(Dear PAT,)
PAT (Pittsburgh Port Authority Transit) has officially announced that they are raising their fares. Zone 1 fares are going to be raised from $1.75 to either $2 or $2.25. This means that fare hikes for Zone 2 and Zone 3 are going to be ridiculous - but I'll leave that be since it doesn't immediately concern me.
Currently, I ride two buses to work each day (and the same two buses back). Fortunately, I am in Zone 1 for both of my rides, but because PAT's bus routes are inefficient, I have to transfer which means that on top of my $1.75 bus fare each way, I have to pay an additional 50 cents. This means that I am spending $4.5o on inefficient public transportation each day.
I just used gmap pedometer to figure out the exact distance I ride the bus: 3.7 miles. The argument for public transportation (economically) is that it saves you money for gas and for parking. Even the least fuel-efficient cars in the world get better than 4 miles to the gallon, hell they get better than 8 miles to the gallon (to be honest the least fuel-efficient car I have ever encountered is a 10-year-old Lincoln Navigator that got a whopping 10 miles to the gallon).
This means that, were I driving 8 miles a day, my travel costs would be less than the cost of one gallon of gasoline right now (which, we'll just say is $3.50/gallon). Parking is free in my building, so as-is, it would make more sense for me to drive to work. In addition, my little, not-even-4-mile, trek takes me, on average, 45 minutes (one way). I could cut that in half driving.
Best case scenario, with the new hikes: my daily costs will be $5 a day (assuming PAT leaves transfers at 50 cents, which they say they will, but I'm skeptical).
[Something else to keep in mind, is that a monthly (and especially yearly) bus pas is not economically feasible for me at this time, especially when the monthly passes are supposed to go up to $75 a month with the fare hikes. What is in my price-range is what PAT calls a "10-trip ticket." However, despite the fact that one is essentially purchasing tickets in bulk, PAT offers no bulk discount (one 10-trip ticket currently costs $17.50 and will increase in cost accordingly along with the fare hikes)] .
What's sad is, I believe in public transportation. I believe that it's an important part of, and necessity in, cities. I like the sense of community it builds, and the notion that by riding the bus (or metro or subway or T or ferry), you're not only not contributing to overall shitty metropolitan air qualities, you're helping to eliminate city congestion, as well as bringing the costs of travel down (the more people who use the bus, the less it should cost, ideally). I actually feel like I'm helping the city when I'm riding the bus (and I think that's the point: the idea that you're helping things - or at least engaging in the lesser of two evils- is supposed to outweigh all of the obvious negative parts of using mass transit).
With all that being said:
Dear PAT,
you make me want to buy a car. At least a car will be mine, and will run on time, and won't be rude to me when I ask questions, or slam the door in my face, or smell like urine, or stink of exhaust, or make me hold my purse tighter, or cost me more than it's worth.
Showing posts with label Transit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Transit. Show all posts
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Windy City
Yesterday, while waiting to transfer buses on my way to work (in the midst of the first good Pittsburgh snow), I encountered a little old lady who was waiting for the same bus as I was. The bus we wanted sat a block away from us, apparently broken down. I struck up a conversation with her - or rather, she with me - after asking her if she knew anything about the state of the bus. The only thing she knew, she said, was that she'd been waiting for another 54C for nearly 30 minutes. After repeatedly placing my headphones in my ears, and then removing them after long pauses in our conversation (each pause causing me to assume she was done talking), she said "I wouldn't want to walk across the bridge on a day like today. No sir, not in this wind." Wide-eyed, I replied "I wouldn't want to walk across the bridge ever." *long pause*
"You know I walked across the bridge once."
"Really?"
"The day of the mayor's funeral, though I didn't know that at the time."
"I remember that day."
"I stood here wondering why the buses wouldn't come, and I had to get to work, so I walked."
