Use the Bus, Luke
Last Thursday, I went to see Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones with a couple of friends. We saw it at one of the [relatively] new stadium-seating theatres called Metropolis. Metropolis is located inside a big mall called Metrotown, just outside of Vancouver in a city called Burnaby.We saw the 10:30pm show, so we didn't get out until about 1:00am. Well, wouldn't you know, but our wonderful transit system, Coast Mountain Bus Company/TransLink/BC Transit (previously known as simply, "BC Transit"), does not provide service to downtown Vancouver after 1:00am on weeknights. There is absolutely no way to get downtown without doing a *lot* of walking. When the buses end their final shift for the night, they go to the bus depot located at Oak Street and 41st Avenue. (For those of you not from Vancouver, this is about 20 minutes away from downtown Vancouver by car.) My friend Mike and I were forced to travel to this delightful spot. From here, it was our responsibility to make our way all the way home on our own. We were going to take a cab (probably at least $20 right there), but we were lucky enough to be picked up by our friend Ian who was on his way back from driving some other people home from the movie. In the end, it took us an hour and half to get home -- and all because we decided to "go green" and take public transit. Well, that's it. No more public transit for me. I am officially boycotting them. In 1996, BC Transit won an award for "Best Public Transportation System". To this day, they still seem to proudly display these stickers which remind us of this. I'd like to nominate our transit system in Vancouver as the "Worst Public Transportation System". Our fares keep going up, and our service keeps getting worse.
