This is a 4 part question that’s been on my mind for a long time. I’d like to throw it out there for all the regulars and newcomers to Village 14. I’ll be honest in stating that I hope this leads to related posts by this generally reluctant contributor because they relate to transportation issues I’ve wrestled with for years at EPA and afterwards. This is just a teaser to get the discussion going. Here are the questions.
- What city and town do you work in and how do you get to work?
- If public transit is available for the commute, do you use it?
- If not, do you carpool?
- If not, what makes public transportation or carpooling not a feasible option for your work trip?
I was prompted by Jerry Reilly’s comment In a recent post that he commutes to work in Haverhill by auto each morning 5 days a week. It’s a 45 mile drive from Upper Falls to where he pulls into work. That’s 90 miles or so every day or 450 miles each week, the approximate distance between Newton and Washington, D.C. The Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) formula I used to work with at EPA assumed that because of holidays, vacations, sick days, unanticipated emergencies, etc., commuters like Jerry would travel back and forth to work by motor vehicles about 250 days a year. This translates into roughly 22,500 miles a year.
Jerry’s commute may seem unusual, but I’m not so certain that it really is. I commuted 44 miles to Providence almost every work day for 4 years in the early 1980s. I don’t currently know anyone else that commutes 90 miles in a day, but I know a lot of people who put 60 to 65 miles on their vehicles during their daily commute.
I work in the Longwood Medical Area and I drive in 2-3 days/week, telecommute the rest of the time. Because of health issues, I can’t walk the 3/4 mile from the D line stop to my office. I don’t ride share because of an erratic schedule.
I work at Harvard on the Allston campus and it’s just about exactly 5 miles, I most often bike but will occasionally take transit (59+70) a couple times a month if the weather really sucks or just want to take a break for a day. My wife works in Needham and takes the bus every day. We both live in Newtonville. My previous job had me biking 10 miles and then taking the train in a reverse commute up to Salem 4 days a week ~50mi/day.
I work part-time from home but my husband takes the CR from West Newton to Yawkey. Only about 25 minutes door to door.
51 miles round trip to Lowell from West Newton, about a half hour each way.
I believe it’s theoretically possible but totally impractical to get from West Newton to Lowell by commuter rail by going into Boston (Back Bay station) and out (from North Station).
Could not do my job without a car. Multiple stops to different assignments all over The Lowell Sun circulation area and sometimes beyond, for unpredictable lengths of time, and sometimes being diverted at a moment’s notice to spot news. Besides the camera gear I carry, there’s the stuff I keep in my car. Don’t need a bag full of street atlases anymore, but there’s layers of outerwear and hats for variable weather like this, my monopod, and seasonal stuff like snow cleats in winter, boots if I may be covering flooding, my folding seat now that it’s baseball/softball season.
I work from home here in Newton, thank goodness.
My company has an office downtown – when I need to go in for meetings, I always take the T.
I used to ride my bike from Newton to Cambridge every day for a past employer (there were showers at the office).
@Julia. Thee challenge of trying to get to Lowell by train is what a lot of people experience when their workplace destination isn’t a straight shot into Boston. I only used public transportation once during the 4 years I worked in Providence during the early 1980s.. It came on a day I was co-chairing a public hearing and both of our cars were in the repair shop. I took the Green D Line and Red Line to South Boston and then the Boston and Maine commuter rail to Providence. I forget how I got from Union Station in Providence to the hearing location, but it took well over 2 hours to complete the trip. Fortunately, some kind soul drove me back home to Newton.
I work in the Chestnut Hill area, and driving there takes about 15-20 minutes, but I try to use my car as little as possible; maybe two to three times a month. I could actually walk to or from my office — it’s roughly 45-50 minutes — but sometimes the weather is just too miserable or uncomfortable (too hot, too cold, too rainy, too snowy) and, well, my old knees just aren’t what they used to be. So I typically rely on public transportation. It takes two MBTA buses plus an employer-provided ride service to get from my front door to my office, usually amounting to about an hour. However, I often use the commute time for reading or thinking about things, so I don’t mind so much. Getting home is different: I take the ride service roughly halfway home and walk the rest of the way (it’s all downhill).
The survey that the 128 Business Council conducted tried to get at this very question. I’m traveling but when I get back I’ll try to post the results that I have.
Bottom line is that the most frequent trips happen within Newton with most of the people using their car to complete them.
@ChuckTanowitz are you saying that the survey revealed that most respondents who live in Newton work in Newton and drive to work? I find that strange and would want to know the total # of respondents.
I commute from Auburndale to Marlborough via the Pike and 495, CR not an option going outbound but not a huge issue since it’s against traffic. For the few times I need to go into Boston for conferences it’s either CR from Auburndale or green line from Riverside depending on where I’m heading.
19 miles to Braintree. since 2002. rarely more than 1/2 hour each way.
1. Newton to Boston, by bike, train, bus and rarely by car. By bike is generally the best option for the exercise and reliability. It’s much better than wasting time stuck in a few thousand pounds of metal and plastic. The downside to the bus is that it is no faster than driving.
2. I moved to Newton because of the easy and numerous transportation options into Boston.
@Chuck Tanowitz: Thanks for the heads up about the 128 Business Council report on local commuting patterns and for your offer to forward it when you return. I would have included it in my initial post if I knew it existed. I’m tempted to access it now, but will wait for your return. Your initial comments about the results of the survey don’t really surprise me.
