Today’s post comes to you once again from the newspaper headlines (see also Eating Out – A Casualty of the Economy).
Tubby Americans Overload City Buses
The FTA is considering raising the assumed average weight per bus passenger from 150 lbs to 175 lbs. I ride buses on occasion, mainly when traveling. (You really get to know a city using public transition. You also get more exercise, but I digress). I think they are being generous; so does the FAA. They assume the average air traveler is 190 lbs in the summer and 195 lbs in the winter.
Even with the smaller change in estimated weight, it will still impact the number of people that can safely travel on a city bus at any given time. Not a big deal on many routes or on a nice Saturday afternoon. But during rush hour? Have you ever tried to catch a bus in a major city during rush hour? Wall to wall people, if the bus has room at all and actually stops. Once again, another way the growing size of the average American is impacting how all of us live every day.
When we think about the growing obesity epidemic we often talk in terms of health care. That’s the most logical and most bottom line thing we see. More money for drugs to treat diabetes, more bypass surgeries and more people who need physical assistance for the activities of daily living they can no longer perform due to size, amputation or blindness.
What we forget about are the little things, like being able to get on a bus. Or fitting on the exam table at the chiropractor. Or fitting in a regular bathroom stall. Really it’s not fair to call these little things. They are actually pretty major when they affect you. The thing we have to remember is they affect all of us and it’s going to take each and every one of us making changes to turn the tide.
