2008 Woodie Awards
The way we see it ...
Boise is light years behind in public transit opportunities
Arbiter Editorial Board
Issue date: 3/19/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
You don’t know his name. He is grungy and has hinting smells like alcohol and waste. He looks utterly exhausted. But for 15 minutes he gets a free ride to the other side of town, because he needs it.
Two college students run to the street corner on Roosevelt and Overland to catch the 29 to Boise State. Coming up on the corner they see the Valley Ride fly by, three seconds late. The real trouble isn’t just that they missed the bus, but since it’s mid-day, they have to wait an hour before the next one comes their way. So they walk. She doesn’t want to walk 23 blocks in her heels; he has a bum knee and the hills are heavy.
Starting to get the point?
The City of Boise doesn’t seem to get it. The city bus system in Boise is ridiculous. The buses come every half hour during the morning and afternoon, once per hour during the middle of the day and they stop running altogether around 7 p.m.
The bus is a free ride for students, but it is nowhere near compatible to the needs of this mediocre metropolis. It isn’t free to the average Joe or the fourth-grade kid who lives 10 miles from school. It isn’t expensive, by any means, but dollars add up and to people who have trouble keeping dollars, those few mean very much.
There is no question that the air quality in Boise is better than in most cities, but if we are so worried about the numbers of parts per millions of CO2 floating on this valley air, why don’t we do something about it?
There is no train system in Boise. Why not? Is it merely the millions of dollars which keep a train connecting Boise-Eagle-Meridian-Nampa-Caldwell from being built? It is needed now. The freeways are dangerous and dreadfully slow at rush hour afternoons out of Boise. If there were a train it would take thousands of cars off the road every day. That would make life not only easier, but more timely and efficient for Treasure Valley residents and the working-class citizens of this city.
Modern cities like Porltand, Ore. are light years ahead of Boise in the idea of “Green” transportation. Portland has a train, free to everyone downtown, trolleys running perpendicular to the train and buses filling in all the gaps. The result? The thriving downtown area of Portland is clean and filled to the brim with people on foot or on transit vessels. There are hardly any cars at all, jamming the streets and fighting for parking places.
It would take Boise 30 years to catch up to the advances in Portland, so why not get started? Start by expanding the bus schedules. Get more routes and bring them by more frequently.
Advertise. If the bus system gets better, more people will use it.
If it’s dependable, so will be the riders.
Two college students run to the street corner on Roosevelt and Overland to catch the 29 to Boise State. Coming up on the corner they see the Valley Ride fly by, three seconds late. The real trouble isn’t just that they missed the bus, but since it’s mid-day, they have to wait an hour before the next one comes their way. So they walk. She doesn’t want to walk 23 blocks in her heels; he has a bum knee and the hills are heavy.
Starting to get the point?
The City of Boise doesn’t seem to get it. The city bus system in Boise is ridiculous. The buses come every half hour during the morning and afternoon, once per hour during the middle of the day and they stop running altogether around 7 p.m.
The bus is a free ride for students, but it is nowhere near compatible to the needs of this mediocre metropolis. It isn’t free to the average Joe or the fourth-grade kid who lives 10 miles from school. It isn’t expensive, by any means, but dollars add up and to people who have trouble keeping dollars, those few mean very much.
There is no question that the air quality in Boise is better than in most cities, but if we are so worried about the numbers of parts per millions of CO2 floating on this valley air, why don’t we do something about it?
There is no train system in Boise. Why not? Is it merely the millions of dollars which keep a train connecting Boise-Eagle-Meridian-Nampa-Caldwell from being built? It is needed now. The freeways are dangerous and dreadfully slow at rush hour afternoons out of Boise. If there were a train it would take thousands of cars off the road every day. That would make life not only easier, but more timely and efficient for Treasure Valley residents and the working-class citizens of this city.
Modern cities like Porltand, Ore. are light years ahead of Boise in the idea of “Green” transportation. Portland has a train, free to everyone downtown, trolleys running perpendicular to the train and buses filling in all the gaps. The result? The thriving downtown area of Portland is clean and filled to the brim with people on foot or on transit vessels. There are hardly any cars at all, jamming the streets and fighting for parking places.
It would take Boise 30 years to catch up to the advances in Portland, so why not get started? Start by expanding the bus schedules. Get more routes and bring them by more frequently.
Advertise. If the bus system gets better, more people will use it.
If it’s dependable, so will be the riders.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
anonymous
posted 3/20/07 @ 11:12 AM MST
"There are hardly any cars at all, jamming the streets and fighting for parking places."
Portland does have a thriving transit system but the quote above idicates that the authors have never driven in downtown Portland where the cars DO jam the streets and there is PLENTY of fighting for parking places. (Continued…)
J
posted 3/20/07 @ 4:08 PM MST
Why would it take 30 years to build a public transportation infrastructure?
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