When I finished work on an ordinary Thursday night, my only concern was exposing my new blue suede shoes to an intense Sydney downpour.
Naturally, I decided to wait it out as the 15-minute cameo storm swept through North Sydney.
When the rain eased, I slipped off my loafers and bare-footed it to the reliable Metro at Victoria Cross. Reliable on dry days only.
Of course, that sudden storm resulted in power supply issues on the M1 metro line, and caused genuine chaos for thousands of commuters.
Minutes later, when the rain stopped and I was able to put the suedes back on, I marched with my fellow fuel-conscious commuters to North Sydney railway station hoping to get on the good old above-ground rail.
Sadly, that too had been struck down by the powerful storm and commuters were being encouraged to catch the bus. But options were thin on the ground as the queues for these infrequent buses were just too long to endure. And surging Uber prices had nearly tripled. It was tempting to use my work Uber account to get home for my cooling roast chicken, but I resisted.
My easy 30-minute trip home to Paddington had suddenly become a first-world commuting mess.
Which begs the question: how will Sydney’s public transport network cope if fuel rationing is imposed in coming weeks?
If the metro services and train lines can’t handle a heavy downpour, what will happen if commuters increasingly ditch their cars to tap on and off?
I tried to use the metro on Thursday night, and failed miserably.
Uber and local hoteliers were the winners. Countless commuters retreated to local pubs to wait it out as the fledgling transport system untangled itself. Surprisingly, I did not heed the call of a schooner of Resch’s. Instead, I retreated to my office foyer and made some calls.
But then I found a colleague who was wisely heading for a cold beer at a nearby establishment. His family was on their way from Bondi to collect him, in a fuel-efficient electric car. I had found my way home.
The rain returned, I slipped the suedes off and barefooted it to our meeting point.
Two hours late, I was home, and my dinner was as cold as my feet.
Jason Avedissian is a journalist at The Sydney Morning Herald.
Get a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up for our Opinion newsletter.
From our partners
Read the full article here
