I decided to try out the lovely Valley Metro today. Valley Metro is the public transportation that services the majority of the Phoenix area. With gas prices on the rise, and my stress level on the rise due to a rise in traffic (are we sensing a trend here?) I decided it might be worthwhile to try public transit. But enough about that...
I spent a lot of time carefully planning my route on the Valley Metro website and was pleased to discover there was a route that picks up near my gym (half the distance I would drive to work) and could get me to work in about 40 minutes. I started out on route 56 which heads up to Arizona Mills Mall. It was a nice peaceful ride (I was reading my TIME magazine), not overcrowded and not reeking of urine (although I have been stuffed up so who knows).
At Arizona Mills Mall I needed to make a transfer to route 92 which would then quickly shoot up 48th street and have me to work just after 8am. But that's where things went wrong. Oh I boarded the bus for route 92 all right, unfortunately it was route 92 heading SOUTH... not NORTH. After a mundane tour of Tempe areas that I already see on a weekly basis we returned again to Arizona Mills Mall where we had now become the northbound route. I finally arrived at my destination, only an hour later than I had originally planned.
Looking at the above image, which shows my "detour" in red, brings even more hilarity to my story. Had I known the southbound route that we were taking (which was really more east than it was south) or just realized that most bus routes will travel along the same roads, I could have departed the southbound route, crossed the street and picked up the next northbound route which comes along every 10-15 minutes. I decided I deserved the punishment anyway for not being more conscientious about what bus I was boarding.
Nonetheless, it made for an interesting morning, and the best part is I still feel less stressed than I normally do when driving myself to work. Plus when I get back to my truck I'll be outside my gym, giving me one less excuse for not going.
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