Public Transit
Let me just start off by saying that I think public transit is a good idea, when it works. This on the other hand is a short tale of how the failures of public transit can lead a very peaceful person such as myself to want to punch bus drivers.
So it all started with my plan to go out looking for a Christmas gift for Deirdre. I wanted to check out some places over in St. Paul so I figured I would grab an express bus from the university and be there in no time. Well, that was the plan anyway. I honestly don't know where the plan went to shit. I mean, sure it was snowing, but there was so little snow I could still see the painted lines on the road, so I really doubt that was the cause for the following failures.
So since I was taking a new bus route I had checked things on-line and arrived at the bus stop with about 5 minutes to spare before the bus arrived, this was roughly 4:50 pm. Well, after standing out in the cold for about 20 minutes I was stating to wonder what was up with this bus. I mean there had been 7 buses go by in this time: 3 campus shuttles, 1 bus but it was the wrong line, and 3 buses that were not in service. So needless to say I was starting to question if I was even at the right bus stop.
Nope, I was at the right place, the little shelter had my bus listed and it's arrival times, 4:56 (well, it sure as hell wasn't here yet) and the next one was at 5:21. Well, by this time it was about 5:15, so what the hell, I may as well wait for that bus, after all, it couldn't be late too, could it?
5:25, where the hell is that damn bus? I mean I've been out here for 35 minutes, and my feet are starting to freeze. Yeah, maybe I should be wearing boots, but the whole point with schedules is that I don't have to wait outside for half an hour, this is a modern society; we have the technology to fly a missile through a door on the other side of the world, you think we could get a bus to arrive within 5 minutes of a scheduled time. Well apparently not, and knowing how long it's going to take to get back to my place after I look for the gift (I was just going to look, I didn't have a specific gift in mind) I figure it's time to cut my losses and head home.
Now just as I get to the bottom of the stairs on the other side of the pedestrian bridge I see a bus pull up where I had been waiting; sure enough, it's the bus I had wanted. So do I run back over the slushy/icy bridge, screw it, I'll try tomorrow, I want to get home and get warm.
I know that the bus I take to get home can run a bit infrequently, so I decided to check the schedule to be sure I don't have a long wait. After all, I'm starting to feel my toes go numb and if I can slip back inside to warm up I might as well. But there shouldn't be a need, it's 5:28 and my next bus rolls through at 5:30...in theory. Well, by 5:40 I was doing the math, yup, I could have walked home by now (had I not waited for any buses), and my toes wouldn't be so damn numb because they would have received more blood flow. But ok, maybe the 5:30 bus was beamed up by aliens, there's a bus at 5:46, surely it would have survived the hazardous 0.5 (0.2 inches) cm dusting of snow on the roads. Yeah, well if I ever believe that again sign me up as a Republican, because by 5:55 I was starting to get cold (this means a lot, I don't get cold easily); yet somehow I was also in a seething rage, funny how that doesn't warm you up as much as one would think.
I realize though that I'm leaving out the best part. While I'm waiting I get the pleasure of seeing a campus shuttle bus every 5 minutes, I don't even need a watch to keep track of time. Then right around the point when I had been standing out there for over an hour, the biggest insult yet. Three buses pull up in front of me, a #50, a #16, and another fuck #50...you've got to be shitting me? This is just cruel!
Well you know what they say, third tries a charm. Sure enough at 6:01, the time scheduled for my THIRD bus, the #2 finally shows up. So it only took me 1 hour and 10 minutes to catch a bus! And you wonder why so many people own cars here. Hell, I'd like shitty traffic, at least the car would warm up, otherwise I would be able to drive home in all of 5 minutes!
posted by Christopher Robin at 9:34 p.m.
4 Comments:
I believe that public transit is much better than driving and contributing to global warming and the high cost of oil and all that other bad stuff, but oh, how I hate Edmonton transit! After 8 years of taking the bus, I finally broke down and bought a parking pass in Novemeber. Just going from my house to the U is extremely easy, in the grand scheme of Edmonton buses, because it is one bus that picks me up at the end of my alley and drops me back off across the street. I truly believe this is one of the best situations to be in. Except it is, of course, the major line running from Southgate to the U. This means if you catch the late bus (ie 1/2 hr or less before classes start), you are jammed in with 5 million other people trying to get to the U. In the winter, when you and everyone else on the bus is wearing their warm clothes, the bus drivers feel it is necessary to keep the inside temperature at 30C (that is not much of an exaggeration). And then, when it snows, it takes 1.5 hours to get home in crowded, uncomfortably hot conditions that can actually make you feel sick. For comparison, I can drive that route in 15 mins or less and if the traffic is bad, I can go a different way. Last year, when it took an hour to go about 4 blocks, I almost got out and walked up to the next bus (that was, presumably, 15 mins ahead of us) but the -50C temperature made me think twice. As you said, red-hot rage doesn't warm you that much! I bought a parking pass because I have been doing some tutor work downtown and while it takes me about 15-20mins to drive home, I couldn't find a bus/LRT route that would take less than an hour to get me home. Then, my bus started not following the schedule (normally, it is like clockwork) and I kept getting stuck on those hot crowded buses that were driving me crazy and I had enough. Given that I kickbox and have a bad enough temper as it is, I figured giving me a reason to punch someone was a bad idea. So now I drive and am much happier. Take that, environment! =)
8:53 a.m.
oh don't ya just love buses in the winter....
6:32 p.m.
Oh my God! LOL This story made me smile---in NYC there's some sort of drama involving public transportation nearly every commuting day of the week. I feel your pain.
1:15 p.m.
When I lived in Sherwood Park, prior to move number 13 to the Condo on the south side, a coworker would take the bus and occationally catch a ride to Sherwood park with me (end of the day)and she saw a bus driver get off of the bus walk over to a truck driver who had parked in a round about where the bus turns around at the station and get into a yelling match and then punch the guy in the face! The odd thing was that other buses had been driving around the parked truck with no problem all day.
Talk about road rage.
p.s. Cheers,
9:52 a.m.
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