"From Books and Buses to Bad Driving and B-Movie Politics" by v. johns 2-5-08 at 7:10pm
Call me a rolling stone... If I were in Atlanta, or if I still lived in Tallahassee, then this blog would certainly be about one of those places... My loyalty tends to lie wherever I lay my noggin. But since I seem to be stuck in South Florida, for the time being, I will comment on my experiences here while I'm here: Many of which have been nightmarish and often uninspiring. I've realized since returning here in 2001 that this is undeniably not the place I once knew as a child, nor as a teen. Even Indiantown has changed a little. But not as much as it's gonna. As we speak, there are plans on the board to bring the same chaos (over development) that the rest of South Florida has experienced out here to our little town. The only thing that has spared us thus far (other than Martin County's shameful historical neglect) is the unfortunate collapse of the housing market here in South Florida and nationwide.
One experience here that I find to be problematic and unsatisfactory, that a lot of other people bitch about way more than I do, is traffic. Particularly interstate traffic and its ilk. But in my opinion, metropolitan interstate traffic here in South Florida (ex. I-95 from Hobe Sound to Miami) is nothing compared to rural interstate traffic in Central Florida (I-75 between Gainesville and Tampa). Or even worse city-specific rush-hour traffic (Tallahassee on any given Monday or Friday during the football season or legislative session). So, as bad as I-95 can get down this way, for those of us who travel in the Tri-County Area, the thing that makes it bad is the never ending road construction going on down that way. Not much fun, but nothing a little talk radio can't cure. Still, God forbid if there's garbage on the radio at the time you're driving... On top of the fact that you forgot you iPod when you left this morning...
I will concede, however, that talk radio is of no comfort to anyone who really has to be somewhere - to pick up the kids or interview for a job. To be to a job. Not to mention the smoldering sun shining dead on you as you drive home from work or school in the late afternoon rush. And quite often when I-95 traffic gets REALLY, really bad, other roads (U.S. 1, A1A, 441, Congress Ave., Military Trail, the Turnpike, Indiantown Road, Kanner Highway, PSL Blvd., Glades Road, SR 7, etc.) get choked up pretty bad as well. But, again, I've seen worse in isolated Tallahassee... I'm talkin two hours to get home... in one town... And I say "isolated" because there are no other towns that connect with Tally the way places down here connect. Not yet. And, really, would anyone in South Florida even THINK about trading places with those poor people up in Atlanta? I don't think so.
Well, our traffic might not be the worst, but our drivers are! THAT'S where all the stress for me comes from when I'm driving. While the trips and the time spent on the road don't bother me, the PEOPLE do! A lot of these folks who drive down here, in the land of the blazin' sun, have absolutely no concept whatsoever about what responsibilities owning a motor vehicle entails. And while other more well-known, better organized metros like New York and San Francisco Bay have estblished and well-planned transit systems to funnel some of their own driving-challenged idiots off the road, we here in overrated South Florida, DON'T... I say overrated because South Florida is nowhere near as sophisticated as it can and purports to be.
Sure enough, our dilemma is nearly purely regional in nature... not confined to any one city but to multiple municipalities with common economic ties. A good dilemma, maybe. But a dilemma that demands to be addressed nonetheless. And now that people are beginning to see the true size and depth of the South Florida landscape, we need ways of getting around in all theses places down here. Other than in our cars. Especially when so many people here either can't drive. Or they drive even though aren't supposed to be driving... Yes, indeed, even people with Florida-style multiple DUI's deserve to have SOME way of getting around (hopefully to work and not to a bar) besides expensive taxi cabs, unreliable family and friends, uncommitted carpools, limited community shuttles... Or even worse yet... driving illegally with a revoked or suspended license... Driving home from a bar at that... So, by having a full regional train system or by somehow linking each county's current bus system - no matter how quaint - with that of neighboring counties... uh... wouldn't we be doing ourselves a big favor by getting as many teens, alcoholics and bad drivers off the road as we can? (Sorry, teens. Nothing personal.)
Concerining my days up in Tally (Tallahassee)... a little background, here: I left South Florida circa 1992 to attend college up there. Beautiful place: Nice locals, lots of trees, good schools, diverse, generally well-educated population. Not to mention hot babes... who like to read!
Well, anyway, majoring in math-laden business economics, I just couldn't handle the load, nor the math, so I dropped to part time and eventually ended up changing majors - and schools - multiple times. Later on I got a job, got a car, become a local and ended up staying there for a rough total of about nine years - not counting summer breaks. Unfortunately, I never finished my goal of acquiring a bachelor's degree of some sort... This is to be continued. And my time up there wasn't all bliss. I had some major troubles for sure. Murphey got me good, for sure. But other than an abundance of beautiful women who read and wear clothes, the one thing I miss, and may have taken for granted, is riding the bus to class and using it as a backup to my car. It was just so convenient...
For people who walk or "bike it" or for people with ''A-to-B'' cars or ''hoopties'' or ''junk wagons'' - whatever you wanna call 'em - good public transportation as another option is a godsend. When I lived in Tally, I walked, hitched it or bussed it until my latter years at FAMU. Then, I got a car, I liked it, I got used to it, I got spoiled... THEN my car broke down. Repeat this, eh, about three or four times. If I remember correctly. Still, I knew the bus system so well that each time my car broke down on me or I couldn't use it, I hopped back on the bus as if I had never stopped riding it. Even when I bought a bike, later on, I still used the bus (Bike racks are the bomb!). After awhile I left FAMU for TCC and then FSU. Oher side of town. Same story, nonetheless. With slightly different variations (owed money on title loans, etc.). On some occasions, when my car was actually functioning, the parking at FSU was so bad - and so scarce - I gladly said to myself: "To hell with driving!"
