Living Like Ed - (Page 62) Public Transportation When walking or biking simply isn’t practical, I always look to public transportation before hitting the garage door opener. By public transportation, of course I mean buses, trolleys, subways, commuter trains, and light-rail service—even cable cars, if I’m in San Francisco. The official definition of public transportation, according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), also includes paratransit services for senior citizens and people with disabilities, as well as ferries and vanpool services. You could say public transportation is like carpooling, on a grander scale. Carpooling clearly reduces the use of fossil fuel: It reduces tailpipe emissions, it saves money, and it reduces traffic congestion. Using public transportation obviously takes carpooling to a whole other level, with dozens—if not hundreds—of people able to share a ride at the same time. For public transportation to make sense for you as a regular option, of course you need to live in a place that makes it convenient. Luckily, I do. A natural gas bus stops at a corner near my home, and I can take it—only one stop—to a big, beautiful electric subway that goes to many parts of Los Angeles and connects to other light-rail systems that go to other parts of the city. So I’m very fortunate on one hand, and very clever on the other hand, to have chosen this home, where it’s easy for me to get to the places I want to go by walking, biking, and taking public transportation. If I have to go downtown or into Hollywood, I often take the subway. I can avoid the traffic, and if I buy tokens, it costs me just $1.10 per trip. You can’t even park downtown for $1.10! And when I’m on the subway, I can leave the driving to someone else. I can do a Sudoku puzzle or a crossword puzzle or the Jumble. Occasionally, I have to go downtown to testify for some City Council meeting or the L.A. Board of Supervisors. In that case, I can review the material I’m going to talk about on the way down there, or I can read the newspaper and relax. The same on the way back. It’s Ride a Bus or a Train very convenient. And let me be clear that I take COST: around a buck and up public transportation by choice. There are many people who are living like Ed 62 your family uses public transportation regularly—as a way to get to work or school or wherever he
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