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Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Would cash persuade you to take public transit?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m a transit snob. Gas could be $9.99 a gallon and I wouldn’t leave my precious vehicle at home.
What’s lunchtime if I can’t hit a fast-food drive-thru for a trans fat-laden meal? Hey, I like my lunch handed to me through a small window by people who hate their jobs.
My motto: I wouldn’t use public transportation if you paid me!
Then I received a card in the mail from the Clean Air Campaign about the Cash for Commuters program.
The card said, if you try a commuting alternative to driving alone, we’ll pay you.
That’s why I’m writing this blog from a Gwinnett County Transit bus. Talk about irony, huh?
I don’t even want to tell you how good this is. How relaxing my bus ride is from Discover Mills in Lawrenceville to MARTA’s Lindbergh station nearly downtown. I read. I write. I sleep. I no longer maneuver the nightmare that is the 316 and I-85 merge on my own. I’m no longer a transit snob.
I don’t even want to tell you about the plush seats. Or the little foot rests. Or the seat backs that recline. My commute is like flying in business class every a.m. and p.m., except I’m riding on a Gwinnett County Transit express bus on I-85.
No coffee though. No drinking. No eating. And just like the airport, no weapons. But unlike the airport, in a few months I’ll get money for using public transportation. Would Hartsfield-Jackson hand out free cash? Not on your life!
The Commuter Rewards Cash for Commuters program invites people driving alone to try an alternative commuting method for 90 days. If you switch to teleworking, carpooling, biking, walking or taking mass transit, you could earn up to $180 for trying one of these environmentally friendly alternatives for a couple of months.
I almost don’t want to tell you all this because right now my bus is half-empty and fully relaxing. I don’t want a mob scene at the Park ‘N Ride lot. So I’ll also tell you that, unfortunately, you’re going to pay $3 each time you leave Lawrenceville on the express bus. Still, it’s way cheaper than the gas pump has been for months.
I know there are plenty of Gwinnett County transit snobs because I was one. And 91 days from now, I might be one again so I can drive around at noon sampling a few new restaurants for lunch.
But public transportation actually takes less time than if I drove. I’m actually shaving 30 minutes off my commute. An entire free hour each day has been found just by riding a bus!
So right now I look at you sadly from my bus window while you’re stuck in a lane on I-85. While I’m being chauffeured over in the HOV lane, I pity you. Then I push the little button that reclines my seat back and close my eyes and forget about watching you suffer on the highway.
There always seems to be an empty seat next to me if you want to give it a try.
Do you love driving to work alone? Or could a cash incentive convince you to leave the car at home?
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