Static Transit
Riding the train has improved the whole college experience for Kandis Merrill. The Santa Fe Community College student pays just $42 for her monthly commute from Albuquerque, and she has nothing but good things to say.
"I commute each day three hours and 40 minutes from the time I get from my door to the door of the college and back to my door. It's a long time, but I do that because I love this place and I know what is waiting for me here," she says in the school's cafeteria after wrapping up a chemistry class. "I love the train too. I try to let people feel sorry for me like it's an agonizing, daunting task, but I love it. I wouldn't trade it for the world. … It is a great networking thing, and I get the best afternoon naps, and I am energized and ready for some homework and some house chores."
Now.
At first, though, Merrill was frustrated when train and bus schedules didn't align to get her to class and home again. Failed commuting connections were a drag, so she called up bus planners and called them out. These days, she rides Santa Fe Trails Route 22 buses to and from the train station. After she volunteered to survey potential riders, the city agreed to increase bus service this semester. There's no decision yet about whether to continue what has so far been a trial period.
"This is something I feel that has had a long life of word-of-mouth associations with the train that were kind of a negative," she says. "It's going to take a little longer than a semester to get the word out of how easy the experience is."
Read more: https://www.sfreporter.com/news/coverstories/2019/04/24/static-transit/
(Santa Fe Reporter)