Enhance the commute with haikus
Yesterday, Marc Tomik (@marctomik) adapted an idea from King County, Washington and the Washington (state) DOT to write haikus about transportation on Twitter.
Because Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct is being torn down, @wsdot started a contest to write some “vaikus” about the viaduct.
- Viaduct Haiku or #vaiku · wsdot · Storify
Vaiku format: 5 syllables, 7, 5. Do not #vaiku while driving. Someone could die-ku. Be nice. We are a family twitterfeed. #viadoom Drivin… - Marc decided to call for some road haikus.
- “@CCTgirl @RideLikeCharlie @ajfroggie Roads really need Haikus. http://t.co/o7vr73te cc @wsdot
- And Adam Froehlig and others jumped right in:
- “@marctomik @cctgirl @ridelikecharlie @wsdot Along the highway | Do I see the sights and sounds | Of America
- “@ajfroggie @marctomik @CCTgirl @RideLikeCharlie @Tracktwentynine Highways get money | Transit is just as awesome | Can we get some too?
- I decided to try and thread the tweets by introducing the #transpohaiku hashtag. And it kind of took off from there.
- “One hundred seven | years of moving the city | The New York Subway @AimeeCustis @CCTgirl @marctomik @RideLikeCharlie #transpohaiku
- “Number 9 Perry | Gone with the last transit cuts | Wish I could ride again #transpohaiku
- “Even in the cold | #Metro trains go everywhere | Except with 6 inches snow #transpohaiku
- “Do not hold the doors | you’ll be sure to cause a jam | and offload us all. #transpohaiku #wmata
- “You let me travel / when I am drunk or tired / enabling vice #transpohaiku
- “America’s Trucks | Bring Life’s Essentials Safely | Efficiently Everyday #transpohaiku (cc @AdamKSnider)
- Some of the tweets echoed debates we often have on Greater Greater Washington.
- “Cars are free market / aren’t there externalities? / debate without end #transpohaiku
- “The right price to park / not too high but not too low / goldilocks pricing #shoup #transpohaiku
- “New York Avenue | Florida Ave - Galludet | U. Soon: More long names. #transpohaiku #wmata #ShortenTheFreakingStationNames
- “Bicycles are great | I confess: sometimes I ride | without a helmet. #transpohaiku #needafolduphelmetformybag
- Metro was a common subject, of course.
- “Metro can frustrate | Traffic is worse. Perspective. | Transit for all. #transpohaiku #wmata
- “Mournfully crying | the Metro escalator | moans, groans as it climbs: | #transpohaiku #wmata
- “Metrobus riders | Keep moving to the back please | It’s crowded up front #transpohaiku #wmata
- “i ride the green line | still waiting for cell signal | south of chinatown #transpohaiku #wmata
- “Angry tweets and posts | Metro delay may raise ire | Interaction soothes #transpohaiku #wmata
- The idea spread to other cities, too.
- “With cuts and fare hikes / in the City by the Bay / Muni is puny. #transpohaiku #munihaiku
- “Mapping Fixed Guideway | Use as a quick ‘burgh guide | This is Still a draft #TranspoHaiku @PGHtransit @bus15237 http://t.co/ydhvq8bK
- We were even joined by the venerable Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation, Montgomery council member Roger Berliner, and @wmata.
- “Stopping texts stops wrecks/ @AdCouncil and @NHTSAgov/ say in PSA #transpohaiku http://t.co/4tGRDBCy #dwd
- “People have to climb | Hope escalators fixed soon | At #Bethesda stop #transpohaiku #wmata
- Tweets are still coming in, too.
- “Public transit saves | keeps our environment green | a win-win for all #transpohaiku
- “Towards Zero Deaths now : guardrail, signs, lines, cones, rumbles : Safer roads save lives #transpohaiku #TZD
If you’re on Twitter, join the conversation. If not, leave your haikus in the comments.