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News & ArtsTuesday, December 13, 2011
Transportation The Eternal Message of Public Transportation
Posted by Charles Mudede on Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 8:11 AM
A London Bus poster from 1965:
So simple, so clear, so true, so eternal. This is what a city means—doing more with less. A car is not meant for the city—it does less with more. The only reason why a city person should own an automobile is for the occasional weekend trip to some wild place. And when you return home rejuvenated by a moment in a forest or the sight of a waterfall, you place a tarp over the damn thing and forget about it.
3
I live in Queen Anne and work in Tukwila, that feels like a pretty good reason to own and drive a car.
4
London also charges you a fee to drive a private vehicle into central London. That's how you really push people to transit.
5
I'll remember that when I'm not spending well over an hour getting from the U-District to West Seattle on a bus tonight (and probably close to two hours getting home).
6
You keep thinking the objection is to the bus as a vehicle. It has far more to do with the bus as an ecosystem.
Very, very few driving a car today are going to get on a bus if they aren't clean, effectively policed or staffed by even reasonably polite drivers. This has little to do with the moral failings of car drivers as it has to do with the institutional ineptitude of transit managers and staff. Do you really think we all hate trains and buses? Or have you now -- just now -- come to realize that people that can afford not to, won't tolerate abuse, drunks, smells and grime...
Before you bleat: "It's not that bad..." Chuckie, please remember that it's not your call. Gas is going to need to quadruple in price, and cars will need to double in price (Hello, Europe?) and STILL we'll pay for the cleanliness, quiet, safety and accommodation of our own cars. You're gonna' be blowing hot air for another 25 years at this rate.
Instead of bitching about car owners, better you spend your bully pulpit HAMMERING the bus and rail authorities for not adopting and enforcing policies that make them attractive alternatives.
You keep thinking the objection is to the bus as a vehicle. It has far more to do with the bus as an ecosystem.
Very, very few driving a car today are going to get on a bus if they aren't clean, effectively policed or staffed by even reasonably polite drivers. This has little to do with the moral failings of car drivers as it has to do with the institutional ineptitude of transit managers and staff. Do you really think we all hate trains and buses? Or have you now -- just now -- come to realize that people that can afford not to, won't tolerate abuse, drunks, smells and grime...
Before you bleat: "It's not that bad..." Chuckie, please remember that it's not your call. Gas is going to need to quadruple in price, and cars will need to double in price (Hello, Europe?) and STILL we'll pay for the cleanliness, quiet, safety and accommodation of our own cars. You're gonna' be blowing hot air for another 25 years at this rate.
Instead of bitching about car owners, better you spend your bully pulpit HAMMERING the bus and rail authorities for not adopting and enforcing policies that make them attractive alternatives.
8
Good Morning Charles,
I endorse the clever poster and your attitude regarding public transit. I use it daily. Always have. I have never owned an automobile. I have a license to drive a car and ride a motorcycle. I rent on occasion to do just what you said, for a drive in the country. I grew up in the Chicago area and got used to comfortable, fixed-rail, rapid transit.
To be sure, I appreciate the need for a car especially for families in the burbs and those residing in rural areas. But, its use should be checked. Less use is better for safety and the environment. Yes, its even better for your checkbook.
So, I completely agree with you on this one.
I endorse the clever poster and your attitude regarding public transit. I use it daily. Always have. I have never owned an automobile. I have a license to drive a car and ride a motorcycle. I rent on occasion to do just what you said, for a drive in the country. I grew up in the Chicago area and got used to comfortable, fixed-rail, rapid transit.
To be sure, I appreciate the need for a car especially for families in the burbs and those residing in rural areas. But, its use should be checked. Less use is better for safety and the environment. Yes, its even better for your checkbook.
So, I completely agree with you on this one.
9
@7 While I agree, you absolutely need money to do that, but in my experience the buses have always been hell holes even when they were fully funded.
