Commuter
penny January 20th, 2010
I’ve always been a commuter. I never got to take a driver’s test in the Philippines, and I’ve gone through
two student permits. I’ve driven a few times with my father, and that’s it. I never felt the need to drive, I was never motivated. But it is somewhat a regret that I have no license to, because it makes me feel juvenile when I have nothing to show when asked. On many occasions, I’ve been looked down upon for not having a license. On one rare occasion, I was told I was adorably peculiar, but nonetheless, ibreceived a lengthy lecture afterwards about driving being a handy skill to have but it’s no good unless you have the license to actually drive. Hehe, point well taken.
Anyhow, not having a license to drive then makes me the eternal commuter. It isn’t without its perks, as my dad says, you have other people to take you were you need to be, and no worries about your own vehicle. Of course, though I agree with these points, I do think that at or point, owning a vehicle will have the benefit of flexibility and convenience. For sure this will be a matter to consider seriously especially when we settle down permanently somewhere.
In my 3.4 years in Sydney, I’ve taken ‘luxury’ in using public transport. Buses within and across suburbs, trains to and from the outskirts of the city, ferries to coast along the large Harbour and the rivercat to and from Parramatta.
In case you don’t already know, buses in Sydney, I have to warn, are generally unreliable with timetables. In my many rides, my rough stats are 2 in 5 times, a bus will not make it within 5 minutes of its schedule. This error margin increases linearly with the frequency of buses, meaning, in stops where there are less frequent trips with longer intevals between them, buses become even more unreliable with time.
Another issue I have with buses is that there are drivers who are not very good, much like any other person who drives who has bad days, I think his sidrectly affects how these bus drivers are on the road. Unlike trains and ferries which seem to be less controlled by operators.
Trains have very reliable timetables in Sydney. Trackworks often occur though, especially in recent times when massive improvements are ongoing to replace really old tracks. However, CityRail handles dissemination of information very well to commuters before trackworks occur (weeks in advance). They also are very good in organising replacement buses where here are interrupted train services.
One complaint I have about Sydney’s trains is the poor condition of some carriages. Most are very old understandably, however there are some very dirty carriages due to poor behaviour of passengers, especially through the late hours until daybreak. Perhaps he amount of people they get can overwhelm hem, especially in the crowded suburbs where most of the workforce live in the outskirts of the City. To be fair though, a number of newer carriages have started to be introduced. Surely in the coming years passeners will see much cleaner trains.
Ferries are my favourite public transport service in Sydney. Coasting along the waters is relaxing and fun. The spectacular Sydney Harbor is best seen while riding a boat. To commute frequently by feet is such a treat, you will WANT to go to work every single day.
This is why in my last two and a half
months in my PhD, I’m taking the longer journey to university by ferry through the City. I’m fortunate to live just 5 minutes away from the farthest wharf to Circular Quay. The extra half hour by bus to Randwick is all worth it.
- Day to day
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