Took the Hillsboro bus this morning around 8:30a with my 4.5 year old son...a tale.

Took the Hillsboro bus this morning around 8:30a with my 4.5 year old son, Henry.  Our house is roughly 2.4 miles to his school.  It was looking dark, like rain, and the wind was picking up.  We had a moment in the drive where I questioned continuing, 'do you really want to take the bus'?  If it was going to rain, I didn't think I could also manage him needing to be carried if he got tired on the roughly one mile long walk. But, he insisted and I am glad he did.

We made the walk along Golf Club which is fairly narrow without sidewalks but heavily populated on foot.  Smiled at the dogs, runners and babies in strollers.  Saw rabbits and squirrels, flowers and trees.  It was really great to be out there with all the wind whipping around us.  Only a few tense moments - drivers cutting through at speeds not reasonable with so many pedestrians about.   Marked 30mph but that appears to be a suggestion to some which frankly always surprises me with so many people out and about.   

The real tension set in when we reached Hillsboro Pk and had to cross.  Trying to find the correct moment to cross while sharing our bit of Golf Club with a driver trying to turn left (into our path),  a driver in the middle lane of Hillsboro also trying to turn left (into our path) and another driver on the opposite side of Golf Club, this time trying to turn right (into our path) plus 4 lanes of moving traffic created a huge adrenaline rush in me only realized when we reached the flat slab of a bus stop and I noted my hands were shaking.   

WE DO NOT HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE IN PLACE FOR PROPER BUS USE!  AND, IT IS SHAMEFUL!!!

What this experience says to me is that riding the bus in Nashville is not for the faint at heart.   It is, quite possibly, only for those in true need unless you are living inside the 440 loop where things are better.   And, this feeling makes me mad as hell.  

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What exactly are we waiting for?  

Why are we not linking our corridors so that we can travel from one neighborhood to another in comfort and safety???

Why do we not have a uniform set of standards for sidewalks and for bus stops???

The cement slab that functions as the bus stop.  The other side of the street has literally no place to wait and the sign is half covered in vines.   Mind you, this is the URBAN SERVICES DISTRICT.  This is NOT an out of the way place - we sit squarely between Hillsboro Village and Green Hills, two places many would walk to if they only could.  

Looking south on Hillsboro.  Note the blind curve and the hill - traffic comes flying here.  Every time I take the bus, I feel I must keep my eyes peeled for it, then wave frantically as soon as I spy it as it feels like the distance between seeing us around the curve and the speed traveled may lead to being passed by. 

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The bus ride itself, was a delight.  Why was it so difficult to get there and so scary to wait at the stop?