Humboldt has a problem. It's been a city for many years, and as yet, as fast as it is growing, still has no in-city transportation.
The schools are getting as far as three kilometres away from communities, and the grocery stores, soon will all be located on the far west end of the city - for some, too far away to get groceries.
I have four kids, and live 2.4 kilometres away from their elementary school (three kilometres away from the high school). The oldest two are in elementary school, and used to take the bus to school (after 2.5 years of pursuing them, we finally got approval). At the drop of a hat before school started this year, we had the bus taken away from us, no explanation.
I reapplied, stating that we really needed the bus. Some of the reasons included are crossing railroad tracks, distance, environmental factors, etc. In the end, I offered to pay a monthly fee for pickup, and was once again rejected.
Two buses drive by my house in the morning, and after school. They are largely empty. It doesn't make any sense to me why they won't allow city pickup. So every morning, I wake up our two youngest, pile our kids into our vehicle, and take the older two to school... just as the bus drives by. And again another when I come back home. It got me thinking, Is it only the technicality of living in city limits? What if there was a student who lived a block or two away from the school (the high school and St. Dominic are on the outskirts), but they live on a farm? Would they be granted a bus because they are not in city limits? While at the same time, students who live as far away as three kilometres would not be granted one because they are inside city limits?
Many, many years ago, when Humboldt was much smaller, there was a bus that ran from St. Augustine to St. Dominic, because the students lived too far away from St. Dominic to walk. Which, just for reference, are only 1.4 km apart.
The schools are so congested in the mornings and when school is let out. So many parents are coming at the same time to pick up their kids. There is nowhere to park, children are in danger of getting hit because there are so many cars and so much going on while they are trying to cross the crosswalks to get to their cars. There is much unneeded pollution as well, when people have to start their cars, let them warm up, drive across town and wait for their children to exit the school.
As frustrating as this is, I can't imagine not being able to get groceries. So many seniors relied on the grocery stores that were closer to the centre of town and within walking distance of their residences. Very soon, there will be none. How are these seniors supposed to get groceries then? Especially in the winter months?
What is the answer? I know myself, as well as many people I have talked to about the issue, would not have a problem paying for an inner city bus pass. Because let's get real, it does cost to start up a system like this. A service such as this would solve most if not all of the city's transportation problems.
Don't get me wrong. I am all for getting exercise. But this is far too extreme. Especially when the weather around these parts can get pretty severe, pretty quickly. And many of the elderly and disabled occupants of this great city, are not able to walk. Humboldt needs to start acting like the city it is. We need to make people want to live here, raise their families here, and grow old here. Because after all, Humboldt is a great place to live.
