Don't You Dare

There is a long, broad tunnel under downtown Seattle containing electric buses and light rail. Great idea to avoid all the city center congestion. But if you went down to the wrong platform you'll have to go back up to the street to get to the other side. What would happen if you tried to dash?

Seattle has a great public transit system for a city its size. We've used it a number of times. When we rode it from our hotel to the International District and back Saturday, I played dumb tourist and asked about the fare (which I knew). Well, it's $2.50 regular and one measly dollar for seniors. Amazing. But both times the driver told us not to worry about it and waved us on back.

I have no local material so I'll do Seattle stuff for a while. Tomorrow: Yves Saint Laurent in rain city. What?                

816 - The Metro

816 is the telephone area code for Kansas City, Missouri, where we find ourselves at the moment. It is also the name of the hotel where we stay in KC on our way to see Mrs. C's family in Kansas. It is full of photos and artifacts of the city from decades ago. We usually get one of the less expensive rooms but they are a bit cramped. This time we spent a little more and got a bigger one.

We had no idea that the room's decoration theme was Kansas City's public transit of years gone by. The second picture is of wallpaper behind the desk. The fourth is a fare box from not too many years ago. The bedside lamp on the right of the top of photo is the cylinder where riders dropped their coins decades ago.

Over to Marysville, Kansas, this morning. The weather is unsettled. Maybe we'll see a tornado.         

In Need Of Direction

Below the fancy new bus stop seen yesterday, down by the railroad tracks, a family waits for the MetroLink train. The only sign they need will be on the front of the train, stating how far into the Illinois suburbs the next train goes.

Many of us could use a sign. It's just so hard figuring out where to direct yourself on your own.

Our transit system leaves something to be desired. The light rail system is in a squiggly Y shape. We could use several more lines but no one has the will or the money. There are some rush hour commuters but, for the most part, poor people use public transit and everyone else drives. For me to take the system to work, I'd have to drive 10 minutes to a park and ride lot for the train. The whole trip would take two to three times as long as using my car. Mrs. C and I like public transit. I was riding the NY subway alone by 12 and we use transit everywhere in the world we can (the Paris and Tokyo metros are marvels). Just not a very good option here.