Hoping an air conditioned bus shelter doesn't become a homeless housing unit
Riding buses in Miami during the summer can be a very sweaty experience. The buses are air conditioned and it is a relief to finally get on one that isn't very crowded. Ridership goes down during the summer.
MDTA in an effort to make the bus riding more pleasant has installed an air conditioned bus shelter in Hialeah. It has bench space that accomodates four and standing room for 11. MDTA leadership calls it prototype. The cost is about $65,000.
I hopes this works but I have my doubts. For the same reasons that there is a need for guards at Metrorail stations and trains, the transit police will need to patrol that bus shelter. I can only imagine the issues with folks sleeping at that bus shelter. In the short term it is difficult to believe that it will get people out of there cars to increase ridership enough to make a profit on that route and the way things are accounted for more riders means the transit system loses more money.
Public transportation is only an afterthought for those with cars. It's however absolutely necessary. I drive down a tree lined street called Sunset Drive. I've also ridden on a bus that serves that neighborhood. Actually is serves the household staff that work in the houses of folks with million dollar plus houses. The maid /childcare runs in the morning and afternoon are not quite crowded but it does get folks back to work and it does serve a relatively densely populated area both north and south of Coral Gables.
This may go down as one of the most classic fails ever. On an optimistic note however I think that folks need to be trying stuff to improve public transit and other aspects of life for those not fortunate enough to have cars, great jobs, good medical care, affordable housing and a world class education.
MDTA in an effort to make the bus riding more pleasant has installed an air conditioned bus shelter in Hialeah. It has bench space that accomodates four and standing room for 11. MDTA leadership calls it prototype. The cost is about $65,000.
I hopes this works but I have my doubts. For the same reasons that there is a need for guards at Metrorail stations and trains, the transit police will need to patrol that bus shelter. I can only imagine the issues with folks sleeping at that bus shelter. In the short term it is difficult to believe that it will get people out of there cars to increase ridership enough to make a profit on that route and the way things are accounted for more riders means the transit system loses more money.
Public transportation is only an afterthought for those with cars. It's however absolutely necessary. I drive down a tree lined street called Sunset Drive. I've also ridden on a bus that serves that neighborhood. Actually is serves the household staff that work in the houses of folks with million dollar plus houses. The maid /childcare runs in the morning and afternoon are not quite crowded but it does get folks back to work and it does serve a relatively densely populated area both north and south of Coral Gables.
This may go down as one of the most classic fails ever. On an optimistic note however I think that folks need to be trying stuff to improve public transit and other aspects of life for those not fortunate enough to have cars, great jobs, good medical care, affordable housing and a world class education.
Comments
Post a Comment