I started commuting many years ago to Santa Fe from Albuquerque. I first started in 1974 when I went to work as Governor Bruce King's news secretary. In 1974 the road to Santa Fe was not yet a designated and complete interstate highway. I believe it was called highway 422. There was only one exit and that was Cerrillos Road. You could drive that commute and be alone on the road sometimes.
I have commuted thousands of times to Santa Fe since then and as I was driving up there to attend the Governor's Cabinet meeting today I started thinking about the patterns that emerge on those rides. Here they are in no particular order.
1. It gets more crowded and dangerous everyday.
2. Pick up trucks drive really fast.
3. Pick up trucks with ladders on them drive even faster.
4. Trucks from stucco and insulation companies drive slow.
5. If you look down at your speedometer and it says 85mph, you are being passed by everyone else.
6. Well, everyone else except senior citizens in Crown Victorias and old minivans.
7. When traveling up La Bajada all three lanes will be occupied by slow trucks.
8. The gasoline at the reservation gas stations is not cheaper than other places.
9. You will average three 'stars' on your windshield a year.
10. You will average 10 middle fingers waved at you a year for going to slow. See item 5.
11. You will dodge one exploding retread from an 18 wheeler every year.
12. There isn't as much roadkill as there used to be because we are eradicating wildlife.
13. You get the bejeesus scared out of you twice a year.
14. Once a year the guy who passed doing 100mph will be seen down the road chatting with a state police officer.
15. The sun always comes through the space between the mirror and the visor for half the trip.
16. People with cellphones held to their ear should be given space.
17. Your Starbuck's will dribble on your shirt once a week.
18. Crumbs from breakfast coffee cake end up everywhere in the car.
19. As soon as you switch on you cruise control you have to step on the brake for traffic.
20. It is still a pretty drive outside the cities.
Please God, I hope the Rail Runner to Santa Fe is in operation before I die.
2 comments:
I sent you a comment but it disappeared! Is there another way to send you a message till you get this fixed?
Why don't you try the commuter buses that already go from Albuquerque to Santa Fe and points north (Los Alamos, Espanola, Las Vegas?)
For $2 each leg ($60/month pass), you can take a nice motorcoach from a park-and-ride to work. It stops at the Alvarado transportation station downtown, the Balloon Museum, Bernalillo next to I-25, and several state buildings in Santa Fe. I don't know why they don't go from Belen or Los Lunas.
Here's the page for the Northern New Mexico Park & Ride, the bus from Albuquerque to Santa Fe.
http://www.allaboardamerica.com/santafe/index.html The schedules and station maps are there.
Here's a Dec. 14 press release about adding more buses to meet increased demand (and the price for some routes increasing to $3 in January):
http://nmshtd.state.nm.us/upload/contents/436/P%20and%20R%20Bus%20Release.pdf
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Here is a pertinent item from the GRIP Frequently-Asked Questions website: http://nmgrip.com/default.asp?section=14740#10
10. Will Park & Ride still be available after commuter rail begins operating?
Park & Ride will still be available after the commuter rail begins operating. The more than 80 daily departures offered by Park & Ride has been a successful alternative for commuters. It's cheaper for commuters to use Park & Ride than to use their own cars. After commuter rail is on track, Park & Ride will still be available for a small fee.
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By the way, the shuttles from the ABQ airport to Santa Fe (which use vans and small buses) cost $20 or $25 each way.
TMNO's website says it charges $10 for their buses from Albuq. to Santa Fe.
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