Transportation and its discontents

Of all the reasons I am happy living in New York, at the head of the list is an unusual (read: un-American) one. I love not having to drive. No car, no problem. This is maybe odd in a culture that seems to cherish time spent behind the wheel (case in point: one of my good friends, J., just started a blog in his new car's honor, though if I had that thing parked outside my apartment, I might change my tune too), but I really don't care for any of the following:

1. paying for gas

2. looking for parking

3. looking for gas stations

4. paying for parking

5. paying for insurance

6. replacing parts/tuneups after x miles

7. worrying about someone keying or plowing into my car

8. digging my car from surrounding snow

9. honking

10. worrying about other people after I run them over

You get the idea. This is why I'm also a public transportation champion. It helps that most of what I need to get by is a short walk or subway commute away. The problem in most cities though, is that using public transportation is only slightly preferable to severing your limbs and FedEx-ing yourself to the desired destination. But only because FedEx hiked their rates. In many cases, subway service isn't there for late weekends; trains are dirty; they take inefficient routes; they're slow; they inexplicably fill up with only ugly people; and generally conspire to make life less pleasant. Buses are more tolerable but most people don't understand the routes well enough to use them effectively.

Fortunately, there are some cities that handle these issues well. New York does a pretty good job. If you can get past the uninspired decor, constant construction (I guess they're making "improvements") and the occasional crazy trying to take a shit in a subway car, it's tough to argue against a non-stop system with ample lines and connections. That 2nd Avenue idea would make a lot of Upper East Siders happy, and there is definitely room for improvement elsewhere, but it would probably take a free 24-hour cab service (with complimentary cocktails and massages) for me to stop using it. Paris' set-up makes other subway systems cry with deep municipal shame. There's seemingly an entrance every two blocks, with intelligent and frequent connections. Plus, you've got buses and trams for backup. I just wish nighttime service were a little better (it's improving thankfully), especially since cabbies charge you obscene fares, then stop, taunt you with the 100 Euro note you tearfully handed over, and light it on fire to show just how dumb you are for getting in in the first place. Bilbao's subway is literally underground art, but it's obviously easier to get away with this in a non-metropolis. Having lived there for seven months, I got to repeatedly marvel at its design and efficiency, as well as the outstandingly hot Spanish women that sat on the trains with me (gringos blend in better over there). Which is why it's still kind of baffling that smaller US cities do nothing or are content with the lumbering, disease-filled garbage trucks they run for taxpaying citizens. Truly terrifying things have been whispered about Atlanta's subway, and even though I've been to Philadelphia enough, I still haven't gotten past merely peering into the abyss that is a SEPTA entrance - I could have sworn I heard echoes of demonic cackling and half expected one of those poofy hellfire gusts to jump out at me. I guess people just don't want to put up any money for this and are perfectly happy waiting for someone to turn switchgrass to cheaper fuel for their Cherokees. I don't get it.