QOTW – “I used to be a big supporter of the streetcar until I started riding it every day”.
h/t Kevin B.
18 Replies to “Riding Mass Transit Is Like Inviting 20 Random Hitchhikers Into Your Car”
If you made it a rule that every Politician once voted in at any level of Government had to ride transit.Otherwise they would be fined big.Maybe lose their seat. All this nonsense about abolishing the individual car by politico’s would vanish faster than beer at a collage bash. It would also cut down on the bike lane fanatics.
Sad thing is that thanks to the idiots who voted her in, Premier dad’s protegee will be grabbing everyone’s money to make the riders of the TTC happier.
Eloi.
I used to ride Edmonton Transit from my home in West Edmonton to my office downtown every day. $35/mth for a bus pass was a lot cheaper than $400+ per month in parking and vehicle expenses. The economy was the only positive part of the experience. Rude drivers, rude fellow passengers, filthy bus stops, filthy buses, injuries from eratic driving, attempted muggings, panhandlers, ad nauseum. It was always worst during K-Days (or whatever the hell they’re called this week) when the local druggies working as Conklin ride operators would share my bus. Some people need to be euthanized from the get-go and this is one of those bunches. Bleargh.
I now happily arrange my life around avoiding crowds and public transit.
Never fear Torontonians, Ms. Wynne and Ms. Chow are going to double your fun!
You know, the problem isn’t so much mass transit, per se; it’s the decline of civility in so-called “civil society”. There was a time that people misbehaving on a bus would get thrown off, or so shamed by onlookers that they would cease and desist. Not so, anymore.
All good stories to be sure, I’ve only seen actual puke on a train during Stampede here in Calgary, and then it was mostly orange pop so I’m unsure if puke is even what it was. It soaked into the guy’s shirt so fast it certainly didn’t contain any thickening agents, just a high discolorent content.
The original story in this series at the Nat. Post had an interesting take on having a bike on the train during prohibited hours. The response was the always classic, “no” which I heartily endorse.
This is a prime example of the Charter of Rights in our Constitution bearing bitter fruit a generation after it came into effect. Civility is somebody else’s responsibility.
It used to be faster to walk from Dufferin and St. Clair to Avenue Rd. than take the street car. It used to be a -lot- faster to ride my bike down town than take the subway.
I can only imagine its a lot worse now.
And thats not to mention the scumbags let run free in the city now.
I’m so glad someone wants more money for this public transportation.
In Israel the Palestinians blow up the buses, passengers and all.
Imagine the Barcelona style fun they could have with a rush-hour commuter train.
It’s only a matter of time until they target all of Rome.
Metal tracks in the middle of the street are just stupid.
Unlike street cars rubber tired buses can pass broke down buses and pull over to the curb to allow passengers to board.
God the horror stories of riding Toronto Transit. The scheduling geniuses are stuck in 1970. We have downtown bars that shut down at 3AM and a subway that stops running downtown at 1:45 AM. Morons clamoring for more streetcars that run perfectly from late spring to early autumn, then the 6 months of winter hit. They are working on “improving” subway stations which necessitate them shutting down on weekends randomly during the year which really puts dampers on travel plans.
I bike as much as I can since it takes about the same time if not a bit longer. Sometimes I can actually get to a destination faster if I push it.
The city clowncil here is a joke. The stories I have heard from TTC employees would make you weep at the waste of the money given to them.
I just have to say that I hate riding transit and avoid it as much as I can. If I do have to ride it, I avoid the late nights and rush hour congestion if at all possible.
I agree, Gord. And with the decline in civil society, it makes matters worse when public transit is overloaded.
Of all the public transit systems, surface rail are the stupidest. They take up what should be space for cars and trucks, and slow up the whole system because they have to stop every 150 yards and take on/drop off new passengers. The speed of the entire network is determined by the slowest moving car (i.e. the one with the most uptight driver, arguing with every new passenger, and the one with the stupidest passengers who insist on leaving from the front of the car, making each stop longer and longer). Yet Toronto, not having learned from the Spadina and St. Clair fiascos, wants to repeat the stupidity on Eglinton and Sheppard.
I have a choice to drive, bike, or take the TTC to work. Driving ~15 min. Biking ~35 min TTC ~45 min, on a good day. Throw in the detour on Eglinton right now, and it’s 55 min. I usually cycle.
I ride mass transit regularly. I do not own a car. I’ve taken commuter diesel rail, commuter electric rail, subways, elevated trains, and buses. I’d say that my experience has directly correlated with the ease of access to the mass transit. Buses are the worst, generally, and rail is usually very comfortable, fast, and has much, much less craziness. The electric commuter rail I take to work is faster than a car, even in good traffic, and very quiet. Basically, don’t judge mass transit by the worst examples.
As for the article, I don’t why people keep on thinking that streetcars are better than buses. You can even get hybrid or CNG buses if you want to keep the air clean. (Diesel exhaust is actual pollution, as in how we used to define it before the CAGW circus came to town) Cutting traffic lanes to add mass transit is (almost) never a good idea.
…don’t judge mass transit by the worst examples.
