All Entries / Public Transit: "It’s Like Having a Personal Chauffeur"
Unlike most teenagers, I wasn’t counting the days before my 16th birthday so I could get my driver’s license and join the millions of others behind the wheel of a car. I was perfectly fine with my parents driving me wherever I needed to go or catching a ride with friends.
But when I turned 17, my dad said enough is enough. “You are learning how to drive. I am not your personal chauffeur!”
And so, I reluctantly succumbed and became - screeeeccch!! - a driver. I was a good driver, a responsible driver. So pretty soon, I was “promoted” to family chauffeur. I began taking my younger sister to softball practice. My parents now took the passenger seat for quick errands or long road trips. When my mother had foot surgery, I drove her to and from work. “I am so thankful you have your license,” she said.
While I was happy to help my mother, I secretly longed to be a passenger again. And I dreamed of somehow being able to afford a personal chauffeur one day. Like most dreams, it did not come overnight. It was 25 years in the making, after struggling through several five-year monthly payment plans, insurance, maintenance, gas and all the other expenses that come with owning a car.
Three years ago, my husband and I needed to find a way to cut down our expenses. And we decided to become a one-car family. I specifically looked for a new job that was on the Metrorail route and I landed a position at a law firm in Brickell, an easy 7-minute stroll or quick Metromover ride from the train station. My husband drove our teenage daughter to high school and dropped me off at the Metrorail station in the morning before heading to his job. In the afternoon, our daughter caught the Metrobus at the stop in front of her school, and my husband picked me up from the train station.
We save time, money, the environment, and our sanity. It even helps my marriage. It takes me 20 minutes to get to work instead of an hour. My job pays for my transit card, so my commute is free. One less car on the road means less pollutants into the air we breathe. I read a book, talk with the person next to me, or simply enjoy that I am not in the traffic below as my train maintains a steady speed above the fray. Sometimes I gather my thoughts before my work day or remember the extra conversation I got to have with my husband en route to the train station. I love riding Metrorail!
This love affair deepened when my husband lost his job in the economic recession at the start of 2009. With no job prospects in sight, my husband went to college for the first time. This would not have been possible without the availability and convenience of Miami-Dade Transit, which will play a big role in my husband’s dream of going to college. He is an A and B student on track to graduate with an A.S. degree in Film Production after the Spring 2011 semester.
I now take the bus to the train station several times a week. And my husband takes the bus to the Miami-Dade College Kendall campus for classes.
I know many perceive public transportation as inconvenient and a loss of personal freedom and personal space. But the Metrorail and the Metrobus have freed not only me but also my husband to achieve our dreams. It took a long time - my husband is 38 and I am 43.
But thanks to Miami-Dade Transit, I now have a personal chauffeur!