10
@3 -- I live in Tukwila and work in Queen Anne, and I take the bus. However, I am a prostitute, and feel more at home on the bus. I gross over 500K a year (making me a likely part of the 1%, I guess), but my neighbors take the bus, and that's what I learned when I was young, so I take the bus.
11
If you live and work in the city, then I totally agree. I sold my car a while back and planned on buying a new one. After a couple weeks of not driving I realized that I could easily do without. It's a little inconvenient every once in a while, but not too bad. I sure don't miss gas prices, random parking tickets, repairs, insurance and trips to the DMV.
12
Zok @6, nowhere is Charles blaming drivers, and yet you feel the need to blame transit agencies: This has little to do with the moral failings of car drivers as it has to do with the institutional ineptitude of transit managers and staff.
If you're going to be blaming the staff of transit agencies for buses not being a more desirable alternative, you might as well be blaming them for the weather.
And then:
So if the transit agencies are not sufficiently funded, the solution is to... "HAMMER" the transit agencies?! The obvious solution is to get more funding for transit. Somehow, I have the slightest hunch this is not the solution you have in mind.
The funny thing is, I'm sure you honestly believe you're sharing some kind of deep wisdom and insight.
If you're going to be blaming the staff of transit agencies for buses not being a more desirable alternative, you might as well be blaming them for the weather.
And then:
Instead of bitching about car owners, better you spend your bully pulpit HAMMERING the bus and rail authorities for not adopting and enforcing policies that make them attractive alternatives.
So if the transit agencies are not sufficiently funded, the solution is to... "HAMMER" the transit agencies?! The obvious solution is to get more funding for transit. Somehow, I have the slightest hunch this is not the solution you have in mind.
The funny thing is, I'm sure you honestly believe you're sharing some kind of deep wisdom and insight.
14
That's pretty much my M.O. Bus to work and back, walk or bus for grocery shopping and short in-city trips. The car comes out on weekends (for example, last weekend I made trips to a Christmas tree farm and to a relative's house to pick up firewood), then back into the garage. I drove about 3,000 miles last year in my fuel-efficient car and it didn't cost me all that much.
Oh, and we always take a bus or cab home if we go out to a bar. Fuck drunk drivers.
Oh, and we always take a bus or cab home if we go out to a bar. Fuck drunk drivers.
16
@4, see @13. London's congestion charge means 1) the City is able to pull in some dollars to fund various things and 2) poor people's cars are squeezed off the streets.
17
The buses I take (5s, 358s, 48s, 44s, 15s, 10s, 11s) are clean 95% of the time (certainly cleaner than private cars, when was the last time yours was disinfected?) and are staffed by polite drivers 99% of the time.
'Well policed' is harder to judge: most of the buses I'm on never need policing, though for the few that I've been on with situations that required driver intervention, the policing was handled well.
Buses are also the safest form of ground transportation: safer than cycling, taking the train or driving in a private car. They come too infrequently and don't make it easy to get some places, but KCM otherwise does a good job operating their buses.
'Well policed' is harder to judge: most of the buses I'm on never need policing, though for the few that I've been on with situations that required driver intervention, the policing was handled well.
Buses are also the safest form of ground transportation: safer than cycling, taking the train or driving in a private car. They come too infrequently and don't make it easy to get some places, but KCM otherwise does a good job operating their buses.
18
That 1.5 hour/multi-transfer bus ride I'd have to take from Seattle to Renton in the morning isn't nearly as bad as the 2 hour one it'd take to get home in the evening.
Sorry, Charles, but not everyone is in the same transportation situation as you.
Sorry, Charles, but not everyone is in the same transportation situation as you.
20
I hate taking public transportation in Seattle. It's slow, smelly and full of just enough crazy people to ruin my day. I have no interest in spending an hour on a bus each way. I've done it. It sucks.