Lexington by car 25-55 minutes on 128, no car pool options that I know of. Public transportation involves bus, train, and walking and takes over 2 hours. When I worked downtown I always took the bus in and out of Newton Corner. I miss it more than I thought I would. The decompression time on the bus has been replaced with road rage, and frustration, which I could do without. Expansion of good public transportation is essential.
Auburndale to South Boston by car twice a week, usually between 25-30 minutes each way. I’ve always driven because my husband works crazy hours and travels, leaving me on the hook to pick up kids from after-school sports, etc. But now that one kid is driving, I’m hoping to switch over the commuter rail soon.
Seems crazy that we still need to rely on surveys for commuting data, when Google and Waze must have ALL of that data? (I know… privacy… but what a treasure trove of commuting data they must have!)
Maybe I’m projecting, but it seems like those who responded that they drive to work (rather than taking public transportation) feel badly about it. I drive from Newton to Boston every day and wouldn’t have it any other way. I drop my daughter off at school at 8:10 am, and the commute takes about 30 minutes. Rather than feeling rage or anxiety behind the wheel, I feel tranquil. Being in the car is “my time” to think about the day, listen to the radio and admire fancier cars than mine on the road. I used to take the 503 Express Bus from Newton Corner, but poor bus driving, lack of seating and miserable people pushed me back to my car.
Newton Upper Falls to Back Bay by T via a walk or bike to the Eliot T stop. Before that, the office had been in Newton Lower Falls, and that was a 20 min drive or bike ride depending on weather.
FWIW, when I moved to Newton 15 years ago, I took out a road map of the area, drew 1/2 mile circles around green line and commuter rail stops, and suggested that’s where I thought we should look. Have stayed more or less consistent to that rule for all four addresses I’ve had in Newton.
@George. The last thing I wanted to do in posting this item was to make anyone feel guilty about the fact they drive to work rather than carpool or take public transit. I hope nobody will fail to comment because they feel their commuting habits don’t jibe with a preconceived notion that everyone should be on public transit or in a carpool. It’s not that simple.
I work in Newton and drive the three-mile route as there isn’t a public transit option. When I go to Boston, I travel by T and have always lived within walking distance of a T stop or the commuter rail (three residences). However, work is a different matter – the options for public transit within the city are limited at best.
@George – when my son was a child, my drive time was definitely a needed quiet “me time” between work and home. Playing loud music on the radio, plus being able to do errands on the way home. As a single parent, I also felt more comfortable knowing I could pick him up quickly if he needed me.
It’s lucky I didn’t choose to live by the CR, because for the past 10 or so years I’ve been unable to negotiate those stairs. I wish I could take more advantage of being near the D line; I’m very glad to live near it for when my son or other people visit.
1. For roughly 30 years, I commuted to downtown Lowell to the offices of Community Teamwork, Inc.. Although CTI is the Community Action Agency for the city of Lowell and its immediate suburbs, (Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, and Westford). it is also the Fuel Assistance Agency for other communities all the way down to Waltham, and Watertown and the regional housing agencies for the entire Merrimack River Valley and most of the rest of Essex County (Cape Ann etc.)
2. Even for the overwhelming majority of the trips to downtown Lowell, transit would have take at least two hours each way. The end of each trip would have involved a trip on a bus with an erratic schedule or a lengthy walk.
3. When I was hired at CTI, I was delighted to find two car pool mates in my very precinct. Rosalie Carter Dixon, CTI’s Head Start Director, lived on my block of Chestnut Street near Oak Street (I live near Elliot Street.) Her Assistant and eventual successor Jim Houlares lived on Circuit Avenue near Route 9. We also frequently carpooled with Ozzie McConarthy who lived on Grove Street near Riverside. He worked at a different site than us. Even as my carpool mates moved to new homes, we maintained our carpool until new jobs made it impossible.
4. By the last few years of my work in Lowell, I was driving by myself up 128, Route 3 in Burlington and the Lowell Connector into Lowell. It took a tolerable hour in the morning in good weather. However, in the afternoon, I found the amount of traffic southbound on 128 to become intolerable and bailed out on one of the Waltham exits. The volume of traffic through the streets of Waltham was overwhelming. Though I miss many things about my work in Lowell, the traffic is not one of them and I see no practical way I around them. The one day I was without a car I found the travel to the Green :Line and to the North Station to Lowell to be more than would have been tolerable on an ongoing basis.
@Brian Yates “The one day I was without a car I found the travel to the Green :Line and to the North Station to Lowell to be more than would have been tolerable on an ongoing basis.”
You just aren’t dedicated and pure enough!! Not!!
Honestly I am SO over the holier then thou crowd who try to shame everyone out of a car. And this is someone who does not drive work everyday, but on the rare instances that I do, I feel no need to go to confession and ask for forgiveness
@Clare. If you come to me for confession, I will impart full absolution with a plenary indulgence to boot. As I stated earlier, I didn’t post this with the idea of nailing anyone for not using public transit for work commuting purposes. In fact, I rather thought most of the responses would demonstrate just how difficult that it for most folks who have to commute to work. I never intended a right or a wrong answer. I should have made that clear when I made the initial post.
@Bob Burke, I didn’t think you had. By observation wasn’t regarding the initial post but rather a few of the usual posters to advocate against cars