Two Easters ago I had the pleasure of dining with a friend and her mother. The mother was from NYC.
She made an offhand comment during the meal that I've pondered since. She said: "You have a very good bus system here." Now this was one person's opinion but as I've ridden the bus more since that day I've come to agree with her. On another occasion I chatted with a fellow in a bar (The Loring Bar as it were). He was an older pol from Minneapolis. The conversation turned to LRT as it was on my mind at the time. I think I said something like I thought the Hiawatha Line was a boondoggle. What do you think? He lived out toward the Veterans Hospital. He thought LRT was fine and that furthermore he would jump on board in his neighborhood and ride, say, to a baseball game. It could have been either at the Metrodome or at the preferred Rapid Park site for those Minneapolis new stadium boosters. It mattered little more than a few minutes. I read the editorial in this morning's StarTribune about the Legislature's failure to pass a transportation bill because of the polarization and an inability on the part of some to have a vision of the future that took into consideration ideas and values the newspaper espouses one of which is LRT. Bruce Gaarder of this list is forever trumpeting the inefficiency and cost of trains relative to the lesser cost and greater flexibility of buses. I understand his arguements perfectly and agree in principle though I am not entirely willing to relent on the idea of trains in certain cases. I like as many options as possible. What I ponder endlessly as I ride the bus is why so few middle class city people ride the bus. Certainly there are many commuters coming downtown from the nether reaches of the city or those in the city who commute to work in the suburbs who could take the bus. Instead of two car families we could have more one car families. When I owned a newer model car which is many years ago now and I was shackled with monthly car loan payments, insurance costs, garage fees, gas and maintenance, and the occasional towing fee, I also drove a cab in the city. When I thought of owning that car I measured it against taxicab fares and realized I could take a surprising number of taxicab rides, at some distance, for less than I spent on an automobile and that a cab could satisfy my need for flexibility and personal freedom. It might even enhance it. It's a lot easier to neck in a cab when you're moving or stuck in traffic. It's easier to avoid disquieting moments that lead to road rage. It's easy to concentrate on work or just sit back and relax. If one were to use a taxicab for every trip one took it might not have a great effect in easing congestion or wreaking less havoc on the environment but used in conjunction with buses they would have a definite effect. Why does one rarely hear a mention of taxicabs, alone or in conjunction with other modes of travel, when we speak of transit options. We have rarely used bike racks on the front of buses and that is a conjoining of modes of travel. So why won't people ride the bus and why will they be more inclined to ride LRT? To save ten minutes? I think it is about our discomfort with people that are different from us. I think it is about race and class and xenophobia. It's about people's perception of the city as being even more crime-ridden, violent and threatening than it is. We're safe in our cars. We are also alone and maybe listening to talk radio which all too often reinforces those stereotypes and perceptions we have constantly drummed into our heads. It's about people thinking the buses are dirty. And sometimes they are. It's about letting things like loud and unruly kids get under our skin or bus drivers who are less than amicable or too cheerful and perky. I get the impression that people think this LRT will be different. That it won't get dirty, that minorities and poor people won't be on the train, that there won't be unruly teenagers, etc. I really don't think this is about saving ten minutes travel time or even the environmental advantages. It won't be too long before we have fuel cell technology that could be used full scale for bus transit if not private automobiles. It's as much about being perceived as hip and cool and progressive as a city whether or not we really are and whether or not LRT serves any good purpose in this case. Maybe the reason the Legislature is so polarized is not because a bunch of Luddite Republicans will not vote for the Northstar Commuter Line as it is that our pea-brained Governor was sold a bill of goods by city DFLers who wouldn't ride the bus if it came to their front door. Finally, If my friend from the bar that Friday night were to hop on the #7 bus three and a half blocks from his house and got off at Chicago and Washington, two blocks from the dome, or at the 5th Street garage which is the northern terminus for both LRT Hiawatha Line and the #7 bus and is across the street from the Rapid Park site he could accomplish the same thing as he would if he took the LRT with nearly the same number of steps. And if he had gone to the game with his wife, wanted to splurge and felt a bit randy from the aphrodisiac effect of a good baseball game, he could take a cab home and neck in the back seat. Tim Connolly Ward 7 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! 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