Inconvenient Public Transit

There have been a lot of letters to the editor regarding Winnipeg Transit and the problems it's facing with revenue and ridership. To see why I don't ride the bus, let's take a look at my daily trip to work from both a time and cost perspective.

First, the Winnipeg Transit website shows three options for getting to work. The fastest commute is 40 minutes, but that includes 12 minutes of walking (not very pleasant at -35). The other two options are 45 and 60 minutes and include 9 or 10 minutes of walking or waiting for a transfer. For the return trip, Winnipeg Transit shows four options, each between 46 and 55 minutes total time, including 14 minutes of walking and up to 5 minutes of waiting for a transfer. So, using Winnipeg Transit, my daily commute will take at least 90 minutes and include approximately 30 minutes of walking or waiting. If I take my car to work, the drive is a maximum of 30 minutes each way, with about a 5 minute walk from my car to work. However, on a good day, I can sometimes get to work in only 15 minutes. For comparison's sake though we'll assume that every day is a bad driving day. So that's 70 minutes maximum total time with only 10 minutes of walking and no waiting. That's a 20 minute time savings every day.

Now let's look at cost. A Monday to Friday bus pass is $16.65 per week, for a total of $66.60 per month plus taxes. I pay $75 per month for parking. Yes, it's more, but it's also a slight case of comparing apples to oranges since my monthly parking fee allows me to park in that spot any time, any day of the month. The Monday to Friday bus pass allows me a maximum of two rides each day, only from Monday to Friday. So, if I want to go downtown on a weekend for a hockey game, or shopping, or some other event, that cost is extra. An unlimited monthly bus pass is $71.25. That's only $3.75 cheaper.

I can hear the bus people already saying "but you have to include your gas and car insurance". Well, my life involves more than just going to and from work so I would need a car anyway. It takes almost 2 hours to grocery shop, there's no way I'm going to tack on another 90 minutes in transit time to that by taking the bus. Besides, where would I put my 20 grocery bags on the bus anyway? I'm also involved in sports which take place at different locations around the city. I'm certainly not going lug my equipment bag onto the bus and ride it for two hours across the city just to play sports. And then there's visiting family and friends, and my girlfriend who lives on the other side of the city (a two hour trip according to Winnipeg Transit!).

For $3.75 more per month I save at least 20 minutes per day going to work (and many hours going other places), don't have to walk or wait in -35 cold, and have all sorts of priceless advantages such as having my car at work for when I want (or need) to go out afterwards, and not having to sit on a crowded, hot (or cold), and noisy bus.

So I don't understand why so many people are perplexed as to why people don't take the bus. For me it's an obvious, simple decision, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's done this comparison. Keep in mind also, that being a young professional with no kids it's extremely easy for me to take the bus. Could you imagine what the commute would be like for a family, or single parent that needs to take their kids to day care before work and pick them up after? It's easy to see that such a situation could add another hour or more to their trip, including more walking and waiting out in the cold (or heat).

I don't have the answers, but I understand basic economics. As long as the inconvenience of public transit continues to outweigh it's benefits, people aren't going to use it. And I certainly wouldn't blame them.