The first thing we considered when we wanted to move was our commute. We wanted to make sure that the commute was less than an hour and a half each way. In Queens, my commute was approximately 30 minutes door-to-door. I would walk 5 minutes (two and a half blocks) to the subway, get on the E train, which is express in Queens, get off the 53rd & Lex stop, and walk 5 minutes to work. And it was pretty consistent. Although I've never measured it, I would say that the standard deviation was about 5 minutes. And it was the same consistency coming home.
Here in Cranford, we originally thought that we'd be taking the train into Penn Station, but it turned out that the bus was a much better option. It's faster because it's an express bus (no stops between Cranford and Port Authority), you get a seat, and it's much quieter/peaceful. Another problem with the train is that you would have to transfer at Newark, which is a nightmare! Hundreds of people getting off one train, funneling through two doors down onto a stairway, running across the floor, funneling through two doors up on to another stairway, and jamming themselves into another train. That got very annoying very quick.
The bus is not without its failures. It's pretty inconsistent with the arrival times, and most of the time you would have to wait for a few buses to pass because they were full from the previous stops. You can always stand, but that's not a fun ride. It's not easy to nap while standing! That seems to be getting better recently.
Over the last month or so, I've kept track of the time we leave the house (time on the car display), to the time I walk into work (clock on phone) to get an estimated door-to-door commute in the morning. It turns out that the average is 1:31 minutes! Keep in mind, this has been commuting with a pregnant wife. The standard deviation is 11 minutes. I, of course, created a spreadsheet to keep track of this. I've posted the results here, but I blacked out the time in/out. No need to know what time I've been getting to work! Today is also Sandra's last day at work, and we'll be staying over at her parent's place as our house continues to get work done. So this data set will ultimately change in the future, which is why I'm posting this up today.
If I had to break down the 1:31 (unofficially):
- 5 minutes to get to the bus stop from our house
- 12 minute wait for the bus
- 50 minutes bus ride
- 20 minutes subway walk and ride
- 4 minute walk to work from chaotic 53rd and Lex stop
Click the image below for a larger view of the results (so far):
