Why have I chosen to live a particular part of Ursynów? Not just my
fondness of the district and its distinguishing climate, but practical reasons.
Needless to say I spend just a fraction of non-sleep time at home, but I get
about regularly to specific places.
To work – regular route covered back and forth usually five times a
week. My dwelling is just less than a kilometre from the entrance to an underground
station, which gives an opportunity to have two short walks, one in the
morning, one in the afternoon. The door-to-door journey takes me on average 45
minutes, assuming I march to or from the underground station. If I am in a
hurry or carry a laptop and a bag with packed lunches for two consecutive days,
two bus lines: 179 and 192 can take me the underground and save my time. The
underground trains, unless somebody attempts to commit suicide or leaves
unattended luggage, are the most reliable and quick form of public transport in
Warsaw. My goal of not being car-dependent in terms of commuting to work has
been attained. Since moving in, I drove to work once, to bring a table
delivered by a courier to my office. The door-to-door journey in each direction
lasted 50 minutes…
To do the grocery shopping – three or four times a week. Lidl, being my
primary discount shop where I stock up in basis stuff is less than 100 metres
from my door; for no apparent reason some of my neighbours drive there to do
the shopping… Biedronka where I reluctantly venture to hunt “second item
cheaper” bargains is next to Metro Stokłosy, so I can pop by there on my way
from work. Auchan where I shop around once a week is nearly 3 kilometres away
and sadly there is no direct bus connection there. I can walk to the shop, but
lugging a heavy bag with my spine is a no good idea… I take then 179 bus and
change it for 504 near Multikino. Tesco Kabaty is available by 179 bus, yet I
dislike the hypermarket, its layout, plus its pricing policy is inferior to
Auchan, Lidl and Biedronka...
To visit my parents – once or twice a week, 9 kilometres by car (which
is the shortest distance I happen to drive if I sit behind the wheel) or 7
kilometres by bike, weather and circumstances permitting. Close enough to pay
them a late afternoon visit, if I don’t feel like putting in calling on them
into my weekend agenda and sufficiently close if at emergency (they are getting
older so such factors needs to be taken into account). But going to Nowa
Iwiczna by public transport means a door-to-door journey no shorter than fifty
minutes (compare it to 20 minutes by car in non-peak hours or 25 minutes by
bike) and this shortest journey involves a three-kilometre walk through Las
Kabacki… I have never tried it and do not intend to try.
To the swimming pool – located roughly a mile from my house, I get there
by 504 bus. I laugh at people who drive 2 kilometres to a gym to have some
exercise…
I generally do not understand why so many locals drive around Ursynów,
especially since the district is nearly constantly jammed because of the ongoing
construction of Warsaw’s Southern Bypass. Since moving in I have used the car
for mid- and long-distance journeys. The car sits idle on average on 3 out of 4
days (nearly 3,000 kilometres covered over 3 months) and used only when it is
far more convenient way of moving around than public transport or a bike.
Would I consider selling the car and switching to car sharing or car
rental then? In a week I will present to you a number-backed analysis with
detailed assumption which would answer the question whether with my car usage
patterns it makes economic sense to own the car. I will compare the total cost
of ownership to costs of hiring a car for long-distance journeys a few times a
year and switching to car-sharing for mid-distance trips around Warsaw and its
suburbs.
1 comment:
Excellent! Look forward to the next post!
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