Going Green

I don't know anyone who wouldn't agree with me that Regina Transit is abysmal. It consists of a system of buses that ramble through the city every hour or so but not during the night or on holidays and only from 12-6 on Sundays and don't do certain areas of town and yet charge over two dollars for an adult fare. I once got a job in the industrial area of town, but was forced to quit it the next day because I simply couldn't get to work in a timely fashion on the bus (or at all, on Sundays). The nearest bus stop was over a kilometre from the workplace, accessible by walking along the shoulder of a heavy truck route.

It is no surprise to me that almost all the buses I see travelling around the city are empty. It has long been thus (although the fares keep rising). The new aspect that I can complain about is the ridiculous approach of City Hall towards increasing transit usage.

First, there was an ad campaign. "Oh, that makes sense," you say. "Encourage people to take the bus, point out the convenience." No, this award-winning ad campaign was actually an innovative way of decorating the buses inside and out to make them more appealing to ride in. Because I know I'd gladly wait half an hour at a stop in -40 weather and then slap down $2.10 to ride in a bus with a pretty painted inside.

Now, there's a subcommittee that is trying to work on the issue, tying it into greenifying Regina. I talked to a friendly woman at the Farmer's Market about this as she manned a City of Regina booth. No, don't worry that your tax dollars are being spent on building a baby seal habitat in the Twin Towers. She was far from a revolutionary tree-hugger. She was handing out pamphlets on turning your car off while idling. She gave me the impression that she'd heard all of my transit improvement suggestions, and that none of them were workable.

Fact is, they probably aren't: the transit system needs to spend a whole whack of money on improving service before they can begin to make any back, and the City is not willing to do it. If I was in charge, I would try running some high-usage routes for free - like the University route at peak times. Get people used to riding and then they'd take the bus other places and pay. Or borrow a page from the transit system we used Down South, and slap a charge onto every student's university fees to help pay for public transit. Or eliminate parking for City employees and force them to use the bus. With improved service first.

I took the bus for years, through high school and university. Now, post-baby, I don't take it anymore. And I do feel some guilt. But it's just not a practical thing to do if you can avoid it. And I hate that.