Phillip Hong
17 September, 2007

Service cuts, fare hikes and all that jazz. It's unfortunate that transit is given a cold shoulder, especially at this crucial time.

As a high school student, I used to wake up in quite an early hour in the morning for a very long commute to school. I was awake while it was still dark, and by the time I got home, the skies were already pitch dark outside. Save for the "Arctic-style" weekdays I used to have based on this schedule, public transportation had given me a good way to see new things, explore opportunities, and most of all: remind myself that there is a beautiful landscape across the region.

Unfortunately, the growth that suburban towns and cities receive is mostly attributed to automotive traffic. It might have been alright when the main arteries had sparse traffic, but the sustainable attitude of civic government has created such a mess in our landscapes.

I grew up looking out the windows of my parents' cars.

No matter where we went, it was a disadvantage that every amenity and accommodation had to be reached by car, or a ridiculously long walk. I did take the bus once in a while as a child with family; but the buses were sparse and transit was more of a novelty to the younger folk than a daily transportation option. I missed out, as a child, on an opportunity to see how my hometown grew and how beautiful it became, because my eyes were always focused on road level.

This attitude towards transit might have been fine back in the last decade or so, but that was when gasoline could be bought for less than fifty cents a litre.

I have to admit it; I developed a destructive lifestyle as a passenger of my parents' cars. My rebellion during the teenage years did not involve anything promiscuous, or illegal. I rebelled on this kind of lifestyle by taking transit all the time.

Even when I got my drivers license, I continue to take the bus here and forth within the reachable parts of our community. As the times changed, the attitude towards transit has changed as well: It's not as far off an option as some of us may think.

But the economic euphoria towards owning and driving a car has not changed. Men have suffered from envy involving a certain body part below the belt; suburbanites suffer from car envy! It's unfortunate that at such a crucial time when transit agencies are pouring tax dollars towards making roads less congested, that we'd suffer from such an insecurity. We can't let go of these machines.

Like losing a pet or family member, we have to move on. We can't continue to be our selfish selves much longer.

Phillip Hong, a Woodbridge resident, is a co-host and reporter on Centre Street, our current affairs programme featuring alternative stories and interviews.