Minimalist Living Cold Weather Taking Public Transportation or Driving?

Yesterday was cold weather, icy and snowy. As I have been embracing minimalism I have been driving less and less. Have I been debating myself as to the benefit of taking public transportation in bad weather as opposed to driving?

I have found both have their advantages but the advantages cannot be predicted from one situation to another.

For example, during the last snowstorm, I had a job to do at Mac Arthur Airport In Ronkonkoma NY. This would have been a 2 1/2 hr drive for me in ice and snow with a waste of gas, traffic jams, and possible traffic accidents.

I decided to take the Metro-North train and sat in warmth and comfort for the 1 hr ride. The problem came when the bus I was to catch did not show up. I later found out that it slid off the road and crashed.

Another bus showed up 1 hour later and I arrived at my destination and repaired the problem I was called out for. The same thing happened many times when I would drive to calls in snowstorms where there were road closures and traffic accidents. Because of this, the question to whether or not to dive can be a toss-up.

Yesterday I decided to take The NJ Transit Train to South Jersey for the trouble call I had. In the back of my mind, I knew this call would be canceled due to the storm. The call was set for 12:30 pm so I waited for it but it did not come. So I headed out with my large Rooibos Tea to catch the train.

I am an introvert so using public transportation is fun for me as I get a chance to meet and greet people as I can not avoid it. I always notice that during bad weather police officers seem to prefer patrolling bus and train terminals more. LOL.

As I bought my round-trip tickets, boarded the train, and relaxed listening to my satellite radio I felt like a child when school was canceled for a snow day.

I felt this way even though I was heading to work because I was dry and warm and did not have to deal with the ice, snow, traffic, and driving. Well, you know what happened. I got a call from my dispatcher informing me that the trouble call was canceled. Then I just smiled to myself, took a sip of my Rooibos Tea, and cranked up my radio.

I love the train as it is relaxing. The person seated ahead of me had a GoPro camera attached to the window filming the ride. It should have been a beautiful recording and we passed a few water crossings and the snow and ice created a winter wonderland scene.

Again the debate for me was whether is there a benefit from leaning towards my Minimalist, eco-sustainability approach to taking public transportation whenever possible, especially during cold weather.

I believe I do because of all of the advantages I mentioned above. It feels like the right thing to do and the best use of our resources. The train was going in that direction anyway and I just hitched a ride.