By Sam Aola Ooko •
April 4, 2008
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Public transportation in Africa can be fun and comical; even depressing or horrible, depending on how you look at it. Consider this: you are a backpacker traveling deep somewhere in the Kenyan rift valley in a 1975 Leyland bus or British Bulldog as they are known here. It is your first time in Africa and everything seems a memorable adventure to take back home. As the bus throttles uphill, belching black smoke in its wake, it gives loud engine rants that sound like Armageddon has arrived, at the top speed of 25 miles an hour.
They disregard sitting capacity here and the bus is never full until the last passenger tilts with it while hanging precariously on the door rails. And there will still be enough room for another one! The foul-mouthed crew had packed passengers at the previous stop like sardines on a hot afternoon with temperatures running to nearly 40° C (104° F) and one must endure the sticky sweat of the person sitting next to you.
That person most probably will be a rotund lady with a basket-full of damp clothes and groceries as well as sun-dried fish and a live chicken for soup on one hand. On the other will be a six-month old baby with his mouth holding on to his mother’s teat, and a two year old wailing profusely and tagging along.
The bus window next to your seat won’t open and your legs won’t fit the spacing forcing you to put your leg astride to expose your feet on the aisle, also packed with all sorts of goods, from a sack of charcoal to sticks of sugarcane. You feel like a caged animal. Sounds familiar?
By Mark Seall •
April 3, 2008
Putting pen to paper for Bus Transportation Week I began to make a few notes about bus travel in Switzerland – the country that I usually cover on EcoWorldly. My notes read: reliable, clean, efficient.
Not much of a story there.
When there is not much happening in Switzerland and I need to file an EcoWorldly post, I usually look at wider Europe. My notes on bus travel in other nations around Europe read: mostly reliable, mostly clean, mostly efficient.
Still not much to write home about.
And then I read Pem Charnley’s article about bus transportation in Britain, which struck much more of a chord. Having recently written here about the woeful state of British rail transportation, I thought it might be appropriate to continue Pem’s theme and recount my experience of bus travel when I returned to our sunny island for a brief visit recently.
The story starts in the West Midlands with a Saturday shopping trip from my residence in Warwick to the nearby town of Royal Leamington Spa. As before, I shall evaluate the transport infrastructure of the 4th richest nation in the world using some carefully chosen criteria.
By Gavin Hudson •
April 2, 2008
People fall into one of two categories: those who ride the bus and those who’d rather lick paint. Which view is right? Sure, we love to hate the bus, but are all buses really that bad? As a side effect of my mulish refusal to own a car, I find myself riding a bus quite often. By riding many a bus in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, I’ve found three important criteria by which to judge a good bus system.
1. You have access to a good schedule and map of the bus routes. Certain places get a gold star for laying out a detailed, clear schedule. Others leave you guessing on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.
By Gavin Hudson •
March 31, 2008
Dear Readers,
Last week, we asked what issues matter most to you. With the initial results rolling in, we’ll concentrate first on public transportation, which currently leads as the number one issue on everyone’s minds.
Recently, Pem brought us a chilling account of England’s bus system, which has much room to improve. We’ll follow this article with a focus on [...]
By Pem Charnley •
March 30, 2008
The wind howls, the setting some kind of Arctic wind tunnel. Sure, there’s a waiting room over there, but it’s deserted. And no wonder. The strip lighting such an intense hue that it dazzles – a fluorescent goldfish bowl that makes the squall preferable.
There’s only a few people here. A mum yells at her kids, then tells her friend about her recent sex life, the wind carrying her conquests to the damp corners of the platform and anyone unfortunate enough to have hearing as functional as her genitals.
To use the bus is not a green option, it’s the last ditch attempt of the stranded.
By Sarah Lozanova •
November 1, 2007
Chicago is bracing itself for November 4th, the day when significant cuts will take effect for the Chicago Transit Authority. Thirty nine bus routes will be cut, fares will be raised to as much as $3, and roughly 600 workers will be laid off. This will be an opportunity to examine just what service public transportation provides.
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley certainly appreciates the importance of mass transit. "To me,
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By Joshua S Hill •
September 13, 2007
Each of us who are hoping for a greener future often take a particular interest in our own career path’s move towards a greener future. Automotive engineers push for greener workplaces and cleaner cars (both inside and out), politicians for… oh, bad example, and nerds like myself hope for our industry giants to take further steps towards that green, clean future.
Thankfully, I’ve picked the right team, as two of the giants of the technology
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