TB Takes The "A" Train

One of the outstanding matters in my relocation to New Home 2.0 is my automobile.  In short, it is being shipped here - but has not yet arrived (if all goes well, it arrives on the day you are reading this, Friday).  I had a 30 day rental which was paid for, but due to my staggered start schedule and the trip to Turkey, we could not ship the car until my return. Which meant, of course, that there would be less rental car time than time I needed the car.  

Not a big issue of course - currently I live about 2 miles from my place of work, which makes it easy enough to walk to (I of the hikes in the Sierra and all).  What it did mean was that I needed to get the car back to the airport and then get back home. 

I had two options:  Hire a ride sharing service which, at commute hours, would run about $85 including tip, or take the local light rail for the princely sum of $2.80.  And as one of the reasons we rented where we did was the light rail and the option to take it to the airport, it seemed logical that I should prove the decision mattered.

In terms of the mechanics itself, nothing could have been easier.  Pay at the exit of the airport, walk 100 yards or so to the light rail (which is the end of that line), and get on.  One transfer to make; otherwise nothing to do but sit and watch.

While I am not a regular participant of things like light rail, it is certainly not like I have never used them.  I have occasionally been on select US Systems and even overseas - mostly Japan of course, but also in places like London, Munich and Athens.  I generally know how they work and at least in theory, what to expect.  And so, the ride became a series of observations.

Much like any other public transit, the ridership is varied and people keep to themselves. At the airport, several older couples boarded, talking to an employee about which station to get off at. That was the bulk of the conversation:  other than the occasional person talking on the phone, the ridership itself was silent as the train moved along. As might be expected - especially from Americans - no-one shares a seat unless it is absolutely necessary.

The train traveled from the airport through the industrial outskirts to the center of town, then out to the outer parts of the suburbs.  The green of the surroundings (and it is so very green here) was cut by the signs of a struggling economy:  the trash piles of abandoned encampments and the cluster of occupied encampments of the homeless, the graffiti which became a regular accompaniment from the airport to downtown (and which, I am told, was not an issue some years earlier), the empty facades and buildings that were downtown - if you were taking this train to get downtown from the airport, this was not the best way to show off the city.  Even the train itself gave some rather...interesting creaks and whines as it made certain turns - not at speed of course, but significant enough that I wondered if anyone had actually lubricated the thing.  Apparently this is a common occurrence; no-one looked up or concerned at all.

For what was effectively a rush hour run, the train was not full.  At every stop a few folks got on and a few folks got off. Nothing like Japan of course, where at rush hour one is packed in to the point that one cannot control one's ability to compensate weight for the movement of the train.  

By the time I arrived outside my doorstep (within 100 yards). the trip had taken about 80 minutes.

Was it worth it?  Financially of course 3% of the cost of the ride share speaks for itself.  Was it safe?  Safe enough; there were no "problems" and any discomfort I felt was simply the discomfort I always feel around people I am not acquainted with.  Will I use it again?  Certainly if I needed to get near downtown, it makes a fair amount of sense (one would dismount, in this case, before the rather shocking parts) as it is probably a 30 minute trip and I cannot drive it any faster than that (no parking fees as well, of course).

I will note that, apropos of my comments on the small downtown here, the line does continue on to that area, so it will make an interesting Saturday morning trip to get a coffee when the weather is better.

Perhaps most relevant for our move, would I take it to the airport?

I would consider it.  Upsides:  Cost (not just of the ride, but of parking), convenience.  Downsides: Time to airport (both the total time as well as meeting the flight time) and just "people" in general.

Still, having options is good.  And, while not necessarily a ringing endorsement, it is certainly something that I would not ever consider doing again.