Speaking of sexy…

Last night I got gussied up and hopped on the 4, headed downtown for a “changing jobs” party for a friend. I love riding the bus at night. There is something about the traffic-free streets, the deserted sidewalks, and the darkness outside the windows that creates camaraderie among those of us who have found ourselves together inside the warm, brightly lit vehicle.

Last night’s ride was better than usual. My favorite 4 driver, the one I call Smooth Jazz, was at the wheel. Smooth Jazz always drives at night, and he’s as cool and laid back as they come. Every time I ride his bus, he’s playing music–usually jazz–from a radio in the front. It’s loud enough for everyone to hear (especially on those quiet, nighttime rides), but not at all intrusive. When you get on, he nods and lifts his eyebrows, gently but firmly imparting the rules of his Smooth Jazz world: no funny business–just lean back, chill, and enjoy the ride.

Which is what I did.

The ride put me in just the right mood for the party, which turned out to be fun. The DJ was on an early-to-mid nineties hip-hop kick, and the bartender was excellent. (Another benefit of the bus-chick lifestyle: a built-in designated driver.) If I hadn’t violated Bus Chick Rule #37 (when going out, wear shoes that are both cute and comfortable) the night would have been perfect.

Too sexy for my car

Picture
Woman Seems Too Hot to Be Riding Bus (from The Onion)

Let’s face it, folks: The bus has a reputation as a less-than-sexy form of transportation. One of the biggest reasons for this is our culture’s longstanding tradition of associating cars with sex. We are constantly bombarded with images of partially clothed women spread-eagled on hoods (for now, let’s leave aside my many other issues with this type of marketing). People (especially men) buy nice cars to get dates. Couples take romantic drives into the country. Teenagers drive to a view point and “park.”

While I will admit to a definite weakness for candy paint and big wheels (blame it on my years in Houston: What You Know About Switchin’ Lanes on the Wood Grain?), I don’t see anything sexy about crashes, traffic, noise, pollution, overconsumption, or isolation.

The bus, on the other hand, has plenty to recommend it. People who ride frequently tend to have firm glutes from all the extra walking (don’t sleep on those downtown hills). College students ride buses (try the 48, 13, or 3) and so do many of those big, strong fish-throwers at the Market. Back in the day, lucky bus riders in the Bronx rubbed elbows with Jennifer Lopez. Buses are great places to meet people (I should know–I met Bus Nerd on the 545) and, apparently, good places for couples to share quality time. And really, what’s sexier than having a driver?

Because so few people know that riding the bus is sexier than driving, I’ve decided to embark on a campaign to change Metro’s image. Sexy bus chicks and bus boys in Seattle, I’m going to need your help. This summer, let’s follow in the footsteps of our feminist sisters and get some baby-doll/muscle t-shirts with slogans like, “This is What a Bus Rider Looks Like.” Let’s require people to ride the bus to all of the fabulous parties we throw. Let’s get The Stranger to add “sexiest Metro driver” to its annual “Seattle’s Sexiest” issue. Who’s with me?

I’m confident that my campaign will increase ridership, but I’m worried that it might become too successful. I don’t want to start seeing “Bikini Babes on Buses” at my local newsstand.

Caffeine is a kind of fuel

I caught the 14 outside of a Starbucks yesterday. The guy who got on behind me asked the bus driver to give him a free ride downtown, and she obliged. This would not have been especially unusual, except that he spent the entire ride in the very front of the bus (within sight of the driver) slurping loudly from the triple-deluxe-super-macked-out-chocolatey-explosion he had purchased while waiting for said free ride.

I understand that there are circumstances when people are not able to pay the bus fare. (Shoot, even bus chicks find themselves in a pinch from time to time.) But come on, man. Next time, save your game for the barista, so you can waste Howard Schultz’s money instead of mine.

For better or for worse

It’s good to be a bus chick when…
you have to pick up something at a shop in Pike/Pine.
Parking in that neighborhood? No thanks. I’m happy to roll up on the 14.

It’s not so good to be a bus chick when…
the something you have to pick up is a dress for an evening out, it’s raining, you just got your hair done, and you have to walk several blocks to catch the 14.

Sigh.

For me and the bus, August is always the honeymoon phase.

Beyond Trip Planner

Several readers (well, two that I can remember) have commented that Metro is difficult to use “cold.” I admit that this is true. If you are new to the bus, you will probably have to do a little work to figure out how to get where you’re going. Until now, I never thought of it as a huge issue. I assumed that making a minimal effort up front was part of the deal–like getting directions to a place you’ve never driven to before. Still, the easier and more brainless a transit system is, the more likely people (including visitors) will be to ride it.

It would be nice if riding the bus didn’t seem so difficult and intimidating to newbies, but I don’t have many ideas about how Metro could make it easier. I liked kd-westseaattle’s suggestion that we put route maps in the ad slots, so people will know where they’re going and where they should transfer. Are there other ideas out there? Let’s think of some good ones (especially those that are actually feasible, given the current funding constraints) and pass them on to the folks at the county.

Bus chicks with babies

I don’t have time to post anything new tonight, but I just came across this post from my “other” blog–written almost exactly a year ago–and thought it funny enough to share:

Tonight on the 48, I sat next to an old man who was wearing a tweed jacket and reading The New York Times with a magnifying glass. He was moving an envelope from line to line to keep his place, the way they taught us to do with bookmarks in first grade. Oh yeah, and he was balancing a rake between his knees.

