Friday, August 14, 2015

Committing to the Commute


Part of making the choice to live and work in separate cities is committing to the weekly commute.  San Francisco has consistently landed on the top-five lists for the worst traffic and commute, and the stories of hour plus drives to and from work is a very real occurrence.  As the young kids like to say, the struggle is real.   

The average morning drive in the bay area can range anywhere from 40 minutes to over an hour and a half each way.  With hiking commutes, people have begun exploring different forms of transportation trying to alleviate the costs.  From local tube transports to hybrid vehicles, San Francisco has been a front runner for commuter convenience. 

Known for its illustrious BART system, San Francisco’s tube takes you from one end of the bay to the other at the cost of a cup of coffee.  In addition The Ferry services, offered from Vallejo, Oakland and Larkspur, Sausalito,  he San Francisco Ferry Building, Fisherman’s Warf and even AT&T Park for the occasional Giants games  give you ample opportunity to arrive to work fairly stress free, having been able to avoid sitting in hours long traffic. 

Not a fan of the public transportation options? I can understand that, I love my car just as much as the next.  In fact, being a Los Angeles transplant, I grew up knowing nothing about public transportation.  Cars were all we knew.  So then how about looking into a hybrid vehicle? 

When driving three hours a day in traffic, gas millage and vehicle wear and tear become major concerns. Having the available hybrid or Eco-system, allows you to conserve gas when needed.  On average, you can actually save from upwards of $500+ dollars per year, but the cost of the vehicle can be slightly higher than standard engine vehicles. Also if you do your homework, certain green vehicles let you drive in the HOV lanes on highways.  That can definitely help save some time on your drives home, and depending on the actual gas cost savings, hybrids could be a great choice for most!

Now if you are anything like me, I love the idea of the hybrid, I am just not a fan of how they look.  Thankfully in this day and age, hybrid vehicles have jumped on the sexy car bandwagon.  Following suit of the likes of Tesla, Acura has taken the hybrid engine and placed it inside some of its most popular models including the 2016 RLX Sport Hybrid.  The RLX is a nice sporty sedan with a hybrid engine and three motors combined to produce 377 horsepower.  With leather seats, surround sound, streaming Pandora and XM radio, and USB ports come standard, making this vehicle ideal for long road trips or even that long drive into the city. 

Now, the self-driven vehicles are still a very new concept, however with Google, Audi and Tesla breaking ground on these cars, the concerns regarding safety are currently in discussions.  Although testing has shown that no more accidents have occurred than in stander drivers, the self-driven vehicles are still very much in trial phases.  We might have to wait a few more years before we can let our cars take the wheel. 

For more information on hybrid vehicles or to shop for one of your own, check out the link below!

http://www.acura.com/photogallery.aspx?model=rlx#2016-rlx-exterior-sport-hybrid-sh-awd-with-advance-package-in-crystal-black-pearl-shoreline-10