I’d love to see Pike Place become one of them–and not just for festivals and Organic Farmer Days. Necessary traffic (restaurants picking up produce orders, for example) can be managed, but I don’t see any reason to allow through traffic. It diminishes the appeal (not to mention the safety) one of the few places in Seattle that’s ideal for walking. Besides, I’m sure the crowds of pedestrians in the street (overflowing from the too-narrow sidewalks) significantly diminish the appeal of driving.
Monthly Archives: October 2006
Speaking of Morocco…
The Car-Free Cities site has an interesting study of the medina (pronounced medeena, and not to be confused with the wealthy suburb just east of us) in Fes.
Most Moroccan cities have medinas (old sections that predate European influence). I lived in one in Rabat (in the Oudaïa Kasbah) for most of the time I was in Morocco. Medinas are car-free because the streets are far too narrow to accommodate vehicles. They’re not necessarily models that can be applied to modern cities, but they are interesting, dynamic, bustling, and walkable in ways that no car-dominated neighborhood could be.
From the Fes study:
While the circumstances in Fes-al-Bali are not ideal…they have posed no significant barriers to the continuance of city life almost entirely free of cars and trucks. Despite the commercial difficulties with freight delivery, the area remains the commercial heart of a much larger city and draws large numbers of shoppers and merchants from other areas of the city.
Of course, to get to and from the medina, there’s always the bus.
Ecouter clandestinement
Because I am shy, nosy, and able to simultaneously process information from multiple sources, I am well-suited to one of my favorite bus-riding pastimes: eavesdropping. I am an expert eavesdropper. In fact, I am the Queen of Eavesdroppers. That is, as long as everyone I’m eavesdropping on is speaking English.
Despite my early plans to become a polyglot, the only foreign language I can speak well enough to claim (thanks to a few childhood years in Morocco and many years of study in the States) is French. Unfortunately, though I am able to carry on reasonable conversations, my French eavesdropping skills are pretty poor–so poor, in fact, that when I was in Paris last year, I was constantly frustrated by my inability to immerse myself in my fellow Metro riders’ business.
The Luxembourg Metro/RER station in Paris, where I first failed at French eavesdropping
This morning, as luck would have it, I was presented with an unexpected chance to practice my international listening skills. Two men sitting across from me on the 545 were having a full-on French conversation, and (oh, happy bus ride!) I understood it. Funny how that language can make an otherwise uninteresting exchange about office moves and South Lake Union condo purchases sound so sophisticated and fabulous.
Oh yeah–while I was disembarking, I caught the beginning of a more typical 545 conversation:
Hipster-geek 1: “Hey man. How’s it goin’?”
Hipster geek 2: “Other than the fact that my web server crapped out compiling ASP this morning, life is good.”
Speaking of California…
Los Angeles has a bus riders’ union. Though they might want to consider narrowing down their mission statement, I like what they’re about:
The Bus Riders Union seeks to promote environmentally sustainable public transportation for the entire population of Los Angeles, on the premise that affordable, efficient, and environmentally sound mass transit is a human right.
They clearly recognize both the environmental and social-justice benefits of public transit, which is rare; most transit advocates seem to focus on one or the other. (Of course, there are also urban-planning and public-health benefits, which you could argue fit into one of the above categories. I like to call them out. But I digress.)
LA’s Bus Riders Union must be doing something right, because they managed to attract the attention of an Oscar-winning filmmaker. Apparently, in 1999, Haskell Wexler directed a documentary about the organization, which I have yet to get my hands on. I’ll report back as soon as I do.
About those system maps…
Bus Nerd noticed this at the southbound Montlake stop the other day.
As I said back in August, it’s good for showing which routes go to specific neighborhoods, but because it doesn’t include most streets, I can’t imagine how it would be used practically–without supplementation by Trip Planner or a rider information specialist, that is. For comparison, check out San Fran’s and Vancouver’s system maps. Both are real street maps that also include bus routes. (Also, in both cities, it’s fairly easy to find paper versions of the maps. I don’t know where to find them here.)
For signs at neighborhood stops like the one at Montlake, I’m envisioning the big system map in the background, with the neighborhood in some sort of magnified call-out, a la Google Transit:
The bus-stop map could include all the streets and routes in the neighborhood.
Finding a man on the CTA
The folks at Boystowners share a story about a successful bus mack (which, it seems, has resulted in some good, old fashioned bus luh):
We’ve all heard stories about the CTA, the cramped morning commutes, late buses/trains and obnoxious riders. Have you ever heard of falling in love?
It happened for two lucky Boystown residents (they’re now in Wicker Park) on the No. 146-Inner Drive/Michigan Express from downtown to Belmont…
Their advice for finding love on the CTA:
One: Be open to meeting people on the “L” or bus. If you’re not, you could miss out on a new friend or a possible love match.
Two: If you do find love, even if it’s at a bus stop, hold on to it
They always say you’ll find love where you least expect it. We better remember to do our hair the next time we ride the bus.
Don’t make me say I told you so.
