I only drove two round trips to work this week (out of 7)

[FlyingSquirrel]

I have a split shift two days a week. It took a little creativity because of the bus schedules in my area - the bus doesn't run early enough in some cases.

I was thinking it would be such a big waste of time because it only takes me 15 mins to drive to work, and takes me extra time to walk to the bus stop (10-15 mins depending on which bus I take) and the bus ride is another 25 mins. But then I thought, well, I never seem to have the time to exercise and now I just got about half an hour of walking in today. I got to read the paper on the bus, which I would otherwise have done some other time. I got to work early and brought food with me, so I spent that extra time eating but would have spent it eating at home instead.

So really it isn't all that bad. And I felt much more relaxed.

$4 a gallon is my limit I think. Hope it's the same for a lot of people.

[Jed Dilligan]

1. Good. I moved a 1/2 hour walk or 10 minute bus ride from work

and I've only driven maybe three times in the past year, when I had to deliver boxes of paperwork.

[yewberry]

2. Same here.

I never drive to work, though, because I work in the city and I'd have to pay to park. My daily bus trips are $3.50, and it would be at least $12 to park for the day, plus gas. Uh, no thanks.

So, while we have a car, we don't ever drive during the week.

I bus and my husband bikes (25 miles RT every day!) He's in amazing shape.

My best little bus tip: get an iPod and spend the trip listening to podcasts. All of the best NPR stuff is available for free weekly on iTunes. It's completely worth the cost of the iPod (if you can get an older, less expensive model.)

[elocs]

3. I work the night shift and the busses don't run then.

My round trip to work is 7 miles and I get 30 mpg or better, so even a $4 gallon of gas will still get me to work and back home at least 4 times out of 5. When the weather gets predictably nice (it was snowing here this morning) I will ride my bike.

[orleans]

4. that's great. i'd do it if i could but

i'm an independent blabla and i have to travel to several job sites every day, lugging a bunch of crap with me.

if i worked in a set location and didn't need to drag the shit around that i have to i would definitely give it a whirl.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

5. A couple of summers ago I tried to take buses to the office

when my car was in the shop. And I stuck with it for a couple of months. I live in southern California where everything is very spread out. My office is about 48 miles away. It took three buses for an eight-hour round trip at a cost of $5.50 (cheaper than driving my car). One problem was the lack of frequent buses (about a 20 minute wait for transfer buses) and one route only ran buses once each hour so if I missed a bus, the trip took even longer. Also, since the buses crossed different counties, the routes didn't connect up and I had to walk about two miles between stops from an Orange County line to a Los Angeles County line. I think the L.A. area is pretty hopeless. Fortunately, I can now take work home and use the Internet and don't have to go every day.