Transit System in Alabama = Like a dream?

I've been researching about public transportation in Alabama for my class. Around me as a college student, JSU introduced Gamecock Express. Birmingham has MAX and DART. I have a friend who took AmTrak to New York from Anniston.

There are some options other than car, but practically car is the most reliable and efficient option around here. At least among possible choices.

But, car is not so reliable if you look at other option in other cities. Think about it. If you are in the U.S., many of you have seen cars and trucks broken down and sitting on the shoulder of a highway or freeway, haven't you? Some are in pretty bad shape by accidents.

Speaking of accident, car is not the safest trip means either. Imagine ordinary car drivers and train operators. See... train operators are more trained, professional. Plus, flow of trains is mostly controlled.

I liked New York when I went for Spring Break. You can go anywhere in Manhattan by subway. Tokyo, where I'm from, has really good transit system too. Boston has commuter trails and its stations have big parking spaces.

But, when you come to Birmingham, you can't really get around the city without a car. MAX transit doesn't serve the need. It's a bus network spread from Central Station. It's kinda like MARTA subways in Atlanta, which goes north-south, east-west from Five Points, but MAX buses does what trains do in Atlanta basically, on congested public roads.

Most buses I've seen are empty. I heard some buses break down in the middle of service and they often delay. It's not attractive. Plus if traffic is congested, bus runs so slow as well. Unless building separate route or lane dedicated only for transit, like street car, there is no merit.

I think bus works when it is attached to infrastructure dedicated to public transportation. It doesn't work by itself. Imagine if trains ran on I-20, I-59, I-459 in Great Birmingham Area and they stopped major suburbs like Trussville, Leeds, Hoover and Central Station of Birmingham and buses ran from those stations. You only have to ride bus and drive to those stations and take a train to wherever you wanna go. Isn't it cool?

It helps the city to grow too. Come on Alabama. You can do this.

Originally...

I'm back in Jacksonville, Alabama for the weekend. I get to watch a great football of JSU Gamecocks, and it's wonderful weather.

Sometimes when I meet new people and ask where they are from, some answer "I'm originally from..." Mostly they moved from somewhere distant.

While I was in Jacksonville (Alabama), where I spent five years for my undergrad, I didn't really consider using this phrase. I'm from Tokyo, Japan... period.

(Speaking of "I'm from Tokyo," I don't often say "I'm from Japan." Most of time, they ask again, "Which part of Japan?" Tokyo is a well-known city, but where else do you know? Maybe Yokosuka and Okinawa for the American military bases. But I had a friend from a city near Nagoya, struggling to explain where it is every time he was asked.

And when I'm back home, mainly at my home church, church members asks where in the U.S. I study, and I say Alabama, and to response of question about where Alabama is, I have hard time explain where it is. I usually say west of Georgia, where Atlanta is. They don't know Atlanta, I say "You know Florida Penisula right? The north neighbor of Florida is Georgia and Georgia's neighbor to west is Alabama...)

Anyway, now I live in Birmingham, Alabama (Why do the both of the American cities I've lived have confusing names? Jacksonville can be confused with one in Florida and Birmingham can be with one in England), but Jacksonville is like my second hometown. I have many friends in Jacksonville (even more when school is in session). I even come back to this town for some weekends, like this weekend. I cannot cut tie with this wonderful place.

After ABLAZE, UAB BCM's worship service on Thursdays, I was talking with a friend I met there. I was going back to Jacksonville on the next day, and she knew I was from Japan. But at the end of conversation, she told me to be careful going back home. It struck me. Um, I'm going home. That sounds really nice. Of course it's also nice when I go home in Tokyo for a break, for a couple of weeks. But it's a different "nice" to go back to Jacksonville.

I wasn't really good at making many friends when I was in Tokyo before coming to the U.S. Now I have a lot more friends here than I have made in Tokyo. Tokyo is certainly good place to live, but I'm so blessed to be in this small town of Alabama.

Many asks me how I ended up in Alabama But I'm so thankful friends and especially God who always leads me.

JSU plays Eastern Illinois today. And I get to be at the game! Go Gamecocks!

Here we go again!

So, my last post was in June, 2010... I thought I left blogging for like two years. (Go to http://my-mission0606.at.webry.info/)

Since that time, a lot has gone on. I did an internship in Atlanta in August, 2010. JSU beat Ole Miss at their first game of that season. I went to Boston for Career Forum. After coming back from home in Tokyo for Christmas break, I got stuck in my host family's house for three days for snow while school was closed, which caused bad jet lag. In the spring semester, I decided to go to graduate school. I had a really good summer and graduated from JSU. Right after the graduation, I moved to Birmingham to attend UAB for grad school.

So now here I am! This is my first blog post past a year and three months.

I fairly enjoy the life here. I'm so blessed to have so many friends, BCM (Baptist Campus Ministries) at both JSU and UAB. I'm looking forward to what God stores for me.

I have something to write in my mind, but I guess I gotta do some classwork...