For the past 3 years I have been carpooling to work with a coworker that lives a couple miles from our house. I live roughly 25 miles from work, and with traffic it is pretty much a guaranteed 45 minute (often an hour) commute each direction. With the carpool lane you can sometimes shave 10-15 minutes off, which actually makes a big difference in the overall commute experience. I hate getting stuck in traffic.
Since the day I started working at Microsoft there has always been the option of getting a Microsoft paid bus pass that would allow me to use local mass transit buses whenever and however I wanted. But living out here in Monroe, with a public bus commute time to main campus being just over 2 hours (each way!), it hasn't been much of a consideration.
Well, tomorrow I will be taking the bus. But not a public transit bus - a Microsoft sponsored bus called "The Connector". This is a new bus fleet that Microsoft contracted exclusively for Microsoft employees. This is a program they started a little over a year ago to help reduce overall traffic related frustrations faced by most employees. Each bus is outfitted with WiFi internet access so we can actually work as we ride the bus. And these rigs are nice! I am talking near Greyhound level....very comfortable. Or so I am told - I find out tomorrow.
The Connector service is not available in all areas, and wasn't an option for me until recently. This past month they opened up a service from Duvall to main campus. That is maybe 10 miles from my house. So instead of me driving 50 miles a day, it will be roughly 20 miles, and I don't have to deal with traffic. ETA from Duvall is roughly an hour. So my overall commute time will go up, but I can work as I ride, or I can simply relax (sleep) until I get there.
So I get: More productivity during my normal drive time. Lower overall commute stress. Lower mileage on the car. And lower fuel expense! With the price of gas currently, I may have scored a raise. If it works out that is....