The Public Is The Problem

Only men stood on the E-tran bus ride into Sacramento this morning. My 52 was packed, yes, but there were no pregnant women standing this morning while abled men snoozed in the seats. The public comments offered by my co-riders to prevent the city council from axing bus service mostly approached it from a "safety" perspective. A dozen people made the claim that standing on a bus on the freeway was unsafe.

This is bullshit in my opinion. We throw out this "safety" card because we've got nothing else to sway the city council into not axing our bus service. We assume that by waving the safety card our council should automatically forgo cuts to this public service.

There is nothing inherently unsafe about standing on a bus relative to sitting on a bus. It simply sucks. Period.

Standing on an e-Tran bus sucks. So what? So does standing on a bus in Dusseldorf Germany. So does standing on BART, or on RT Light Rail, or on the El in Chicago or the NY subway. If it's a such a bother to have to stand next to your fellow Americans then drive your fucking car, slick. It bugs me that grown adults can't accept standing on transit, that somehow Elk Grovians should be exempt, that instead we throw up the safety card.

My city is full of indulgent, above-the-median selfish people who presume that transit ought to provide the exact same amenities as private transportation, that they shouldn't have to interact with the public on public transportation -- that the problem with public transportation is the public.

I disagree. There is nothing wrong with approaching the council and saying that standing sucks, that the curtailing of routes can only lead to elimination of choice ridership, that choice riders represent the future of Elk Grove transit ridership and without them, e-Tran will forever stay marginalized as a viable option to solo-occupant driving. If the council elects to cut services in the face of that argument, well, they were going to cut it regardless.