Ahhh...an argument for competition.
I've been telling Erik for months now that there needs to be competition in this city for public transportation. Capital Metro, while good, has a ton of holes in its system. It's focused primarily downtown, and its timings are atrocious: it seems no matter what, you always miss your connection by literally the opening of a door. You take the 21 south and need the 4 east, but the moment the 21 gets to the corner, the 4 is already gone. Now you're stuck waiting for 20 more minutes or more, depending on the service routes and levels. Poor planning, if you ask me. So what would make sense in my mind is inviting and incentivizing competition for the BEST public transportation system. Let someone develop a smart system that makes people happy, right? It will force cap metro to only become better. The small size of the city is certainly limiting in that opportunity but not out of the question by any means.
That said, I'm in a hurt locker now.
I don't have a car in this city, and I depend primarily upon capital metro for my transportation. I haven't had too many complaints since most of the places I need to get are downtown. I'm okay with waiting if a miss a connection; I don't mind going out of my way; and I'm generally pleased with how little I really need to walk from place to place. Plus, as a student, it's free for me thanks to the outrageous fees I pay to the university.
Well, today capital metro decided they're striking.
They're unhappy with pay and with benefits agreements. Fine, I understand. But they just raised their fees for riding this month; again, the fee increase makes sense since using the transportation here is dirt cheap. But, now we're without any public transportation -- UNLESS you take the UT shuttles (which doesn't employ the startran drivers who are striking) or you utilize one of the 10 main lines. They aren't putting time tables up, and they're not releasing much information. In other words, it's a test your luck situation, and do not expect to even get on a bus.
The route I need to get to my capstone -- the project I need to do in order to graduate -- is one that will not be running. It's not walkable from the university nor from anywhere near downtown. If I walk from where the closest UT shuttle drops off, I walk through one of Austin's few ghetto areas. And I walk 3 or 4 miles. Now, I'm whining about this, and it sucks a lot for me, but there are people who literally need this line in particular to get to work, to get groceries, and to go to school. These are the people who are truly impacted by the fact the cost of riding the bus went up and who now not only have no transportation, but no means of getting their basic needs met. Then there's the entire sector of people in this city who are committed to the eco-causes who have sold their cars and only rely on public transportation. Since Austin continues to pride itself on its eco-scene, losing the bus system is an even larger detriment -- now we're going to have to pollute the air some more with our cars (and the eco-folks will not be able to work and share their money with the economy, presumably). Obviously, a tinge of sarcasm in the last statement, but point being, there's going to be an impact on the greater economy.
So, back to my main point: why is it we don't encourage competition again? Is it so that when something like this happens, we're all slaves to the original cause and must give in to demands (and I'm not taking one side or the other since I'm not well enough versed in the issues)? Or is it because we're afraid that when something like this does happen, the shitty system disappears? I don't get it. Why can't we encourage making things work again?
**That said, I'm really pissed I can't go work on my graduation project, since graduation is a mere 35 days away. I'm thinking I should begin taking the ut shuttle as far as it goes near there, then hopping a cab, saving the receipts, and sending them to cap metro for reimbursement.
That said, I'm in a hurt locker now.
I don't have a car in this city, and I depend primarily upon capital metro for my transportation. I haven't had too many complaints since most of the places I need to get are downtown. I'm okay with waiting if a miss a connection; I don't mind going out of my way; and I'm generally pleased with how little I really need to walk from place to place. Plus, as a student, it's free for me thanks to the outrageous fees I pay to the university.
Well, today capital metro decided they're striking.
They're unhappy with pay and with benefits agreements. Fine, I understand. But they just raised their fees for riding this month; again, the fee increase makes sense since using the transportation here is dirt cheap. But, now we're without any public transportation -- UNLESS you take the UT shuttles (which doesn't employ the startran drivers who are striking) or you utilize one of the 10 main lines. They aren't putting time tables up, and they're not releasing much information. In other words, it's a test your luck situation, and do not expect to even get on a bus.
The route I need to get to my capstone -- the project I need to do in order to graduate -- is one that will not be running. It's not walkable from the university nor from anywhere near downtown. If I walk from where the closest UT shuttle drops off, I walk through one of Austin's few ghetto areas. And I walk 3 or 4 miles. Now, I'm whining about this, and it sucks a lot for me, but there are people who literally need this line in particular to get to work, to get groceries, and to go to school. These are the people who are truly impacted by the fact the cost of riding the bus went up and who now not only have no transportation, but no means of getting their basic needs met. Then there's the entire sector of people in this city who are committed to the eco-causes who have sold their cars and only rely on public transportation. Since Austin continues to pride itself on its eco-scene, losing the bus system is an even larger detriment -- now we're going to have to pollute the air some more with our cars (and the eco-folks will not be able to work and share their money with the economy, presumably). Obviously, a tinge of sarcasm in the last statement, but point being, there's going to be an impact on the greater economy.
So, back to my main point: why is it we don't encourage competition again? Is it so that when something like this happens, we're all slaves to the original cause and must give in to demands (and I'm not taking one side or the other since I'm not well enough versed in the issues)? Or is it because we're afraid that when something like this does happen, the shitty system disappears? I don't get it. Why can't we encourage making things work again?
**That said, I'm really pissed I can't go work on my graduation project, since graduation is a mere 35 days away. I'm thinking I should begin taking the ut shuttle as far as it goes near there, then hopping a cab, saving the receipts, and sending them to cap metro for reimbursement.