General News · 17th January 2007
sonyafriesen
lets re-hash the cortes public bus/van, idea !!we've all talked about this before ,but lets try again.globel warming is not going away with our excuses.what about a local volenteer gas tax,to help fund it,or talking to reginal district about carbon tax credits, or how about bummper stickers that say "hitchikers not inconvenient"all sticker proceeds go towards the future bus idea.just throwing out some thoughts and hoping for some of yours .
busses movin along
Comment by amber on 20th January 2007
Good news for both of you, the two schools are at this point closer than they have ever been on the bussing issue! Hopefully we will start Feb 5th on a trial basis till June having the two busses work together in a Northend-southend run trial. This will be awesome I hope for the enviroment, cost savings and most importantly to me, building of friendships! Keep your fingers crossed, there will be a public announcement soon!
Amber
hitch-hikers guide to the islands
Comment by jude marentette on 18th January 2007
Hi Sonia
Good to hear this idea out loud.
I've been hitch-hiking here on Salt Spring since the (first?) snow storm this winter; we live on a steep unplowed hill.
One of the things i miss about Cortes is the walk to work. Unfortunately, it's too far to do that here, but i've met so many people hitch-hiking and get to rant about the latest local "development" issues too.
It's worth the extra time i have to allow to get to places , and i walk more than just the few feet to the driveway.
Some folks here are less likely to pick up hitch-hikers once the weather "normalizes", so i may have to revert to my own car again.
May Cortes never go this way!
A friend who picks up all the hitch-hikers along her route can barely afford gas, insurance, repairs, etc so i gave her a wee basket to put in the place her car-stereo should be, with a lucky toony in it. With a sign inviting riders to contribute spare change toward costs, folks could have their own informal bus system, paid for by the users, supporting those directly incurring costs.
Maybe contribution boxes in all the usual spots/events to help promote the idea? Course, then you'd need some degree of bureaucracy and accountability...Still, less so than for a bus and driver and insurance, etc...
I like the idea of a bumper sticker. There's a popular one here that just says SLOW. Small, home-made lawn signs in the same identifying blue colour too.
Seems to me there are already loads of empty "buses" on the road. We could share the costs of running fewer of them. And encourage ride-share culture.
"From each according to their ability, to each according to their need" some bad-ass commie said this when engines were just starting to combust all over the place
P.S. Hope you're well.
Phoenix asks me to ask you to send his wallet please, if it's come your way. Thanks, much love, jude