Instead of screaming into the ever-expanding void of Twitter, I bring you a weekly highlight reel of what it’s like going places in Greater Hartford when one is gloriously car-free. These posts are on a slight time delay because nobody needs to know exactly where I am when I am there.

That cover image? That’s how to do bike parking. Put the rack in a location that’s not awkward and close to entrance. Add a little something to discourage people from attempting to block it with their cars. When I went back through about 15 minutes later after grocery shopping, there were several bikes parked there. I had my hands full and was not about to bother crossing the street to take another pic. You’ll have to trust me.

NOT ALL TRUCKS

I was not standing on a ladder or anything tall when taking this photo. This is a truck sized appropriately for use in an urban environment. Who wants to get the word out that this (after riding a bike or taking the bus) is the ultimate display of masculinity?

APPLAUDING A TRASH CAN

Occasionally I find myself up in West Hartford’s Bishops Corner, which usually means waiting at the bus stop by the Target/Marshall’s plaza. It’s a stop where there are always people waiting. Pick your reason why: area with lots of places people want to visit, area with lots of places where people work, served by several buses (62, 72, and 153, plus several express buses), and recipient of not rapid bus service.

Commonsense tells you that when people are waiting long enough to eat their lunch before the next bus comes, it’s a good idea to provide a trash can. Maybe this stop had one before, but it had been missing for at least the last year, which meant shopping carts gathered nearby always had food wrappers left in them, and there was sometimes litter on the ground. Sure, some people are just slobs, but most are going to act right when given a better option. One just appeared. A large trash barrel was installed at the stop, and this time, there were no carts with junk in them. It’s almost like people want to do the right thing.

Street violence is not much different.

You’ll find a small percentage of people who have no regard for the safety of others, or for themselves, but most people are simply behaving as design suggests — whether that’s the design of massive SUVs and light trucks with enormous blindspots and ability to kill with a headshot, or the design of roads that urge motorists to travel at unsafe speeds.

When we are fed messages of individual responsibility, we should be asking who is driving those campaigns. Is it a town’s clueless mayor who does not want to bother herself with making real changes, the kind that would be unpopular with a few of her voters? Is it the automobile industry, who does not want to believe their product, their cash cow, is part of the problem?

But let us all play along for a moment. Let’s say that we could use individual responsibility to climb our way out of this hellscape of preventable deaths. What would that involve? Well, for starters, how about an updated Connecticut Driver’s Manual? The CT DMV has not updated their educational document since 2019. You might be thinking that’s only three years, but in that time several laws have changed, including those about what motorists should look for when pedestrians want to cross the roadway. Could we talk about what responsibility the outgoing DMV commissioner has in all of this? Bike Walk Connecticut sent her a letter demanding that this document be updated; they have yet to receive so much as acknowledgment of receiving the message.

If we cannot count on the Department of GDamn Motor Vehicles to provide current information about how automobilists should be operating their vehicles, then how else can drivists learn to be better drivers?

Make them be cyclists or pedestrians first. Have them be the type of people who commute to work by bus, train, bike, or entirely on foot, and then only take the car out for long drives to the country or to do major grocery hauls. People who experience the world outside of a cage most of the time are much more attuned to how cars add danger and discomfort. Are there studies on this? Don’t know. Anecdotal evidence is enough for me. In the last month I’ve found myself as a passenger in several people’s vehicles. Those who usually move around by bike are better drivers. No exceptions. They aren’t looking to avoid hitting other cars. They’re looking to avoid hitting anything and anyone who may be in or about to enter the road. They look to the right before making right turns because they are aware that a cyclist could be traveling straight or that a pedestrian might be about to cross. They’re scanning the road and aware of who else is present. They aren’t tailgating. They understand how to drive more responsibly because they have developed empathy via their own experiences. This, rather than how long they have been driving or who taught them, is a more predictable indicator of their competence behind the wheel.

But how do we get all motorists out of their vehicles and onto bicycles 90% of the time so that they learn to be better drivers? We could jack up the price of gas, add a billion tolls, make it extremely cost prohibitive to be driving around, and force everyone out of their cars. But until then, we can’t rely on drivers to take individual responsibility. We have to work with the systems to make everything safer. Basically, we can’t deprive a bus stop of a trash can and ask people to carry their trash around with them until they find a better place for it. We give them the trash can.

GIMME THOUGHTFUL SHELTER

I know we ask for things like shelters, but it’s always smart to be specific when making requests. Now, these (above and below) have been in place for some time, on Park Street by Pope Park. I do not know this for a fact, but am willing to throw down $20 that the people tasked with installing these are not bus riders because they would have known better.

For readers who do not ride and cannot figure it out from the photos, I will break it down for you. While waiting for the bus, a person typically looks for it in the direction from which it would be traveling. If you are inside the shelter above, you cannot see the bus approaching. The design is also claustrophobic AF. A bus shelter that is 75% enclosed is wrong. It’s just wrong.

The one below, also designed and/or installed wrong has been recently altered so that there is a small window. I don’t know who created that opening or why, but it does let someone see an approaching bus while standing out of the rain.

A few years ago someone was apparently murdered in one of these, and honestly, they look exactly like a place someone walks into to get murdered. No thanks — I’ll stand in the rain and hope for the best.

OBSTRUCTED VIEW 

This is probably only something you remember if you went to all these meetings and still hold a grudge, but the reason given for closing off Flower Street was that there were inadequate sight lines and people might get hit by the train or the bus.

Bruh, let’s talk about the sight lines here at Sigourney Street and Hawthorne Street. The stop bar/line has not been repainted yet. Neither has the crosswalk. For a few weeks now, people have requested this be addressed. We know motorists beach their vehicles all over the place anyhow, but having paint down does help those trying to make an effort do so. What’s happening now is most people are driving way too far ahead and blocking the curb ramp, so pedestrians have to walk around and anyone in a wheelchair or with a stroller can’t easily get by, if at all. And the other part of this is that the massive shrub, which people have requested be trimmed down a year ago, blocks the view of vehicles coming up the road.

I know this all might sound petty, but when you’re told again and again that as a pedestrian you need to look both ways a dozen times and leap through flaming hoops and all kinds of other kinky shit just to safely get to your destination, you’re going to look at stuff like this and wonder what’s even the point. Maybe someone over 6′ has a better view, but that’s not me and that’s not most of the people I see using this sidewalk. I’m convinced that this particular type of shrub is chosen because of how it spreads up and out, making it impossible for someone to, say, stand in the median. Can’t have people doing that. Anyhow, you can’t see what’s zooming up the road until you’re in the street, so when that walk signal comes on you have to trust, and that’s not a fair thing to ask of someone who knows what’s what.