How should I get to class today?

This is a question I consider every morning. I get up out of bed and look out the window. It’s raining -not surprising for Vancouver, but I’d rather not sit in lecture with wet pants after biking in the rain. Looking down from the dreary gray sky I see yet another UBC bus pass by sleepy students while SORRY BUS FULL flashes on the window. Maybe I could drive to school today? I really hate paying for parking. How about a taxi? I’ll check my bank account -maybe not.

Having so many choices is both a blessing and a curse. How do I get to school, dry, on-time, maximize sleep, and spare my wallet?

Let’s take a look at my travel options and find out.

• Bike
• Bus
• Drive
• Taxi
• Walk

Travel Time

First, we’ll compare the commute times for each of my travel options.

This data was taken from the average of travel times as reported by Google Maps and Numbeo Taxi Estimator between 8am and 9am on Thursday September 7th 2018.

Looking at this graph of our data we can see that driving is the shortest option while walking is the longest.

It’s safe to rule out walking to school at this point. It’s going to lower the amount of sleep I can get and leave me soaked by the time I get to lecture. Not worth the time.

Our shortest option is unsurprising, although we now have to consider that driving and taxiing may be pretty hard on my wallet once we account for gas and parking fees or taxi fares.

Travel Cost

In that case, let’s look at our travel cost. These calculations were made in Lab 3.

Taxiing wins this category by a long shot at a whopping $23.66 for a taxi ride to and from the University even before accounting for traffic. Although this may be a viable option for an established data scientist, as a grad student I simply can’t afford this option. Therefore we’ll remove taxiing from our list of possible travel methods.

Bus, Bike or Drive?

Deciding between Bussing, Biking and Driving is going to be more difficult and depend on a few more factors.

Driving

When driving, we have to take traffic and the high cost into account. This option is going to be viable on days where traffic is low, and time is tight. Coupled with the environmental cost for adding another vehicle to the road, this case should be used for emergencies only.

Bussing

If taking the bus we still have to consider traffic, both on the road and on the bus. Oftentimes at peak travel hours buses will pass by the stop without picking up any passengers which could lead to significant travel time increases. With my current data, this is an unpredictable variable.

Biking

Biking depends heavily on the weather. Biking in the rain is dangerous as vehicles are less likely to see you, your wheels have less traction and at least for me, it’s a danger to my overall mood. In Vancouver last year it rained 42% of the year, making biking less viable, despite being the fastest travel time. There is also the added health and environmental benefits of biking to consider.

Recommendation

My recommendation depends on weather and time factors.

Fair Weather

On days with good weather regardless of time requirements, take your bike. It’s good for you, it’s fast, and the cost is negligible. There’s simply no beating this option.

Poor Weather | No Rush

On poor weather days when there’s lots of time, take the bus. It’s nearly as fast as biking and even if the bus passes by a couple times it’s really not a problem.

Poor Weather | Rush

On these days I recommend bussing as the primary option and biking as a backup. The idea would be to take the bike with you to the bus stop and wait for the first bus. If it’s empty, put your bike on the bike rack and take your bike to school. If it’s full, bike to school and put up with the rain. This minimizes the risk involved in repeatedly waiting for buses and lowers the chances that you have to bike in the rain while still making sure you’re on time.