Transit Madness

Yesterday was the worst winter storm of the year so far. By pure coincidence (I suppose) the union that staffs OC Transpo, the city transit system, went on strike. No city buses ran, except the ones coming from the Quebec side.

City traffic was at a crawl, as about 20% more cars inched through the unplowed snow trying to get to work. As I live about 3 km from work and no longer have parking privileges, I decided to go to work on cross-country skis. Not a bad idea in places, but the trails weren't well packed, and some of the sidewalks were salted and slushy.

In the countries of the south, such a situation would never occur. Sure, there could be many other problems, but real competition exists in transportation. There is no city monopoly. Even if several bus companies went on strike together, thousands of taxis and minibuses would get people where they want to go. And thousands of other private vehicle owners would try to make a few pesos or quetzales by turning into temporary, unregulated taxis.

Now my only concern is whether I can make it to the airport, and whether my planes will get off the ground. For the sake of my colleagues though, and everyone else, I hope this strke ends quickly.