Some time ago I embarked on a short series of photos depicting "Street Furniture" such as benches, bike racks, street clocks and trash bins, etc. I neglected, however, our bus stops, and I propose to remedy this over the next few days. I seldom use the public transportation system because I can usually walk downtown in about the same amount of time I'd spend waiting at the bus stop. Of course, if I was really organized I would get a bus schedule and walk out to the bus stop at the appropriate time. Nevertheless, the buses don't come very often around here. People are still very car focused and if gas prices are having any effect I'm guessing that it is that more people are walking and cycling rather than switching to public transport.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Bus Stop 1
Some time ago I embarked on a short series of photos depicting "Street Furniture" such as benches, bike racks, street clocks and trash bins, etc. I neglected, however, our bus stops, and I propose to remedy this over the next few days. I seldom use the public transportation system because I can usually walk downtown in about the same amount of time I'd spend waiting at the bus stop. Of course, if I was really organized I would get a bus schedule and walk out to the bus stop at the appropriate time. Nevertheless, the buses don't come very often around here. People are still very car focused and if gas prices are having any effect I'm guessing that it is that more people are walking and cycling rather than switching to public transport.
10 comments:
Greetings!
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Something very visually engaging about this pic, despite it's simplicity.
ReplyDeleteAnd Happy New Year.
I don't think we live in a world that realistically makes public transportation work anymore. People have busy lives after work, and need their cars to attend to their children's activities and other errands, directly from work. We no longer live in a society where the mom stays home w/ the kids and can ferry them around while dad takes the bus to work. I'm tired of Washington State trying to shove public transportation down everyone's throats and they complain b/c no one is using it.
ReplyDelete"I'm tired of Washington State trying to shove public transportation down everyone's throats and they complain b/c no one is using it."
ReplyDeleteSo what are you trying to say? Don't be so evasive...
;)
Dean, Happy New Year to you, too. I've been guessing that you were away for the last little while. Actually, I was thinking of you when I posted today's photo since you have in the past liked this kind of minimalist composition.
ReplyDeleteJoJo and Mike - it seems to me that public transportation is often in a kind of catch 22 situation: If the system were better then more people would use it and it would be more cost effective. However, making the system better requires investment that is not warranted by the number of people who currently use the system.
Yes, well, I've never been one to mince words or beat around the bush... lol San Francisco and Boston have great public transportation, I assume NYC does as well. I loved MUNI when I lived IN San Francisco. But once I moved to Marin and had to rely on Golden Gate Transit, I vowed I would NEVER use public trans again. Nothing like a 2.5 hour or longer trip at night...and then there was the time the bus broke down on the Golden Gate Bridge.
ReplyDeleteTransit use is already pretty high here in Victoria, so we are already doing fairly well, at least by North American standards. And walking, biking, and public transit exist in a virtuous circle, where any increases in one make it more pleasant to use any of the others.
ReplyDeleteAnd JoJo, how exactly is transit being forced down your throat? Maybe the same way that driving is being forced down ours by all this reckless road building.
"And JoJo, how exactly is transit all this reckless road building"
ReplyDeleteUh-oh... the gloves are coming off!
Quick Benjamin, get back to the birds and mushrooms!
Good point about the catch-22 nature of public transit. Similarily, Saanich recently had to raise their water rates because consumption declined and revenues necessary for operating were dropping.
ReplyDeletePost a shot of a parking sign and your site will crash from a flood of comments.
I walked downtown today and felt liberated without any concern for driving, parking or getting back to plug a meter.
I'll stay out of the transit debate and just say how much I like your shot! Incredible shadow.
ReplyDeleteBecause nearly every election, we have yet another 'light rail' initiative on the ballot. The voters say No every time. Then the supporters go back to their meeting room and say, "HEY! I have an idea! How about a light rail initiative for the next election?" Also, they built HOV/diamond lanes on some of the highways, and they penalize single drivers by not allowing us to use them in the off-commute hours, like they do in California. You can drive in the lane as a solo occupant, for a fee. So the diamond lanes hardly get any use b/c most people continue to be single drivers. At least in CA, we could use diamond lanes as a solo driver between 8 am and 3 pm. Up here, you can't use them at all. Not even in the middle of the night.
ReplyDeleteThey try to encourage car pooling, but that doesn't work very well if your ride needs to leave early, or if you are the driver and you need to leave early. For example, my coworker carpools into the office. There were a couple of days when we had to leave early b/c of a power outtage, and then b/c we were both so sick, and I had to go out of my way by 24 miles to drive her home b/c her ride wouldn't come for another 8 hrs!! If she had driven herself those days instead of carpooling, I wouldn't have had to tack on an extra hour to my drive home so that I could take her home. Carpooling is inconvenient.
The cities allowed unchecked and rampant development in Western WA, and then realized they should've started building & widening roads and highways before they let all the houses go in.