On the other side of the aisle, two loud, middle-school age girls giggled and shrieked incessantly. The young women were apparently taking part in one of those pregnancy prevention programs they have in sex ed and home ec classes these days–the kind where you have to pretend to have a baby for a day or a week or a month or whatever. In the old days, they used chicken eggs for these experiments. These days, they have battery operated dolls that apparently act just like real babies. Right before we got to my stop, the girls’ mechanical baby started wailing. The girls started wailing right along with it.

[scream] “Omigod–it’s crying on the bus!” [giggle, giggle, giggle]

“I hate this stupid sh*t! [giggle, giggle]

[The “mother” pulls a bottle out of her book bag and shoves it into the wailing doll’s mouth.]

“No! You can’t just feed the m***erf***er. You gotta move it around and sh*t.”

Indeed.

More on transportation and choices

One of my favorite things about the bus is that, in theory, everyone who rides is equal. No matter your income or social station, you get on, pay your fare, and sit (or stand) by your fellow citizens. In practice, of course, your income and social station can greatly influence your bus-riding experience. It doesn’t take a transit authority to notice the difference between the ST 545 and MT 7, routes that serve very different demographics. And while I love wireless on Metro as much as the next bus chick (OK, more), I am sensitive to the fact that this is a service that very few riders can take advantage of.

When it is next to impossible for me to visit my girlfriends in Renton and Skyway, do I really need Metro to enable my obsessive e-mail habit? On the other hand, how many obsessive e-mailers and workaholics (not to mention porn addicts) might commute by bus if they had the option to use the Internet while they rode?

In February, I traveled to Detroit for the Super Bowl. If you want to find out why, read my February 15th Real Change column. If you don’t care why, you should at least know that I watched the game at a bar–not at Ford Field.

But I digress.

While I was in Detroit, I met with Megan Owens of Transportation Riders United, an organization “dedicated to improving transportation access and mobility in Greater Detroit.” (This is no small task. It’s not nicknamed the Motor City for nothing.) TRU is advocating for some major rail lines in the region, but currently, the only form of public transportation available in Greater Detroit is the bus.

Having ridden the bus in Detroit, I can tell you that the experience is less than positive. Stops are poorly marked (the signs don’t even tell you which routes stop there), coverage is spotty, and extreme lateness is the norm. In Detroit, the only people who ride the bus are those who have no other option. As it turns out, that’s a fair number of people. According to Megan, fully one-third of Detroit’s residents do not have access to a car. Poor people don’t have much political power–certainly not the kind of power that can rival GM and Ford’s stranglehold on the region–and people who don’t ride the bus are unlikely to care how well it works. So, service does not improve.

On the flip side, a fellow bus rider from London told me that, after the city began charging commuters for driving into the city, the number of people who rode public transit increased dramatically. Suddenly, affluent people used to the comforts of their SUVs were stuck on the subway. Not long after, the condition of subway cars began to improve, and everyone benefited.

And so, dear readers, the question I constantly struggle with is this:

What does it mean to create a public transportation system that truly benefits everyone?

My take is that investing in innovations that will improve the overall efficiency of the system is a necessity. On the comforts and amenities, I’m not as sure. While I understand that more riders=more support for transit and eventually, more and better public transportation (and fewer car trips, which is pretty much the point), I am not convinced that reclining seats and park-and-ride artwork are more important to greater good than improving service and coverage for those who aren’t “choosing” to ride.

What do you think? Any strong opinions out there? Any information to add?

Car-free vacation: Vancouver

This weekend, Adam and I took the train to Vancouver for a short vacation. We were in the city for only two days, and though we used TransLink (Vancouver’s public transportation system) quite a bit during those two days, we didn’t have enough time to get a feel for what it’s really like.

For what it’s worth, here’s my quick and dirty assessment:

What I liked:
• The fare system: One ticket buys you passage on all the TransLink services (the SkyTrain, the buses, and the SeaBus). Tickets are available at convenience and grocery stores, and at SkyTrain stations.
• Mini-buses: The buses for some routes were smaller than standard buses (picture an airport shuttle). Instead of limiting the frequency of routes with lower ridership, TransLink limited the size of the vehicles.
• Rail: Public transit that’s not dependent on traffic or gasoline and always runs on time? Yes, please! As it happens, construction on Vancouver’s newest rail line (the Canada Line) begins this month.
• Hybrid cabs: We saw these everywhere.

What I didn’t like:
• Signage at bus stops. The bus schedules were often incomplete and confusing.
• Feeling like a newbie. I love riding public transportation in other cities, but, as a self-proclaimed expert on Seattle’s bus system, I’m always slightly uncomfortable in the role of ignorant newcomer.

What I’m still trying to figure out:
The SkyTrain honor system: Both times we rode the SkyTrain, we bought tickets but were never required to use them. We got the impression (from the text on the back of the ticket) that someone from TransLink might board the train and ask people to prove they had paid, but I find it difficult to believe that this is really the only method used to ensure that folks actually pay the fare. Is there anyone out there from Vancouver who can shed some light?

Even with a limited knowledge of Vancouver’s public transit system, I am convinced that it is relatively painless to live there without a car. The city (not by accident) is small, densely populated, pedestrian friendly, and (mostly) freeway free. There are grocery stores, pet stores, dry cleaners, and pharmacies in almost every neighborhood. We took public transit because we wanted to see how it worked, but we could have easily made it to all of our destinations (with the exception, perhaps, of Stanley Park) by walking for 10-15 minutes.

We enjoyed every minute of it. When you’re in a busy, vibrant, international city (that just happens to be surrounded by stunning natural beauty), walking is not just a method of getting from A to B; it’s part of the experience.