How do you get where you're going?

Everyday I wonder how I can best accomplish what I'm doing quickly, efficiently and most of all...without making a giant impact on our world. One of the tasks that I'm attempting to manage is transportation. How can I get where I need to go and where I want to go without spewing extra pollution?

The Trusty Neon

My husband and I are like most Americans, we own two cars. I have a 03 Dodge Neon and he has a Saturn, no idea on year or model. For the most part, our cars get pretty awesome gas mileage (32mpg and 34 mpg). We currently don't use both, in fact the Saturn is currently sitting under a tree just chilling. We drive it every other week, I'd say. Our main car is the Neon. It's a little nicer. A little newer. Always dependable. (That's saying a lot for a Dodge!) Our cars are the equivalent of the most eco-friendly cars you can purchase that run completely on gasoline. The Neon has been a pretty stupendous car, but something I've noticed is that I don't use it that much. Actually, I haven't driven a car for at least a month, maybe longer.

Isn't it pretty?

I live in a beautiful city called Kirkland, a suburb of the Emerald City, or Seattle if you're not being fancy. While I live in Kirkland, I work in Pioneer Square, which gets a pretty bad reputation due to a large amount of, well, homeless people. They're nice! They're just...sometimes for sure on some strong drugs. Pioneer Square happens to be the oldest part of Seattle. As in part of the original Seattle. For those of you who had your Washington State history classes, you know this, but for those who haven't, prepare to be enlightened. In the 1800s (you can Wikipedia to find out when exactly, I'm a busy lady) a large fire happened in Seattle that burned most of Seattle down. It was rebuilt, as all great things are, and the actual land was raised. If you're ever in the Seattle area, check out the awesome Underground Tour. It rocks. In addition to being a beautiful area of town (The buildings are just insanely gorgeous) as well as the old part of town, it is also the most annoying for parking. Unless you're paying $13.00 a day or somewhere between $200.00 and $300.00 a month, you are not going to be parking in the Pioneer Square area. Thankfully my employer gets the King County Metro bus passes also known as the ORCA!

Busing right along...
My bus is in this picture!

Now, taking the bus. Taking the bus is always an interesting experience. Sometimes good. Sometimes bad. But always interesting. I hadn't been on a bus since my sophomore year of high school. And it was not good. It may have had something to do with that kid assaulting me at a bus stop, but I avoided the bus at all costs. With my job in Seattle, I couldn't do that. So I have learned two things from my experiences. First, the bus is a great way to get around in Seattle. At any time of day. The drivers are, for the most part, nice. And they will help you find your way around. They can be a little crazy when they drive, though. Second, the non-busing folks of the Greater Seattle area do not like the buses. Currently, Metro is in a bit of a financial crunch. They asked the King County area to raise car tabs by $20.00, temporarily, to make it so there are no cuts in service. Naturally, because goodness forbid we ask people to pay for anything that helps them, the non-busing population are outraged. Let me just make a few comments on this. If the routes that are cut do end up being cut that means thousands, and I'm thinking double digits thousands, are going to be on the road again. And that would be...just awesome. Don't you think? On my bus alone, we get anywhere between 50 and 75 people on our bus at any time. Probably more. And if you ride the 255 to Kirkland, that number is closer to 100. Again, taking the 255 as an example It comes about every seven minutes. That's almost a 1,000 people an hour during rush hour. You get the idea. We're talking a lot of people. So not only is riding the bus awesome because you're reducing your carbon footprint, you also assure that roads and freeways can stay open by having less people on them.

Oooooo...Shiny!

While I enjoy taking the bus, as it gives me time to daydream and read a book, I know that my husband and I are going to need to trade in our trusty Neon soon. We're going to do something that is almost unspeakable in this country, only have one car! We're planning on using both the Neon and the Saturn as part of a trade-in for a new(er?) car. The car has already been chosen. We've agreed on the Ford Fusion. Since when did Ford start making such awesome cars?! And while it is a hybrid, and batteries are not so eco-friendly currently, I have hope that it will get better soon. I mean, this car has way more get-up-and-go then my Neon. It's going to be nice when we buy it.

So now that I've discussed my transportation and how I get around, how do you, my dear reader(s?) get around day to day?