Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Transit Strike Ends

Finally. The strike is over. Tomorrow, the ferry starts running again, and buses on Friday. I am happy that today is the last day that I have to commute via foot. It won't be the last day that I commute by foot, but at least I'll have a choice to take transit on those yucky days (like today).

I thought I'd look back at some of the numbers to reflect on my strike experience (not counting the kilometers run as they would have been run anyway):

  • 42 days with no transit
  • 192 km walked
  • ~32 hours walking 
  • 12,000 calories burned
  • 24 days getting to/from work
  • 140 km walking to/from work with a backpack
  • 5.5 audiobooks listened to
  • 3 rides bummed accepted from friends/coworkers
  • 1 shuttle across the bridge with the bridge commission when it was too windy for pedestrians
  • $100 not spent on transit pass and tickets
  • $65 spent on a new running vest
  • $35 spent on new tires for my bike
  • $30 spent on a new bike helmet (now I'm all set to start bike commuting again)
  • $0 spent on cabs
  • 3 missed social engagements
  • 1 email to my city councilor
  • ~10 slips on ice
  • 0 falls (knock wood, I still have to walk home tonight)
  • 0 days I hated the commute (despite some really cold winds on the bridge deck)
Now that transit will be back up and running, the things I am most looking forward to:
  • drinks after work with friends
  • running without the weight of a backpack
  • not walking in freezing rain/drizzle
  • walking to work
  • biking to work (when the weather warms up a bit - I'm a fair weather cyclist)
  • getting to the gym before/after work
  • visiting friends/family on weekends/evenings
All in all, it really wasn't that bad for me. Most days, I enjoyed the walk. Some days, I really did not enjoy it (rain, wind, sleet, hail, ice). I really noticed the increase in numbers of people walking. I hope to continue to see some of them out there. But, I am really happy that the people who rely on the bus will be able to get out and about again. 

2 comments:

  1. Awesome post! It never occurred to me to "log it".

    ReplyDelete
  2. I log my activity anyway, so it was easy to log the activity part. The rest of it was just to satisfy my curiosity.

    ReplyDelete