Foot Shooting

I've been taking the bus and the skytrain to work now for about 3 weeks (if not longer), and it's not so bad. It's fast-ish (two thirds of my trip are pretty fast and very reliable, but that's because it's in Vancouver and no one gives a crap about Surrey), and as long as I have my discman, it's enjoyable. Also, since I got my shift changed to 9-5:30, sometimes Assbeard waits and we take the train home together. Nevermind the fact that it's cheaper than driving to and from work. I save on gas, insurance and the money it would cost to replace the tranny in my car. I'm saving not only money, but my tiny piece of the environment too.

So, I would say that it's mostly positives when it comes to taking public transit. The negatives that I've experienced are few. People who smell like they took a crap out their mouth, hooligans, bums, drunks, annoying Barbie's, stupid people...I know that I can't change these people and I know that they will continue to take the bus in that state of presence, so I don't care about them. Just plug in to some tunes and read the free papers.

Now on to the foot shooting before all of you readers bugger off because this is boring. Translink is shooting itself in the foot. Surveys have shown that ridership is up and car sales are down. That's good, right? We're saving the planet more...so they should be happy about that. Well, when you buy some gas, there's this levy that get's tacked on to your purchase (I think it's 6 cents a litre or something). This is the Translink levy. It helps to pay for road repairs and public transit. Hmmmmm.......someone forgot to turn the safety off and just capped one into their foot.

Ridership up, car sales and gas purchases down equals crappier bus service than we are presently experiencing. Fewer buses, cut service, higher fares, ruder drivers and in time fewer riders and more cars. And once people are abandoning the bus, this ecosystem will balance out and Translink will want more people to take transit so they can cycle through it again. The only thing that won't balance out are the increased fares and joy of being thrown out of your seat when the bus driver stops because he thinks it's the Indy 500. But that's another post.