Archive for September 2nd, 2007
Pols love public transit – just not for themselves
LA Daily News
“Their Opinion”
By BY TED BALAKER
Article Last Updated: 09/01/2007 08:32:22 PM PDT
Even the Mayors who promote transit don’t actually use it very much for themselves.
But as this piece points out, not originally by any means, it would help their green credentials if they did.
I just thought that it would also help to serve as some balance to earlier pieces posted here about how the new Board of Translink. If they are anything like the panel of appointees who are supposed to come up with suggestions, they won’t be transit riders either.
Has anyone ever seen Malcolm Brodie on a bus?
And just for an insight into other cities Board members how about this guy ?
Work ‘the biggest sleep robber’
Commuting time ranked second, above socialising and leisure time, for eating into sleep time.
Sadly this is all the story has to say about that. And you can get the research on line only if you are a subscriber.
We have known for some time that commutes have been getting longer. It used to be thought that there was a commuting “time” budget, and that speeding up transport was the only way to lengthen the distance of commuting. We now know that commuter, having moved out to the suburbs and unable to relocate jobs can only see their drive commute times lengthen as congestion spreads. And driving is much more stressful than being a passenger on transit – as long as you can get a seat, and do something useful with the time, like read, or knit or socialize.
So what has been happening in the US (and here, and the UK) is longer work hours – dictated by the pressures of workplaces that have become much more demanding – and longer commuting hours. For parents, much of their “leisure” time will also be spent behind the wheel, as children are no longer expected to fend for themselves and have to be driven to organized activities rather than just playing outside or at their friend’s houses.
“Modern technology has done nothing to free up our time and sleep length and quality is the victim.”
I don’t know why he should point the finger at technology. It is society that has changed. The dramatic shift away from the welfare state and the social safety net to the “devil take the hindmost” attitudes of the right wing – a return to Victorian social values. The car in particular is now the symbol of “success” – and we have become its victims. The longer hours are essential to pay for it, as there is no longer an adequate public transport system. The “need” to become a two car family, and pay for daycare.
Yet the debates we are allowed to have are about how wide we would like the freeway. Or how high the noise barriers should be. How to protect the fish habitat under the stream crossings. I see no discussion about how we are slowly not only destroying ourselves at the same time as our environment. That was what the “Livable Region” was supposed to be about. Where we did not need to lose sleep just to have a decent place to live and keep our jobs.
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