Home Again and Public Transportation

1. Home Again and Public Transport
2. Ah so, the Chinese philosopher speaks
3. Reader's Comments
4. Yes, you can

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Readers' Forum
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         I heard a person say, not long ago, that sometimes getting home was the best part of the trip. Depending on what type of trip that person had, that may be true. But I would tell that person to either not travel anymore or to be more careful in their traveling. This last trip had some stressful times in it, but overall, it was a very good trip.
As you probably know, I like trains. I like riding trains even more than just looking at them, but I like trains. Australia made the mistake of privatizing many of their “rides” and that left out the people who needed them. Many fares are too expensive for the average worker and that creates a problem. It is a problem we seldom experience here in the U S as we have government subsidized highways and airlines which makes traveling more affordable. Those people who can’t afford to drive or fly can just stay home.
One thing that is really good about Australian train travel, and I think their Sydney area bus travel, is that the senior citizens get reduced fares. The Sydney travel area extends very far out to the far outer suburbs and the fare for the travel there is greatly reduced. A senior can travel on bus, train, ferry or any combination there of for $2.50 per day. That sounds awfully civilized to me.
I don’t mean this to sound as a travelogue but just to illustrate a point to my U S friends, let me tell you what public transportation could be like. We were taken by auto to Dubbo as that was on the route home for our wonderful host and hostess. Then we went by train from Dubbo to Lithgow, then switched trains and four minutes later  to Hazelbrook. After a night with a friend we went from Hazelbrook to Sydney Central where we caught the train to Sydney International Air Port.
All of that traveling was done while seated in a comfortable seat with a wide window to see the countryside and the Roos lounging in fields. On the hour and a half ride into Sydney we were in seats reserved for “Elderly or handicapped.” The first time I had seen that marking was in Ukraine several years ago. The U S is not always the leader in providing services and should sometimes look around to see what works elsewhere.
Having visited and lived in places that provides public transportation to the public, I am a big fan. It not only is a necessary service, it would help with the air pollution in most of out major cities. Imagine taking 50 people with the almost the same exhaust emission as one auto with one person in it. OR, if that bus was powered with natural gas, there would be virtually no harmful emission for 50+ people. Yessir, I am a fan of public transportation.
This was our third visit to Broken Hill, Australia which is very near the center of Australia. Broken Hill is a city of just over 20,000 people but it has public transportation and a large taxi service. I know of several cities in Oklahoma with about that population. Can you think of any that would have scheduled public transport?
There is one disadvantage to their transportation; it is on the wrong side of the road. Very often you will see signs painted on the street, just as you step off the curb, which reads: LOOK RIGHT. They are designed for foreign visitors who are just wandering around and may temporarily forget where they are. It didn’t matter how many signs I saw or how many times I reminded myself, I would have to force myself to look right. Lifetime habits, and self preservation techniques, are hard to break.
I tried to overcome that by constantly swiveling my head both directions no matter where I was. That seemed to help my brain adjust without a headache. Then making sure to cross the street at a painted crosswalk helped as traffic was supposed to stop when a person was in one of those. Usually they did.
But even with better public transport, treating seniors with respect, less traffic and some wonderful wildlife, it is good to be home. I have had up to four grands and one great kid in our house since we got back. There isn’t anything better than that.

 
Chelsea Cook
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2. “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”
 Lyn Yutang
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3. Reader's Comments
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4. Yes, you can
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