I commonly wonder why people use certain modes of travel.  Is it the control, the fear factor, the time savings, or the monetary savings.  The later big is always the least involved choice really, which is deplorably sad.  But I'm going to go ahead and toss that out of the discussion because the amount we pay really skews that decision point.  Besides that, it is much too long for my current thought.

The second to last point I made is the decision factor I want to bring up.  Often times it is said if you're going to take transit it'll take twice as long as driving, or more possibly.  Flying of course is 2-40x faster than driving or taking the train, and in areas that have real passenger rail infrastructure passenger rail can often be much faster than airline or auto travel.  The actual time from point A to point B is the main point that is brought up over and over again.  However, even though this is the main discussion point of time in travel, it is NOT the true weight.  The weight of this topic in deciding how to travel from point A to point B is what I'm about to rant on about.

Let us take a look at time traveled, and time wasted in traveling from point A to point B of various modes of transportation.

Mode 1 :  The automobile.

Time from point A to point B:  7 hour.

The ability of one to take a trip from point A to point B in a car is easy.  Own a car, pump some gas, take off whenever one desires.  Super easy, super convenient.  The time always tacks up fast for auto based travel for medium sized trips though.  Often people look at what is a 7 hour trip and think, it'll be about 6 hours.  Then they get on the road and realize that they need to fill up at some point.  Every time someone needs a potty break that requires a stop.  There is other traffic that will delay and prevent forward movement, and if there are any possible traffic points, a timely trip from point A to point B is usually a vain attempt.

While in the car, especially if the law is followed, rare that it is, trips become exponentially more time wasting.  You can't use the time in a car constructively except for the most inane, mindless things.  Listening to the radio is about the only legal and safe thing to do.  When with friends or coworkers the usefulness of things one can do is greatly increased, but often hard to do.  In all but the largest of SUVs trying to do any constructive work is impossible.  The vibrations, bumpy conditions, swerving, and often distracting maneuvers going on roadside by other automobiles make it a place that work just doesn't happen.  With all that said, time driving is time wasted doing something useful.

If one is a passenger and wants to read, an automobile trip is ok.  One can make good use of the time, but that still means one individual is completely consumed and wasting the minutes of their life away.

The only reason to take such a long trip in a car (or SUV or whatever) is for a group of people to do so.  The bonds, conversation, and activities of a similar nature make it time well spent.  Also a caravan of similar minded auto hobbyists can also make great use of this time to learn about their vehicles, roadway systems, and other such things.

Generally speaking though, if you aren't in a group or a hobbyist (i.e. a "driver"/racer), you are wasting valuable moments of your time in a high energy waste of time!  If we're talking about commuting, we're talking about an even larger abrogation of intelligent time usage.  If anyone has other thoughts on positives or negatives of time wasted in auto based travel, let me know.

Mode 2:  The bus.

Time from point A to point B:  6 hours.

I don't even want to talk about this mode much.  It takes all the positives of group and hobbyist based auto travel and throws it out the door.  In addition to that busses for some reason stay filthy and attract some of the filthiest of all human elements.  Why, I don't functionally or legitimately know.  The time spent on busses for mid range trips is generally more than a waste, it is also stressful, annoying, and nasty.  Maybe I'm biased, if anyone likes mid range trips on busses, let me know and I'll add some content to this point and continue a discussion.  Otherwise... I'm done talking about mid range trips on busses.

ugh.

Mode 3:  Passenger Rail - Regular American Rail.

Time from point A to point B:  6 hours.

Let me start the list of what one can do on passenger rail that is impossible on other modes.  Drink beer, drink wine, drink and eat at a table, meet other people, discuss things with complete strangers in a comfortable environment, not worry about being run into, not worry about plummeting from the sky, and the list could continue I'd bet.  As for time spent on a train, most of the minutes are priceless.  Especially in corridors between Portland and Seattle, down in California, or the north east corridor.  These areas are grand places to meet strangers and do business.  To travel with coworkers and discuss business, complete additional work, finish up those last minute tasks, and just about do anything you could in the office.

on some mid range trips one might even be tempted to grab a roomette, which would allow one to legitimately get additional sleep!  Do that in a car or on a plane!  Some might say, "but I can sleep on a plane"  Well you try to do that, then take a trip in the roomette and tell me there isn't a world of difference between a freaking bed and the tin can of a seat you get on a plane!

To take an extreme, I recently took a 2 hr trip to Orange Country.  I had to get first class to actually work on my laptop.  I admit, it is a big one, all 17 inches.  In that 2 hr trip I was able to work and it was great.  On the return though, in the regular seats, I couldn't do crap.  Don't get me wrong, I tried, but as soon as that seat in front of me came back there was no way this, or even a 13-15" laptop was going to have the screen at a proper angle!  So out of the total of 4 hours of time, I had barely 2 that was usable to do something constructive.  Meanwhile, I will have a total of 20 hrs of train time going to and from San Francisco from Portland.  I will have 20 hrs of time that can be constructively used.  In addition there are all the other activities that I will partake upon that makes the time multitudes more useful and constructive.

Mode 4:  Passenger Rail - Acela or better rail.

Time from point A to point B:  2 hours to 3 hours.

Take the above example, and shave off a huge chunk of time.  The only thing you might find yourself wanting is to spend MORE time on the train.

Mode 5:  Air Travel.

Time from point A to point B:  1 hour to 2 hours.

Air travel is the major time saver of this century (oops, and the last!).  Super fast.  The problem is, the time on a plane is even less constructive and less useful than the time in an auto.  There is barely any way to have conversation or do business except with some of your closest cohorts.  An upgrade to business/first class however changes all of that.  Much easier to talk and do business.  Still there are no tables or areas to spread out and really do business as on a train, but it is a drastic improvement over using the bus or automobile to get anywhere.

The point of all these mode comparisons is that time isn't just point A to point B, and people need to seriously realize this.  Americans consume massive amounts of time living in inconvenient locations, taking trips in the worse possible mode because they don't learn where they are going, and the reason go on and on.  The excuses however are all irrelevant.  Learn to use the time you are going to have in transit wisely and all of a sudden, it is time well spent.  Sometimes that means getting out of the car, or stepping off a plane to spend a longer period of time, to make sure all of that time is better time.

Next time, just think it through, know where your going, and think.  Do I really want to just look at the street before me or the seat in front of me?  Do I possibly want to make the trip worthwhile?  Do I possibly want to look back at this and think, "I lived a good life because I didn't just run along a lemming in the race to the cliff?"

Basically, next trip, just think.