Congestion, or lack thereof

I have now been commuting 14 miles each way to my office for three full weeks. The office itself provides exactly what I need: a fast internet connection and a desk and chair. The people there are friendly, though it is clear that they still consider me a curiosity (why would a software guy need a month-to-month office?). The accountants there never got around to producing a lease, so it is the purest form of tenant-at-will: I can leave whenever I want to go. So that is all working out just fine.

The biggest surprise so far: the commute. No matter when I go into the office or return home, there simply isn’t any congestion.  At least not the kind of grind-your-teeth-and-watch-the-pedestrians-zip-by congestion that snarls Boston for at least four hours each day.  The worst congestion that I have seen was actually on the Saturday before Christmas: cars backed up trying to get into a shopping center.  My commute (via Monterey Road, CA 85 and the Almaden Expressway), has a few traffic lights which typically account for about 5 minutes of the trip time.  But the entire 14-mile commute usually takes less than 20 minutes either way: an average speed in excess of 50mph!  Over 60mph if you take away the traffic signals.  Compare that to my 5.5-mile Cambridge/Medford commute which typically took 30 to 40 minutes for an average speed of about 10mph.

That, on the surface, is very good.  But the other day, while enjoying my congestion-free trip into the office, I heard a news story about how the new San Jose light rail system is one of the least successful new transit lines in the nation, attracting less than 1% of the pool of commuters.  No doubt that the car is still king in California, but there is also no doubt that there is simply no incentive to park my truck and ride the trolley (not that it is really an option – my office is a mile from the nearest station).  The transit stations are in the middle of the freeway and the few riders who I see waiting there look damn cold.  Why leave my warm cab for that?  My truck commute is faster, warmer and cheaper (with free parking at the office and just about everywhere).  Even in downtown San Jose the cost of parking all day is just $7,  In Boston transit is a real option – one that can get you to your destination faster and cheaper than a car.  No chance of that happening here.

So while I admire the lack of congestion and, more generally, the quality of the roads (Storrow Drive would be a cow path here), I can’t help but wonder if Massachusetts is actually being “greener” than California, simply by making car travel so unpleasant that people actually choose to ride public transit.

Now if the MBTA could figure out how to provide a congestion-free commute…