I recently discovered that the MTA is considering shortening several of its bus routes, including that of the 31, the one I use most often.  Unfortunately, I didn’t hear about it via the MTA’s email announcement system, nor is it listed anywhere on their web site that I can find.  I read about it in an article in the Baltimore Sun.

For the 31, they’re planning to eliminate the portion of the route that runs between the Inner Harbor and Penn Station.  I have an issue with this because I use that portion.  I do things at night along Charles Street (which is one of the city’s more active regions).  Having a single bus to catch only a block away from my location is something I consider a good thing.  Without the 31 running through there, I would have to catch a different bus down to the Inner Harbor (and have to worry about inter-bus timing late at night) or walk several blocks (through Baltimore late at night) to the Light Rail (and then worry about train-to-bus timing).

I will admit that, at that time of night, the bus isn’t heavily used, but I’m never the only person that gets on in that segment of its route, either.  There are also generally a good number of people on the bus in the mornings when it passes the Convention Center and starts heading north.  That portion of the route is used, and cutting it out will only cause additional hassle for the many people that use it.

I have sent a message to the MTA regarding this.  I’ll have to see what sort of response I get.

Bikes are a popular way to get around, and should compliment public transportation.  A recent Baltimore Sun article about Critical Mass has some rather discouraging comments about bike riding in Baltimore.  Amy wrote a rather scorching response.

In other news, the Light Rail has reopened the segment between Camden Yards and Linthicum.  The Convention Center stop (at least) still has posted notices saying that everything south of Camden Yards is closed.  It also still displays a schedule from before the double tracking started.

The MTA recently launched a new website, one with which I’m quite happy.  It addresses many of the complaints I had about the old site, and is, in general, much more usefully laid out.

The most obvious change is the new layout of the front page.  They’ve replaced the old static navigation with a table showing the current status of each area of service: bus, subway, light rail, MARC, commuter bus, and paratransit.  For each of those, there’s a color-coded button indicating the general health of the service, followed by a brief line of text giving an overview.  If additional detail is available, there’s a link to the full description.  (And that link is a normal one—no opening in a new window and no javascript.  I’m pleased with that.)

Finally, the table has links down the righthand side to the schedules for each service area.  The schedules are arranged nicely, with HTML and PDF available for everything.

Also of note is the removal of the trip planner from the site, a move that was long overdue.  They say they’ll put it back up if they can get it to work.  (The MTA used nicer wording than that, of course.)

Well, it appears that I’m listed on Blogshares, so I’ll drop their icon into this entry to claim it.

While Perdido Street Station certainly falls under the broad-reaching umbrella of “speculative fiction”, it’s hard to pin it further than that.  Like the city of New Crobuzon and many of its inhabitants, the book is a blend of several things; there are fantasy aspects and steampunk aspects and horror aspects and probably half a dozen other sub-sub-genres scattered throughout.

There are many good things about the book, but the most immediately obvious is Miéville’s writing style.  When he’s being descriptive, his prose drips adjectives, each chosen for just the right shading of connotations.  As I read, I could almost feel the sludge-filled river or the miasma of smoke above the industrial sector.  And after I stopped reading, my mind would race along thought passageways, seeking to maintain the same dense, rapid flow of words to which it had become accustomed.  Many scenes left me breathless with their coiled tension, the languor of subsequent events providing some relief.

The world in which New Crobuzon exists is well thought-out and very detailed.  It’s obvious that Miéville has put significant effort into fleshing things out.  All of the parts hold together, which is important, because part of the enjoyment derives from exploring this whole other world, with cactus-people and insect-headed women and demons and causal-spinning spiders and well, you get the idea.  Many of the details presented tie back into the story eventually, but plenty of things exist simply because they would be there in a complete world.

The story itself is good, as well.  There are too many branches and joinings to describe succinctly; you’ll have to read it yourself to learn of Lin and Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin and Too Too Abstract Individual Yagharek Not To Be Respected and everyone else.

In short, it’s a well-written book with a beautiful, distinct writing style.  Go read it.