It is true that ATU is trying to change the law.

We would like to make it so that the RTD Board of Directors can decide for themselves how many of our routes are given out to subcontractors and how many routes we run. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Unfortunately, there are knee-jerk Republicans out there who are horrified at the thought of a Union actually doing something that would help the public.

I have written about the subcontractors before (see my old blog), and the truth is that a subcontracted route saves money only because the drivers are paid about 1/3 less than a unionised driver, and they receive no benefits like health insurance. On the other hand, their company makes a profit, which RTD does not, and their managers are probably paid more. Any actual savings that RTD makes depends on your accounting and who you talk to.

We have said for years that if the subcontractors and the divisions of RTD were on an equal footing, we could compete very well. If they really want to privatize us, why not convert the entire RTD fleet to private business. They could even sell off the divisions, that would leave the Dispatching and Customer Service and actual administration of RTD in the hands of the Board of Directors.

I do not know if it would be necessary to require all the subcontractors to pay decent wages and give health benefits. That is being done for many subcontracted entities in Denver, including the "prevailing wage" clause that Denver has always required of its subcontractors, and RTD has applied this to some of its subcontractors as well. Most of the subcontractors cannot come even close to hiring enough drivers, and any mechanics they hire soon leave for better jobs. This is the main reason they have always done so poorly in serving the public. They have more complaints, more lates, more missed runs.

Info Ride Bus

HOW TO COMPLETELY ELIMINATE UNIONS

Give people decent pay, decent benefits, don't fight your employees, treat them like humans.

Who is Simon Bolivar?

I was talking to a fellow the other day who said he was Simon Bolivar. Okay, maybe he wasn't, but I was shocked at how many people had never heard of him, or just vaguely had heard his name. This guy was the biggest National Hero in Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, much of South America. Bolivia was named after him. He was the South American George Washington. And how about Joachin Murieta in Mexico? These guys should be known to everybody if we really have a global society. Maybe we are still more isolated than we ever realized.

HANDICAPPED PARKING FINE IS $100.00

Yes, they got me! I did not know that you have to have an actual VAN when the sign says "Vans Only" (even if it is very tiny). If it says "Van Accessable" then you can park there with your handicapped sign. You can't park on the striped area no matter what or who you are. So what do you do if there are no parking spaces (look at the Broncos Stadium)? You drive around and around until you run out of gas. Any violation is one hundred dollars. You have to park and walk a long ways to go to the Parking Ticket Judge.

HANDICAPPED PARKING IRRITATES SOME PEOPLE.

I don't like parking in the handicapped spaces because it makes me feel... well... handicapped. I have a charcot foot, which is the result of Diabetic Neuropathy. I have been very lucky that it has healed very well, but that is because I baby the foot. I do not wear a special boot, but I have to wear expensive shoes that accomodate my deformed right foot. The charcot foot came about because I broke my foot, and because I had no feeling in the foot, I broke it over and over again. Blood rushes to the foot, it heals very rapidly, but it breaks again. You walk on a tiny rock, your foot twists, and because you don't compensate for the twisting like normal people do, your foot will break again. X-Rays showed that the bones in the middle part of the foot where chipped, shattered and collapsed. By then, yes, I did have pain, but not nearly as much pain as the "phantom" shooting pains that I'd had when the neuropathy began years before. The arch of the foot is gone, it looks like I have two left feet.

At the same time, I need to walk on my feet fairly often to keep the blood circulating. I can walk a couple hundred feet, and in fact walking is easier than standing on the bad foot. Climbing stairs or even a step is fairly difficult. The main potential for trouble other than breaking the foot again is that I can develop ulcers on the foot if too much pressure is put on it in any one place. I drive with my left foot, I can no longer drive with a clutch.

And so, I try to park in a normal parking space, as long as it isn't too far from the door. Of course, bad weather, when I can't see what I'm walking on, means I need a handicapped space. If you see me walking from my car and you cannot tell that I am handicapped, then thank you! That is what I have tried to achieve. It just looks like a slight limp, and the foot goes off at a slight angle. But, yes, I really do appreciate a handicapped space at times.

Electric Trolley from 1940. I recall riding one of these in the 1950s, going south on Broadway from Colfax: in front of the State Capitol Building.

Denver Tramway Corporation Bus, 1958. This one is still around today.

This Electric was converted to a horse-drawn trolley. About 1900.

DON'T USE YOUR BRAKES ON THE HIGHWAY.
When you have to use your brakes on the highway, you have done something wrong. If you follow at a safe distance, don't drive a lot faster (or slower) than the other traffic, and pay attention to what you are doing, then you should be able to safely slow down to turn or exit without ever using your brakes. Of course, sometimes it is some other idiot who does something wrong, and sometimes you need to use your brakes just to let the other traffic see that you are slowing down. I have driven the highway without brakes for years.

Spring!