107. "We Have the Best *** in the World"

Go ahead, plug in "healthcare," or "education," or "military," or "political system" or whatever, and most Americans will say, yes we do.  Which means of course that we can't look overseas for suggestions about how to improve our whatever, because that would imply that we may not be the best after all.

But if it's public transportation that is the issue at hand, I think even the most fervent patriot would pause. Consider the world-wide "bus rapid transit" systems (BRT) throughout the world which include the following characteristics that I have seen in Guatemala City, Quito, Guayaquil, and Lima:

1. Designated (bus-only) lanes
2. Off-bus fare collection
3. Level boarding
4. Designated, bus-only lanes.
5. Express stops

A handful of U.S. cities are trying various parts of BRT, but not to the scale seen overseas. "Yes we can" ... learn from others.

106. Tuk-Tuk

Continuing the international theme of Guatemalan public transportation (American school busses, Japanese pick-ups), we turn to India, which produces these 3-wheeled diesel taxis, a combination of a motorcycle and a rickshaw (go ahead, wiki or google "motorized rickshaw," aka tuk-tuk).  Three adults can squeeze into the back, plus a few kids, without straining the engine.

At about a buck per person, more expensive than a chicken bus or Mayan taxi, but does take you exactly where you want to go.  It is a taxi, after all.

U.S. models now available, maybe around $1000.

105. Mayan Taxis

So, back to Guatemala.  A route that doesn't attract enough riders for a chicken bus, may instead have a Mayan taxi:  a Japanese (i.e., small) pick-up with a metal frame that standing passengers hang on to.  I think I counted 24 on one I was on.  Cheap, fun, but in a collision....

104. "It's nuts"

Innovation and inertia may not be opposites in a dictionary but they are in reality.  Consumers stay away from innovative products, preferring to stay where they are.  But this is not the only obstacle facing hybrid cars, especially GM's Volt, which Fox news commentators have used to criticize Obama.

As reported by Joe Nocera of the NYTImes: "It's nuts," said Bob Lutz, the politically conservative GM executive responsible for the Volt. "There are so many legitimate things to criticize Obama about. It it inexplicable that the right would feel the need to tell lies about the Volt to attack the president."  


The Volt has been named the Car of the Year in Europe.

103. Bikes and Busses

Ever wonder what happened to all those "Bluebell" snub-nose busses that took you to school every day?

Well, they were shipped to Latin America (or at least, to Guatemala), repainted (usually) and pressed into service as intracity busses.  Called "chicken busses" as a nod to the diversity of cargo, the fare is usually less than a buck, and it is not uncommon to see eight passengers in a row.

My commute depends on the bike racks that all of our busses have, but these front-loading racks are limited to two or three bikes.  Chicken busses would not appear to be so restricted.

[note the service quality:  that's the fare collector on the right, not the passenger, hoisting the bike to its resting place]

102. Two Glove Days

One pair of gloves from home to bus stop, then second pair of dry gloves for bus stop to work.  Hoping that they will be dry for the trip home.

Rain for this month will reach 7in, close to double normal.

101. Rough Road

It's been about 10 years since the freeway has been resurfaced, so with a rough ride this morning, I thought maybe I-5 was due for a makeover.  Then a thud and smooth sailing, leading me to conclude that the flopping flat tire had just self-ejected.  Sure enough the bus pulled over and the driver announced that we had a flat tire.

Soon another passing bus (different beginning route but with same destination) stopped in front, I thought wow, a quick transfer and we'll be on our way.  But nope, the apparently policy is that a new, empty bus has to be summoned, with the apparent thinking that just 20 minutes from their destination, riders would rather wait an extra 30 minutes for an empty bus to be summoned,  than stand for the remaining 20 minutes on an immediately available but almost full bus.

Not me. But with the bus having pulled over on the left, I had no options

100. Cleats

With a lot of slush and below freezing temperatures, I left the bike at home and walked to and from bus stops.  Maybe about 8 miles total.  Strap-on cleats I bought a few months ago helped since shoveling snow off sidewalks does not appear to be part of assumed neighborhood responsibilities.

I have a front-wheel drive car that has good traction and would have shaved the walking down to a few miles, but the brisk walk felt good.

