Re “Boston’s clogged arteries’’ (Page A1, March 26): I’ve been commuting from the North Shore to Boston since 1990. For the first 12 years, I drove. Psychologists speak of “suicidal ideation’’ as a bad sign. By 2002, I was feeling something more like “homicidal ideation.’’

This reached its peak with a game of chicken one winter day, when I drove from the Interstate 93 offramp into the Storrow Drive tunnel. We had to merge three lanes into two, alternating cars as in a zipper.

One driver refused to let me in. In a fit of madness, I pressed my car’s hood against his, heedless of a collision. He shot ahead, jumped out of his seat, and gestured for me to come fight him. I ignored him till the chorus of honks from other crazed drivers forced him back into his vehicle.

Since that day, I’ve taken the train. It’s not easy — 30 minutes from Beverly to North Station, 30 minutes on the Orange Line to Forest Hills, then 30 minutes’ walk to the school where I teach English as a Second Language. But I am infinitely happier and less stressed. If the MBTA vanished and I had to drive, I would quit my job.

Americans fail to invest in public transportation, and cling to a suburban, car-dependent lifestyle that is fundamentally stupid.

Tom Griffith

Beverly