The Absurdity of Commuting by Car

Yesterday I drove to an event in Geneva and I parked at the P&R étoile. I went by car for a simple reason. I wanted the trip home to be fast and efficient. It worked. What wasn’t fast and efficient was the drive into Geneva.

I left with at least one and a half hours of time to get to my destination but got to the event with just three minutes to spare. The journey time that takes half an hour out of peak traffic takes one hour or more during rush hour.

Part of my motivation for taking the car is that parking cost just 4 CHF for the duration, whereas taking the train would have cost 11-14 CHF. It made financial sense to take the car even if I wasted a lot of time in getting to Geneva.

Twenty Six minutes to get home, rather than an hour to an hour and a half justifies the traffic jam when getting to Geneva.

When heading to Geneva there is a paradox. If you leave early enough, the journey will be quick, but the wait will be long, but if you leave at just the wrong time the one hour drive takes an hour and twenty minutes or more.

That’s why when hikes and other events are organised on the other side of Geneva I skip them. By this I mean hikes in the Alps and more. It takes as long to get to Noiraigue, as it does to get into Geneva.

In contrast the train is fast, and efficient. When I work in Geneva, especially if I pay for parking, I will not even consider the car. Why would I? It costs 30-40 CHF per day to park, and that’s without petrol, electricity and other costs.

The A1 motorway is quiet today because people are not commuting or shopping. I thought that the pandemic had taught people to live without cars but that isn’t the case. Their addiction is as bad as ever. The noise pollution is as bad as ever.

And Finally

If you have to be at work from 08:30-17:30 it makes little sense to use cars. It makes sense to use public transport because you save time, and money on parking. As soon as parking costs more than the price of a train ticket it is rational to use the train.

In addition, by taking the train to go to an event, you can suggest a co-working session in the afternoon, to do some networking before an event.

Cars were liberating, a decade or two ago, when congestion wasn’t as bad. Now driving to and from Geneva is a chore, which is why trains are so great. It’s quick, it’s convenient, and it is consistent.