Tag Archive for 'Infinite MPG'

the wheels on the bus go round and round

Published on August 21, 2008 in Sun Devil Life. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

I am writing this (though I won’t post this until later when it is edited and pictures are uploaded) from a Valley Metro bus.  I have lived in the Phoenix area all of my life and I have never rode the city bus system before.  There is a first for everything, I guess. I am riding the bus today to become familiar with one of my three transit options to and from school.  The city bus service is a key part of my three-fold plan to save lots of money this year–while also saving the earth a little bit too. (The other parts being: buy and ride a bike, park in free park-and-rides near school, and not buy a $780 campus parking permit.)  For a first time on the bus, the experience has so far been neat and exciting.

The Evil Scary Bus

The Evil Scary Bus

I started my first day of public transit by missing my bus.  I was aiming to board the 11:54 AM bus but had to wait for the 12:09 PM one.  Since making it to class will be dependent on my making the bus, I learned a good lesson today.

The bus system in Phoenix, despite numerous public awareness campaigns, is operating on a tarnished image.  I haven’t ridden the bus before because of this image.  The busses are supposedly dirty, dangerous, slow, always late, uncomfortable, and poorly air-conditioned.  Also, the bus system is supposedly difficult to use, lacking on routes, and requires a person to be unnecessarily subject to the elements.

Though this is my first trip, I can say that so far none of the above it true.  The bus is clean, the driver was friendly and welcomed me on board, the passengers were normal people just doing their business, it was on time the entire trip, the seats weren’t super-comfortable but they weren’t uncomfortable, the AC worked well, and the bus schedule and web site are easy to use.  The bus system is spread out a bit, but every major north/south street in Chandler and Tempe has a route, so if I wanted to I could get around.

My biggest concern, and my family and friends’ greatest criticism of my plan, was how long it would take.  The trip took 43 minutes to complete.  In good traffic I can get to ASU in 20- 25 minutes and in traffic 25-40, so it took at the most around 20 minutes longer via the bus, but two of three of my trips to and from school are during the rush hour, which could result in the bus option taking no longer anyway.  Plus, at about $6-$8 in gas savings every trip, what is 20 minutes?  In 20 minutes I couldn’t earn $6 at my hourly job!

Overall, my first trip on the bus was educational and exciting, and it relieved many of my fears and concerns related to my school transportation plans.  I am sure I will share stories from my experience as a public transportation commuter in the near future.

Posted the Infinite MPG category as I chronicle my efforts to save money, gas, and the earth by communiting in Infinite MPGs.

its like riding a bike

Published on August 6, 2008 in Infinite MPG and Sun Devil Life. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

If I were to die today and God were to ask me how I liked the last month of my life, I’d tell him it was a pain in the butt and that ASU sucks.  July, for me, was nothing but running around getting ready for school.  Part of that adventure was planning my transportation to and from campus, which per Google Maps is 14.8 miles away.  While making these plans I was aware that ASU charged for parking.  I didn’t realize how much.  When I found out, I was flabbergasted.  An alternative was necessary.

To quote myself from earlier this week, ASU charges an ungodly amount of money ($780) to park on campus and an unholy amount ($280) to park in their glorified park-and-ride known as lot 59 (1 mile away and a 10 minute bus ride from campus).  Unbelievable!  I will be attending classes three days a week this semester, and three or four days a week next semester… so between 90 and 115 days this year.  At $780 for a year-long permit, it would cost me between $6.75 and $8.60 per day to park… or 2.5 hours a week of work.  Oh hell no, I value my time and money more than that!

So I did what every other cash-strapped student does… I consider a lot 59 pass.  At only $2.60 – $3.10 per day to park it was more reasonable.  But the FLASH (the free bus that transports students from lot 59 to campus) is notorious for being overfilled and sometimes rejecting passengers as a result.  If I can’t count on the provided bus to get me to class on time, why bother?  ASU has a hard-to-use transportation services website that offered a glimmer of hope: the UPass.  The UPass is an unlimited free-fare card for use on the ValleyMetro Bus and Light Rail lines… and is given to students for free.  Further research on my part revealed the location of a free park-and-ride two miles from campus with regular bus pickups.  My alternative was found!

