I admit I've long wished the US had a coast to coast fast train and a car train
at that, maybe making 3 or so stops along the way. I've traveled in train a few
times and thoroughly enjoyed it.
On Saturday, October 12, 2013 11:17 AM, Bhairitu <noozg...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
As I've posted before, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) ain't so rapid. Right now
there is a possibility of another strike which will make things really worse.
Much at issue aren't so much union wages but safety. Back in the day they
probably thought they had the "state of the art" public transportation idea,
except that it is too expensive to extend into the whole area. And train and
trolley tracks got torn up and even now used as hiking trails. So we can't do
the much cheaper "light rail."
In the 1990s I lived across the street from a BART station. Where
I worked was also across the street from a BART station but I
rarely took it. That was because my job sometimes required
driving out to other businesses. And gas was so cheap and my car
so fuel efficient it actually cost more to ride BART. I would
occasionally take BART into "the city" (San Francisco) because
parking, like Paris, is shitty there. But I would occasionally
drive there on weekends when downtown is like a ghost town.
America is carville. The car manufacturers wanted it that way.
It is also spread out. And California has a lot weird and winding
roads probably drawn up with it was part of Mexico. Not too easy
to do mass transit with those.
On 10/11/2013 11:19 PM, turquoiseb wrote:
>
>So I'm sitting here in this cafe that promised Wifi and
didn't deliver,
>wondering what I can write about, and I discover that my
mind is still
>savoring my bus ride here to Place d'Italie. It was FUN. I
got a seat,
>which is nice, and then I just kicked back watching the
people on the
>bus with me. They were neat. They made me smile.
>
>In the US, they would have tended to be mostly lower
class. Cars and
>car-dependent city designs have ensured that most of the
middle class
>have cars. And the upper crust wouldn't be caught dead on
a city bus or
>a subway.
>
>Here, it's not like that, except at the very top of the
upper class.
>I've seen well-dressed, obviously well-to-do people on the
Metros and
>buses. Heck, I've seen famous people on the Metros and
buses. So you get
>a wide range -- from poor to lower class to middle class
to the
>occasional upper class person, all getting across Paris
via public
>transportation.
>
>There's a lot of Paris to have to get across. This is not
a small city.
>And even if you have a car, on most routes you can get
there faster on
>public transportation. Also, *when* you get there, you
don't have to
>worry about finding a place to park your car. Parking
spaces in Paris
>are so rare as to be increasingly considered mythical.
>
>So it's a no-brainer here -- if you have an important
business meeting
>or a romantic date across town and you want to get there
on time -- to
>decide whether you should drive your car or take public
transportation.
>You just hop on the Metro. They're very reliable, and
they'll get you
>there on time.
>
>I've never had a car when living in Paris, and don't see
the need of
>having one now. Back home in the Netherlands, I have a car
but it has
>sat unused for months now. Public transportation is just
so much more
>convenient, and in the long run, cheaper.
>
>But those are just the pragmatic reasons for preferring
public
>transportation, at least in Europe. The more important
reason for me is
>that it's more FUN. I am endlessly fascinated by people,
of every class,
>so riding the buses and trains and Metros that constitute
public
>transportation in France and the Netherlands provides me
with a
>never-ending canvas of great people to watch.
>
>The buses and Metros of Paris are like a genetic and
cultural frog in a
>blender. Given the number of immigrants in the past few
decades, Paris
>today looks like Casablanca did when I was growing up
there. The faces I
>see are a mix of French and North African, with growing
numbers of black
>Africans, Muslims from places other than North Africa, and
Asians. Paris
>is a cultural zoo. Add to that the cross-class nature of
Paris public
>transit, and you've got a zoo worth savoring. I sometimes
feel as if I
>should be sitting there with a container of popcorn in my
lap, it's so
>much like a movie.
>
>You learn so much.
>
>There are still young people in the world who get up and
give their
>seats to an older person. There are street toughs whose
style is to look
>like they're ready to kill you, but who leap across a
Metro car to block
>the subway doors closing on a hapless fellow commuter.
There are
>remarkable acts of both kindness (common) and rudeness
(rare). There are
>occasional dramas, and even the occasional
cops-and-robbers flick as
>some pickpocket runs down the Metro platform, pursued by
the gendarmes.
>These are straight out of early Truffaut movies, so much
so that I find
>myself looking around to discover where the cameras are
placed.
>
>And there are the *visuals* of the Metro, ferchrissakes.
Some of the
>Metro stops are nothing short of stunning,
architecturally, even the
>now-aging ones. For examples of that, rent "Amelie" and
watch it again.
>Jeunet's shots of the Metro stations and train stations of
Paris are
>jaw-droppingly beautiful. Yes, they're color-enhanced, but
IMO that's
>just him presenting the visuals of Paris to others the way
*he* sees
>them. All glow-y, full of light, full of life.
>
>I see them the same way. Although my Day Job may from time
to time get
>boring, my commutes to and from work never do. I've only
seen a couple
>of movies in the theater since I've been working here, and
part of the
>reason is that I sit through two movies every day on the
way to and from
>work. I don't need to pay 10 Euros or more to see one in a
theater.
>Although I do occasionally miss the popcorn; there are
dismayingly few
>popcorn vendors in the Paris Metro system.
>
>Anyway, that's just what I felt like rapping about this
evening. What
>about the rest of you? We've got posters here from all
over the world.
>When you're "at home," wherever that is, do you tend to
drive or take
>advantage of public transportation? If the latter, are any
of you weird
>enough to appreciate it the way I do?
>
>
