Why I prefer transit

Friday was simply perfect again. And the relaxing, if damp, ride to work and back was in marked contrast to the day before.

Thursday, the wife needed to have her Honda Civic Hybrid shopped around to get estimates for the repair of some damage caused by a parking lot fender-bender. Since the wife works in Rancho and the shops we have used are in West Sac and midtown, I got the assignment.

After more than 11 months without driving to work, the trip in the rain during the morning commute did nothing to convince me to give up the convenience of taking the bus. Who designed that transition between Business 80 and Highway 50, where two lanes of Highway 50 are merging just as Business 80 traffic arrives and, just to toss in a fun adventure, Highway 50 traffic is trying to cut across the merging mess to get to the 16th Street exit? An eggbeater, indeed.

Sure it took half as long to drive downtown than it takes to get there with Sacramento Regional Transit, but that missing half-hour was my reading time, my relaxed preparation for the drudgery of my workday.

There is much that RT could improve -- more frequent service, better communication with customers, increased supervision on light rail -- but the overall experience makes riding the bus a reasonable choice for people like me who find their homes and workplaces convenient to existing bus and light rail lines.