Commute by public transit can really take a toll
Wayne K. Roustan waits at the Route 2 bus stop on Miramar Parkway near University during his first public transportation adventure.
With Labor Day weekend comes the traditional end of summer and a return to work and school — but getting there on South Florida’s congested roadways is a job in itself.
So on Aug. 22, the first day of school in Broward, one harried commuter in western Miramar decided to give the bus a try. The destination: downtown Fort Lauderdale.
And that’s when he learned the exact toll such a trip takes— in this case, three hours, three buses, one train, a shuttle bus and $11.
The unexpectedly long adventure started at 6 a.m. on a Monday. The first-time rider walked almost a mile to the bus stop on Miramar Parkway just west of DykesRoad to catch the Route 28 bus at 6:20 a.m.
Itwas 88 degrees, humid and dark. The walk left him sweaty so the air conditioning was a relief when the bus arrived. It was bright, clean and cool inside with about a half-dozen passengers already aboard. He paid a $2 fare.
The novice passenger had been trying to access Broward County Transit’s new MyRide app on his cellphone but had more luck with thewebsite bus schedule and ultimately relied on old technology — folded paper bus routemaps stacked in a slot behind the bus driver.
The tinted windows inside thewell-lit bus made it difficult to see where his next bus stop was in the morning darkness. Drive in Miramar
The sun was up by the time he arrived at the first transfer point nearly 30 minutes later. He waited another 20 minutes for the Route 2 bus to take him north on University Drive where he could catch theRoute 7 bus east on Pines Boulevard.
About eight people climbed onthe half-fullRoute2bus. The $2 ride took about 5 minutes to the Pines Boulevard bus stop where the crowd of commuters was growing. Another 15 minutes passed before the Route 7 bus appeared at 7:30 a.m.
David DaCosta, 24, is a regular rider on that bus.
He lives in Pembroke Pines and spends six hours each day on buses to visit his girlfriend and their children in Pompano Beach. Each three-hour trip re-