Actually most surprising to me was the drive up and down 401. Perhaps I was lucky or perhaps I had extra-sensory perception (ESP) and chose the time wisely, but there was hardly any traffic to speak of. That was wonderful.. I am sure those that came back tonight on the 401 had the best time getting stuck in Ajax in the rain.. I feel for them. Despite the current SARS scare in Toronto, I still feel sad that Canada does not have a more developed rail system. You see all the cars and traffice jams (man you should be there on the 401 in Pickering/Ajax during the Canada Day weekend) and you wonder if it be better if there are trains that can reach Ottawa in 2 hours from Toronto. It's not that hard: The distance from Toronto to Ottawa is roughly 450km; a train that goes at 250km/h can easily cover that distance in 2 hours or so.. and even if you figure-in stopping at places like Smith Falls and/or Port Hope, 3 hours ought to do it. That is still better than getting stuck on the 401 in Ajax for 45 minutes.
Alas, whenever I have this conversation with anyone who is willing to listing to the rant we end up agreeing that this dream of mine isn't 100% practical in Canada since we lack the population density. The other potential patron of the rail system, cargo and logistics, don't really benefit from such centralized transportation service since they still need to use trucks to move the goods from the rail yard to their store/holding area, and that doesn't really save them time nor money. Add to that, apparently Canadians like to drive -- including me! :)
oh well.. I'll wait until we get fuel cell cars, and then at least I won't feel guilty driving while contributing my share of global warming.
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