Ok that’s it! I have had enough of you ignorant arrogant arseholes in this city!!
Today’s edition of the Chronically Horrid ran a front page story about how it now takes an hour and a half to get home and the poor baby isn’t getting home in time to watch the soap operas.
Fuck off!!!!!!! My bf and I have worked in Burnside for the past many years. Actually five years for the bf as I am now downtown Halifax. So here is what he travels and the time it takes for him to travel EVERY workday!
5:30 am – wake up and do the morning getting ready stuff.
6:30 am – leave for the bus! Thankfully we have 2 options!
6:35 to 6:50 – wait for the bus depending on what time it arrives.
7:00 am – on to bus number 2 – Portland Hills to Burnside.
7:40 am – arrive Burnside – Ilsley Tim Hortons.
7:41 – 7:55 am – walk 1 kilometer along a divided double highway (Burnside Drive) to workplace.
7:55 am – arrive at work to start at 8 am!
So in case you haven’t figured it out – that’s 1 and 1/2 hours to travel by bus!! Oh and by the way – it only takes 20 minutes to travel the same distance by car.
And let‚s just consider now that his business is moving locations to the new new part of Burnside (Wright ˆ between Dartmouth Crossing and Burnside) and his walk has now doubled ˆ why you ask ˆ because Metro Transit doesn‚t have a bus that runs anywhere closer than 2 kilometers to his new workplace.
So everyday ˆ rain, snow, sleet, sun and crazy arse fucked up Burnside drivers, he makes it to work everyday!! And then has the same trip home everyday. So he gets to and leaves 6:30 am and get home at 5:30 pm. I believe if my math isn‚t too screwed up I count that as 11 hours ˆ every day for the past 5 years ˆ not counting sick days, vacation, holidays and weekends of course.
So the next driver that bitches to me about how horrible it is to have to be sitting their pretty little car (which I wish we could afford), listening to the music they want (without needing headphones), enjoying the scent of their vehicle (and not Transit passengers) because of an extra 20 minutes to get home at 4:50 pm instead of 4:30 pm or leaving an extra 15 minutes early∑∑∑.
FUCK YOU!!!!!!
—Willing to hock a loogie on the next driver that bitches about traffic!!
This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2009.
I agree with you. I commuted by bus from Lower Sackville, and it was horrid. Long, winding, hours of waiting in inclement weather, etc… Anyway, I got a car and LOVED it. Never once did I bemoan the traffic, even when it took me an hour or more to get home. I had my tunes, and got to relax inside my awesome car and not be on a crowded, late bus. (Of course, the MetroLink was a genius idea, and started using that when it was introduced, but I digress…)
It takes me less time to take the bus to work than to drive. Finding parking is a bitch.
I used to work a job in Lakeside with a similar commute + extra walking. It was so boring and tedious. So glad I work downtown now.
Ahh the joys of public transit. I can see why people hate it, really: who wants to be stuck on a stinky, hot, overcrowded bus that can take more than twice as long to get to where you need to, having to put up with sudden stops and accelerations along the way, that usually doesn’t even get you from where you are or take you where you need to be? Meanwhile the more normal commuters have to put up with the not so normal commuters, who in some cases turn out to be the usual commuters. Not so much in Halifax, but in Vancouver some of the buses are like mobile homeless shelters! Not really a big deal for me or even a lot of people, but I can see why some people feel a lot more comfortable in their own personal car.
More frequent, extensive, and higher quality transit with dedicated transit lanes and signals is an obvious solution, but of course this all costs money that has to come from somewhere (thank me for stating the obvious), and with finances already tight and lots of people already bitching about transit fares rising by 25 cents, it’s unlikely to get that much better any time soon. On the plus side, Metro Transit already has a few dozen new buses on order and more express routes coming soon. Apparently we’re getting a Metro Transit service out to the airport soon too – sweet.
As for the weirdos, well, that’s “public” for ya. As much as most people won’t admit to it, I think this is one major reason why more people don’t take public transit that can’t really be solved with more money. Other solutions would likely be very unpopular and sure to bring out the civil liberties / HCAP crowd.
What gets me is that people actually think we have traffic in this city. You want traffic try Montreal, Toronto, NYC, Washington, Rome, etc, then come back and say we have a traffic problem. Heck it’s harder to make a left hand turn coming on to Commercial St from Wally World in New Minas. We ain’t got stinkin’ traffic, just a stinkin’ harbour.
Amen, Bro Tim.
Traffic in New Mindlass is the pits, especially on saturdays.
Shit I never complain when I’m in a car and not on a bus. It takes me an hour to get from CPW to SMU every day (longer to get home b/c of transfer logistics) but it takes around 15 minutes by car….and my mom can get to work in 20 minutes by car from CPW to dartmouth, yet it takes her 90 minutes by bus…so I completely agree with this bitch. People with cars need to stfu because y’all got it easy compared to transit riders.
Rush hour traffic = turn the radio tunes up just a little bit louder.
yep..my parents can leave my hometown and hour and 20 minutes away to get to a friends place here in Hali, and if they call me when they are leaving, we make it there within about 20 minutes of each other, depending on traffic…and its ten minute drive by car for me!
We have no traffic in this city. Go to Montreal, or Toronto. This is nothing.
Although, right now it is worse than normal because the city is doing a bunch of roadwork at once, and it is hard to avoid. But, heaven forbid we upset the car loving people of this city! Get over it and suck it up, it’s just gonna get worse when they start work on the Fairview overpass on Monday.
Yeah, our traffic ‘problem’ is nothing compared to most real cities. We should really get on our infrastructure now as a preventative measure though, oh wait, we do, and then people bitch about it (rotary, chebucto). Arg.
That’s just lazy journalism that is, ask the public what they think of X, run story about X, day is done, screw all y’all.
I could say a few things about traffic, but considering I get paid to sit in it, I can’t really complain. Fairview overpass work will be hell on CP express routes, among others.
Huh…That’s a good point PDG…I always wondered how bus drivers didn’t go crazy with having to drive in the traffic they do…but I guess being stuck in traffic at work is less stressful then being late for work because you are stuck in traffic.
I take one of the CP express routes. Thank God I won’t have to deal with the traffic, I will just sit and read my book.
you don’t like it, move closer to the places you have to be.
period. The wife and I have always held jobs within walking distance and wouldn’t have it any other way. Sucks in rain/tropical storms/blizzard/etc but I know how long it’s going to take no matter what.
That aside, you really have to think… taking the bus, you don’t have to focus on driving, finding parking, etc… you get that time back to sudoku (keeps the brain sharp), listen to music, read the paper, or (if you have a work crackberry) get caught up with what’s going on before you even get into the office.
You don’t have to worry about added insurance coverage (if you don’t drive to work, it will be lower) and no need for gas or worrying about wear and tear on the car.
I have a car but were I to find an amazing job farther than I can walk in a half hour, I’d certainly be bussing it.
I agree with zZz. I live where I can walk/bus to work if I need to, and we’re not a horrible distance away from where the fiancée works either. It was a factor in our decision to live where we do. Neither one of us has had to use “traffic” as an excuse for being late.