# 36 Access to the Fast Lane

Our city expressway is among the oldest in the nation, and our local ramp is
a challenge, providing easy access only at the best of times. Yet it serves
as a powerful metaphor on the relationship among speed, access and equity in
our world.

When there aren’t many cars on the expressway, there is no problem. The
spaces are wide, cars on the ramp are already in motion, and anybody can
find a way in. When there’s more than enough to go around, everyone can get
what they need.

When the expressway is so crowded that everyone is already moving slowly,
then those on the ramp simply edge in. The distinction between fast lanes
and ramp has disappeared and it’s like one giant merge. Everyone takes it as
a matter of course that they will have to yield to someone on the ramp. If
we’re all in the same situation, then we acknowledge our peerness and our
common need, and all work together to move forward.

Yet when the expressway is fully of fast-moving cars, getting on from the
ramp becomes an incredible challenge. Most of those who are zooming along
pay no attention to the line waiting to get on. Moving steadily on their
way, happy to be experiencing no difficulty, they are not inclined to make
any for themselves. Even if someone would choose to make space, when the
passing lane is full it is not easy to do. Slowing way down requires
entrusting your safety to the reflexes of many drivers behind you (as well
as incurring their wrath), and still may not offer a big enough gap for the
cautious person who has to proceed from a complete stop.

The more speed some of us have, the harder it is for the slower ones to get
in. In no way are those on the ramp less deserving of speed. Nor do we
have any particular right to our speed; we just happen to be already on the
expressway.

Equity will only be achieved when the expressway becomes so crowded that no
one has an advantage, or when those of us with the speed decide together
that there are some advantages for us as well as for others in slowing down,
or if we put resources into a massive redesign of the whole system to allow
equal access to those fast lanes.

Pamela Haines
Philadelphia, 9/05


Five things that have made me hopeful recently:

--Farmers and consumers in a rural county outside of Philadelphia taking a
day to talk with each other about sustainable communities.
--A struggling young artist in Nicaragua catching the vision of helping
others, and starting a little art school for street children in his town.
--Last Chance in Texas, a book by John Hubner describing the redemption of
criminal youth in a state correctional school.
--The growing number of opportunities to responsibly recycle more stuff,
especially electronics (check out http://rethink.ebay.com).
--A 22-year-old young man and his 87-year-old grandmother living together
and loving each other.