We Are Experiencing Delays

My morning commutes have been horrendous since Labor Day. In years past there has been a definite change when people come back from summer vacations and kids go back to school, but this year it has been noticeably worse.

It typically takes a few cycles of the traffic lights for the bus to get through Wellington Circle, but on many days the traffic is snarled across route 28 and onward toward the river. On a good day the bus ride into Wellington takes 10 minutes, but for the past two months it has taken closer to 20 on most days. I have no idea why this is happening, and there isn't anything I can do about it. Fortunately, no one notices or cares what time I get to work.

In the mornings I check NextBus to track my bus's progress, but lately I've also been opening Google Maps to see how bad the traffic is. The buses are supposed to run every 20 minutes, but with the delays I can sometimes catch the "earlier" bus, which isn't really early anymore, if you know what I mean. If I don't catch that bus, I'm faced with what often turns out to be a 30- or 40-minute wait for the next one.

If the weather is agreeable, rather than wait around I'll walk the 10 minutes to where two other routes converge with the one I normally take, thereby increasing the odds that I won't have to wait long for a bus. I still need the bus to get through the circle (there's no way I'm crossing all those roads on foot) and into Wellington, but a brisk walk in the morning is kind of nice: it helps clear my head, and it's good for me. I don't mind walking when it gets cold, but as soon as it gets snowy or icy, I can't do it. Maybe by then this delay will have sorted itself out?