's not much of a discount, but combined with my savings in fuel, parking, and vehicle wear-and-tear, it adds up.
Just today, I filled up the gas tank for the first time since April 3. I paid $2.95 a gallon at the Boise Avenue Maverik, one of the last stations in town with fuel at less than $3 a gallon. I wonder what it'll cost hereabouts by Memorial Day?
4 comments:
I end up driving around 100 miles per month here in the Boise area. I love riding my bike up to gas stations and telling the people that I spend about $15 per month on fuel as they watch the cost of their transaction climbing.
I have a very bike-friendly workplace that has a bike storage room and showers for those warm mornings, which helps.
Joel wrote:
"I love riding my bike up to gas stations and telling the people that I spend about $15 per month on fuel as they watch the cost of their transaction climbing."
Isn't that sort of ... cruel?!
Seriously, good for you, and good for your workplace! Keep it up. I think I could get my mileage down to 100/month if the buses ran at night and Sundays.
LOL...I'm not trying to be cruel...I'm demonstrating to people in a pragmatic way one of the major benefits of alternate forms of transportation in hopes that they will start trying them out. Most of the times that I haven't been able to ride my bike (icy roads), I take the BUS. It's fine for just getting to and from work, but a stretch at anything beyond that because of frequency and hours of operation.
Seriously, if we could just get the legislators to travel to London...or any major city in Europe for that matter and see how convenient and efficient and PROFITABLE public transportation can be, then we might get somewhere in Boise. In London, they charge a tax on ANY vehicle entering the city proper and that tax is used for funding the underground.
Yes, but it's starting to happen in the U.S., too. Mike Bloomberg just proposed a fee ($8, I think) for vehicles to drive into Manhattan. It's worth noting that he's a Republican!
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