I haven't bought gas in quite a while personally. I sold my car and I use the bus and bicycle. This isn't easy however in Detroit, even living on a major spike of our mass transit system has pitfalls. In this metropolis where "autos are king":
- The last bus home on a Saturday night leaves downtown Detroit at midnight, while the clubs stay open until 2am or 5am if you find an after-hours.
- The first bus in the morning on a Saturday is after 6am and on Sunday 7am.
- Frequency of buses after 7pm is reduced to one per hour.
- Night buses are crowded due to scheduling. This results in more opportunity for disagreements and potentially fights to break out.
- Buses service the major routes which can leave gaps of 2-5 miles in the metropolitan area.
- Radio service between drivers is missing - they pull up to a transfer point and have to blow their horn for the intersecting bus to know they have people transferring.
But the good thing is there are bike racks on the front of each bus (that hold *2* bikes, I've heard of other city buses holding many more). The buses are equipped with hydraulic assistance at the entrance for people that have a tough time making that first step on.
As far as getting outside the range of the bus routes... this is a matter of knowing people and asking for a ride. Bless the people still buying gas and creating their own routes around town. There are too many instances where the bus simply will not take me where I need to go without it taking 2-3 hours or a long bike ride added.
Thank you to everyone taking the time to provide people with a chance to get to their destination. I had an interview last month and the bus was running 15 minutes late (very odd). Fortunately someone pulled over into the gas station near me and offered a ride to the interview. How do prospective employers view those using mass transit? There are programs offered which reduce the bus fare for your workers to use the system. I believe it offers the employer a write-off.
I'll end now saying thank you to everyone for going beyond your normal routine. You create more in the world than you would ever know.
Stephen Boyle
"Bus Bound Photographer" - Royal Oak, Michigan
P.S. I'm considering sending this to a newspaper - let me know what you think
