Thanks, I hate it.
It's been negatives temperatures even in Fahrenheit; we got a ten-inch snowstorm (25 cm for my SI-unit friends); and it's mostly stuck around, making travel unpleasant.
But guess what? I'd still rather have transit than not, even in this terrible weather.
1. Fire on the Tracks
I recall a couple winters ago being in Chicago as they burned literal fires on the El tracks to keep the trains running.
Well, guess what: cars were driving through the same weather but couldn't burn the streets to keep them clear.
Transit unifies where our effort to work to keep ourselves running has to happen. We can keep those routes running and keep things working; we don't need to do it car by car.
2. Warming Stations
Look, we do this badly in the QC, but you can also keep transit riders warm: indoor or heated waiting areas, frequent transit to reduce wait times, and so on.
Yes, each individual car is also climate controlled, but parking spots aren't. And I have to do my snow removal myself!
3. Stress
Look, when I drive in the snow, I'm responsible for the black ice, the slush, the other drivers driving like crazy.
When I'm on a train, there shouldn't be any other drivers to deal with at all; when I'm on a bus, there's a trained professional whose job it is to deal with those things.
And the more of us there are on transit, the less of us are driving our cars like maniacs off it.
I think I make (and will make) this post every year: but driving in bad weather is worse than taking transit in bad weather--and so I'll always prefer a functional transit system even in places with "real" winter.
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