The Oil Drum: Local | Walking vs. Bus vs. Subway

Walking vs. Bus vs. Subway

Posted by Glenn on October 1, 2005 - 11:07am in The Oil Drum: Local
Topic: Demand/Consumption
Tags: bus, new york, new york city, oil, peak oil, public transportation, subway, walking [list all tags]

As readers of this page may know, I have about a two mile commute from my apartment to my office. It's basically a straight shot down Second Ave. I have several commuting options, which is unique in America where most people rely completely on their car.

When I first moved here about 6 months ago I reflexively took the 4 or 5 train from 86th street to Grand Central Station, but in the NYC Summer it started to get really, really oppressively hot in the tunnels, so I took the bus a few times and much to my surprise, it was a pleasure! Typically I had a seat the whole way (something I never got on the Subway), although it was slower due to traffic, particularly around the Queensboro Bridge off ramp at 59th and 2nd Ave.

Then I started to walk more to get a little exercise in. Below you can see the breakdown of the various considerations in choosing which transportation to take.

    Time    Cost    Calories    Comfort
Subway    20    $2     39.6    C
Bus    25    $2     0    A
Walking    40    $0     316.8    B
Taxi    10    $8     0    A

While the Subway is relatively fast, it is 2 avenues over on Lexington Ave on both sides of my commute, so door to door, the bus is actually a better option considering the difference in comfort. And walking is only 15 more minutes more considering the waiting time and the traffic. Plus I get to burn about 300 calories along the way.

Of course, all of this changes with the seasons. In the middle of winter, I doubt I'll be walking much.

Also, I would love to bike to work, but there is nowhere to store it and I feel it's too dangerous at this point given the lack of a bike lane on Second Ave.