Public transit, especially during rush hour can create intense physical intimacy without taking your clothes off.
I wrote before about feeling flattened like a pancake on the bus home. But today was even better.
I crammed myself onto the back of the #408 bus and thought the doors would close behind me. But a man pushed me further into the bus so that he could squeeze in too. Until the next stop, I was arching my back as some women's shoulders were jutting out in front of me and the man behind me didn't give me much breathing room either. Too bad I wasn't enjoying the moment so much.
Some people got off at the next stop, but even then the bus was still packed until my stop.
Thankfully, everyone was wearing thick winter coats so we were all practicing safe intimacy.
But with the flu bug going around, a few people were coughing which was a bit unnerving.
Public transit is cheap (US$0.14) which is great especially for people with low income levels. But with the crowded buses, you can't blame others who have the means to buy cars.
Apparently there are some 1,000 new cars on the road each month and earlier this summer we hit three million already.
The government is trying to get people more environmentally conscious and take public transit. But at the same time it has a major stake in the car industry and encourages people to buy these vehicles.
While there is no easy solution, perhaps taking cars off the road and putting on more buses would help us all enjoy our commutes more and do our bit to save the planet. It just depends on the will of the government. And unfortunately, it doesn't look like its heart is going green anytime soon.
Whatever happened to a green Olympics? Or is that only for two weeks in August?
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1 comment:
there is no easy solution to traffic problem in a big city such as beijing. in london they charge an arm and a leg when you drive into town. the automatic sensor will register your car once you enter a certain zone. by the end of a certain time frame you will receive a hefty bill. perhaps beijing should carry out such a plan in order to discourage more cars into the ring road area in order to cut down cars and emissions. but at the same time more mass transit should be provided to the public. all this is easier said than done. hope by the summer next year they will come up with some ingenious solution.
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