Green Transit Blues

Hey There, Hi There,

So, do the people who work for Public Transit actually "take" public transit to work? I think that it should be mandatory for them to do so. In fact, I think that everyone who works for the City of Winnipeg should have to take Public Transit to work to prove that they are indeed WORKING FOR the betterment of the City. Doesn't this makes sense? What a wonderful role model we would be to other cities. Just like London England - which simultaneously taxed cars that used their downtown core, and greatly reinvested in their transit system - with the result of fewer cars downtown, and increased transit use - this makes sense to me. Draw a 2 km perimeter circle around City Hall and say that if you work "here" (city employee or not) - you should be taking the bus to work. BUT IF you get a civic paycheque - you take the bus to work. Be a responsible city employee - we the people are your employer.


Hey, let's extend this to the Province as well - Big Daddy Doer can be an example of environmental responsibility and governmental partnership - Promoting the Transit corridors. Maybe if we called the curb lanes "Transit hallways" - and said that these hallways we want to fill (unlike the hallways in our hospitals - which are supposedly empty, but have more citizens in them some days than in our Transit corridors)... - but I'm getting off topic here.


If the increased use of the public transit service is vital to our city's Green Health, and if it offers such great service that they can raise our one-way bus fare to $2.00, shouldn't the Mayor be able to take the bus to work?. We can even put a bush shelter (standard non-heated, open on one side shelter) at the stop closest to his house. He might enjoy the ride, and the view - and he can "Take Pride" that he is using the mode of transportation that will help our city be greener, cleaner, less congested with traffic, and increase the "Cool Factor" of a public service that the city invests millions to promote. He may have to stand with the rest of us at rush hour (sorry, no reserved seating - but you do have a driver, just like a limo) and he will actually get to rub elbows with the unwashed masses - but if we're good enough to be asked to vote for him - aren't we good enough to stand with? Hey, Mayor Katz - "Standing With Winnipeg" - there's a campaign slogan for you.


Do the people that schedule the bus routes and times take the bus? It might help determine the issues of "route fit" that occur so often - they can share our daily triumphs (ah - MADE IT!) and our frustrations (JUST missed it) and their bosses will be with them on the same buses - so they will understand why their employees are just a little bit late some mornings. Making connections between bus routes is both an art and a science. Some drivers are great - considerate, compassionate, and they get to know their regulars, and make sure that they make their connections. Others seem to think that the transit route time schedules are "guidelines" and that it doesn't really matter if they make their connections to get their passengers to work on time.


Its kind of like transit roulette. Some days, my commute is very wet, or very cold. I have to strategically plan when I take "extra stuff" to work - and hope I make my connections. Makes me want to buy a Smart Car - except that I take the bus to avoid putting another car on the road - but I'm starting to feel backed into the corner of an unheated open-on-one-side bus shelter here. Maybe if the Smart Car came in Purple.... but I digress.


Then there's the Segway. I see that there is a "dealership" at the Forks. I've been a fan of these things since their very first introduction, back when they were still "Project Ginger". In today's Sun - http://www.winnipegsun.com/Business/2006/07/05/1668789-sun.html there is an article where the Manitoba Safety Council opposes their use on roads or sidewalks because they do not have straps or belts or buckles - JUST LIKE A BICYCLE - so they are considered too dangerous. Give your heads a shake, people. I am allowed to walk, skip, run, jog, sprint, and jump without a safety helmet. The skateboard brats certainly don't have a seat belt. Neither do those twerps on the scooter boards. Maybe we need to give the Mounted Police-People a seat belt on their saddles, helmets under their headgear and knee and elbow pads. Never know when that horse could get out of control .... safety first......


Here we have a safe sane sensible human transportation option that is so fool proof that the Shrub only fell off it once during his White House Test Drive. Does it get much better than this? Doesn't the San Francisco Postal Service use it for all their routes? I'd take a Segway to work in the spring/summer/fall - tell me that it is more of a road hazard than those crazy all-weather-all-winter cyclists?


Winnipeg needs to embrace and explore green options - not play the "danger danger Will Robinson" card every time there is a new idea that challenges the "norm" (by the way - normal is just a setting on the dryer - nothing more). Licence the Segways for urban use. Make me wear a helmet. Guaranteed I'll be given more respect in the curb lane than the skateboarders, and the cyclists can eat my dust.


Maybe there's something in our beloved Muddy Water Supply that squashes innovative thinking. Forward Planning. Trend Setting. Something for the CDC North to take a look at. But hey - I'm immune, I've got a reverse osmosis filter on my home water system - so I can "see clear". I'm sure that the water supply is also the source of all the Spirited Energy that is flowing through our province these days, but that's a potential topic for another day


Got to dig out a bus ticket and get to work. Check the schedule, check the clock, check the weather - its the Transit Three Step.

And the beat goes one................

Incognito Ergo Sum
Jane Doe, Citizen