They Don't Just Magically Appear

Pedicabs don't just materialize downtown during the busy times. They are hauled to the east side for storage. We saw this trailer over that way the other day anyway.

Theme Day---Public Transportation

Today is theme day for City Daily Photo. The theme is public transportation. These pedicab drivers chatted while waiting for fares on Fourth Street last night. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Out for a Ride Downtown

Out for a leisurely stroll on New Year's Day, I noticed some unicycle riders going by. As I was snapping a picture someone said hello and it was some friends of mine, riding a bicycle built for two. Alternative transportation day, it was.

Shiny New Train

I walked over to the convention center yesterday with the idle thought that I might go into the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar. I bumped into Matt Curtis who works for Cap Metro and he said the train was pulling into the station about two o'clock. I hung around the bazaar and had a beer and listened to The Resentments and waited to see the shiny train. You, dear readers, had seen it from afar back in March when I caught the expensive train sitting out in a field, ahem, waiting its close up.

The train was beautiful, inside and out, and surely made me want to ride it except it doesn't go near anywhere I want to go. I'll still have to get in the car to tend to my elderly parents and play tennis. But maybe I'll ride it to Leander just to see what it's like and what my tax money has been spent on. Of course, the claim is that once you arrive at a train station you can take a bus to other areas. Of course, buses fan out from downtown to all sorts of locations so taking a train then a bus for us downtowners isn't very practical. But if you live in Leander you can drive (of course) to a train station and be downtown at the convention center in a short time. You won't need to take a bus from there to walk to lots of things, but the buses will be lined up to whisk you to your final destination conveniently. Or so they'd have you believe. The route of the train, by the way, was determined by existing freight tracks.

Donn's Depot Downtown Doings

The last stop on our downtown adventure last night was Donn's Depot on West Fifth. It's one of those places we ought to go more often. Our plan was to walk to two art show openings. The first, at Austin Museum of Art kicked off at six. We visited with friends while viewing the the incredible photographs of Sebastião Salgado of workers (I think it's safe to call them laborers) from all over the world. These photos showed massive projects (ships, dams, mines) as well as intimate views of the people who make these things, often by hand. They also had a show of many artists' interpretations of 'chair' masterminded by Damian Priour. That gallery was a little crowded to take in. We may have to go over there again to see it.

The second art show didn't kick off until eight so we went to the bar at Ruth's Chris. Visited with a few friends who work there while having carpaccio, a crabtini and a little wine. Andy Roddick came in. I'm not a fan so I wasn't impressed, but in case you are a celebrity watcher, dear reader, there it is. Most importantly to the shape of our evening, one of our friends who owns part of the place scooted out before we went to our opening at Art House Jones Center and told us he was going to the thirtieth anniversary party at Donn's Depot. Whoa, we thought, we should go there.

The Art House show was fun and provocative and there were friends there to visit with. But after seeing the show and a couple of drinks we took off for Donn's. It's kind of far so we went to the Stephen F. Austin bellman stand and ask if they could find a cab. They did. After a raucous couple of hours of dancing and visiting with friends and other hangers on and listening to Donn and his band (that's him on the keyboard above) we decided it was time to walk home. But, for once, one of those pedicab drivers came along and offered up a ride. That was fun and we tipped him well. (They work for tips.) These guys are always around when I don't need them so I was thrilled to get to take a ride.
Yep, just a carless (well if you don't count the cab) downtown evening.

Armadillo Transport

Austin has these downtown buses that look like trolleys, are decorated with armadillos (a locally-favored critter as a carton which we feel differently about if they are digging a lawn) and are called 'Dillos. They are free but there are complaints that there routes and schedules are less than totally helpful. We hope they have a shuttle between downtown condos and the Long Center when it opens. They could even charge and it would be OK with me. Whatever the routes, I'm sure I can find them useful when I live downtown. I'll use my feet a lot but they might get me to SoCo or the University easily.

Commuter Rail

Commuter Rail? Austin doesn't have it. But the Capital Metro people got money for it and besides tinkering with tracks and stations they have bought some expensive rolling stock. I was driving around near Metric Boulevard and 183 and found the cars, looking all spiffy. They won't have riders for years, I guess.