The PenOpticon

When I read inspiring books like Bill McKibben's Deep Economy and Mike Nickerson's Life, Money and Illusion , I dream utopian dreams of a world with no cars. Instead, our roads are practically empty except for hundreds of modern, quiet, hybrid and electric buses. Lotsa buses. Enough buses that you'd almost never have to wait more than a minute or three to catch one. Enough buses to ensure you almost always get a seat. Maybe even a window seat.

And then I wake up and realize I'm standing in the middle of a crowded aisle on a VIVA bus, heading to York University. For some unknown reason, the driver refuses to open the roof vents or turn on the air conditioning. The packed load of sweating students sways with nausea as the bus lurches through stop and go traffic, navigates around road construction and dodges the SUVs that routinely cut in front.

Those of us who travel without earbuds are treated to the cacophonous hiss and pop of 30 or 40 iPods which rhythmically bash away at the eardrums of their wearers. 

And then we arrive. And we stagger out of the bus like early morning drunks only to shuffle through a gauntlet of idling buses that spew diesel fumes which gather and linger around the walkways and buildings.

What I want to know is this: if we really are on the verge of Peak Oil; if a barrel of the stuff will soon cost more than $100; if the ice caps are melting, causing half the world to flood and other half to dry out; then, why can't we at least learn to turn off buses when they are parked?  York Region Transit is about to raise fairs to $3 a ride.  How much of this fair increase could be waived if drivers routinely shut off the engines when their buses are stopped for more than 3 minutes.

Of course, I'd prefer to see a car-less world where clean buses rule the roads. In the meantime, can we at least build buses that doesn't spew diesel and irony? Right now, they are choking the life out of us.