Taking the High Road

I have been riding the train to and from work fairly regularly for the past 7 years, ever since Salt Lake City opened its light rail system. Since I am an employee of the University of Utah I have the small fortune of riding the train and busses for free. I love it. I don’t have to fight traffic, so I arrive at work relaxed, rather than all worked up. But most of all I pay very little for gas. With the recent increases in gas prices I find that more and more people in our little city are using mass transit.



I don’t mind the increase of people using the train. I love to watch people and their little idiosyncrasies. I actually wish that more people would use public transportation. But that’s the problem. Here in SLC there is a horrible stigma attached to those who use mass transit. In major cities no one will think twice if you start a story with, “I was on the train this morning…” But here it is different. When I mention that I ride the train to work I get a look. The look is somewhere between “Can’t you afford a car?” and “Are you some tree hugger who is too good to drive?” Many of the people I work with drive SUVs and complain incessantly about gas prices. But what they really are doing is emphasizing that they have an expensive vehicle that is expensive to operate. It is a status symbol to complain about how much they are spending on gas. When you think about it, the whole idea is pretty stupid. People will not commute on a mass level because they think it would be demeaning. When in reality I would think more of them if they would leave the SUV at home.
Sometimes I suggest that people choose the train over driving, just to see what kind of excuse I will get. The excuses range from, “I don’t live close to a train station” to “The schedules are too hard to understand” to “The mass transit is too unreliable” and my favorite “It takes too much time”. I’m still waiting for an excuse that makes sense.
I constantly hear people rant about how much money is to be spent on extensions for the light rail system. People tell me that it is a waste to spend any more money on public transportation in Salt Lake. They say that public transportation will never take off in this city. And I think that they are right. People in this city are too much in love with their cars. Need proof? The lovely elected officials of this city recently voted down a measure to include dental coverage for Medicaid recipients. In the same breath they approved a measure for the funds needed to build a new parking facility for them on Capitol Hill. So those who are most in need of dental care won’t be able to get it, but our lawmakers at least won’t have to suffer the indignity of parking their cars outside.
So for the time being I will make use of my train time by studying for school or napping while my co-workers, who have free bus and train passes complain about the cost of commutting.