This month, I'm dispensing with (or delaying) the poetical post in order to discuss a challenge in taking care of the earth, as our first parents were told already in the Garden of Eden (Genesis chapter 2).
In the past, I have taken public transit in other cities.
When I attended my first grad school in suburban St. Louis but lived just inside the city proper, I used to take the bus part of the time. I sometimes rode my bike, too, or even walked. I seldom drove. This was largely to put my environmentalist sentiments into action. The buses there were regular and reliable. (Although I was not raised in St. Louis, some of my parents' relatives lived there, and we went every summer as a kid. Back then, my mom, grandmother and I would hop on the bus to go to various shopping outlets... the humidity killed me, though, especially the way my mom expected me to dress!)
When I took my daughter to New York City in 2014, we relied exclusively on public transit. Most of it was commuter trains and subways, although we hopped on the ubiquitous yellow cabs a couple of times. There, relying on public transportation makes more sense than keeping a car. It's too hard to find parking, unless you count parking sitting on a Manhattan avenue rather than gaining forward momentum. 😉
The other day, car issues forced me to take public transit in our large, western city. Honestly, if I were going to be a better environmentalist, I would take public transit every day. But our city, like so many in the western U.S., does not excel in public transit.
First, I took the high speed train. There were some residents and politicians extremely excited about getting this project started, with operations beginning shortly before the Great Recession set in. This city, like many in the American West, has terrible air quality--- ours is some of the worst. The many cars; the bowl created by being surrounded by mountains (so bad stuff can't blow out); the insistence on building wood smoke fires, which aren't even that effective; etc.
Many others, however, have made a lot of objections to the light rail. They insist this is and always will be and automobile city. Which factor causes which is hard to say. But it's hard to take public transportation seriously when there's only one train line. It's great, so far as it goes: it's quick, it's kept somewhat clean, it's inexpensive, etc. But it does have a lot of homeless people on it. Due to this, some businesses along the train line became "seedier" once the train went through. There are people who hop on and ride around all day to keep out of our ghastly summer heat. (We have some winter cold that they probably avoid, too.) There are many homeless or down & out people who leap on without buying a ticket, hoping to avoid the infrequent policing of the cars. When they do get caught, they pay stiff fines that often make it that much harder for them to dig themselves out of the holes they're in.
Then when you get off the limited choices in train stops, you have to rely on the bus system. Buses do not run frequently in this city. The shelters (in a very sunny city, mind you) offer little protection. I now have a condition where my eyes stay dilated (nerve damage, not substances, thank you very much, so don't assume!). Great combo, right? There are signs that say you can text to find out when the next bus comes, which I missed at first. I guess I could have waited inside a Walgreen's, though maybe the store employees get tired of people doing this. There were no storms on this day and the weather was relatively pleasant. But what if it had been rainy or cold. What if I were headed into a professional position on a rainy day?
In many cities, if you get a day pass for one type of transportation, it allows you to ride on other forms without paying another fee. I had ridden the train around in our downtown before without connecting to a bus route, so I didn't check if that were the case here. It wasn't. I had bought a full day pass instead of a one-way trip. Then I had to pay again for the bus. I also bought a day pass for the bus, but I ended up using only a single trip. The connector took so long that I walked the last 1-3/4 miles home.
Also, the way the stops are laid out means the bus takes forever to get anywhere. The stops are almost too frequent, IMHO. I think that some stops should only be used for handicapped and senior citizen patrons. Then the bus could "pick up steam" and get people where they're going faster. I thought about this, with my teen-aged son waiting at home. He's a pretty good kid and pretty self-sufficient. Still, I was exhausted by working all day with my seasonal allergies in full swing. What if I were always a single mother, always relying on public transit? People would be telling he and me that if both of us just put in the right effort, he could climb the ladder of success in our society. Really? If I came home this exhausted many days after taking public transit both ways? What if I were in a neighborhood where he was more exposed to influences towards substance abuse and violence?
Although I try not to harbor snobby feelings towards others (see paragraph above), things did give me pause. I've worked with homeless and recently rehoused populations before. I have been told about the terror of bedbugs, though I've been blessed enough to never have them passed on by a client. But I wondered about that on the bus. You're in really close proximity with who knows whom? And the upholstery on all forms our our metro transportation looks shabby and dirty. Is it possible it will eventually harbor bed bugs? Should public transit go to strictly hard plastic seats to avoid bed bug spreading? This would also disinfect quickly and efficiently. But it would create other quality of life issues.
All forms of public transit have rules about beverages. Only closed drink containers are allowed, there are a lot of non-recyclable water bottles. Environmentalists deeply dislike these disposable water bottles. But many of the people who need to take public transit are not thinking about "saving the earth one water bottle at a time." They're worried about getting by. And they're worried about not scorching when they have to take public transit in our brutal summers.
In spite of the annoyances, there were charming interchanges. Almost every passenger "thanked" the bus driver when being let off. They didn't seem to harbor the attitude "Well, this schmuck is just doing their government-funded job, and they're getting paid for it, so they have to put up with whatever attitude they get." The people saying "thank you" seemed genuinely grateful.... and I'll admit I was grousing somewhat. So that was a lesson for me.
There was another bright spot. When I had to pay the fares separately for the bus, I wasn't too concerned about my purse being closed up because I was holding my wallet. If someone had wanted to pick my purse, it would have been only to get an very basic smart phone, probably worse than what they had already (I'm cheap about some things to avoid debt) and which has virtually no apps (banking or otherwise) on it, or a hairbrush they might have been skeptical about, not knowing me and my history. Still, it was nice that another patron pointed out that I might want to watch my purse being open.
My point is, it seems like public transit is going to have to be a part of solutions for the future. But the way this city does it means people are going to hold off as long as possible before using it. Yes, electric and other alt-fuels cars are part of the solution, but only part of it. Some serious rethinking has to go into public transit. Honestly, I think our federally elected legislators should ride public transit in their own districts and in some completely different places to make comparisons. They could really get a feel for who some of their constituents are, as well as seeing the value and need for quality public transit to support the American dream. This is apart from the support for a cleaner environment that ultimately must come.
This posting was in-depth, so thank you for bearing with me. In return, I would like to close
with this parody song, just for fun. It is a little "judgemental" of the down & outs on the bus (see above), those I would like to see as my fellow human beings. But I have to admit, its' still funny! 😀
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