She asked me where I worked, and guiltily but guardedly, I only revealed the name of the complex in which my office is located. She told me the address and name of her employer: "Elderberry Junction", better known as the Goodwill Senior Center. She spoke of Elderberry Junction with such pride that I congratulated her, with genuine happiness, for having a job that sounded so wonderful.
A few minutes later the bus came, and when the door opened she eagerly shuffled toward the bus and then stopped unexpectedly. The bus driver seemed perplexed at first, and then knowingly lowered the bus (it is what they call a "kneeling bus") and she barely made it up onto the first step. I actually had my arms out behind her because I thought she was going to fall. A young man sitting in what I like to call the "a little farther back" section (also known as the front) immediately vacated his seat for her.
15 minutes later, we exited the bus at the same stop. I began walking toward my destination, and she hurried off in the opposite direction, perhaps to get a cup of coffee before heading to Elderberry Junction.
All day long, I thought about this woman, and I'm not sure why. I can think of a few reasons, but none of them seem to fit. It's not necessarily the image of this hobbling woman walking across a long and dangerous bridge, though that's part of it. It's not the idea that a spirited older woman has more tenacity than I do, though that's certainly part of it. I'm not even sure it's her passion and her pride in her job, though that is something so beautiful and rare that I hope to never forget it. I am really not sure what it is.
Maybe it's her will. Maybe it's her will in all of these things combined. Her will to wait in the snow; her will to get onto the bus; her will to walk to work; her will to be a good employee; her will to be kind to, and connect with strangers. It's so rare to see an unblemished (I guess "barely blemished" is fairer, as I don't know her story) will in a person anymore - most people my age are so downtrodden and dejected, and self-pitying (not through-and-through, but every young person I know pities him or herself in at least one way). She had no self-pity, only drive. And --I was going to say in spite of, but I think "because of" is more apt -- maybe because of this, she is happy.
"You know I walked across the bridge once."
"Really?"
"The day of the mayor's funeral, though I didn't know that at the time."
"I remember that day."
"I stood here wondering why the buses wouldn't come, and I had to get to work, so I walked."
She asked me where I worked, and guiltily but guardedly, I only revealed the name of the complex in which my office is located. She told me the address and name of her employer: "Elderberry Junction", better known as the Goodwill Senior Center. She spoke of Elderberry Junction with such pride that I congratulated her, with genuine happiness, for having a job that sounded so wonderful.
A few minutes later the bus came, and when the door opened she eagerly shuffled toward the bus and then stopped unexpectedly. The bus driver seemed perplexed at first, and then knowingly lowered the bus (it is what they call a "kneeling bus") and she barely made it up onto the first step. I actually had my arms out behind her because I thought she was going to fall. A young man sitting in what I like to call the "a little farther back" section (also known as the front) immediately vacated his seat for her.
15 minutes later, we exited the bus at the same stop. I began walking toward my destination, and she hurried off in the opposite direction, perhaps to get a cup of coffee before heading to Elderberry Junction.
All day long, I thought about this woman, and I'm not sure why. I can think of a few reasons, but none of them seem to fit. It's not necessarily the image of this hobbling woman walking across a long and dangerous bridge, though that's part of it. It's not the idea that a spirited older woman has more tenacity than I do, though that's certainly part of it. I'm not even sure it's her passion and her pride in her job, though that is something so beautiful and rare that I hope to never forget it. I am really not sure what it is.
Maybe it's her will. Maybe it's her will in all of these things combined. Her will to wait in the snow; her will to get onto the bus; her will to walk to work; her will to be a good employee; her will to be kind to, and connect with strangers. It's so rare to see an unblemished (I guess "barely blemished" is fairer, as I don't know her story) will in a person anymore - most people my age are so downtrodden and dejected, and self-pitying (not through-and-through, but every young person I know pities him or herself in at least one way). She had no self-pity, only drive. And --I was going to say in spite of, but I think "because of" is more apt -- maybe because of this, she is happy.
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