During one of my many days getting lost in campus jungle of red tape with only a dull macheté as company, I noticed for the first time how big the campus actually is.  Walking, I decided, would be a ridiculous waste of time. Thus, I needed a speedier form on non-motorized travel.  Skates and Skateboards are fast–if referring to the speed at which the ambulance travels while transporting me to the hospital with compounded open fractures of the femur–but I needed something more subtle.  A bike!

This one idea transformed my entire outlook on life.  As my obsession with the bike idea grew, my continued distaste for high gasoline prices (20 cents a mile in gas, anyone?) and thieves stealing catalytic converters out from under your car while you shop for gummi bears and deordorant worsened. Suddenly the very prospect of the bike + UPass as a form of alternate transportation became the solution.  So I resolved to buy a bike.

But remember where this all started?  I am cheap.  Er, economical.  So I didn’t start my search for a bike at Target, I started and ended my search for a bike on Craislist.  In 30 minutes.

Last week, I went and paid $50 for my bike.  It isn’t a great bike, but a good one.  Well, good enough.  Its store brand (Murray), and was recently mechanically refurbished by a kind gentleman formerly a bike shop owner who passed his time in retirement warding off artritis by refurbishing bikes and selling them for nothing to young people and then using his time alone with them to convert them to Mormonism.  He failed with me but we still had a good talk, and I still got away for only $50.  I then bought a heavy duty lock, headlights and taillight kit, helmet, and some other accessories for another $95… bringing the total for the bike to $145… still half of the lot 59 parking fee.

Today, my day off, I installed all the stuff onto the bike.  The new “comfort select” seat was a must… considering that I want my balls to still work after biking around campus all year.  Minus a fresh coat of paint, it looked like new was deemed ready for my riding it.

Oh, what a joke.

I haven’t owned a bike for almost six years now… basically I got a car and then stopped using the bike.  Go figure!  I was a teenager with a driver’s license, I didn’t such a childish form of transportation any longer.  As such, I also haven’t rode a bicycle in that long: 6 years.

Ever heard that phrase “its like riding a bike”? Y’know, that one that suggests that certain skills can’t be forgotten?  Well, it would be nice if the term wasn’t a lie when taken literally.  I was able to operate the bike, but I have forgotten how to ride one.  I didn’t fall, but everything about riding like one did as a kid I now suck at.  I used to be able to ride with no handle bars... now I can’t remove a hand without losing balance.  I used to be able to take tight turns riding in circles with my neighborhood gang… now I need to three-point the neighborhood street!  On my ride, I nearly plowed down two pedestrians.  Its ridiculous!  I shouldn’t be allowed on the road.

And now, as I type this, my legs are burning in pain.  I rode 1 mile today… I’ll need to go 2.5 to get from the bus station to class.  And then reality sets in…

my plan

Published on August 5, 2008 in My Blog's News. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

So now that I am back to blogging, what am I going to use it for?  Well…

I am still involved in web design, though I would rather classify myself as a web programmer, because my designs suck while my code is beautiful.  I write front-end in HTML/XHTML semantically with CSS for styling (a la the teachings of Zeldman) and I write back-end in PHP and Ruby on Rails (RoR).  I am building a top-secret web application in RoR for professional artists that I aim to release by the end of the year.  I expect I will blog about those things.

I am going to begin school at ASU next month and I am sure stories from life as a student will enter this blog. Posts about being a student (again), transitioning from community college to university, and about returning to school after a break are likely to appear.

Because ASU charges an ungodly amount of money ($780) to park on campus and an unholy amount ($280) to park in their glorified park-and-ride known as lot 59 (1 mile away and a 10 minute bus ride from campus), I will be riding busses and bikes to/from school.  I have become very excited about my bike and all its potential benefits for me (save money, save gas, save the truck, save my gut) and for the world (save the environment) that I will be sharing a lot about my life as an alternate commuter in a not-so communter friendly city.

During my dark times between the blogs I picked up a hobby to try and release some emotions.  Since then, me and my camera have been joined at the hip.  For most of last year I was involved in a daily-self-portrait group and though a broken computer stopped me short of my one year goal, it hasn’t stopped my photography bug.  Lots of photos to come!

Finally, I like to observe and comment on life, the news, and politics.  While this blog will not be another piss-on-Washington site, I am likely to discuss some of my observations from time-to-time.

So, thats my plan!