CT Transit drove me to Zipcar
I spent this summer taking CT Transit buses to and from my internship at the New Haven Register on Sargent Drive. The experience left me deflated and ready for a new way to get around the city.
I discovered Zipcar, a car rental service that is a step up from taking the city bus, but it’s far from perfect.
I thought Zipcar would save me from the commuting hassles, but soon realized there are different problems associated with the car service.
Where CT Transit left me stranded once, and waiting several times, Zipcar once charged me $50 for returning a car 20 minutes late.
<strong>Taking the bus</strong>
To get to my internship at the New Haven Register, I caught the D bus on Dixwell Avenue. The bus comes roughly every 10 minutes. I could catch any D bus to get downtown for my connection.
Once downtown, I had to walk two blocks to catch the Z bus to Sargent Drive. The bus comes every half hour.
On a typical day it would take me about an hour. But if I miss the D bus, it could extend the commute by a half hour. The times I was able to get a ride to the New Haven Register, it took approximately a 10 to 15 minute drive, depending on the traffic.
The $1.50 bus ticket has a two-hour transfer time, so the need to take two buses doesn’t affect your bank account the same way it affects your journey time.
When it comes to a persons daily commute, time constraints seem to outweigh the cost of having a car. The bus may be cheap, but it’s certainly not convenient.
Toward the end of my time at the New Haven Register, I left my house one afternoon to catch the 11:44 a.m. bus.
The long, uphill walk from Pine Rock Avenue in Hamden to the bus stop on Dixwell Avenue, in my work clothes, was tolerable only because I knew there was a Dunkin' Donuts waiting for me at the top.
As I stood in line I looked out the window and I saw the D bus arrive, then leave without me. Luckily, my internship at the New Haven Register was flexible with my hours. Otherwise, I would have been breaking into a sweat running out of Dunkin' Donuts, without the coffee.
I didn’t have to wait long for another D bus to come along. The 11:54 a.m. arrived not long after I made myself comfortable on a dented metal bench.
I fumbled around my slippery coffee cup, my phone and the $2 I needed to get on the bus. CT Transit doesn't give change for the $1.50 fare.
There were no seats available when I peered around bodies and scanned the back of the bus; only several pairs of eyes stared back at me.
The connection bus stop on Chapel Street was also crowded. Buses came and left frequently.
The J, O, M, and G buses seemed as though they were taunting me, as I remained standing. After almost an hour, the Z bus had still not arrived.
By 1:30 p.m., I was still waiting for the 12:40 p.m. bus. So I gave up and walked to the nearby Starbucks to use the wifi to get some work done.
After experiences like that, and knowing that I could not buy a car, I searched for other options and stumbled upon Zipcar.
It is an organization which allows members to rent cars by the hour for that quick trip to the grocery store or picking a friend up from the train station.
It was the perfect solution to the inconvenience of CT Transit.
With the university sponsored plan, it is $25 annual membership and you are then charged an hourly rate of between $8 and $10, depending on car and location. Each car has its own gas card, so I don't have to pay for gas on top of those fees.
First you have to become a member by paying an annual membership fee that varies depending on how you apply and having your driving records checked. Once you have been approved, you will receive a Zipcard in the mail.
The card becomes like your car key as you use it to lock and unlock the car you have reserved.
Here's the sensor where the Zipcard is held against to unlock the car.
When your time is almost up, you have to return the car to same parking spot you found it in.
Two cars that are available in SCSU's West Campus parking garage.
This is where the convenient and cheap Zipcar becomes an expensive race to be back on time.
The excitement I had at my new found freedom, led me to offer my services to pick up my friend from JFK airport in New York, as she was returning from her summer at home in Spain.
I booked the car from 6:30 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. the next morning, which gave me some extra time for flight delays.
As I left the airport to return home, my phone battery died.
No GPS to get me back to New Haven.
As we drove around trying to find a familiar highway, I couldn’t take my eyes off the clock.
Midnight hit. Still lost.
Finally, as I was driving through a street in who-knows-where, I spotted a sign for I-95 North. North. That’s all I needed as I darted onto the highway and stepped on the gas.
As the 1:30 a.m. mark arrived, we were still 45 minutes away and I couldn’t log onto my Zipcar application to extend my time, because my phone was dead.
So, after the tense and hectic drive home, the following day I received an email from Zipcar informing me that I had been charged a late fee of $50 in addition to the $68.50 I had paid for the reservation. The trip cost me $118.50.
A shuttle bus from JFK to New Haven would have cost my friend only about $70.
Both CT Transit and Zipcar require lots of planning before my commute. But Zipcar gave me more control over when and how I get where I need to go.
The bus service is fine when you are not on a strict schedule. But for the majority of the working world, work starts at a certain time.
A daily commute to work would be impossible or at least excessively expensive with Zipcar. For the full day it costs almost $70, and the car has to be returned to the exact same spot it came from.