The city buses that were used to move students around town and from one end of the campus to the other? NICE! Living near one of the campus bus routes that went directly to where my classes were? PRICELESS!
Fast forward to today: I find myself in a bit of a quandry. I actually miss Tallahasse. It wasn't all good, but it wasn't all bad, either. And I wish I could go back sometimes... With two big state colleges there, the generally brainy environment suits me much better than the segregated, NIMBY-pimby, low-brow, worker blues, retail misery that has become Martin County... Tallywas kinda sleepy, but the buses buzzing all over town - not to mention the big games in the Fall and the legislative sessions in the Spring- made the place look a lot busier than it actually was. I knew the bus system there inside-out. Even when I got all comfy and big time riding around in my car to places I couldn't go before, on some days - when I wasn't at work or in class - I actually took the bus to the mall or whatever just for old time's sake...
Compare that with this: Out here in Indiantown, other than a poorly funded call-ahead county shuttle called Community Coach, THERE ARE NO BUSES! Most people out here drive, true, but I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't have a car! I have a more reliable car now - Thank God - but when I first came back to South Florida, I drove the same death trap of a vehicle that I had driven in Tally. So, whenever I broke down, I had to either catch a ride with relatives or borrow their vehicles. How embarrassing.
Okay... SO... if I have a car and I can get around, why am I bitchin about there being no buses where I live? I'm glad you asked...
For one thing: I actually give a damn about other human beings... For the most part. I can drive and I can go when and where I want to, but many people can't and it reduces their economic potential. Besides that, it's no fun, at all, not being able to go where you need to and want to go. Granted, you can't get as far - or to as many places in a day - on a bus or train as you can in a car, but if you're poor and can't afford a car, yet, it's a start!
Second: Anyone, who has utilized public transportation extensively, knows how awesome it is to just kick back and let someone else do the driving while they enjoy the view. Who better to do the driving than a well-trained bus driver or train operator? Not only is it nice to ride and not have to keep your eyes on the road or worry about gas prices, you get to finish a book or newspaper or magazine or homework you couldn't find the time or concentration to finish at home - while someone else drives you to work or school. Like I said before... Priceless!
Third: It's a part of what I call "the regional dilemma": When you live in a relatively remote place like Indiantown, where your choices in jobs, shopping, entertainment, etc. are very limited, you often have to go out of town to get what you want or need. Limited choices makes for very limited lives... Lucky for Indiantown, we're not hundreds of miles out in the middle of nowhere - like towns out West. But let me tell ya, there are a ton of us up here in the northern districts of South Florida who commute further south to work, party and go to school. And believe it or not, some of our Gold Coast brethren even travel up here to the Treasure Coast for the same things. Though to a much lesser degree, of course. So... how do we address the fact that people don't - or even just can't - do all their living in one central place?
Fourth: As I mentioned before, on a more personal note, unlike my days in Tally, I have no permanent backup should my car fail me. Like many out west here in Indiantown, Okeechobee, Canal Point, Port Mayaca, Pahokee, Belle Glade, South Bay and maybe Clewiston, I work (and go to school) on the metro coast. That's a good 20 miles or more for me... In any direction... Despite the good ratings and reliability reputation of the make and model of my car, there's no guarantee that it will always be good to me. Yeah, I got people, but a lot of people don't. And as good as my people are, I doubt they'll tolerate me damn near taking over their vehicles - when they themselves have places to go and things to do.
And finally: With all the fuss in the newspapers, online and on local TV about the lack of transportation funding for our region, I'm essentially just pissed off with the backward politics and the tax games that some of these idiot showboating politicians are playing with funding mass transit initiatives for our area. The expansion of real mass transit to the Treasure Coast hinges on finding a dedicated source of funding for the South Florida Regional Transit Authority - funding that the federal government would match us on! How hard can it be?
Time and again, RTA and other local officials have proposed ideas for funding only to have the legislature find some dumb, idiotic reason to discard these ideas as mere trash. It's clear to see that some games are being played up in Capitol City. The people of Florida, especially South Florida, have almost no say in what we get and how we are governed... Forever floundering in a sea of mediocrity on all levels, we are at worst a state run on the cheap and on the broken backs of the poor for the benefit of the rich. And at best a place where middle-class values and middle-class people are slowly, but surely, being squeezed out by the two growing extremes of rich and poor...
I do believe that as car-centric as Florida tends to be, especially South Florida, there appears to be a growing demand for public transportation brewing among officials, planners and citizens alike. Apparently there just isn't enough of it. I just want to add my own voice to the chorus. I'll be writing about stuff other than transportation, most likely, but overall, I want to write about stuff I see along the way as it relates to the entire region at large...
There are a lot of good blogs, websites, daily papers and alternative publications out there covering - and coming out of - the Miami area on almost anything you can think of. My blog will concern South Florida, in general, with specific emphasis on bringing commuter rail to all of the Palm Beaches and the Treasure Coast. Other than what is covered in the news, there seems to be, at first glance, at least, a dearth of citizen concern on this issue, here on the Treasure Coast... compared to the constant vigilance of our neighbors to the south... Palm Beach County wants to expand commuter rail further north to Jupiter and beyond. Ft. Lauderdale is actively planning its next phase in mass transit for its residents. But the populous flagship city of Miami, with its many buses, trains, expresses, and transfer connections with neighboring counties, is where the entire region should be - at this point, on some level - with regards to public mass transit.
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