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Just because I take public transit doesn’t mean I have to like it

By Liam Britten

I really wish I did not have to be bothered with the environment, because if I
didn’t, I would never take the loser cruiser (AKA the bus) anywhere. Riding the bus
sucks. Not only does it smell faintly of urine and there are poor people everywhere,
but the bus is tragically unhip to go anywhere.

Example: have you ever tried to pick up a chick when the bus is your ride? It’s
difficult. Not only will she think you’re broke (which you probably are), but it’s
next to impossible to holla at a chick that you see on the street if there’s no bus stop
in front of her. A massive hitch in any playa’s game, I assure you.

Also, what’s the deal with no smoking on the bus? I thought Canada was a
free country, but when you try to exercise your personal freedoms on public transit,
everyone gets all up in your grill. Shouldn’t people be grateful that I’m giving them
free nicotine when I’m blowing second-hand smoke everywhere? And to be frank,
I don’t care what trimester that pregnant lady I’m sitting beside is in. When I’m
feeling a craving, I need a fix, dammit!

And I can’t stand how the nanny state tells people that the bus is a good
alternative to driving drunk. Driving drunk is way more fun than just riding the

ere

bus drunk. When you’re drunk, even walking becomes more challenging and
fascinating, and driving suddenly becomes an extreme sport.

Also what’s the deal with crazy people on the bus? I get so tired of these
delusional people preaching that “Pepsi controls your brain,” or “The voices
won’t stop,” or “Vote Conservative.” If I want a crazy person telling me all kinds
of bullshit, I’ll pull over and let them into my car, and then de-louse the seat
afterwards.

Finally, have you ever been riding the bus, minding your own business, and
then you wind up running into someone you don’t really care for, and they want to
start up a conversation with you? So annoying! The conversations always go the
same way: “What have you been up to? Where do you live? Where do you work?
How’s school? Can you please stop smoking on the bus?” Yak, yak yak! And you
cannot avoid these conversations; you can’t be all like, “I have to go,” because
where are you going to go? To the back of the bus? Your only hope of avoiding
such conversations is to pull a hood over your eyes, put some headphones in your
ears, and act like you’re asleep (a real challenge if you’re standing on the bus).

When it comes to taking the bus, it’s truly getting hard out here for a pimp.

More reasons for transit than just Saving MONEY sy timoiny ama

L. probably in the minority in that I’ve actively chosen to use transit over the
car. I used to own a car in high school, but after graduating I opted for transit. Why
would I choose what is perceived to be a much inferior mode of transportation?

It is much more than a simple issue of cost; there are fundamental social and
environmental reasons to opt out of the car.

Suburbia is often an alienating place, disconnecting us from our neighbours
and community. It is also an unsustainable use of our resources. By encouraging
suburban sprawl through the use of the car we encourage incredible wastes of land
and energy. Think of how many families can inhabit one apartment building. Now
imagine each of those families in their own individual dwelling complete with
front and back lawn, driveway, and decent living space. On top of that increase
in land use, we need expensive roads, sewers, and other utility infrastructure with
ongoing maintenance to keep it all running. That’s not to say we should all live in
apartments or condos, but we need to build our communities around the person, not
the car.

By encouraging people to live in walkable, transit-friendly neighbourhoods,
we encourage people to be a part of their community. Even just passing the same
people on the street or in the bus fosters a sense of belonging and familiarity, and
therefore makes our streets safer. When we have a stake in our community, we will
fight for it; we will defend it. When I have a car at my fingertips, I know how much
more tempting it is to get in and drive to the grocery store rather than walk. Transit
can be frustrating; it can be slow, dirty, and unreliable, but if we took as much pride
in our transit system as we did in our cars, many problems could be overcome.

Our negative perception of transit is the first thing that needs to change. Then, as
communities become more dense, transit frequency and reliability also increases.

The reasons to limit our car use go beyond monetary cost; cars cost our mental,
physical, and environmental health. We need to see the car as something of pleasure
and luxury again and less of a necessity or right.