I used public transportation every day for the 2-plus years I didn't commute to work by bike, preceding my retirement in Dec. 1999. Then several times a week. Now with my return to cycling I may use it hardly at all. When I was bike commuting regularly, I hardly ever bought a bus pass, for I found I wasn't using it. Living only with a large cat, I can even do grocery shopping using just the panniers. Or walk to the store and back, which is more usual.

The thing I hate about public transportation is not the fare, which is reasonable in Kansas City, but the long waits for buses--because there isn't enough demand to finance more frequent runs. And, above all, the rude behavior of other passengers and, increasingly, the drivers themselves. Anybody wanting a lesson in incivility need only board a Kansas City Area Transportation Authority bus.

After more than thirty years of putting up with this, including 19 years without a car, I have a very pessimistic view of public transportation. The phony ads showing smiling drivers and cherubic passengers that the bus people run here and there, are in the same category with the ones that famous chain of fast-food restaurants runs--how dumb do they think consumers are?

Uh--don't answer that.