Hey, I start this blog, and the next thing you know, I get an email from a senator with a link to a national listing of transit agencies:
American Public Transportation Association
But there's still work to be done to make public transit "easy." (take, for instance, my normally 30 minute commute home, which took 90 minutes this evening, because I missed the last bus??)
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Local models / agencies - San Francisco
In the San Francisco Bay area, the greatest resource for navigating among various transit agencies is the site 511.org This is an incredible resource that needs to be expanded globally.
Also for those who don't own cars but occasionally have need, CityCarShare and Zipcar allow you to use cars by the hour, instead of full-day rental. However, this is mostly useful if you're in the area full-time or belong in another city and have access locally.
Also, I've become a great fan of the Green Tortoise for travel (more vacation than transit). More personal and luxurious than Greyhound, and though they don't offer as many destinations, they do more than just drop you off.
Also for those who don't own cars but occasionally have need, CityCarShare and Zipcar allow you to use cars by the hour, instead of full-day rental. However, this is mostly useful if you're in the area full-time or belong in another city and have access locally.
Also, I've become a great fan of the Green Tortoise for travel (more vacation than transit). More personal and luxurious than Greyhound, and though they don't offer as many destinations, they do more than just drop you off.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Philosophical blathering
Yes, the WTC acronym is already taken by the World Trade Center, but in case you didn't notice...
World Trade has been greatly enabled by the flow of petroleum. The conditions which brought about the destruction of the World Trade Center were also greatly enabled by the flow of petroleum -- a plane-load of petroleum-based fuel, reportedly guided by religious zealots from a land where petroleum wealth has created great social disparity and anger (directed towards the purchasers rather than the sellers?).
This new use for the acronym WTC is a bit more down to earth than the gleaming towers.
The private automobile, which is mostly driven as a shell of personal safety and luxury in the USA, promotes separation and class distinction (who would ever imagine so many "brands" devoted to personality or "lifestyle" niches, when the primary goal is getting from point A to point B ?! )
Although class distinction and separation are easily evident in Walking, Transit, and Cycling (by distinctions of dress, price of bicycle, or whether by deluxe coach or public agency transit), there is much more of a shared experience and communion with the surrounding environment.
It is too early to say whether oil output and the global trade it enabled has peaked. But the icon was destroyed and trade agreements have become more difficult.
"Walk Transit Cycle" is towards a different vision. Not one of isolationism, but one of shared information, shared experiences, and continuation of the flow that fosters understanding.
World Trade has been greatly enabled by the flow of petroleum. The conditions which brought about the destruction of the World Trade Center were also greatly enabled by the flow of petroleum -- a plane-load of petroleum-based fuel, reportedly guided by religious zealots from a land where petroleum wealth has created great social disparity and anger (directed towards the purchasers rather than the sellers?).
This new use for the acronym WTC is a bit more down to earth than the gleaming towers.
The private automobile, which is mostly driven as a shell of personal safety and luxury in the USA, promotes separation and class distinction (who would ever imagine so many "brands" devoted to personality or "lifestyle" niches, when the primary goal is getting from point A to point B ?! )
Although class distinction and separation are easily evident in Walking, Transit, and Cycling (by distinctions of dress, price of bicycle, or whether by deluxe coach or public agency transit), there is much more of a shared experience and communion with the surrounding environment.
It is too early to say whether oil output and the global trade it enabled has peaked. But the icon was destroyed and trade agreements have become more difficult.
"Walk Transit Cycle" is towards a different vision. Not one of isolationism, but one of shared information, shared experiences, and continuation of the flow that fosters understanding.
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