Motor Mania

Thursday, I took RTs 65 bus to work for the first time ever. I wanted to take my usual e-Tran 52, but because Christmas Eve is a quasi-holiday and the e-Tran website said the 52 was on a limited schedule without defining what limited means, I took the RT bus.

And man! It was as fast as e-Tran! I have to take it up my Franklin Blvd. to Florin light rail, catch one train, then another train to get to work but it worked great. The same amount of time with the 52 and one train. This in stark contrast the the rest of my neighbors, all of whom subscribe to the Elk Grove Compulsory Motoring Program. The EGCMP, even with $3 gas, is alive and well.

I was thinking about the 1950 Motor Mania, where Goofy transforms from Mr. Walker into Mr. Wheeler when behind a car. Now nearly sixty years later, it's as valid today as it was then. I am beginning to realize the futility of blogging about energy and transportation when many people sixty years ago felt that auto dominance wasn't healthy yet we've done every fool thing since then to only make it worse. I hold a minority opinion.

Motor Mania is such a fantastic short! It depicts an electrified train with passengers/pedestrians as undesirables, much like I am viewed as a bus/train rider today. The last train passenger cheerfully offers a "good morning," in the exact same way as I feel coming off the train into work instead of how I feel coming out of my car. I discovered early on how liberating and how stress-free my commute has become since I'm no longer Mr. Wheeler. This is one of the best cartoons of our time.