Take the bus?

We drove over to East Peoria today to engage in a little economic "slippage" and shop at the PetSmart and Office Max. From where we are on the West Bluff it just seems less stressful to jump over the Bob Michel Bridge than to navigate Sterling or University and War Memorial to do a little shopping. The traffic is much less congested.

Peoria's CityLink buses also traverse the bridge and ferry shoppers to EP. Today, we saw a bus broken down between the WalMart and Lowes. As we crossed back over to Peoria, we passed a CityLink tow truck on its way to rescue the stranded bus. The last time I took CityLink I ended up riding in a white 13-person van rather than a regular bus. Stuffing passengers into and letting them off of these conveyances is more than a bit awkward.

I remember reading in the PJS a while back that CityLink bought several buses on the cheap from Chicago Transit Authority "for parts." Unfortunately I have noticed that these CTA buses, lacking CityLink colors or logo, have been crawling down regular CityLink routes.

This is a sad state of affairs. If the chances of boarding a bus that is going to break down seem good, who is really going to take that chance on their way to work unless they have no other option? Stimulus funds? Hello! If CityLink could purchase 20 new buses wouldn't that create at least a few jobs. Aaron (say no to stimulus) Schock what say you dude? We need a little leadership here.