Undependable public transportation? Jan. 26, 2024
Made the trek to our Hoboken office, a short walk from the
light rail station.
I missed one of my co-workers but found the other diligently
typing away after the boss had instructed him and others to show up there at
least three days a week.
I stopped off on my way to several meetings, trying to work
out the logistics of getting places primarily using the light rail.
Getting to Journal Square from where I live is always an
issue since most of the buses only go to 30th street coming from and going to
New York City.
There are buses that go all the way up to where I am, but
they are infrequent. So, I have been walking from where I live to catch the buses
at 30 h Street for the long ride south.
The office is located in a part of Hoboken not far from a
slanted road up the hill – behind Christ Hospital and ending behind Dickinson
High, a bit of a trek, and yet not much different from the trip to 30th Street.
I misread the weather and overdressed. As a result, I was
sweating when I got up the hill, and weary, arriving earlier than I expected. I
sat behind the old court house to wait, then went to the Freeholder meeting
where they were honoring an old friend, an environmentalist I used to help out
as a reporter back in the 1990s.
The meeting was mercifully short, giving me enough time to
get a coffee and muffin on my way to the School Board meeting a few blocks
away, where they honored some kids, but speakers complained about a host of issues,
some of which I knew nothing about, missing checks, a bad teacher and the
problem with school pools.
I took the traditional way back.
I could have gone to the bus depot to catch the bus all the
way home, but these run so infrequently, that it is easier to wait up the
street where the puddle jumpers also stop (they are no longer allowed in the
terminal as they were in the past).
I waited and waited, but no bus came, and when a puddle
jumper came, it didn’t stop. The next bus was a New York bound NJ Transit bus,
which made local stops, but only as far up as 30th Street. Uncertain of how
long I might have to wait for a bus going all the way, I jumped on it, and then
got off at 30th Street, walking the rest of the way, only to see two buses pass
me along the way.
Like everything else NJ Transit touches, it is tainted. The
service is designed to fill each bus, not deliver a service to people in need,
and this is particularly nasty since NJ Transit is proposing to raise the rates
by 15 percent. Since rich people don’t take these buses to these places, this
impacts working and poor people most.
On top of that, the driver was rude when I asked if the bus could
drop me off at 30th Street.
Normally, I thank the driver when I get off. This time I didn’t.
Local environmentalist are constantly trying to stop car
traffic, but to do so, we need a reliable public transportation system, and
unlike the fascists of the 1930s, our governor can’t get the buses or trains to
run on time, and perhaps doesn’t care, he, being part of the elite who dictates
how others should live, while he gets around in a limo.
I suppose if I was governor, I could not do much better. But
then, I wouldn’t be brow beating working people by forcing them to buy overly
expensive electric cars or depend on an undependable rapid transit system. But
hey, that’s me.
Fortunately, the walk home was not terrible. The rain had
come and gone during my time in the board meeting, and the temperature did not
drop dramatically. I also like the walk, although I had to resist temptation to
stop off at the White Castle since I had already overindulged earlier with the
muffin,
These kinds of trips are fine in good weather, but I’m not
sure I’d be as charitable if the rain had come during the walk, or I had to trudge
through snow.
Unfortunately, I still had to feed the cats (inside and
outside) when I got home. They were less than charitable in having to wait for
their supper.
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