What if I used public transportation to get to work?

If I used public transportation to get to work to the client office in Iselin (New Jersey), it takes me between two and three hours to commute via bus and then New Jersey Transit. This commute is 45 minutes in my car.

If I used public transportation to get to work to the client office on Wall Street in New York City, it takes me between three and four hours to complete the commute door to door. This commute is two hours if I drive my car and park in Jersey City and then take the ferry to Pier 11 which is one block from the client building.

Author: Khürt Williams

A human who works in information security and enjoys photography, Formula 1 and craft ale.

4 thoughts on “What if I used public transportation to get to work?”

    1. Thanks. I suspect that there are performance issues in the JetPack comment system or some sort of interaction with the IndieWeb comment hooks. I noticed a similar delay when posting to WordPress.com hosted website.

  2. i did this... i did a 4.5 hour round-trip commute from Glen Park in San Francisco to Santa Clara 3 times a week. The drive would have been about 50 minutes one way if i drove (@ 4:30am, which is when i'd start my commute on pub transpo).

    i got a lot of work done on the train.

    1. The NJT transit trains have designated quiet zones. No headphones are allowed to leak music, no talking, no phone calls. The trains are often so packed that I stand the entire length of the trip. There is ZERO productivity while walking 24 minutes from my home to the nearest bus stop, and the waiting is miserable in the winter. The train platforms are open to the weather — no shelter from the cold winds, rain, and snow. There is no WI-FI on the train. Commuting via public transport to New York City means transferring from one train (where I stand for 45 minutes) to another train (PATH) where I stand for another 30 minutes, exit and walk 10 minutes to an open-air ferry platform where I stand in line for another 10 minutes.

      And all of that assumes no delays from fires on the track or someone dying on the track. And it means sacrificing sleep time to get up early to make sure I can make the right connections are the right time. I would either have to skip breakfast (that's stupid and unhealthy), get less sleep (also stupid and unhealthy) and then spend less time with my family because I have two fewer hours with them each day. Are important relationships things that we only do on weekends?

      I never got any work done on public transport. What Colin Walker has to say about this.

      Here's what my friend's experience is like every day coming home from New York City.

      My current client introduced a remote policy allow two days working from home after three people on his team quit, citing the commute as the main reason. It's all very stupid.

      This is what the Princeton Junction train terminal looks like when I arrive.

      This is what it looks like just before the train arrives.

      This is my view standing on the dock waiting for the ferry.

      Now imagine winter temperatures below freezing with a gentle breeze. Imagine summer temperatures above 100ºF while wearing office clothing. Imagine rain and snow.

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