Life is Subject to Change

Here’s an ad for the trolley in this week’s El Paso Inc.

Here’s a closer look.

Lemme bring it in a little closer.

I don’t reckon that means that if there’s a lot of demand that they’ll extend the trolley hours. I reckon that means that if there’s no one on the trolley, they’ll shut it down early. As it is, a person can wait for forty minutes for the trolley.

And the trolley’s what? Less than a month old? And demand is already slowing to a trickle, so the City wants to shut it down early?

In my long and storied life, I’ve waited for buses that never came.

When it comes to transportation, what everyone needs is reliable transportation. A trolley whose hours are subject to change based on demand and extenuating circumstances is not reliable transportation.

Prior propaganda notwithstanding, the trolley isn’t about transportation. The trolley takes longer to get you anywhere than the bus, and its comings and goings are more sporadic.

And if it’s not transportation, what is it?

As far as entertainment goes, the trolley is almost as much fun as a bus. But not quite. At least on the bus there’s regular drama.

I’m loathe to suggest that the trolley was poorly planned and poorly executed. But I will anyway. The trolley was poorly planned and poorly executed.

But there’s no accountability. There’s never any accountability.

Our city is poorly managed, and the sooner we acknowledge that, the sooner we can fix it.