Bussita

I've been harbouring a great plan for some weeks, now.

While I try to ride my bike to work three days a week, sometimes I like to shake it up a bit by making my way on foot. It takes me under an hour to "run" to work (well, periods of running interspersed with periods of walking) and not quite an hour and a half to walk.

However, in order to do this, I have to plan it in advanced. I don't want to carry everything on my back while running, so I have to make sure I've got everything I need for work there the day before. Then I have to get out of bed an hour earlier than I normally do and eat half a breakfast before heading out, then work out what to do about the other half when I get there.

And, then, if I run to work for 50 minutes I'm usually much sweatier than when I ride to work for 25, so I need a proper shower instead of a simple "freshen up" (something I can avoid if I walk instead), and my clothes are usually too unpleasant to put them back on again in order to make the return journey on foot (again, something I can avoid when walking), so then I have to arrange for a lift to get back home.

So, after I realised I was actually avoiding making the trip on foot because of these inconveniences, an idea began forming in my mind - I could reverse the order in which I do these things. Instead of bringing my gear to work a day before and running to work, then getting a lift home (after getting up an hour early), I'd get up at my normal time, catch a bus to work and run home, leaving my gear to be collected the next day.

A great plan, I thought. One of those "invert the problem" things that always make me feel like I'm actually doing something with my brain. One problem, though: the bus service in Townsville. It's not exactly easy to navigate.

You see, our bus stops only mention what zone the stop is in. They don't tell you what buses stop at that stop or when one could reasonably expect to see a bus come past.

When you consult the timetables online, they also neglect to mention anything other than the "major" stops on each route. I found one bus that said it would stop in my suburb, and assumed that would be the bus I would catch at the bus stop on the street around the corner from my house.

Alas, that was an erroneous assumption. The bus that goes down that street is a different bus number on a different route - one which gives no indication on the time table that it comes anywhere near my area. The one I thought I was going to catch actually goes down a different street a few blocks over.

The other day I tried walking down to a bus stop which my perusal of the time tables had lead me to believe would be a good and useful bus stop to attend. After waiting for about twenty minutes for a bus which was never going to come, I walked back home and drove to work, finding myself very grateful that I was catching a bus because I felt like it, and not because I had to. Also, very grateful that I tried this experiment with a non-existent bus that was leaving earlier than I would leave if I was taking a car. I still managed to get to work on time.

Talking about this with some friends at work, the general consensus was that they would never take public transport in Townsville, and pitied the poor souls who had no other option. It's "too confusing", "too unreliable" and "too frustrating".

Once again I'm reminded that my home town is absolutely and entirely enslaved by cars. It's just completely impractical to try to live in Townsville if you don't have a car of your own. I know some people who manage it, but I also know they do so out of sheer stubbornness, not because it's a reasonable and viable option.

And it all comes down to bad design. Whoever is designing the bus system isn't using it. Whoever is designing the bike routes isn't riding them. It's like everyone involved in the design of this city assumes every man, woman and child has a car and prefers to use it. All other "options" are afterthoughts.

What we need to do is clear the streets for a couple of weeks. Take everyone out and then put them back in a little at a time. Start with the buses, because they're the most egalitarian form of transport and, in a well designed city, everyone should be able to get to where they need to go with a couple of bus trips and a ten minute walk. Then revise the bike lanes and bike routes to make sure cyclists and skaters* can safely navigate the entire city without risk of being hit by a bus, thrown by a pothole or accosted by a solid object**. After that, bring the cars back in with the clear understanding that buses and bikes take priority in the traffic flow.

Yes, it will become less comfortable to drive a car. But, on the other hand, it will become more comfortable to take a bus or ride a bike, which is better for our health and wallets. It's my personal opinion that the best designed cities are the ones where visitors who have never been here before can find their way around easily without once having to hire a car or catch a taxi. Sadly, Townsville is not a well designed city.


*A post about skating soon to come.
**A post about solid objects soon to come.