Northbound 48, 8:40 AM
Middle-school boys, on…
Fashion:
Boy 1, to Boy 2: “Your pants are hella faded. Your mom wash those or something?”
Boy 2: “You’re supposed to wash ’em.”
Boy 3: “Yeah, but you have to turn ’em inside out.”
Boy 1: “Well, it looks like she used bleach. Tell you mom not to use bleach when she washes your sh*t.”
Education:
Boy 4 (an outsider), to Boy 1: “You go to Meany?”
Boy 1: “Yeah.”
Boy 4: “I think you were in 6th grade when I was in 8th.”
Boy 1: “I didn’t go to Meany in 6th grade. I went to Triple A, but I got suspended.”
Boy 4: “Where you going next year?”
Boy 1: “Franklin or The Beach, I guess. I already know: When I go to high school, I’m getting suspended.”
Sexual orientation:
Boy 4, to Boy 1: “You have Miss Mendoza this year?”
Boy 1: “Miss Mendoza went to Mexico.”
Boy 4: “For real?”
Boy 1: “I think she left because everybody found out she was a lesbian. She told the whole class and told us not to tell anybody, but we went around and told everybody.”
Punctuality:
Boy 2, to Boy 3: “What time does first period start?”
Boy 1: “Second period started seven minutes ago.”
“Slugging” goes high tech
Wikipedia defines slugging as, “a form of commuting that…combines a variation of ‘ride-share’ commuting and hitchhiking.” Essentially, folks who need rides stand at designated locations (near bus stops, for example), and folks who need riders (for the HOV lanes) pick them up. Personally, I’d prefer to ride with strangers in a government-sanctioned context, but if it works for other folks…
Slugging is very popular in cities like Washington, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco. It happens occasionally in the Seattle area (it’s been happening at Overlake Transit Center for years), but it’s certainly not an established or common practice.
Yet.
Today I met with Zachary Corker of Goose Networks, a startup that’s brought Seattle’s special high-tech flavor to this ride-sharing phenomenon. Goose’s service “allows commuters to find ridesharing partners in real-time by simply sending a free text message from their existing mobile phones.” Instead of standing on the street and waiting for a stranger to pass, Seattle-area sluggers can sign up for Goose’s service (for free) and send a text message when they’re ready to leave. The system matches drivers and riders and sends a return text message with all relevant information. Users are also screened, so it’s more likely to be safe. Interested? Check out the tutorial on the Goose Networks website.
If you happen to work at Microsoft and live in one of nine central-Seattle zip codes (98101, 98102, 98104, 98109, 98112, 98119, 98121, 98122, 98199), you can participate in Goose’s three-month beta. They even offer incentives like free gas.
Of course, real-time carpooling can’t offer free wireless Internet access, like the 545. I’m just sayin’.
A sustainable Sunday
This afternoon, I headed over to Ballard (short walk+3+18) for the third annual Sustainable Ballard Festival. Sustainable Ballard is a nonprofit organization that has gained national attention for working to make Ballard the first carbon-neutral community in the nation.
Today was my first time attending the festival. I gave a short talk at the transportation tent and then spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the booths and learning from the other presenters.
Metro and the Ballard in Motion folks were there. They were giving away coloring books for kids. I took one for my Godson, Isaac (aka Zaky). And one for me.
Highlights:
• The talk right after mine, which was all about how to overcome your fear of riding a bike in traffic
• The solar energy and urban design booths
• The free samples at the SPUD (Small Potatoes Urban Delivery) booth and the stickers they were giving out: “Bite me. I’m organic.”
• Meeting a bus chick named Kristen (hope I spelled that correctly), who’s so serious about busing she’s doesn’t even have a driver’s license
All in all, it was an educational and fun event–a great way to enjoy a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
September Golden Transfer
This month’s Golden Transfer goes to Metro’s only floating bus, the Elliott Bay Water Taxi, which completed its final run of 2006 just 23 minutes ago. From May 1st until today, the Water Taxi transported a record 118,000 passengers across Elliott Bay. Some of those passengers were repeaters, of course: commuters; frequent beachgoers; and me, a woman who likes to visit her parents.
In addition to being the cheapest scenic boat ride in the city, the Water Taxi is also a useful form of transportation. It provides a short, convenient route between downtown and Seacrest Park in West Seattle. And, in case you’re not headed to (or coming from) Seacrest, you can ride a free Metro shuttle between the park and Alki, the Admiral District, and Alaska Junction.
Taxi!
Waiting in line to get on
Bus Chick and Bus Nerd take one last ride.
Jeremy and Elizabeth at Matador
To celebrate the Water Taxi’s last night in service, we rode over to the west side to meet my parents; my brother, Jeremy; and his girlfriend, Elizabeth, for dinner. We ate at Matador, which I thought was a good choice: Good food. Nice crowd. Decent mojitos. (Note: You can follow red wine with mojitos when you don’t have to worry about driving.)
So thanks EBWT, for enabling so many of my summer adventures: sunset roller blading, Salty’s brunches, fireworks-viewing, and, of course, innumerable parental visits. It’s going to be a long seven months until I can ride again.
Buh bye