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Come ride with me

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: October 17, 2008 - I’m a fairly mainstream, moderate guy. My children would say boring. But I did one thing recently that makes me with it, cutting edge, radical chic.

I got rid of my car.

Now, I’m sure you’ve read about people who are downsizing, dumping the Tahoe for a Prius perhaps. And others may be driving a little less or combining their errands more efficiently. But they haven’t really changed their lifestyles to accommodate the new reality. The days of cheap commuting are OVER – sooo 2007.

Recent events only seem to underscore this. While gas prices have fallen a bit, the auto companies are wailing that they can’t even find the credit to help you finance a car. Meanwhile, that big bailout bill includes - in section 211 - a sweetener for people who like to bike. Your employer can get a tax credit for reimbursing you up to $240 a year for money you spend on the purchase and maintenance of a bike if you ride it to work.

Today we begin a series of stories designed to help you find your way to work and professional success through walking and biking, taking the train and the bus, and -- yes, sometimes flying and getting behind the wheel -- in the cheapest, most environmentally friendly and amusing way possible.

It’s the journey, not the destination, that’s important here.

I won’t try to talk you out of your car if you love it so much. My wife still has her car and when I’m in a hurry or have to go somewhere where the public transportation is sketchy or missing (as in St. Charles County), I borrow it.

What you may not understand is how easy it is to give up your own set of wheels. I did it for two reasons. I had come to the end of my 30-year career at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as a reporter, editor and writing coach and could work from home. Even better, MetroLink, that massive, taxpayer-supported boondoggle, conveniently placed four stations (Brentwood, Richmond Heights, Clayton and Forsyth) within a 10 to 15 minute walk from my door. Add to that a Clayton Road bus stop just five minutes away.

I did the math. Sell the car -- a depreciating asset -- reduce the insurance premiums and maintenance, save on gas. Pocket thousands of dollars every year. Add to that (or maybe subtract is the better term) the calories that I would burn walking to and from the bus and MetroLink stops and it made a lot of sense.

What I didn’t anticipate but have discovered to my delight is that the train and the bus can also be an office. Yes, I do business on the Shrewsbury line. I take my laptop and my cell phone with me and as the train rumbles down the track, I’m scheduling appointments, creating and editing copy. Not long ago, when the train pulled into the DeBalievere station it came within range of someone’s unsecured wireless router. I was able to quickly download my e-mail, call it up and read it as the train headed downtown. Since then I’ve discovered that I can “tether” my BlackBerry to my laptop ($15 a month) and go wireless on the rails or, for that matter, the interstate.

Many of my friends consider public transportation something for other people -- the less fortunate -- or as a last resort when their car is in the shop. A few have taken a ride on MetroLink “just to see what it’s like.” Or maybe they use it to go to the ballpark to save on parking. No one I know has taken bus and rail for an hour-and-forty-five minute journey to a business meeting in Earth City as I have. Surely I could have gotten there quicker. But then maybe Sir Edmund Hillary could have parachuted from a plane to the summit of Mount Everest if all he wanted to do was plant a flag.

Mountaineering was Hillary’s game. Mine is “urban orienteering,” finding my way around in a way that makes life interesting, burns calories and keeps petrodollars out of the hands of foreign dictatorships. I hope you’ll join me on these expeditions and tell me about yours.