Ten phases of the traffic lights to move six car lengths. Traffic was gridlocked in this part of Auckland last night. Photo: Su Leslie 2014I got in my car at 5.50pm to meet the boy-child — 1.1 km away. I got to him at 7.05pm.
Sitting in stationary traffic, watching the lights phase and no-one move because the intersections were already full and all the surrounding roads were blocked, I actually started to have a panic attack.
To make it worse, I was only in my car because a) there isn’t a bus service to the city from my home during the day, and b) I can’t get parking at the bus station.
Note to transport planners: public transport only works if people have access to it.
And actually, the buses weren’t moving either.
Here are some other bloggers’ Wordless Wednesdays:
http://livingoutloud4.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-9/
http://realisticcookingideas.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-greek-chicken-salad/
http://thatmontrealgirl.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-evening-edition-9/
http://heatherlcoxart.com/2014/05/14/worldless-wednesday-kolob-zion-canyon-natl-park-this-week-2/
http://sourcererblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-4/
http://myothermoreexcitingself.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-im-ready-for-gardening/
http://leftbraincraftbrain.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-craft-fail/
http://carrieonblog.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-date-night/
http://smithsnaps.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday/
Wordless Wednesday | thepupdiary.com
Wordless Wednesday: Some things are made eternal
http://oneofthosememories.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-137/
http://elleturner4.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/wordless-wednesday-26/
Zimmerbitch 
Such a helpless feeling being stuck like that. hope your little one was all right.
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Thank you. Yes, part of my helplessness was knowing that he was waiting for me. He’s sixteen so I probably shouldn’t call him the “boy-child” but it’s kind of stuck when I’ve blogged about him. I wasn’t worried about his safety, but I know that he was worried about me and that got the cycle of anxiety going. His phone went flat too, and that didn’t help. Oh the joys of urban living in the twentieth century 🙂
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Yes first world problems but we can’t help but worry about them no matter how old they are. Stressful for him too I sure.
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True; different ages, different worries 🙂
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That is some insane gridlock. I saw something like it in Los Angeles when I was a child.
Thanks for including me in the list! I was proud of that shot I posted today.
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You’re welcome. It is a great shot. I assume it’s part of a larger sculpture; do you have a shot of the whole work? The detail works really well to draw viewers in with lots of questions. 🙂
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Yes, it’s a 14-foot tall bronze golden eagle, on an 8-foot pedestal. It’s comissioned work donated to a university campus, and I’m studying the on-campus photo policies to see if I can post the whole thing. I have a dozen shots of it, from lots of different perspectives.
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Wow; I’ve never heard of a university having a photo policy with regard to it’s artwork!
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Hope that doesn’t happen frequently! The public transportation system in Auckland is really not the best as far as I remember! I think the most reliable one is the ferry or the train. The buses were always late as long as I stayed in Auckland. Here in Berlin we are really lucky to have good public transportation access. You get nearly everywhere either with the metro, underground, tram or bus.
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Hi Anja; not often to me because I avoid the central city. But for many people semi-gridlock is a way of life here. And it’s true, Auckland public transport is not great – but, believe it or not, it is MUCH better than it used to be! One of the things I loved about Europe was travelling by public transport. Clean, affordable and utterly reliable. I miss that 🙂
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