2004 Travel Awards

In honor of the busiest travel day of the year (my office is virtually empty right now), I offer the 2004 Travel Awards!

Best Self-Propelled Transportation
Bicycle. Nothing beats weaving through traffic, running red lights and stop signs, and getting a good workout before work starts. Time to work when biking=20 minutes. Time to work when taking the bus=40 minutes.

Worst Self-Propelled Transportation
Running. Running sucks. Plus you burn the same amount of calories over a certain distance walking or running, so why not walk and take the dog along?

Best Airline
United. Close balloting, as JetBlue is cheaper and has more TV stations, but United flies internationally, has a hub in SF, and has the best frequent flier program. Now I have the credit card so I'm really stuck.

Worst Airline
Air France. Great food and awesome in-seat entertainment can't make up for horrendous organization, no 24-hour call line, and ONE CHECK-IN LINE OPEN IN THE FLORENCE AIRPORT FOR AN ENTIRE FLIGHT! Their terminals also tend to collapse, which didn't help their score.

Best San Francisco City Transportation Agency
The road crews. SF construction crews are the best I've ever seen. They show up when they say they will and leave when they say they'll be done; they work in residential areas during the day and on the highway at night; they don't leave the entire road shut off but put a big piece of metal over the construction so you can still use the road. And they WORK - on my walk in this morning I saw 16 guys working hard on one block of construction. On a recent visit to Illinois there were miles of highway filled with nothing but ghosts and bulldozers...these guys are fantastic.

Worst San Francisco City Transportation Agency
Muni (SF Public Transportation System). When it rains, Muni fails. When it's too sunny, Muni fails. Muni's slow and stupid and stops in the tunnel for agonizing minutes, like this morning. Ride your bike instead.