Ashley Harrell

In an effort to conserve energy, waste less, recycle, reduce, reuse… I chose to ride public transportation this morning. Okay, I’m slightly fabricating the truth… my Jetta (great fuel economy!) has been in the shop for three long weeks, and I’m sick of driving other peoples’ cars. This venture into economical transport proved to be a pounding headache. Yesterday I spent a great deal of time trying to decipher the Santa Barbara MTD (bus system) website and plan out my detailed route for the 20 mile trek from Goleta to Carpinteria. I took everything into account: the possibility the bus could be late, the possibility the bus could be early, the mile hike from my house to the bus stop, the fact my shoes might chafe my feet – EVERYTHING. Well, I didn’t factor in the prospect of the MTD website incorrectly listing their schedule… so I waited. And waited. I finally decided to call the bus hotline, and was informed that my bus would not be coming until the precise moment my SECOND bus was leaving from downtown Santa Barbara. After this ordeal, I arrived precisely one hour late to work. I hate being late. One thing I will certainly count on in the future, when being green fails me – cheap taxi cabs.