okay, so the europeans are behind in (some of) the times

*warning - this is a long-winded rant *

i just read an article in the new york times about the bicycle sharing programs that have been making every european country a trend setter. paris started it then sweden picked it up, spain the list goes on. why can't the states be all up on that wagon? people need to get out of their stupid cars and in a bus or on a bike. or how about this novel idea...WALKING!

something that has been driving me nuts lately is riding the #12 on my way home after work and watching car after car sit in traffic waiting to approach the on-ramp to I-5. it's not the car, it 's the fact that there is only 1 person in the car. i wish so bad to make a huge sign that says "your commute is lonely, isn't it?"i know some people have to get to tukwila, everett, the eastide etc but guess what? busses go there too.

and yes, i know there are all sorts of shitty reasons why people don't ride metro. my friend, michael robb, could give you a handful of metro horror stories that would send you in a car in a second but that's not the point. tolerance is and just how tolerant are you to wait in traffic by yourself, when you could be reading a book on the bus or meeting a new friend or watching people work together to get more people on a crowded bus.

it's outrageous and not surprising that programs like bicycle sharing did not exist in the united states years ago. finally, washington dc just adopted a similar program like those in europe and it looks that other bicycle friendly towns are looking into a similar program as well. it's about time. now the question is, who is going to use the bicycles?

i just hope these programs don't get bought out by huge conglomerates like zipcar which sucks ass now because they are so expensive and could care less about car-SHARING and the environment! i can't wait to go to their 'may day mixer'. the email says "free food and drinks, get your friends to sign-up to zipcar". i wouldn't recommend zipcar to the devil, they are shit and i can't wait to invite my friends to this party so that we can eat all the beechers cheese and drink all their beer!