Efficient Public Transport Information

So, in Helsinki there was this great website called ytv.fi. It was like whereis.com but a million times better as it was trilingual (suomi [finnish], swedish and english) and told you what public transport to catch to get from A to B.

Check out this link and you can see how informative the system was (you may need to reset the dates to get the best results). This of course is the route between my old flat in Helsinki to Cafe Engel, where my good mate Jared works.

I’d conveniently forgetten how difficult it is to work out how to get around Adelaide by public transport. Of course now that I’m happily car free (though able to borrow my old car from my brother from time to time) I’m relying on buses until I’m more central and bikeable in Unley.

And getting to places I’d previously have driven or ridden to involves looking up bus information on the rather garish adelaidemetro. It’s a hit and miss affair of zooming in on a crowded route map, or knowing the bus number you want to catch. And then you have to download separate pdfs for timetable and routemaps.

It’s one of those things which hardly encourages one to leave their car in the driveway.

in between throwing away old electronic goods, imperial measurement kitchen scales and mysterious implements from the pantry at my grandmother’s old house, i’m attempting to clean up the css through battlecat. so apologies while things look a bit odd.

i’ve finally had two nights of reasonable sleep after what felt like a week of london underground transport, airports, flights, partying and late night confusions. right now i’m a little sad from the impact of realising that returning to one place and one group of people means leaving behind other places and other people. so i’m slightly tempted to hide in a nap for a couple of days.

walking around sleepless on a sunny sunday morning i realised a few things:

• adelaide is possibly the best place on earth but could do with more rain.
• there are now dangerfield, mimco and ikea stores.
• starbucks have invaded.
• bus tickets seem to be really expensive.
• dealing with bus route number changes while exhausted is a distressing situation.
• it’s very hot and sunny compared to summer in finland

I’m no economist. I’m not a business person either. I’m just a modern day hippie who consumes and thinks about how she consumes. So, here are some thoughts about current responses to managing climate change:

Thought One:
Moving to more efficient and less polluting energy sources, adding in carbon dioxide emission taxes / trading etc will increase energy costs. I understand that increased energy costs will affect prices of everything leading to inflation and unemployment. But quite frankly, wouldn’t slightly increased energy costs help reduce energy use?

I don’t want to be harsh, but in general, people don’t seem to recognise how climate change will affect their future, they primarily care about how they will finance their futures. If mindlessly using electricity and gasoline has no immediate financial burden, consumers are unlikely to change their behaviour. Whereas, if energy were more expensive, wouldn’t consumers (both industrial and individual) be forced to use it more efficiently?

Thought Two:
Why on earth is the government not leading the momentum on increased standards for efficiency and reuse in design and manufacturing? For example, if there are requirements that by 2015 all white goods (fridges, washing machines, airconditioners etc) sold in Australia have to meet stringent efficiency requirements, won’t manufacturers produce such products leaving the consumers with no alternative but to just buy the device they prefer? And shouldn’t such standards require demonstration of closed loop recycling at the end of the product life time?

Thought Three:
Is it possible to blanket broadcast An Inconvenient Truth on all networks at once? Either people will watch the best demonstration of how f*&^%d we all are or they’ll switch off their TVs and spend time doing something else.

I’m trying to pack my life up into a box and two bags. I have far more clothes, tea, computer, ipods, discs, books, wool, fabric and pieces of inspiration and memory than I originally arrived in Finland with.

Last night was a blur of hugs, surprise encounters both good and bad, tears and broken hearts (not mine), amusing memories of bad vodka and promises to return in the near future.

I’m not sure what I’m meant to feel or do right now. I’m not sure what I could reveal or write now.

Instead, here are some words I had pinned up on my wall. I found that they helped me get through the good times and bad.

Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers,
“Grow, grow”.
- The Talmud

Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it’s better to leave them broken than try to hurt yourself putting it back together.
- Anonymous