Seeing Cars from Transit

 There's nothing quite like being on a train and looking out at the cars that you're passing. Conversely, there's little more annoying than looking out and noticing the cars are passing you. So here are some thoughts about that.

1. Hands-Free, Mind Free

One of my main thoughts in such a context is remembering that I'm privileged to be able to look at the cars as much as I want: after all, when I'm driving, I really shouldn't be looking at the train at all.

Who can tell if these cars are passing the Finch West LRT or not? What I can tell is that those drivers are having to pay attention to the road in the rain, and I'm not.

This streetcar may be stuck in traffic, but at least if I'm on it I'm not the one paying attention to that traffic and the red light.

There's a freedom to being on a train--or a bus!--that is distinct from the experience of driving, and it's one I remember every time I watch cars from transit.

2. Imagining Other Lives

Sometimes the cars you're seeing aren't competing with your transit, though: sometimes they're just an excuse to imagine how other people's lives are going while your mind wanders--or while your body is lifted hundreds of meters in the air.

Hello, motorists driving down the Thames! I wonder why you're there! It's probably not the same reason that I'm in the sad little cloud car. Unless you're new here and a car is just as unusual to you as a gondola!

I guess the above picture is of another bus, and not a car, but one of my favorite activities on the second story of a double decker is to look about at the other vehicles and consider why everyone else is here.

3. Not Needing Parking

Sometimes the cars you see from transit aren't even driving.

Apologies for the misty picture, but the windows on the Citibus weren't as clean as they could be. Still, you can see the parked cars, right? It's a nice reminder that I don't have to find my own parking on transit--though to be fair, parking in the QCA isn't the hardest thing to find.

And sometimes they just seem parked (sorry London)...but that's more like #1 and #2 above.

Overall, for me the chance to see cars from transit is just another form of transit tourism: it's a chance to think about others' lives and the choices we make--both individually and collectively. What does it say about our society that we have so many cars? What does it say about us individually each time we take those cars out on the roads? And what does it say about me that I'm sitting on the once-hourly bus instead of a car that would let me go where I wanted when I wanted?