[madcaptenor]

But I also know that, pending someone suicidal, I will always get to work at the same time.

This is not true. In my experience BART keeps to schedule pretty well but buses don't. Back when I had the option of a walking commute in Berkeley I chose that option because my walking speed was more consistent than the buses. Also, it was not that much slower, and I didn't risk running into people I knew on the bus and finding myself stuck in awkward conversations with them.

Also, I live in Atlanta now, and I'm finding that "there was traffic" is a totally fine excuse to be late.