That's a reference to a Kris Kross song, the greatest rap group of all time. Anyway, I've mentioned how much I hate Orlando public transportation a few times in my comments throughout the week, but I don't have much else to say. So I'll rehash some bus stories.
When I first moved to Orlando, I was attending Valencia Community College. This was my sophomore year of college, because I got kicked out of FSU for terrible grades and fighting. Not really, though, but it's a long and boring story. Mainly I wanted to go to film school at VCC. Anyway, my roommates and I lived about three miles from VCC, and it was a straight shot on the bus. A very easy route, and quick. So that was extremely convenient. However, when I graduated and started going to the University of Central Florida, it was not so convenient. With transfers, taking the bus turned a twenty minute car ride into a three hour bus ride. So that pretty much blew. But I didn't have a car, so I basically had no choice in the matter. Plus I got to listen to tapes (this was back in the day), and I perfected my "angry Arab face." This was the kind of mad looking face I put on to stop people from trying to sit with me. I used to use it all the time on buses and at airports. Not really anymore, because I guess the angry Arab face gets you thrown in Gitmo for life.
How is this relevant? I guess what I want to say is public transportation (in Orlando and Houston, at least) sucks, and I don't really think anybody can be expected to take it. In Orlando, the buses stopped running at 10 pm. In Houston, the buses and trains run until 12am, but for a city of 5 million, that seems pretty ridiculous. If I was poor (which I guess I am, but I have a car), then how could I possibly rely on public transportation to take me to a job if it had odd hours? Or if I had to leave three hours early?
So public transportation in most of America sucks, and I don't think it's really going to get better any time soon. Also, I don't think America can really follow Europe's example of trainsportation (I just made up that word), because American cities are much more spread out. So that's nixed too.
The answer? Jetpacks.
Showing posts with label cars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cars. Show all posts
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
let's go back to horses
there was a time when my hubby and i decided that we didn't need a car, especially since the ones we got kept breaking and we couldn't afford a good one. so we invested in some bicycles and bus schedules. the result was that we both got in better shape and got to know some of our neighbors by seeing them on the bus all the time. it also taught us to be better organized - i learned the hard way that i should keep dry clothes at work, since once i had soaked pants and a blow-dryer, and the store was going to open in an hour...
i'm not sure what effect that anecdote will have on anyone, especially since i haven't introduced myself yet, so i bet some people are wondering how the heck this weirdo got on the blog...
so, hi. i'm linda. i'm an animal freak. i don't know anyone who blogs here except jane (where did you get that photo?). so this should be fun.
i have a car now that i live in southern cal (from my old apartment to work on the bus took 2.5 hours, and i just can't do that every day). we try to carpool as much as possible, and moved so that we're within biking distance from work. i think we save money that way. then again, the gas and maintenance and everything cost about a billion dollars. personally, i think that cars are great inventions, but that people overuse them.
i doubt that any act of our government would make much change in the habits of over-drivers. remember, prohibition didn't work all that well...
it would be cool if more people cared about the environment, but we're a pretty self-centered species for the most part. no self-exclusion there. i have used the car to get from work to starbucks (across the street) and i would have done that, whatever the rules, because dammit i wanted coffee.
i'm not sure what effect that anecdote will have on anyone, especially since i haven't introduced myself yet, so i bet some people are wondering how the heck this weirdo got on the blog...
so, hi. i'm linda. i'm an animal freak. i don't know anyone who blogs here except jane (where did you get that photo?). so this should be fun.
i have a car now that i live in southern cal (from my old apartment to work on the bus took 2.5 hours, and i just can't do that every day). we try to carpool as much as possible, and moved so that we're within biking distance from work. i think we save money that way. then again, the gas and maintenance and everything cost about a billion dollars. personally, i think that cars are great inventions, but that people overuse them.
i doubt that any act of our government would make much change in the habits of over-drivers. remember, prohibition didn't work all that well...
it would be cool if more people cared about the environment, but we're a pretty self-centered species for the most part. no self-exclusion there. i have used the car to get from work to starbucks (across the street) and i would have done that, whatever the rules, because dammit i wanted coffee.
Blog changes and public transportation
I have the honor this week of announcing a few changes in BlogSupergroup! After a long series of emails among each other, we’re going to be adding some new regular bloggers and creating space for some guest bloggers as well. Our guest bloggers will include a few names you’ll recognize as regular contributors in our blog and comments sections as well as some new faces. I’ll let these people introduce themselves with their first post.
I will, though, introduce a new regular blogger, Martin, who went to school with Glenn and me and currently lives in Kyoto, Japan. Martin has a lot of interesting stuff to say, and certainly adds a different point of view to the blog. Now that I’ve vouched for him, he has to come through or I’ll loose face with these 'friends of ours' (or maybe I’ve been watching too many mob movies lately). Hope you enjoy the changes, and we’ll always take feedback. There will be another addition to regular bloggers later in the week as well.
Now to the topic of the week…
-------------------------------------------------
I was talking with a friend recently about one of our favorite topics (especially now that Sopranos has ended), climate change. We agreed that one way to help the problem is to encourage people to use public transportation more often instead of their personal vehicles. When we talked about how to do this, however, he called me a Republican and threatened to end our relationship. Good naturedly, I assure you. :)
I happen to live in a city with a very good and safe transportation (compared to a lot of other places) that I use everyday, so it’s hard for me to step back and see these things from the point of view of someone who chooses to drive themselves rather than use the subways, buses, or trains when they’re available. Full disclosure: I own a car that I park on the street and use exclusively on the weekends to either leave town for a weekend trip or to do grocery shopping and Target runs in Virginia.
