transportation

well, this afternoon i did a couple of things that ended up with me thinking about the transportation system:

1. tried to persuade my shrink to get a bike
2. drove around a lot

so, here are my thoughts.
transportation is one of the most major issues contributing to the current climate crisis. however, there are a pluritude of things that people can do to alleviate the crisis. one of the most important ones is to USE MASS FUCKING TRANSIT!!! seriously, it's there for a reason, and it seems to me that it's mainly the rich who are too either scared or grossed-out by the poor who can also ride the thus-named PUBLIC transit, rather than driving around with only one person in their 9-seater 10MPG SUMs (Sport Utility Monstrosities). the poor can afford it, and the more people ride it, the more lines will be offered and the faster people can get to where they want to go; and the more people can get to where they want to go, the more money the transit companies will make and the cycle keeps spiraling upward. i may just be biased, because i live in the Bay Area, which has an amazing public transit system, but if your area doesn't have one, write to your local governments and tell them "get us some public transit. it's revenues for you, convenience for me, and lack-of-environmental-destruction for EVERYBODY!!!"
the second option: get a bicycle. many locations are easily bikeable-to, and with the addition of a rack on the bike, you can take your stuff with you. not only is it green, but it'll help you with that six-pack you've been working on. one of the nicer things one can do, at least where i live, is ride your bike to the bus/train and then take your bike with you, which can cut out some of the pedaling without being too much worse for the environment. one of the other nice things about bikes is that they can make these wierd turns that cars generally can't, which can shorten routes by miles over the course of the route.
third option, and one of the most convenient: JOIN A FUCKING CARPOOL. make use of those extra seats, don't waste gas on an extra car, or on loitering in traffic. those nifty carpool lanes are there for a reason, folks.
going on a really long trip? i know your average bus, streetcar, or subway system isn't going to get you from Ca. to NY. that's why there's Amtrak and Greyhound. your average diesel train gets 400 person-miles per gallon (MPG times passengers). this is AWESOME fuel economy, and train routes are often very scenic. got kids? little kids LOVE trains. they're just really cool. i know that planes are faster, but sometimes you've gotta just make a little sacrifice in exchange for experiencing the natural beauty of America AND helping to preserve it.