Last week I rode downtown on one of these: [image: Inline image 1]
On Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 12:12 PM, Share Long <sharelon...@yahoo.com> wrote: > ** > > > About 50 years ago, I traveled from Frostburg, MD in the mountains to DC > Union Station. Lots of trees at the beginning. Lots of govt buildings at > the end. But Union Station is quite beautiful as are some other parts of > DC. > > The passenger trains traveling east that go through FF end up in Chicago. > They are not reliable time-wise so if one has a plane to catch out of > O'Hara, it's better to take the bus. And at least the bus stops in FF. The > closest train stops are 30 minutes away, Ottumwa to the west and Mt. > Pleasant to the east. Friends have taken that train, the California Zephyr, > to Denver, and then all the way to the Pacific Northwest. I think it's an > all night journey. I don't think it's the Orient Express! > > > On Saturday, October 12, 2013 11:50 AM, Bhairitu <noozg...@sbcglobal.net> > wrote: > > We have an Amtrak station here. I looked into traveling up to Seattle > that way but it was actually more expensive than taking a plane. When I > was a kid I traveled from here back up to Portland on a train. I would bet > the route has not changed much. I got to see a lot of fir trees. > > On 10/12/2013 09:28 AM, Share Long wrote: > > > 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> <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? > > > > > > > > >
