The Problem With Public Transit is the Public

One of the more ubiquitous "green" goals is to get more of the citizens of every sprawling municipality out of their cars and onto public transit. But a recently-released study by GPI Atlantic indicated that, despite the fact that 90% of urbanites and suburbanites live within half a kilometer of a transit stop, 78% of Haligonians are still commuting by car. According to the report, “This indicates that transit, although in close proximity to the majority of the population is not presently considered a desirable mode of transportation to work.”

Not desirable? What could be going on here? This claim clearly demands some primary research. Unfortunately, I don’t really commute anywhere, since I work from home most of the time, but just for fun I’ve taken up the challenge of riding the bus –– and what fun it is!

First of all, I have to point out that I find the number of sideways-facing seats (23 by my count) versus the number of forward-facing seats (I put this at 13) on the newer buses problematic, because I am a delicate flower, prone to motion sickness. I need to face forward, and that means I have to sit with the “bad kids” at the back of the bus. Well, actually, I kind of enjoy sitting with the bad kids, but not with the really bad kids who sit in the very back seats. Those kids are BAD. I myself am only a moderately bad kid, more or less a wannabe.

Also on the downside, I’ve discovered that several of my fellow travelers have some fairly annoying transit-related habits.

For example, there’s usually someone who chooses to sit on the outside edge of a forward-facing seat when every other seat on the bus is full. To this person I say: “Move in. Don’t make me give you the stink-eye.” Also, if I may say, your backpack is lovely and everything, but I really don’t think it needs a seat all to itself.

I’ve also noticed that there’s usually at least one fellow sitting on a shared seat who’s apparently so handsomely endowed that he has to keep his legs splayed wide for the entire trip, no matter how many people try to squish in beside him. Or maybe he finds it painful to bring his knees together, in which case I think there’s a prescription cream he can get for that.

Some of my comrades in commuting seem to have different boundaries than I do, particularly when it comes to personal space. No doubt many regular bus riders have met “the passenger who sits too close.” I mean, way too close. Yesterday, the guy who sat next to me was actually leaning on me, and no matter how small I made myself (and despite, once again, the stink-eye) he just kept hogging up whatever empty space I managed to temporarily create between us.

What have I learned from riding the bus? Well, I know now - from many overheard cellphone conversations - that drawing class sucks and photography is awesome. Also, somebody’s roommate is stealing money from him, and someone else is worried about failing her math exam and not getting into teachers’ college.

And finally, I have to mention the dear old woman I saw yesterday who kept demanding that people carry her purse for her as she got on and off the bus. As much as it made me cringe, it also warmed my heart to see that Halifax is still the kind of town where you can hand your purse over to strangers and always assume you’ll get it back.

Maybe the secret to increasing ridership is to market public transit as an entertainment medium. Who needs TV with all this real life happening right under your nose?