It seems I was destined to claim only two small victories on this somewhat chilly Wednesday morning.
The first was getting out of bed – two hours early – so I could meet my colleagues and fellow commute testers at St. Albert Place at the bleak hour of 7:15 a.m. I am by no means a morning person.
The second was snagging one of few, and possibly the last, of the available parking spots at the St. Albert Centre park and ride just after 7:30 a.m.
Years after I ceased being a transit taker, I volunteered for this commuter challenge and found myself willingly boarding a bus with photographer Chris Colbourne in the name of journalism.
I wasn’t optimistic about our chances of arriving first, or even second. I’d been practicing my “losing gracefully” face since the day before. My colleagues were driving and biking after all – how could public transit compete with that sort of efficiency?
The answer? Surprisingly well.
We left St. Albert Place at about 7:27 a.m. with the intent to get to St. Albert Centre, park at the park and ride and hop over to the right stop to catch St. Albert Transit bus No. 201 scheduled to depart at 7:42 a.m., a commuter bus that would take us within a block of our destination.
The bus left on time, already setting it apart from my years of transit commuting in the suburban metro Vancouver area, where it once took me three hours and four buses to get to a location that was 45 minutes away by car.
We’d waited mere minutes at the stop. About 15 people got on the bus at St. Albert Centre, with another 16 boarding at the Village Landing park and ride, with about 30 people total on board for a trip to Edmonton.
Riders were a combination of professionals and students – there was even a pack of high school students who got off at the Victoria School of the Arts.
The bus was reasonably busy, though everyone could still get a seat. We passed other St. Albert Transit commuter buses that looked to be standing-room only on our way out of town.
It was a calm, relaxing ride. It was warm enough to ditch the hat and gloves, several people could be spotted reading newspapers and books, and while traffic certainly was busy, it wasn’t at a standstill and we arrived at our destination only a few minutes after the schedule advertised.
The route was pretty reasonable – down St. Albert Trail, onto 118th Avenue in Edmonton, eventually ending up heading south down 101st Street and dropping us off on 103A Avenue. From there, we walked at a normal pace – I restrained myself from giving into a competitive urge to run – to arrive in front of Edmonton City Hall in Sir Winston Churchill Square to see the driving team taking photos of their victory and the cyclist rolling up at the exactly same moment I arrived.
It took us one hour, three minutes and 54 seconds to get from St. Albert Place to Edmonton’s city hall using a park and ride and public bus – only about eight minutes behind the driver’s time of just over 55 minutes.
With no transfers needed and a fairly efficient route, I arrived relaxed and cheerful, with the photographer describing me as the “happiest [unflattering word] commuter I’ve ever seen” and I didn’t even lose – I gracefully tied for second.
From St. Albert Place to Edmonton City Hall: 1:03:54<br />Cost of one way commuter bus ticket: $5.75<br />Monthly adult commuter transit pass: $111