This year I've worked in Paris (took the subway, taxis, walked got around everywhere just fine), London (subway is AWESOME, walking is easy and educational), San Fran (subway and buses and taxis), Boston (taxis and subway and walking), Toronto (subway, walking, taxis), NYC (subway, LOTS of walking, taxis), and Chicago (buses, walking, taxis) and EACH one of those cities has something that seattle DOESN'T have: a subway. Not light rail that goes on one line nowhere near my neighborhood, not the stupid SLUT hobby project, but an honest to goodness underground people mover.
Seattle is not a metropolitan city without a subway system. Until we have one, Charles, that gets us where we need to go quickly, cheaply, cleanly, safely, I suggest you either quitcherbitchin' (cuz now it just seems like you're begging for attention and I'm disliking you more and more each week for it - never figured you'd become a hipster 'I wasn't driving *before *it was cool' ... but I digress) or move to a metropolitan city where you can freely masturbate yourself into a frenzy with the other "non-car-owner-self-pleasuring-club" members.
This year I've worked in Paris (took the subway, taxis, walked got around everywhere just fine), London (subway is AWESOME, walking is easy and educational), San Fran (subway and buses and taxis), Boston (taxis and subway and walking), Toronto (subway, walking, taxis), NYC (subway, LOTS of walking, taxis), and Chicago (buses, walking, taxis) and EACH one of those cities has something that seattle DOESN'T have: a subway. Not light rail that goes on one line nowhere near my neighborhood, not the stupid SLUT hobby project, but an honest to goodness underground people mover.
Seattle is not a metropolitan city without a subway system. Until we have one, Charles, that gets us where we need to go quickly, cheaply, cleanly, safely, I suggest you either quitcherbitchin' (cuz now it just seems like you're begging for attention and I'm disliking you more and more each week for it - never figured you'd become a hipster 'I wasn't driving *before *it was cool' ... but I digress) or move to a metropolitan city where you can freely masturbate yourself into a frenzy with the other "non-car-owner-self-pleasuring-club" members.
21
@17
When was the last time my car needed to be disinfected?
You know, the point of disinfectant is to kill the germs. They can't completely remove the piss, shit, and vomit from your seat. Well, they could, but why bother? So instead they do the next best thing and leave the residue of piss, shit, and vomit on your seat, and just use a chemical to kill the bacteria. And the smell, lingering human excretions plus whatever that compound is that they spray around. Teflex? Lovely.
Enjoy your bus ride.
When was the last time my car needed to be disinfected?
You know, the point of disinfectant is to kill the germs. They can't completely remove the piss, shit, and vomit from your seat. Well, they could, but why bother? So instead they do the next best thing and leave the residue of piss, shit, and vomit on your seat, and just use a chemical to kill the bacteria. And the smell, lingering human excretions plus whatever that compound is that they spray around. Teflex? Lovely.
Enjoy your bus ride.
22
@10,
It depends on where #3 works, but the reverse commute can be punishing by bus, because many commuter buses do not go in both directions in the morning and evening. Also, if #3 occasionally has to work late, busing is not feasible. Commuter buses stop running around 5/6 pm.
And you make 500 grand and live in Tukwila? Curious.
@17,
Bus passengers don't have to be dangerous for it to be a pain in the ass to deal with them. Ever been sexually harassed by another passenger? Ever had to endure a passenger's lunatic ramblings for an hour? Ever been stuck on a bus with 20 screaming children in rush hour traffic? For all those reasons and more, I now drive every day to and from work. The only way I'll go back to busing it is if bus fare were free or gas gets to $10/gallon.
It depends on where #3 works, but the reverse commute can be punishing by bus, because many commuter buses do not go in both directions in the morning and evening. Also, if #3 occasionally has to work late, busing is not feasible. Commuter buses stop running around 5/6 pm.
And you make 500 grand and live in Tukwila? Curious.
@17,
Bus passengers don't have to be dangerous for it to be a pain in the ass to deal with them. Ever been sexually harassed by another passenger? Ever had to endure a passenger's lunatic ramblings for an hour? Ever been stuck on a bus with 20 screaming children in rush hour traffic? For all those reasons and more, I now drive every day to and from work. The only way I'll go back to busing it is if bus fare were free or gas gets to $10/gallon.