99. More Winter Biking

Notes to self:

1.  The simple absence of rain or snow doesn't mean that waterproof shoe covers can be left behind.  Fifteen minutes cycling through yesterday's slush is time enough to leave shoes and socks wet and feet cold for the remaining 75 minutes of the commute.

2.  Just because I'm okay cycling in snow and slush doesn't mean my dentist is willing to leave home.  Call first!

98. Winter Biking

First, almost couldn't get the frozen bike rack down (when not in use it folds up).

Then my chain froze during the bus trip home --I know, a better lubricated chain....

Finally, though okay on level ground, with the slightest incline I had no traction, even with mountain bike tires.

Fortunately, just at that moment, bus #49 came along.  It goes up the hill and then to within 5 blocks from home.  This violates my rule of not taking more than one bus per trip, but hey, as an LA Times columnist pointed out, we're "clueless" when it comes to snow.

97. Social Engineering

The socialist department of transportation has devised an Orwellian system to force changes in the commuting habits of thousands. Or so some would have us think.

The glacier-formed ribbon lake separating the suburban east from the urban west (a fading distinction) is 22 miles long and a few miles wide.  Two floating bridge complexes (the lake bottom being too deep/muddy to allow pilings for suspension bridges) span the lake.  The deteriorating northern bridge needs a $5 billion replacement, one billion coming from tolls which were recently introduced on the current bridge.

High-tech cameras capture the license plate or an attached "good to go" pass (which acts like a debit card), eliminating the need for toll booths.

The staggered (and for some motorists staggering) toll rates have reduced volume by one-half: from 120,000 daily crossings to 60,000. Traffic zips along at 60 from the pre-toll 20.  The idea was to encourage the use of busses and carpools, but most toll-avoiders have just switched to the newer and wider free bridge to the south, slowing its traffic from 60 to 20, bringing more pollutants to the air and sending more dollars overseas as drivers add 10-15 miles with the extra loop.  So much for social engineering.

Why don't both bridges have a toll?

Mondays - Fridays	Good To Go! Pass	Pay By Mail
Midnight to 5 a.m.	0	0
5 a.m. to 6 a.m.	$1.60	$3.10
6 a.m. to 7 a.m.	$2.80	$4.30
7 a.m. to 9 a.m.	$3.50	$5.00
9 a.m. to 10 a.m.	$2.80	$4.30
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.	$2.25	$3.75
2 p.m. to 3 p.m.	$2.80	$4.30
3 p.m. to 6 p.m.	$3.50	$5.00
6 p.m. to 7 p.m.	$2.80	$4.30
7 p.m. to 9 p.m.	$2.25	$3.75
9 p.m. to 11 p.m.	$1.60	$3.10
11 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.	0	0

96. At the Bus Stop

Headed for the bus stop early Sunday morning after an all night shift.  A chilly but calm and foggy winter morning--actually not bad weather for a bike ride.  A young woman listens to a fiftyish man in a wool winter overcoat.  The kind of guy you would expect to be a salesman at Nordstrom or maybe a hospital administrator (I have a limited world view).  In a few minutes he comes over to me and asks if I would be interested in a copy of the "Watchtower."  I decline.  He then climbs into the passenger seat of a nearby Suburban-type SUV with a woman driver, and they leave. I wonder if at the next stop she'll be the one who gets out.

95. Learning Curve

1974 Loss #1:  Classic black 3-speed Raleigh left unlocked overnight in a fenced backyard.  Yet to be forgiven
1994 Loss #2:  Costco mountain bike left in an unlocked garage; nothing else of value was missing
2005 Loss #3:  New REI urban bike From UW campus mid-afternoon, just a flimsy cable (but I was only gone for 30 min)
2011 Loss #4:  Another Costco bike from a parking garage during an overnight shift; it was okay at 6pm; gone by 8am, thick cable and new helmet left dangling on the stand.  Chastised by my daughter who had given me a U-lock after #3.

Okay, I'll use a U-lock, and during night shifts, will bring it inside.