The first thing most of us consider is to make driving for regular commuters cost prohibitive. I worry, though, that too many changes would make owning a car impossible for any but the rich, especially in urban environments. Raising the price of parking and car taxes mostly hurts people who live in the city and probably already take public transportation because they’re already close to where they need to go. I’m probably one of the only people who think that rising gas prices are not a terrible thing (although, I’ll admit that I do complain about them when I stop every month or two to fill up). However, they don’t seem to do much in the way of encouraging drivers to find other ways to get where they need to go. So what would?
London instituted a commuter tax in 2003, when I happened to be there studying for a semester. There was a big uproar, naturally, from the people who would have to pay 5 pounds every day to enter the city, but most of the media seemed to be in favor of it. I laughed with snarky glee at some of the editorials that lambasted the opponents of the tax as rich suburban snobs who were too stuck-up to endure a ride into town surrounded by their fellow citizens. But honestly, I laughed because I didn’t have a car in London and took subways, buses, and long walks to wherever I needed/wanted to go. This commuter tax idea was mentioned in Washington not long ago, but died quickly and without a whimper. Could something like this ever pass in the US? And is it even working in Britain ?
Obviously, increasing the availability of public transportation is essential to promoting it. As long as people have an excuse not to use it, they won’t. Some of us, at certain points of our lives can make choices around this. For example, after college, two of my best friends asked me about moving to south Florida with them and sharing a house. I said no largely because I can’t stand the idea of having to drive down the interstate or a major highway just to stop by the store after work. I find south Florida, especially the Ft. Lauderdale area, to be too sprawling and inaccessible for my taste. Being fresh out of college and unemployed, I had the option to choose a more metropolitan area where things were close enough together to make public transportation feasible. But having that kind of freedom is not something that happens too many times in one’s life.
And what about places like San Francisco? I don’t have a link to back me up here, but I understand that they have a pretty good transit system, but most people drive anyway. Why?
What does it take to get people less reliant on their own transportation and more willing to use energy- and pollution-efficient public transportation? Will the federal government ever pass bans or limits that force people into taking better care? Or maybe I’m looking at this all wrong and there are better, easier ways to save our own hides (besides those $4 florescent light bulbs that Al Gore talked me into buying…grrrr)? What do you think?
I will, though, introduce a new regular blogger, Martin, who went to school with Glenn and me and currently lives in Kyoto, Japan. Martin has a lot of interesting stuff to say, and certainly adds a different point of view to the blog. Now that I’ve vouched for him, he has to come through or I’ll loose face with these 'friends of ours' (or maybe I’ve been watching too many mob movies lately). Hope you enjoy the changes, and we’ll always take feedback. There will be another addition to regular bloggers later in the week as well.
Now to the topic of the week…
-------------------------------------------------
I was talking with a friend recently about one of our favorite topics (especially now that Sopranos has ended), climate change. We agreed that one way to help the problem is to encourage people to use public transportation more often instead of their personal vehicles. When we talked about how to do this, however, he called me a Republican and threatened to end our relationship. Good naturedly, I assure you. :)
I happen to live in a city with a very good and safe transportation (compared to a lot of other places) that I use everyday, so it’s hard for me to step back and see these things from the point of view of someone who chooses to drive themselves rather than use the subways, buses, or trains when they’re available. Full disclosure: I own a car that I park on the street and use exclusively on the weekends to either leave town for a weekend trip or to do grocery shopping and Target runs in Virginia.
The first thing most of us consider is to make driving for regular commuters cost prohibitive. I worry, though, that too many changes would make owning a car impossible for any but the rich, especially in urban environments. Raising the price of parking and car taxes mostly hurts people who live in the city and probably already take public transportation because they’re already close to where they need to go. I’m probably one of the only people who think that rising gas prices are not a terrible thing (although, I’ll admit that I do complain about them when I stop every month or two to fill up). However, they don’t seem to do much in the way of encouraging drivers to find other ways to get where they need to go. So what would?
London instituted a commuter tax in 2003, when I happened to be there studying for a semester. There was a big uproar, naturally, from the people who would have to pay 5 pounds every day to enter the city, but most of the media seemed to be in favor of it. I laughed with snarky glee at some of the editorials that lambasted the opponents of the tax as rich suburban snobs who were too stuck-up to endure a ride into town surrounded by their fellow citizens. But honestly, I laughed because I didn’t have a car in London and took subways, buses, and long walks to wherever I needed/wanted to go. This commuter tax idea was mentioned in Washington not long ago, but died quickly and without a whimper. Could something like this ever pass in the US? And is it even working in Britain ?
Obviously, increasing the availability of public transportation is essential to promoting it. As long as people have an excuse not to use it, they won’t. Some of us, at certain points of our lives can make choices around this. For example, after college, two of my best friends asked me about moving to south Florida with them and sharing a house. I said no largely because I can’t stand the idea of having to drive down the interstate or a major highway just to stop by the store after work. I find south Florida, especially the Ft. Lauderdale area, to be too sprawling and inaccessible for my taste. Being fresh out of college and unemployed, I had the option to choose a more metropolitan area where things were close enough together to make public transportation feasible. But having that kind of freedom is not something that happens too many times in one’s life.
And what about places like San Francisco? I don’t have a link to back me up here, but I understand that they have a pretty good transit system, but most people drive anyway. Why?
What does it take to get people less reliant on their own transportation and more willing to use energy- and pollution-efficient public transportation? Will the federal government ever pass bans or limits that force people into taking better care? Or maybe I’m looking at this all wrong and there are better, easier ways to save our own hides (besides those $4 florescent light bulbs that Al Gore talked me into buying…grrrr)? What do you think?
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