I would absolutely love to take public transportation,
however there is just no way to get from point A to point B via
bus, light rail, or anything else. So, every day, I sit watching
the gas gauge go down and the clock tick by.
Welcome to commuting in Pittsburgh, PA. Recently deemed
"sootiest city", certainly all the standstill traffic helped
contribute to that title.
EDIT:
Wow - thanks for all the comments (I think). CNN asked to see what people's commute looked like, so I took a quick video on my ride home. To answer some of your questions (many which were posted in the form of a flame):
I do own a bike. As many people mentioned, Pittsburgh is a "verticle" place. I do have a bad knee from a basketball injury, so it is a bit out of the question for me to do that on a daily basis.
To the person that posted the link about public transportation, thank you. Unfortunately, the light rail doesn't go anywhere near where I need to be. From what I can tell, the busses would require several transfers. My pain level isn't to the point where I'm willing to make that many transfers just to go 15 miles. I'm new to the area (moved here from rural Iowa) so I was unaware of the bus lane. I've commuted in Orange County, CA; Seattle, WA; Boston, MA; and now Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh seems to hide any public transportation is has. No where else I've lived has been so baren of car pool lanes or commuter lots.
I'm not quite sure how, from my video, people are claiming I'm fat/ugly/lazy/stupid. If you need to get your frustrations out, please direct them toward something constructive.
All my "yuppie" electronics... 1 Sirius receiver. Yes, I do enjoy listening to music on my commute, and I find sitting back and listening to some music definately helps make the commute pass. Tailgating and getting stressed in traffic really serves no point. I leave some distance, don't do "jack rabbit" stop and go, and let people merge if they want. In the grand scheme of things, I end up 5 or 10 cars back from where I started which amounts to maybe 30 seconds delay.