What is wrong with riding public transportation?
I think it is because a lot of insecure people see cars as status symbols. If you drive public transport then they feel like they can look down at you as no matter how bad their car is, you don't have one at all. Also it means they can't tell you how great their car is since you don't have a point of reference. I think as well a lot of drivers hate things like bus lanes. I ride a motorbike so I can filter through traffic and don't have to pay parking and car drivers hate that and feel I should have to suffer like they do (of course when it rains and I get wet they feel justified in laughing about it). It is insecurity. They want you to have a car so that they can brag about theirs and grumble with you about traffic, parking, fuel costs, etc.
What are some tips for riding a public transportation bus?
Be aware of your surroundings.Prior to your trip, write down what buses/trains you will need to take to your destination and keep it with you as a reference. Print out a route map and carry it for reference.If the bus does not come,have back up plan to get to your destination.Hold your rucksack in your lap with one hand/arm through the straps. Do not allow anyone to borrow your cell phone-keep it in your pocket or bag. If something/someone does not feel good, there is a reason for it,If you have a debt card for bus fare- register it so if it is lost or stolen, report its loss so it cannot be used. If paying cash, have the exact amount needed.Bus schedules are not exact. Plan on being at a stop 10 minutes prior to posted time of departure , be prepared to wait.This from riding public transportation in San Francisco including an all night of connected rides to stay dry on a rainy night while”homeless”.
What can you say is the worst part of riding public transportation in New York City?
I don’t ride the subways anymore but I ride the buses plenty.The worst part is the people I have to ride it with. They push themselves on no matter who they have to trample or who was waiting first. They play their music very loudly with no earphones, just regular speakers and blast it for the whole bus to hear. Or little kids playing loud video games making all sorts of loud noises and their mother or father never tells their child to make the volume a little lower. Or people scream into their cell phones with conversations that last for the whole hour ride. Or people jump on the back of the bus without paying. Or people men, women, old, young, kids - throw their garbage on the floor of the bus or on the next seat or by the window. Or sometimes all these things happen simultaneously. Whatever happened to something so simple as being considerate of others?I don’t know what’s worse the actual annoyance of these acts or the depressing feeling that this is what humans have become in NYC. Because once it unravels that’s it. You can’t put the genie back in the bottle…
Do you think it's embarrassing to ride on public transit?
It gets you to work and back. sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. get over the hang up.
Do you wash your hands after riding public transportation?
Sometimes, only when the actual transportation is dirty. XD
What's wrong with public transportation?
In larger cities often the only transportation many low income people can afford is public transit. And yes there are some with mental illnesses who ride the busses as well as there are some in CEO's offices who are mentally ill as well but are considered bizzare or eccentric rather than mentally ill. Depends on one's terms of reference. I live in a relatively small city in southern Ontario, we've just recently started bus service and true it has its faults, but as one who doesn't drive , the fare is cheap, 2. a ride and it gets me where I want to go. It's also ' green' and cuts back on my carbon footprint. I figure alot more people both in citieis and small towns and cities will have to use the bus if gas prices get too high . Way back in the olden days our parents and grandparents car pooled, used trolleys and trains to get to work and never thought about it. It was when the car manufacturers made it easy and ' affordable' to own a car that people in North America bought cars and stopped using public transit. GG will answer your ?s later in the day as I have assignments to do shortly.
Is it legal for my ex to force our 12-year-old son to take public transportation to school and athletic practices? What is the right age to be allowed to ride public transit alone? Do I have any shot at proving in court that this is unsafe?
This seems like a bizarre question.I walked to school starting in the first grade (though I walked with older friends who were neighbours) and I began taking the subway alone only a few years later. It is worth noting that many people who will be lawyers/judges in your case will have had similar experiences.But let's get to the heart of the matter: Why would it be dangerous?We live in a safer world than has ever existed in human history; it is truly a care-free time to be alive in the developed world. Crime rates are tiny; even cities considered unsafe by the sensationalist media (e.g. Chicago) have crime rates that are a fraction of what they were in the 1960's and 1970's. Children do not worry about smallpox or plague; problems like tetanus and rabies are far rarer than they were in the 1950's. Children no longer grow up in the United States in fear of nuclear war or Soviet bombers overhead. Toys, food, and other products children come in contact with are safer than ever before. Tens of thousands of (possibly unneccessary) stoplights and stop signs have been erected in the past three decades. Seatbelts have saved millions of lives. Child abduction is terribly rare and in over 95% of cases the abductor is a parent involved in a divorce or custody battle. Public transportation is at least as safe as your ex husband or wife driving your child, and probably more safe given how rare accidents involving public trains and buses are (and the generally-lower speeds these vehicles achieve). The world is a SAFER place for your child to wander around in (and take public transportation in) than has ever existed before. It is you, as an overprotective parent, who poses a risk to your child's childhood - not the "big bad world" you imagine.You may want to prove your ex-spouse is behaving poorly as a parent, but you've chosen a strange area to criticise.
What can we do to encourage more people to take public transportation?
The place I live is crowded with about 10 million people in our capital city. There is not enough public transport system (circular-railways, bus or mass transit system etc) that could cater 10% of the total load. I have seen some of the efforts made to improve public transport systems in Singapore, Malaysia, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Kolkata, and Vienna which we could have easily replicated here if the job was taken some decades ago. Here you don't even need to encourage more people to take public transportation, since people are already not getting that kind of services available to them. As so many above has said, if the public transport is not going to the places where I would be heading then why force me to get onto them? (lol). I agree with Yarnlady and Auntb93's above observations and suggestions and wish that people visit Singapore to learn how efficiently public transportation can be put to serve its people! Therefore, it is important that the city/town planners and governments wake up and do something to help getting 'access' to its citizen for easy and comfortable public transportation facilities. That way the public transportation would be more appealing to the masses.