I.Hate.Calgary.Transit.

Somebody please tell the bigwigs at The City of Calgary, that we have a serious transportation issue.

I recently said something to my dad about "fucking transit..." and he was like, "What? It's not THAT bad." and I argued that yes, it is far worse than "that bad". He couldn't understand why, because he used to take the train to work for years. He says he loved it. He went on to explain how nice it is to just sit and read all the way to work...

I was like, "Sit? I don't even remember the last time I was able to sit on the c-train." he hasn't ridden the train in 20 years, so in his mind it's the same as it always has been. And I wonder if that's the problem. I wonder if all the big decision-makers at The City of Calgary think the train is the same as it was when they rode it 20 years ago.

I would like to see all the people who have a hand in calgary transit decision-making ride the train to and from work for a month. Hell, even a week would probably be long enough to drive them to some sort of realization.

I don't really care that much if I get to sit down anymore - it's at the point where I automatically assume I won't. Sometimes it makes me angry if I'm feeling sick or dizzy, but again - I realize I'm likely not the only one standing on the train who is feeling sick or dizzy. I can usually tell myself someone else is suffering more than I am, so then I feel sorry for them, rather than myself. And of course if I'm not focusing on my own pain/discomfort, it lessens.

But. In the past two or three months, I have noticed a pattern emerging that really bothers me. In the mornings when I am waiting for the train, I very rarely can get on the first train that goes by. Usually I can get onto the second one, but sometimes it's the third - and occaisionally I can't get on until the 4th one.

This pisses me off. Do I have to start planning to be at the train station half an hour earlier, just to make my way to the front of the crowd? How far is this going to go before something is done about it?

I've heard the excuse that they can't add more cars to the trains because the platforms aren't big enough. Okay. Fine. But what about running more trains? Apparently they don't run all the trains all the time - Just enough for their little schedule. How many people have to crowd onto a platform before people start falling off in front of trains? Would that do it? Would that make them change something? At what point does the crowd IN the train become a safety hazard? If the train counted as a building, the fire code would NOT allow that many people in. So why is that density of people considered more dangerous in a stationary building than a moving train?

I really, truly, would love answers to these questions. This is not just a blind rant, this is really an issue that truly bothers me, and I would REALLY like to understand what is or is not being done, and why. I understand that this city is growing at a ridiculous rate, but it was evident years ago that our transit system wasn't going to cut it.

Arg. Whatever. If anyone has any info on any aspect of this situation, I would really like to be better informed about it. I think if I better understood the entire situation, I would be less angry about it. And there HAS to be a reason somewhere, right?