September 03, 2008

Donkey's and wheelbarrows as mass transit

I kid you not; I almost choked on my lunch reading this from a speech on Public Transport Management by New Zealand Parliamentarian, Dr. Pita Russell Sharples.

"It may well be high time to turn to the ingenious Cubans, who have for some time been leading the world in providing public transport on a reduced energy diet.
Cuba now moves masses of people across Havana during rush hour by a complex mass transit system which requires little additional funds or fuel.
Virtually every vehicle in existence is called on for an elaborate system of ride sharing – in which commuters ride in handmade wheelbarrows, buses, animal powered vehicles, bicycles and motorised two passenger rickshaw. Imagine the overall savings and reduced energy usage if Cabinet Ministers here could travel in pairs in a rickshaw – while Associate Ministers could be issued with a wheelbarrow each!
One of the most innovative Havana inventions is the camel – not the spitting, hump-backed version, but a large meal semi-trailer, pulled by a truck which holds up to 300 vehicles.
Now it may not sound like a going concern for Remuera or Kohimarama, but the point is, a massive attitudinal change has taken place which we could all learn something from.
In Cuba, it is nothing for government officials, to pull over and fill up their Government vehicles with people needing a ride. A donkey cart with a taxi licence nailed to the frame will be travelling Cuba’s streets, while the common truck has been converted to public transport by welding a set of steps on the back for riders to jump off and on with ease."

I would guess he's viewed the propaganda film going around leftist circles about how Cuba survived "Peak Oil," a fantasy flick produced especially for "useful idiots."

Read the fools speech here.

Posted by Ziva at September 3, 2008 03:46 PM

Comments

An example of green progress. I'm calling my city councilman now to tell him we need to emulate the Cuban success story.

Posted by: PTG [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 3, 2008 04:20 PM

The New Zealanders have farther to float to freedom when their revolution comes.

Posted by: Lazaro [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 3, 2008 04:55 PM

WOW! I choked on my sunflower seeds...These idiots never stop amazing me. I bet this ass never road on a camel (the Cuba kind), if my memory is correct, you can't fit 300 vehicles. Oh wait unless they consider the vehicles bicycles. hahaha

Posted by: readytoshoot [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 3, 2008 04:59 PM

There is an idiot born every second.

Posted by: Peter Perez [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 3, 2008 08:44 PM


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