Driving the future
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Updated: June 24, 2009 11:29 AM
Public transit isn't a new idea. Since the arrival of the automobile, people have been hitching rides, commuting together, piling into truck beds and jumping onto cable cars.
And today, many cities have found very capable ways of transporting people from one place to another, home to work to play and home again. And they've done it with public transit.
Vancouver and the Fraser Valley has not. Not really.
Sure, there are people who find the local bus service convenient for their needs. But for most of us, it's way easier to jump in the car and zoom off from place to place to place, without even thinking twice.
But we should think. In fact, we should put a lot of thought into it. We need new ideas. We need a fresh perspective. Especially at this far end of the valley, where the services are limited, but people have the same needs and wants as those down the line.
And tonight, we have the chance.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is holding public meetings throughout the Fraser Valley, and specifically here in Agassiz tonight. (June 25)
The evening will be a chance to review the Fraser Valley Regional Transit study, and maybe learn a little about what could or should be happening in the way of public transit.
As mentioned in Kent council this week, getting proper transit services out this way could help breed a new type of driver. The kind that doesn't drive at all, but sits on a bus, a Skytrain, a commuter train or even rideshares.
But for the drivers, and riders, of the future to be able to grab hold of that concept, we as a community will have to drive them there.
-The Observer
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