23
Of course, you could always turn a city into such a bloated monstrosity that it requires an hour of car travel to connect any two points of note. The city itself does less with more; the city doesn't improve the car travel, but instead, car travel degrades the city.
24
I live in Redmond and work at the UW. I take the bus 4-5 times a week. Been doin this for 7 years. A new bus route makes it really easy and relatively fast (the 542), but it's hours are limited. It only adds about 10 minutes to my commute time, and saves me up to an hour if there are traffic backups. I save a lot of money on parking and gas. I walk more now. The best unexpected benefit: I have a lot less stress in my life!!
I drive my car to work occasionally, and I use it around Redmond on the weekends. I can't rely completely on the bus. I find most bus drivers to be un-problematic, and most buses to be acceptable in terms of cleanliness (I ride around the Seattle area often--to doctors, shopping, dinner, etc).
Options are important: cars, buses, trains. (By the way, it takes me too long to get from Redmond to airport via bus and light rail to make it worth my while--adds about 1.5 hours to an already long day of travel).
Charles, I like the spare and clever clarity of your posts.
I drive my car to work occasionally, and I use it around Redmond on the weekends. I can't rely completely on the bus. I find most bus drivers to be un-problematic, and most buses to be acceptable in terms of cleanliness (I ride around the Seattle area often--to doctors, shopping, dinner, etc).
Options are important: cars, buses, trains. (By the way, it takes me too long to get from Redmond to airport via bus and light rail to make it worth my while--adds about 1.5 hours to an already long day of travel).
Charles, I like the spare and clever clarity of your posts.
25
Come ride the bus from 125th and Aurora into the city. I've got money says you witness a bodily function, crime, verbal assault or extremely antisocial behavior on half of your trips. This is not new news to Metro, and still its management hasn't adopted an effective means to remove these passengers.
Wanna' get people out of their cars? Give 'em something they want.
Come ride the bus from 125th and Aurora into the city. I've got money says you witness a bodily function, crime, verbal assault or extremely antisocial behavior on half of your trips. This is not new news to Metro, and still its management hasn't adopted an effective means to remove these passengers.
Wanna' get people out of their cars? Give 'em something they want.
26
Speaking of the bus on Aurora.
What has Metro done about this type of thing?
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/11203…
Answer? Nothing.
Stern-sounding press releases, but still nobody being put-off buses.
And so – we drive....
Speaking of the bus on Aurora.
What has Metro done about this type of thing?
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/11203…
Answer? Nothing.
Stern-sounding press releases, but still nobody being put-off buses.
And so – we drive....
27
Charles and Sound Transit have something in common. They don't like dogs. My dogs like to ride Metro, but I'm not willing to gamble on whether or not any particular ST driver will have a stick up their butt and not let me transfer to their bus and stranding me in the middle of BFE.
How in the world does Charles ever get home from a night out? Concert ends at 2AM. Bus stops running at 1AM. Whoops? Oh, Charles doesn't have a life.
Commute to and from work in my car, 30-40 minutes. Double in bad traffic. Commute to work via EXPRESS bus 60-90 minutes, double in bad traffic.
The bus fails me in my work commute because its a waste of time. Fails me in my social commute because it doesn't run late. Fails me in the rest of my life with restrictive policies. BUS=FAIL. I live in the city, and I know driving costs me a significant amount of money I wish I could save by taking the bus.
How in the world does Charles ever get home from a night out? Concert ends at 2AM. Bus stops running at 1AM. Whoops? Oh, Charles doesn't have a life.
Commute to and from work in my car, 30-40 minutes. Double in bad traffic. Commute to work via EXPRESS bus 60-90 minutes, double in bad traffic.
The bus fails me in my work commute because its a waste of time. Fails me in my social commute because it doesn't run late. Fails me in the rest of my life with restrictive policies. BUS=FAIL. I live in the city, and I know driving costs me a significant amount of money I wish I could save by taking the bus.
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