94. Transportation Election Results

Smart voters in Cincinnati and Durham approved measures for public transportation infrastructure (e.g., light and heavy rail lines) but voters in King county let us down.  Though Washington did defeat a measure that would have screwed up proposed tolling plans for the new Lake Washington bridge and prohibited light rail from using said bridge, the county defeated by a huge margin a vehicle license fee increase to maintain bus service.  Metro depends on sales tax revenues, which are down, thus the need for a new revenue source.


In retrospect the proposed fee increase was doomed.  It seemed to pit car owners (who own cars and presumably don't use public transit) against bus riders (who in the public mind don't own cars).  So on the surface it's asking car owners to pay someone else's bus fares.

But of course most bus riders have cars, and as bus routes disappear, more cars that would have been happy to stay in their driveways will be on the road clogging up streets.

A second factor also played a role:  voters are more likely to approve construction (new schools, roads, rail lines) then they are ongoing maintenance (teacher's and bus drivers's salaries.

93. thirty-nine degrees fahrenheit

That's the cut-off.  40 and above I'm still in my cycling shorts (cargo-type outer, lyrca inner with padding),   Below forty: long cycling pants, winter gloves, two long-sleeves under jacket.  I could do the shorts with colder temps, but waiting for a bus (i.e., not moving) is a deal-breaker.

92. Zombie Survival Guide

From the book/calendar of the same name, comes this praise for the bicycle:

"In a class by itself, this vehicle offers the best of both worlds... fast, quiet, muscle-powered.. [and] the only vehicle you can pick up and carry if the terrain gets too rough... People using bicycles to escape from infested areas have almost always fared better than those on foot... use a mountain bike... Don't let your speed and mobility get to your head, however... The last thing you want is to end up in a ditch, legs broken, bike trashed, with the shuffling of undead feet growing louder with each step."

91. Hey, Turn Off Your %#*&$&@ Engine

Salt Lake City has joined Philadelphia as toughest in the nation with its 2-minute anti-idling ordinance.  A handful of other cities in the country have 3 minute limits.  However, bowing to the pressure of business interests, idling at drive through windows is exempted if the business owner posts an educational sign encouraging drivers to turn off their motors.  Idling at stop signs is also allowed, so the two largest contributors to idling pollution are not affected (in Switzerland, idling at stop lights is a no-no).

Not idling is a win-win-win:  The environment benefits, drivers save money at the pump and on engine wear and tear, and most important of all, the lungs of nearby cyclists and pedestrians get a break.

90. Hanging by a Thread

A turncoat Republican gave the county council the vote it needed to pass the $20 surtax on car registrations to keep the county bus system going.  The price she exacted was the elimination of downtown's free ride zone.  Initially meant to help downtown business and speed up the system (accepting fares takes time), it later served mainly tourists and the homeless, neither of whom have much clout in county politics.  Most riders use a pass, and cash fares have to be exact, so reinstituting fares downtown won't slow the system.

89. The Big Dig

Yet another vote today on the multi-billion dollar tunnel proposed to replace an earthquake-damaged elevated highway.  It's a state highway, and the state government is pushing it even though by it's own estimate it will do nothing to alleviate downtown congestion.  With a $5 or so toll and no downtown exits it will not be used by commuters or downtown shoppers, just those who want to bypass the city traffic.

I have no problem with this goal, just the means.  And the fact that some part of those billions could be used instead to improve public transportation.

San Francisco and New York both removed elevated highways with no apparent increase in street congestion.  A tunnel this big has never been attempted on the loose glacier sediment that it will have to pass through, and the funding does not include street improvements necessary to manage non-tunnel traffic (the tunnel will probably have fewer vehicles pass through it than the current elevated road).

The vote is to confirm the city council's decision to grant construction permits, so a no on the referendum means no tunnel, though many "experts" say that it is a done deal, too late to stop.

And apparently the city agrees; it appears that early returns show a 60-40 approval of the tunnel.  In November the county will ask for a $20 increase car registration fees to avoid crippling cuts in bus service.  Billions for cars, yes.  Millions for busses? We'll see.

88. $100

That's what it now costs per month for my fellow employees to park in the office garage.  We need more room for customers, they say, as the business expands.  At the same time (is there a conspiracy?) several blocks of nearby street parking have changed from unlimited to 2-hr parking.

