10 October 2016

The Flathead's Eagle Transit is no substitute for owning a car

I traveled by shank’s mare last week while my automobile was in a repair shop. I walked miles to and from the drug and grocery stores, 3.5 miles from Costco, where my station wagon malfunctioned, and seven miles, five in the rain, to appointments with my physician.

Could I have spared my feet by traveling by bus? Not in any practical sense. I checked out Eagle Transit, the Flathead’s public bus system. The nearest bus stop is a mile from my home. Some of my destinations were not that far from the bus stop. Besides, I’ve never been on a bus that had seat belts. I will not use transportation that is not equipped with seat belts.

Was a taxi a possibility? Of course. But I don’t like the way taxi drivers drive, and I don’t like letting strangers know when my house will not be occupied. Moreover, taxies are expensive. Could I have called Uber? No. The sun never will rise on that day.

That left shank’s mare or my bicycle for getting from here to there. Most motorists hate bicyclists; I find bicycling downtown just too dangerous. Even in inclement weather I enjoy walking, so I’m not complaining about being on foot. But walking, which limits one to carrying what fits in a backpack, is not an efficient means of doing one’s routine shopping. For that, one needs an automobile. Which is why I’m glad I again have a roadworthy station wagon.

Public transportation has but a single virtue. It moves people from point A to point B efficiently.

But it has many vices. Someone else is driving. Buses do not have seat belts. Carrying two bags of groceries is an exasperating experience. Bad smelling people foul small, overheated spaces. People who sit next to you try to strike up a conversation. And public transportation’s sanctimonious advocates never stop trying to make decent people who own cars feel unclean.

That’s why Henry Ford is still one of my heros.