Fri 4 June 2004 - How I became a transport activist
…and how pictures make a story real.
If there was a Daniel FAQ, these questions would feature in it: Why are you involved in the Public Transport Users Association? What’s in it for you? And can I tell you about how late my train was this morning?
Perhaps another long rambling retrospective is in order.
Prehistory
When I was growing up, we didn’t have a car. The shopping was done with a shopping jeep at the local shops in Balaclava. Most of our friends lived in walking distance. My sister and I walked to school — something that is increasingly rare nowadays, as most parents are loathe to let primary school-aged kids walk the streets on their own. (Note, however, that we didn’t wear coal sacks, and didn’t trudge through the snow for three miles to get there.)
My dad was in the PTUA’s predecessor, the Train Travellers Association, and being a regular user of public transport, I showed an interest in my early teens, but then forgot about it for a while. I joined up again in my early twenties, during a period when I was a rabid anti-car-head. Oil was killing the planet, man. I didn’t have a driver’s licence, refused to get one or buy a car, and firmly believed in the ideal of sustainable transport.