There are some things, that from a common sense perspective, make so much sense. And yet, they don't happen. It just makes me scratch me head.
Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. Downtown Kansas City was filled with people particularly young people, from throughout the metro. I saw a lot of people getting on and off the local buses, going from the parade routes to the bars and from bars to different bars. Cabs were running for free (I'm sure subsidized by the city) to try to cut down on the drinking and driving.
It's holidays like this that make you realize just how bad public transit is in this city, because after a certain time, the busses just stop running. And people had to rely on the free taxis. Unfortunatly, there weren't nearly enough taxis for everyone that was out and about. I had two different sets of friends that waited more than 2 hours for their cab to come, and it never did. We were only out with a few people, so I can't imagine our experience is unique.
The city missed a golden opportunity to promote its public transit system by keeping it running into the early hours of the morning so they could move a massive number of people, instead of just 2 or 3 people at a time. Of course that didn't happen. And many people ended up driving home after have a few drinks because there was no public transit, and the cabs couldn't get there in even a somewhat reasonable amount of time.
On the bright side, our ride home was taking back streets to avoid other people who might be driving under the influence and we drove through the area where the gay prostitutes hang out. I got to see a man get paid to strip down and do cartwheels naked in the streets of Kansas City. So there was a comedic moment. On a separate note, if I know these people are getting paid for sex in this area, don't you think the police would be able to do something about it?
The city missed a golden opportunity to promote its public transit system. Instead, it left a lot of people in our group feeling as they did before about public transit in the city - -that it is completely not functional for the average citizen. What a shame.
Great post! You should tell the same to the KCATA, since they run the buses, not the city. [email protected]. Also, the free cab service is sponsored by St. Joseph hospital, not the city.
Posted by: eric | March 19, 2007 at 09:52 AM