Love the icon- gotta have more cowbell! :)

Love the icon, and the little song you've now got stuck in my head. (Damn you, Mike!)

But really, the problem is that Worcester is a minor city when compared with Boston. Boston is the hub for public transportation for the entire east half of the state. But I don't live in (or near) Boston, and I don't work near Boston, either.

I keep forgetting that Anitra's a fomor.

I'm a Celtic sea demon?

In the Werewolf: The Apocalypse LARP we're in, the headquarters of our enemies was in the Maynard Mill until we burned it down. Since you work there, you are clearly a servant of Corruption and Perversion, tainted to your very soul by bane spirit that has taken over your body.

Hm. I'll look into it... But you're right, that would be pretty expensive. Right now, a roundtrip to work and back only costs about $4 in gas. Of course, that's not the only reason I'd rather not drive... We'll see.

There might be other ways to get to Riverside, too... I'm sure there are a lot of ride-shares that go out that way. Also, the 558 bus route goes fairly close to the Auburndale rail stop on the Worcester line, and it's possible that there's a stop close enough that you could take that train to Auburndale, switch for the bus to Waltham, and then take that train out to S. Acton.

Ooh, and the 556 bus goes from the Newtonville commuter rail stop to the Waltham commuter rail stop. So that's your best bet, as far as cost and convenience is concerned, I think. Get a 7-zone interzone pass for $145 a month and you're set for the whole trip.

I AM THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION GODDESS!! ;) (Although not so good on the typing sometimes, it seems.)

Er, I realize I didn't state that explicitly, which you probably don't need, but for the sake of the peanut gallery:

Worcester commuter rail from Worcester to Newtonville
556 bus from Newtonville to Waltham
Fitchburg commuter rail from Waltham to South Acton

Voila!

Thanks! That actually makes it easier for me to understand, too... Remember that I'm not terribly familiar with any of the public transportation methods in this area - when I did use them in college, it was only to go west from Worcester.

This route is definitely worth trying. Hm. I will definitely try it within the next week or two.

You ARE the public transportation goddess! (It's even more impressive because you still have a driver's license.)

The problem with trying it without a monthly pass is that you're going to have to pay separate for both train rides, so it'll be much more expensive. And there's no such thing as a weekly commuter rail pass, sadly.

I could swipe you my boss's zone 8 pass, but then I'd be fired and in all sorts of trouble... ;)

Don't worry about it. The idea is to try it once or twice (even though it will be expensive), and then decide if it's worth it to do on a regular basis. I need to see if it will be worth the cost in time and hassle, not just in money.

It may be that I am truly better off driving.

Alternately, we could move.

Doesn't look like it's actually going to work. It looks like the Worcester train doesn't actually make it all the way out to Newton; except for one ride that would take me an hour and then leave me waiting for another 40 minutes for the bus.

Between the two trains, the bus, and the shuttle from South Acton to work, I don't think I can do it in less than 2 1/2 hours. And that's just not reasonable. I'd be willing to do anything up to 2 hours. Anything more than that is not worth it simply to not drive.

It's too bad, really. I had gotten my hopes up that it was do-able. Which I guess it is, it's just... not do-able enough ;)

Well, you're looking for West Newton/Newtonville... But yeah, that's over an hour of train ride. :(

It's not really the hour on the train that bothers me. It's that it would take nearly two hours just to make the connection to the second train!

I knew when I started looking into this that 2 hours was roughly my limit. So when I see that the only available route takes 2 hours to get me (roughly) half-way there... it's just not worth it. And the price of gas would have to go incredibly high to make it worth it. Because I'm really not willing to leave my house at 6:20am and get back after 7pm on a regular basis.

Ugh yes. That is an unacceptable time frame. Sorry it didn't work out! :(