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Wondering...........

All this travelling on public transport has got me wondering.

You wonder what people do for a living, where they are heading or even what's going through their minds !  It's fair (or fare) to say that there's all sorts of people using public transport for their trip to work, school, the shops or for lots of other reasons.  My trip on the bus on Friday into Sunderland got me thinking as there was a lad got on in Bournmoor in working togs and a high-viz vest, got himself a Metro and sat down.  When the bus went through Penshaw, his workmate got on the bus - he had the same togs on and the pair chatted away as the bus rolled to Sunderland.

So, it got me thinking where were they heading and what they were doing - they could be builders, but they looked a bit too clean.  They could be road sweepers, but again, a bit too clean.

For those keeping up, you'll have sussed that I was on the 78 heading to Sunderland, now the 78 goes into Sunderland down Chester Road and for those who know Sunderland, it just so happens that the cemetery and crematorium just happens to be on Chester Road.  Lo and behold, as the bus heads past the cemetery, there's a ring of the bell - the two guys get up and get off.  Question answered, they were gravediggers !!!

The other thing I wonder about is why parents and grandparents don't take their kids on public transport more.  It's really noticeable that most kids rarely travel on public transport as it seems such an unusual thing to do and they get really excited about it.  Obviously it was half-term last week and after my visit in Sunderland on Friday morning, I caught the Metro and the bus to get me back to work.

There were a few kids got on with grandparents and parents as the train picked up in Park Lane and Sunderland, with two sets set fairly close to me.  One kid was really excited as it was a refurbed Metro - almost as excited as Sharpie was the first time he was on one !  The whole journey, both to him and a young girl with her grandmother sat on the seats on the other side of the aisle seemed really exciting to them.  I remember taking Dominic on the Metro a lot when he was little and he used to love it too, but, it's a statement on society really that kids are now so attuned to travelling everywhere by car and public transport just seems to be a rarity for them.

The challenge is how does public transport change this perception and get the kids of today (or the adults of tomorrow) travelling more sustainably and saving the environment - a challenging one and I wonder how we'll do it.......................I'll keep wondering though !!!

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