Rational Action

I’ve been thinking a lot about transportation lately. After a conversation about Robert Moses and his plans to carve up NYC into a bunch of highways with a few buildings in between, I got to thinking about the merits of a strong public transportation system.

Today I finally put those thoughts into action. I needed to get back to Columbia, but I didn’t have anyone to give me a ride. I could have parked my car at the train station, but the family didn’t really want to go and pick it up later. Then there was the problem of keys — where were the extra ones? So wherever I left my car, I’d have to leave my set of keys with it. I contemplated dropping it off in Armonk and then taking a bus from there, but why not simplify the whole trip and keep the car out of it?

Thus was born…

A Voyage to New York City without Personal Automobile!

I set off on foot, with a water bottle in one hand, and a backpack (with trusty laptop) on my back. It was 3:25pm. The temperature was 95 degrees. I only had to walk 2.2 miles to get into town, but the trip took about 50 minutes. Oh, and it was really hot. And really difficult trying to conceal my panting from my mother as I talked to her on my cell phone — something told me she wouldn’t approve of this plan.

I arrived at the barbershop around 4:10. Yes, I scheduled in a haircut. I tipped the barber extra because she didn’t complain about my sweaty hair and neck.

Then I found the Bee-Line Bus Stop in Armonk. The Armonk bus is something we kind of all joke about here. I don’t think I’ve ever heard one of my friends suggest it as a legitimate option for getting from point A to point B. Unfortunately, this #12 bus was the only way I could cheaply get from Armonk to the White Plains train station.

I hopped on the 4:45 bus. This bus, I figured out, was a special one. Instead of sticking to main roads, it would pull into the various business parks of Purchase, NY, picking up the various businessmen who wanted to use Westchester’s government infrastructure to get home. Unfortunately none of these businessmen seemed to exist on this trip, making the various detours we took from the already circuitous route all the more obnoxious.

We finally pulled into the “TransCenter” at 6:10. Yes, it took 85 minutes to get from Armonk to White Plains. The drive takes 20 minutes most.

I walked over to the White Plains train station and hopped on a local. I got to use my 10 trip webticket for the first time, which is a big deal for me cause I saved some money. Fifty minutes later I was smack in the middle of Harlem. I hopped on the M60 and got off around 106th. Picked up some Japanese food and walked back to my nice dorm here. End time: 8pm.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 27th, 2005 at 10:19 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.