–OmegaPaladin
It’s being judged by the most common examples. And found wanting.
If you made it a rule that every Politician once voted in at any level of Government had to ride transit.Otherwise they would be fined big.Maybe lose their seat. All this nonsense about abolishing the individual car by politico’s would vanish faster than beer at a collage bash. It would also cut down on the bike lane fanatics.
Sad thing is that thanks to the idiots who voted her in, Premier dad’s protegee will be grabbing everyone’s money to make the riders of the TTC happier.
Eloi.
I used to ride Edmonton Transit from my home in West Edmonton to my office downtown every day. $35/mth for a bus pass was a lot cheaper than $400+ per month in parking and vehicle expenses. The economy was the only positive part of the experience. Rude drivers, rude fellow passengers, filthy bus stops, filthy buses, injuries from eratic driving, attempted muggings, panhandlers, ad nauseum. It was always worst during K-Days (or whatever the hell they’re called this week) when the local druggies working as Conklin ride operators would share my bus. Some people need to be euthanized from the get-go and this is one of those bunches. Bleargh.
I now happily arrange my life around avoiding crowds and public transit.
Never fear Torontonians, Ms. Wynne and Ms. Chow are going to double your fun!
You know, the problem isn’t so much mass transit, per se; it’s the decline of civility in so-called “civil society”. There was a time that people misbehaving on a bus would get thrown off, or so shamed by onlookers that they would cease and desist. Not so, anymore.
All good stories to be sure, I’ve only seen actual puke on a train during Stampede here in Calgary, and then it was mostly orange pop so I’m unsure if puke is even what it was. It soaked into the guy’s shirt so fast it certainly didn’t contain any thickening agents, just a high discolorent content.
The original story in this series at the Nat. Post had an interesting take on having a bike on the train during prohibited hours. The response was the always classic, “no” which I heartily endorse.
This is a prime example of the Charter of Rights in our Constitution bearing bitter fruit a generation after it came into effect. Civility is somebody else’s responsibility.
It used to be faster to walk from Dufferin and St. Clair to Avenue Rd. than take the street car. It used to be a -lot- faster to ride my bike down town than take the subway.
I can only imagine its a lot worse now.
And thats not to mention the scumbags let run free in the city now.
I’m so glad someone wants more money for this public transportation.
In Israel the Palestinians blow up the buses, passengers and all.
Imagine the Barcelona style fun they could have with a rush-hour commuter train.
It’s only a matter of time until they target all of Rome.
Metal tracks in the middle of the street are just stupid.
Unlike street cars rubber tired buses can pass broke down buses and pull over to the curb to allow passengers to board.
God the horror stories of riding Toronto Transit. The scheduling geniuses are stuck in 1970. We have downtown bars that shut down at 3AM and a subway that stops running downtown at 1:45 AM. Morons clamoring for more streetcars that run perfectly from late spring to early autumn, then the 6 months of winter hit. They are working on “improving” subway stations which necessitate them shutting down on weekends randomly during the year which really puts dampers on travel plans.
I bike as much as I can since it takes about the same time if not a bit longer. Sometimes I can actually get to a destination faster if I push it.
The city clowncil here is a joke. The stories I have heard from TTC employees would make you weep at the waste of the money given to them.
I just have to say that I hate riding transit and avoid it as much as I can. If I do have to ride it, I avoid the late nights and rush hour congestion if at all possible.
I agree, Gord. And with the decline in civil society, it makes matters worse when public transit is overloaded.
Of all the public transit systems, surface rail are the stupidest. They take up what should be space for cars and trucks, and slow up the whole system because they have to stop every 150 yards and take on/drop off new passengers. The speed of the entire network is determined by the slowest moving car (i.e. the one with the most uptight driver, arguing with every new passenger, and the one with the stupidest passengers who insist on leaving from the front of the car, making each stop longer and longer). Yet Toronto, not having learned from the Spadina and St. Clair fiascos, wants to repeat the stupidity on Eglinton and Sheppard.
I have a choice to drive, bike, or take the TTC to work. Driving ~15 min. Biking ~35 min TTC ~45 min, on a good day. Throw in the detour on Eglinton right now, and it’s 55 min. I usually cycle.
Or you could get robbed on the way home. 2 armed men rob 20 passengers at 4:15 pm.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-cops-2-armed-men-robbed-passengers-on-orange-cta-line-20140716,0,3250364.story
I ride mass transit regularly. I do not own a car. I’ve taken commuter diesel rail, commuter electric rail, subways, elevated trains, and buses. I’d say that my experience has directly correlated with the ease of access to the mass transit. Buses are the worst, generally, and rail is usually very comfortable, fast, and has much, much less craziness. The electric commuter rail I take to work is faster than a car, even in good traffic, and very quiet. Basically, don’t judge mass transit by the worst examples.
As for the article, I don’t why people keep on thinking that streetcars are better than buses. You can even get hybrid or CNG buses if you want to keep the air clean. (Diesel exhaust is actual pollution, as in how we used to define it before the CAGW circus came to town) Cutting traffic lanes to add mass transit is (almost) never a good idea.
It’s being judged by the most common examples. And found wanting.