On Monday my wife Sharon & I walked the Mackinac Bridge with about 80,000 other people from all over the world. It is an annual event held every Labor Day (the only day pedestrians are allowed on the bridge). It is the quintessential Michigan occasion. This year is the Mighty Mac's 50th anniversary.
Back before the bridge was completed in 1957 a fleet of ferries took people and their vehicles across the straits of Mackinac between Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas.
The ferry trip took about an hour and the average wait time for a ferry was 2 hours. There were longer waits than that during times like deer season (another big Michigan event). Many times no one could cross because of bad weather or ice, which stopped ferry service in the winter.
After the bridge, the entire crossing took only about 10 minutes with only rare closings due to weather.
No matter how many ferries, no matter how efficient the process, the ferry crossing would never have gotten as short as 10 minutes.
It took a completely new approach. A bridge.
There was a need to Do Something...Different!....to get radically different results.
No comments:
Post a Comment