There was a young lady waiting for a 7 to get to Carleton. When she asked me if I knew when the bus was coming, the bus was already 25 minutes late. She would have waited almost an hour in the cold for a bus that is supposed to be 15-minute frequency or better.

Oh, looks like I should also tag @helps.octranspo.com.

Something very similar happened on Friday as well. There was an hour gap between SB trips on the 7 on Bank, and a 45-minute gap between SB trips on the 6. Three full 6 buses passed me at Gladstone before I was able to board one.

Meanwhile people on Reddit are trying to argue with me that it's just fine, actually, because other cities have it worse. 💀

Yes, I have in fact lived in other cities and I know this. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to improve!!

(I wonder how many of those folks drive everywhere...)

My mom was killed by a car a week ago today. While sidewalks and bike lanes wouldn't have saved her specifically, it's infuriating to see Doug Ford treat lives like hers as worthless, as he prioritizes cars over people at every opportunity.

These deaths are preventable. Doug Ford just doesn't care.

This ended up getting away from me... Ah well. I've been all fired up about road safety recently, so follow me if you want more of this, I guess.

You can't have it both ways - if you want cars to move quickly, it's not actually safe for people. That's just how it IS. If you want it to be safe for people, cars can't move fast.

Unfortunately, I believe this then carries over into the city as those drivers visit more populated areas and are overwhelmed and not used to looking for peds. Not to mention, a lot of city streets (aka Bank Street in Ottawa) cannot seem to decide if they are destinations or thoroughfares for cars.

Road design is mostly to blame - in so many places, we've built areas that are so hostile to pedestrians but friendly to drivers. You don't expect to see pedestrians so you don't look for them. Pedestrians don't walk there because it feels unsafe. Collisions between the two are random accidents.

This personal responsibility argument falls apart when you consider vulnerable populations who literally might not be as capable of protecting themselves. I can jump out of the way of a car running a red light. The old lady crossing the street might not be able to. But neither of us deserves to die.

"But you're responsible for your own safety!" you might say. No one's arguing against this, and anyone trying to claim this is happening is, I'm sorry, arguing in bad faith.

"There are many dead people who had the right of way!" I'm well aware. Why aren't we trying to change this as a society?

Drivers are expected to get a license to be permitted to operate machinery that weighs many times the average person, but no such license is (nor should be required for!) walking. Yet we talk about "shared responsibility" as if pedestrians have 50/50 responsibility in this unbalanced scenario.

What about an elderly person who cannot see or jump out of the way of a car running a red light? A young child, whose attention may be pulled away by a passing butterfly? An adult with a migraine who is focused on the pain? A blind person who cannot see further than a few feet in front of them?

So, this person who shouldn't get behind the wheel because they are drinking, are they now at fault if they get hit by a car because they weren't aware enough to see somebody was running a red light when they were crossing on the walk signal? Because they made the responsible decision not to drive?

And yet, as pedestrians, we are expected to be 100% alert at all times when we are crossing the street. If we get hit, even on a green light the first questions are always: Were they paying attention? What were they wearing?

If you are drinking, you are told not to get behind the wheel, but rather to transport yourself some other way, because your judgment is impaired and your reaction time decreased. This will probably involve you walking and crossing a street at some point.