Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Okay so the title doesn't totally work but hey, it's catchy.

It's becoming more and more expensive to drive vehicles and fly airplanes these days. Prudent people are increasingly trading in their gas guzzlers for more efficient cars or even trying to go car free as often as possible. Buses and bikes are seeing more use as a result. Airlines are also scaling back on flights and even reducing airspeed in an effort to save on fuel costs. I can't help but agree with many out there that rising fuel costs are a blessing in disguise. That sadly this may be the only way our society will make a more ecological change in the way we do things. 

So even if we want to be gentler on the environment we still need to get places. Unfortunately, the way we live is not always logical or efficient. Living far away from where we work doesn't make a lot of sense and yet many people choose to make long daily commutes. There are so many residential waste lands far away from not only work but... well, anything. You have to drive to get groceries, take your kid to school, go see a doctor, rent a movie... It doesn't help that people in general love box store shopping. Everything you need and more things you don't, all in one place, cheaply made and a price to match.

North America is a car centered society. It's entirely redundant, expensive and ecologically unsound for every household to own and maintain at least one internal combustion vehicle and many families own more than one! Here in North America the mentality is often one of abundance and entitlement to that abundance no matter the cost to others or the environment. In many jurisdictions the costs of insuring and maintaining vehicles is becoming increasingly prohibitive. Automobiles put a huge strain on our domestic, civic and provincial infrastructure. Purely from a land use perspective to dedicate the space to park all these vehicles is simply wasteful.  

It's truly a shame that with a little forsight and community spirit as a goal we might all live with useful shops including a decent grocery store in walking distance and if we didn't work nearby there was some sort of transit option to get there with ease. Europe is an excellent model for this kind of living.

So here's where we get to trains. 

When rail systems are well maintained they can be a fantastic way to travel long or short distances. Trains can be incredibly environmentally efficient and safer than alternatives like driving on highways. Trains are a more comfortable way to travel because you can get up and stretch your legs, have space to catch up on work, and survey the passing scenery usually without that including endless highway. You can meet and connect with other people on trains, grab something to eat or have a snooze. All this you can do before getting to your chosen destination. The only downfall to train travel as I see it is the fact that it's not quite as fast as other options. All the more reason to slow down your life a bit, if you ask me the benefits far outweigh the converse.

It would be encouraging to see serious investment in train travel over Canada, throughout BC, on Vancouver Island and locally around Nanaimo. I would love to travel around Canada with my bike and backpack. I'd love to see far reaching places beyond what you can see from the limiting few highways. It would be great for tourism for most of these rural places if it were easy and comfortable to access the area. A trip up island for a couple of days via train would be fantastic. On the other hand, a trip down island to Victoria would be handy as well, not to mention much safer than driving the congested Malahat.

I walk around Nanaimo and imagine the train tracks already in place being used to their full potential and even expanded with more track laid. I can imagine a main downtown train station at 109 Front Street, right on the corner of Esplande where a dilapidated, slummy drug addict hangout currently sits. How brilliant would it be for people in North Nanaimo to hop on a train and come downtown for the day or evening event. It would be equally great for someone in South Nanaimo to go into North Nanaimo for a quick trip. No cars needed. No parking concerns. Ahhhh....