Let’s suppose you want to travel from Springfield, MO to Columbia, MO by some other means than a car. How would you do it?
You might try to go by train. But there’s no passenger train service out of Springfield.
You might try to fly–if you don’t mind a 7-hour flight with two stops and a price range between $900 and $1,500.
Surely you can get there in a bus. And, again, yes–if you don’t mind a 7-hour ride. Gotta take you on a tour of Kansas City first.
Columbia is 167 miles from Springfield. It is home to the state’s largest university. This is the best we can do?
But it gets worse. Let’s suppose you want to travel (on something like your own schedule) from Springfield to the state capitol. There is no regular commercial bus service (Greyhound or Jefferson Lines) to Jefferson City.
You can, however, get to both destinations by bicycle. Take the Frisco Highline Trail north to Bolivar. Then you have to slog your way to Clinton up Route 13. From Clinton, pick up the Katy Trail. You can reach Columbia via Huntsdale. You can continue on to Jefferson City.
I’m trying to stay out of my car as much as possible. I must travel to Columbia next week for an event at the University of Missouri. It would be nice to take public transportation between two important points–the third largest city in the state and the site of the major university.
Carpooling is an option. But it was my goal to travel on my schedule and stay out of a car. That isn’t going to happen. So I will be carpooling–a day later than I originally wished to arrive.
Are we living in a third-world country? Sometimes I think the United States is the world’s largest undeveloped nation. What’s really going on, however, is painfully obvious;I don’t have to point it out.
Tags: bicycle commuting, cycling, biking
WHAT TO DO NOW?