Meanwhile the twice-yearly schedule changes of the commuter bus line show four lines eliminated, all because of "low ridership."  Lower revenues (transit here depends on sales taxes) and higher fuel costs mean tough decisions for transit planners.

I feel bad for the single parent who has a complicated commute--dropping kids off a daycare, for example, but most of the staff in my corner of the building are just stubborn as they continue to refuse consideration of public transportation or car-pooling.

87. Be Nicer

That was my 2011 resolution as a bus commuter.

For example:

1. not so many unspoken but nevertheless mean-spirited thoughts about fellow passengers who can't find that last quarter in the bottom of their packs or purses, or who ask inane questions ("Is this bus going to Seattle?"--you mean the one with Seattle written over the front windshield?).

2. having on hand 5 one-dollar bills to have as ready change for someone coming on with a $3 fare due but only a $5 bill.

Maybe or maybe not some progress on the first, but twice so far I've exchanged my five ones for a fiver.

86. Art

Now this..... is art.

Thanks to Washington D.C. Convention Center

85: Me? Riding a Bus?

Why not public transportation?  Too few busses; not enough destinations. Too slow.  Too expensive.  Errands to run on the way home from work, kids to pick up from daycare.  These are the surface explanations.

But there are also unspoken feelings: not wanting to sit next to a perceived bum or a drunk.  Or someone smelling of exotic spices or wearing strange clothes. Or just someone from a lower economic group so that taking the bus is a symbolic step back from the American Dream

The other day I sat next to a guy holding a paper sack with a bottle inside.  A mostly comical commute with his frequent, random comments, but could have taken a turn for the worse when he started to pour the beverage in question into another narrow-neck bottle.  I was headed for an evening meeting; would not have been cool to show up smelling of booze.

So when a bus driver refuses entry to someone explaining a lost wallet, or apparently drunk, or who starts to ask if anyone can help him with the fare, I understand.  We can’t turn potential riders into egalitarians, but at least we can make them feel safe.

84: 4, no make that 5

phfffft
thump-thump-thump
hisss
thud


in less than 2 months, four flats.
so new inner tubes, outer (between tube and tire) and inner (between tube and rim) liners.


a day later:  pop....    one of my new tubes blew open, a defective tube it seems.


kevlar--you know the stuff they make bullet-proof vests out of?  they also make tires--that may be my next purchase; in the meantime I've borrowed one of my wife's bikes.

83. Another Reason for Bicycle Commuting

According to CDC telephone surveys, 250,000 people fall asleep at the wheel of a car everyday.  And other data suggests that 1500 people die each year from car accidents where drivers have fallen asleep at the wheel.

I have never fallen asleep at the wheel of a bike.

82. Spring

Typical spring commute today; squinting left eye from the sun; squinting right eye to keep out the rain.

81. Flat Tire, Again

Made it to the bus okay, but when I took it off the rack, the tire was flat.  So I had to walk the bike up the hill (you, it's just as hard to walk a bike up a steep hill as it is to ride it?)

This time, though, I was ready.  Inspired by responses to Singlespeed's lament about flat tires, I had left a patch kit and pump at work.  Twenty minutes later (33% faster than last time) I was ready to go.

80. Bad News

My imagination or are my $80 water resistant bicycle pants letting water pass through?

I stop off at REI and a find a clerk.  I'm glad it's a woman; the men tend to be condescending, as in, "hey gramps, great to see you out on a bike; that's awesome man."

She confirms that yes, these pants have a collective coating that does wear off.  I guess I can make it through the rainy season.  Nothing lasts for ever.  And I didn't pay $80; I got them on sale or something.

79. Photo ID

As I angled through the intersection, a flash of light caught my eye.  I knew what it was--the same light a few years ago in Portland left me with a ticket for running a red light.

This time though, there's no license plate to match.  But face recognition?

It took the British cops in The Tourist just a few minutes to match a face to a passport picture.  So, though I may have slipped by this time, I need to get a new passport photo, one without me wearing my bike helmet.

78. Pit Stop

It takes a NASCAR pit crew less than a minute to change four tires and fill the tank. The other night I needed 30 minutes to fix a flat front tire.  I obviously need a team approach.  Wonder what I can do to entice my wife to join the team