The best bus ever

The best bus ever
Jason Sievers' awesome Art in Transit bus

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Advocates for blind seek bus boost

I wish I had something new to report about the local option tax legislation. I'm checking the House Revenue & Taxation Committee calendars daily to see if it's coming up. You can do the same; click here. (The committee usually meets at 9 a.m., so it's best to check the day before.) I understand Rep. Nicole LeFavour will introduce it to the committee before too long.

Meanwhile, I heard Rep. Phylis King (D-Boise, District 18) say tonight that she recently met with leaders from the National Federation for the Blind and they had only two requests: better public transportation and more opportunities for blind students to be taught by blind teachers. It's no surprise that people with all sorts of disabilities rely heavily on bus transportation. Some us ride the bus by choice; people with disabilities ride as a necessity, and their ranks are growing fast as our population ages. The needs of disabled and senior riders ought to be paramount as legislators decide whether or not we ought to improve our bare-bones Boise bus system.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd like to poll everyone that rides the bus regularly to determine how many ride the bus because it's their only option, versus those that choose the bus over driving a car. I'd bet that of the 2% that ride the bus, 1.5% do it out of necessity. As such, it would seem that the decision to use "alternate transportation" in lieu of driving is a mental anomaly. We're all crazy!

Julie Fanselow said...

danielo, I am sure you are right.

It takes conviction to use transit unless you have to.

I keep hoping that all the publicity over climate change - coupled with our inversions - make at least another 1% or so decide that taking transitt is the right thing to do, at least some of the time.

Anonymous said...

In my previous life as a not-quite-so-cynical alternate transportation promoter, we spent a lot of time trying to get the idea across that if everyone would just leave their cars at home ONE day a week, it would have a HUGE impact. I think about a half-dozen people (of the 600 or so in my audience) tried it once or twice before giving up.

Julie Fanselow said...

That's right. Just one day a week! How %$*^%(#! hard can that be?

Granted, you have to plan it. But it's really not that hard; it basically takes sitting down with the bus schedule for a few minutes.

And sure, it might mean arriving somewhere 15 minutes early. So take a good book!