Having seemingly tried all other options to increase ridership on buses, Cap Metro is trying a new approach to make public transportation more pleasant: poetry.
Alas, this new program won’t be free. The last verse leaves taxpayers footing the bill.
Apparently the only thing hold us back from public transportation is having something interesting to read.
Apparently having something to read on the bus is all that is needed to get us out of our cars. Aren’t we lucky that Cap Metro and the Austin Poetry Society have finally solved Austin’s transportation problems!
In 50 words or fewer, Austinites will now have intellectually stimulating passages to read while traveling on Cap Metro buses, thanks to a contest put on by the Austin Poetry Society for aspiring poets seeking more exposure for their compositions.
But of course, poetry doesn’t come without a price.
While the poets themselves don’t appear to profit from this initiative, it will still cost Cap Metro (i.e. taxpayers) to dedicate spaces normally reserved for advertising inside the bus, as well as installation costs. That comes out to $36 for each poem placard.
150 Cap Metro buses are expected to have poems installed soon, with the goal of having the entire fleet of about 500 Cap Metro buses turned into mobile poetry slams in the near future.
Will the City of Austin ever have a solution that actually improves traffic?
Quoth the bureaucrat: “Nevermore!”
