Transit - Retroactively Updated with an Apology

[dewline]

I just got the word: the OC Transpo bus drivers are now On Strike.

Dammit. My sense of environmental responsibility turned into a knife in my own economic guts for the second time in my life since moving to Ottawa.

Hoping it ends soon. Preferably within days...if not hours.

Update:

I was given incorrect info. My apologies for the screw-up.

Mood update: Still mildly annoyed...and somewhat worried that the strike may yet happen.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Ow! Here in Pennsylvania - specifically in the Philadelphia area - we recently weathered a SEPTA strike, which proved a broader pain as commuters shifted to regional rail and automobile traffic to get where they were going.

One of the indirect casualties of our strike was a 13 year-old student who found himself walking home from school due to the absence of buses. Jacob Gray (http://www.childrenshospitals.net/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=18910&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm) was severely beaten by two teenagers and an adult, reportedly simply for being a West African refugee. Certainly this was only partially related to the strike, but it has stuck with me.

Public transportation systems continue to be under attack as more politicians aim for profitability rather than viewing them as essential infrastructure that especially any modern metropolitan area should have. All obvious matters to some of us, but not to others.

Mike Norton (http://miraclo.blogspot.com/)

[dewline.livejournal.com]

What happened to Jacob Gray is certainly what I'd be inclined to call a hate crime as well. Disgusting on multiple levels, and then some. That the SEPTA strike may have contributed to it...well, it adds fuel to a very particular fire in my opinion.

The "profitability vs. essential service" argument seems somewhat tilted in favour of the "essential service" perspective here in Ottawa, Mike, although we've yet to nail down exactly how essential the service OC Transpo (http://octranspo.com/) truly is. As I've noted in my APAzines for Legends, we're slowly expanding back into light rail via the O-Train (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-Train), as part of the climate change/pollution/urban sprawl containment initiatives now in progress across the country.

I'll be interested to learn more regarding young Mr. Gray as his situation changes.