It’s Thursday. This week has flown by. Instead of cohesion, a list:

  • By now, you’ve probably heard about how CT DOT has proposed cuts to train and bus service. I wrote about this elsewhere, and I believe the central question is this: efficiency for whom? Always scratch deeper than what’s on the press release, ask questions, and when there is space for public comment, use it.
  • Considering a specific errand, I searched to see how easily I could reach a particular store from just outside of downtown Hartford. There is one of these stores in South Windsor and one in New Haven.

    To get to South Windsor, it would take me an hour and five minutes; I would have to take three buses (31, 36, and 92) plus walk for eleven minutes. I am told that during rush hour, this 10 mile trip would take me 20 minutes by private vehicle.

    I can get to New Haven’s State Street Station (40 miles) in an hour and four minutes; that is by walking 24 minutes to Union Station and then taking the train. I could take a bus to the train station, but that actually adds time to the trip. The New Haven option would not mean I’d be right at the destination during that time, but there are other things I would want to do while there and would feel like I could do. New Haven is relatively walkable compared to the whole Buckland Hills sprawl that is a nightmare for those trying to get around by foot. I could take a bus (10 minutes) or walk (16 minutes) from the New Haven station to the store, and I would likely walk and make multiple other stops along the way. Neither is convenient, but one I would make an afternoon of — have lunch somewhere, go to a jazz show, maybe time this so I visit when there’s a festival of some kind — and the other would be get in and get out, and if they don’t have what I’m looking for, it’d be a very wasted trip to South Windsor.

    The lesson here is not that we should have train service between Hartford and South Windsor/Manchester. It’s that people who decide on bus routes should have to ride them; that way, nobody in charge would think it reasonable to have a bus take more than 30 minutes going from downtown Hartford to South Windsor.

  • All that said, I’m not mad about having to do something like look up bus and train schedules. I have some level of impulse control and the willingness to plan ahead. This is a benefit of being car-free. I’m not going to jump in a car and drive to the first store to get something. I’m much more likely to research a thing before making a purchase. So, it’s not just a car, gas, parking fees, tolls, tax, registration, insurance, and repairs that I’m saving money on.
  • The back doors of the bus do not have motion sensors that prevent them from closing on a person’s body.  You’re welcome for this information.

Climate Possibilities is a series about climate mitigation, along with resilience, resistance, and restoration. It’s about human habitat preservation. It’s about loving nature and planet Earth, and demanding the kind of change that gives future generations the opportunity for vibrant lives. Doomers will be eaten alive, figuratively. All photographs are taken in Hartford, Connecticut unless stated otherwise.