I figured that if my wife is allowed to use this blogger deal to vent, so am I. And guess what? I'm gonna. What is ironic about the title to this post is that right now we're not driving at all. In fact, there has been no "driving" performed in the last 5 minutes.
For those of you that don't know, I take the bus to work/school for two reasons. First, I'm a cheapo and don't want to be paying for the gas and parking. In my defense, I am in school, have a kid showing up soon - real soon, and the market's in the proverbial sh*ter (can I say that? I just did). The second reason is so that I don't have to sit in traffic and can simply sit back, listen to some tunes on my iPod (right now it's Kenny Rogers's "Through the Years"...classic), do some extra studying since the 4:30 AM to midnight grind doesn't give enough time to read the unreasonable assignments that don't help in teaching you jack (sorry, a little law school jab there...I'm cranky), and know that in 30 minutes I'll be where I need to be.
Or not. It is the second point that is making less and less sense to me. It used to be that I'd catch a bus and be downtown in 30 minutes. Then it took a little longer and turned into 45 minutes. Now we're up to an hour or more. It doesn't make sense to me that we sit in the "fast" HOV lane and not move for 10 or 15 minutes, all the while watching the main lanes zip on by. It doesn't make sense to me that the geniuses in this city are encouraging it's citizens to use public transportation given the gas prices hitting our pockets (see above for a reminder of just where the economy is) all the while not being able to properly serve them through reliable service. And then I read the other day that the same geniuses who have encouraged public transportation are going to raise the fares! Record use of the bus system + crappy service = more money for them.
Holy crap, we just moved!!!
Anyway, the point is that I'm tired, I'm grumpy and I'm going to be writing some nastigrams to some people. I am not willing to get up at 3 AM just to be able to do my studying and to catch a 6 o'clock bus that will actually get me to work/school on time (i.e. 8 o'clock). That's all I've got to say about that.
Almost. It is now raining and I do not have an umbrella because Houston Metro stole it. Kinda. I may have left it on the bus yesterday. And by may have, I mean I did. But it's still their fault because I decided to take a nap since we weren't going anywhere and I woke up at my stop and had to run off the bus. I miss that umbrella (her name was Uma). It was my London umbrella. We had some good, nay great, times together. Now all I've got are the memories. Kinda like the memories of when it was worth taking the bus.
8 comments:
You guys need to get a lightrail that is useful...the Dallas DART lightrail is coming to our house in 2010 :) Literally, like a couple blocks from our house, not that we ever go downtown or anything, but I'm sure some people will use it :)
Now you've got this transportation planner's curiosity. Why are people using the HOV lane when the mainlanes have free flow? Was there an accident on the HOV lane that they couldn't clear out? Are the HOV lanes barrier separated or just striped down with the artificial "you can't cross these double lines?"
HOV lanes was my research specialty in college. Would love to hear a commuter's insight.
Donna, I think it was the "Office Space" effect...nuff siad.
Hayley here. I'm not a commuter, but I've been with Brian (not on the bus, but travelling in the HOV).
See, the problem is:
1. They are barriered lanes with complicated entry and exit places. You cannot enter from the hwy, except at like 1 spot. The others are coming from feeder roads merging into it. This slows down traffic, as the ones merging on try to push their way in front of the ones driving down the HOV.
2. So many times you see people of "1" driving in the HOV. I don't think it is regulated as it should.
3. Others forget that the purpose of the HOV is to carpool and get you to town quicker. However, we've been behind people who refuse to drive 65 mph, instead driving slower (slower traffic keep right...like on the hwy right).
4. Police officers frequent the HOV lane. You know how everyone slows down the second they see a police car. Try being the car driving in front of one. They drive like 5-10mph slower just because they are afraid they are going to get pulled over for not speeding.
That's just my 2 cents. :)
I concur with Mike...I think they should build a light rail that goes down the center of each interstate. They should visit the London suburbs for tips on how to make this work.
I am done. Back to grading homonymns.
Dude Frink...when did you take a turn for the worse and become a HUGE complainer. I thought the wife was bad (kidding) but holy crap. Sleep is overrated. And one more point. STOP complaining...you chose to live in Houston (aka the NEW new orleans) so deal with it. If you can not move to someone else like oh I don't know, Columbus. Ill find you a job at McDonalds or perhaps your favorite gas station, Shell.
-Sean
Donna,
People use the HOV lane over the mainlanes because of their perception. They perceive the HOV lane as this forbidden area (given the concrete barriers that my wife mentioned) that only special people get to use. They want to be special too, so they join in on the fun.
They also perceive the HOV lane to be the fastest (or at least the faster) route to their destination. They are wrong!
And no, there weren't any accidents. At least if they were, they have happened every day for the past month and a half...
Oh, and Sean smells.
Wow Brian....that really hurt. Is that all you got these days?
I had no idea HOV lanes also suffered from "newly opened hot night club" syndrome. Fascinating. Perhaps we'll have to charge cover and get a bouncer. Oh, and you can't drive in the HOV unless you're sporting at least business casual...
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