Comments on: School Bus Cuts Face Safety Concerns

By: Jeffri

Jeffri — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:29:30 +0000

I can never be in favor of cutting school buses, they are the only reason why I finished high school, this is absolutely insane, it will in some way prevent some kids from going to school.

By: DLS

DLS — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:11:34 +0000

Automobility is never insane. What's insane is to view the automobile or automobility (or the individual freedom it embodies and implies) as bad or evil. Automobility and its related freedom is superior to collective transport. It's even superior in ways that transit advocates cannot or will not understand, such as the relative efficiencies of both in the real world, based on real-world quite-low transport usage levels (even in today's hard times).

It's no surprise that with or without the dream of electric automobiles, we have to be ready in the world (and it isn't in any way shocking or offensive to sane people), for "Two Million Automobiles" thanks to China alone. (Every other developing nation has every right to enjoy automobility, too, of course.)

http://www.amazon.com/Two-Billion-Cars-Driving-...

I wonder how many Americans are deprived by the stupid feature of Cash for Clunkers that destroys vehicles or powertrains. So stupid, actually flirting with insane (that and environmentalist baggage)...

The relevent point here is that people who can't afford vehicles or can't afford to drive, and rely on the bus, are going to face job losses in addition to other hardships in places like Detroit, if the cuts are made. (No, their trips are not going to be replaced by automobile trips as a rule. Not with the cost of taxi service!)

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090821/OPINION...

http://michiganmessenger.com/25329/detroit-week...

http://www.freep.com/article/20090824/NEWS01/90...

By: GeorgeSorwell

GeorgeSorwell — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:36:38 +0000

Cutting bus service for many and replacing it with numerous individual car rides is, of course, insane.

By: DLS

DLS — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:47:23 +0000

Jerry, to add a note about something else that others may face, here in Detroit metro currently, the city of Detroit, which has its own (union-and-bureaucrat-laden, naturally) bus system separate from its neighbors and which faces impending financial ruin or bankruptcy, is considering the ending of Sunday bus service as well as Saturday evening service, etc.

Aside from the hardship a distressed area's residents will experience in this case (many in Detroit don't have a car or can't afford insurance, or maintenance, etc., and rely on the bus as essential for work, etc.), this introduces a broader issue nation-wide, a reduction in public transit at a time when there is increased desire for it (not to mention what some activists might want or envision for a future involving more transit and other alternatives to the automobile).

By: DLS

DLS — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:44:21 +0000

Fifty busses seems excessive for Temecula (even with the many commuters that have moved there in larger numbers than the wineries over the past 20 years — I'm as familiar with that place as I am with many others all over the US of A), but of course it's only part of the fleet of someplace like Los Angeles.

(What about someplace where there's no room for busses? Does New York City have a child student discount pass program?)

Note that that is in California, a more modern place than most, even if there are rural areas and other places where there is no shoulder or sidewalk. There are worse places, in older parts of the nation, that have no bike lanes, shoulders, or extra-wide right lanes for bicycle accomodation, or sidewalks — and even when they do, they are not kept free of snow and ice. Plus, drivers elsewhere often are worse than in California. (Different places have different levels and “favored kinds” of driver mischief on the road.)