This one’s from the northbound 3rd & Union stop, in front of the post office:
(I also have a closer view.)
OK, so it isn’t as good as the snowboard guy or the rooster, but I’m counting on you witty types to make it so.
Best caption wins the admiration and envy of the rest of us.
On Wednesday, as Chicklet and I settled into a seat on our favorite route, an elderly woman I had never seen before sat down next to us, looked at Chicklet like she knew her, and said, “I just saw your uncle over at the University of Washington.”
I was about to tell her that she had us confused with another bus riding mother-daughter team when she said, “I had to get a few x-rays and some work on my crown.”
Aha! She had indeed seen Chicklet’s uncle, my brother Joel, an almost-dentist who sees patients at the UW’s dental clinic. But how did she know that? Good question.
Around this time last year, Joel told me he had a patient who knew me. “I see her on the bus sometimes,” she had told him. “Isn’t she expecting?”
Back then, I wondered briefly how the woman had known Joel and I were related (we don’t look that much alike–do we?) and then forgot about it. Until Wednesday, that is, when I came face to face with this same patient, a bus chick whose powers of observation put my own to shame. (She’s got a few years on me, but still.)
Her name is Ida (I should say Miss Ida, as she is my elder, and I don’t know her last), and she recently returned from a trip to Arkansas to visit family. She rides the 27 and the 48 (among many others) and sees Nerd, Chicklet, and me out and about around the neighborhood. She even knows which church we attend. Miss Ida is enjoying the summer and doesn’t mind the heat at all, especially compared to what she dealt with in Arkansas. Her July Sears bill apparently got lost in the vacation-mail shuffle, so she was headed to the store (off at 3rd and Yesler, transfer to the 21) to pay it in person. She never, ever pays bills late.
Chicklet pulled out all her best tricks to impress our new friend (some of her favorites: clapping like crazy and hitting herself on the head) and was rewarded with an appreciative cheek-pinch as Miss Ida stood to go.
“It was good to finally meet you,” she said to both of us.
Oh, yes. Yes it was.
Not even candy paint and big wheels can compare.
On our first 358 ride to visit Jeremy, Chicklet and I sat next to a woman who, despite getting off on the wrong foot by asking one of those questions, turned out to be alright. She was on a bus excursion–which had started in Ocean Shores at 10 AM and was going to end in Everett late in the evening (!)– to pick up her two-year old granddaughter. (I think she mentioned why she decided not to opt for Greyhound, but I can’t remember the reason.) By the time our paths crossed on the 358, she was on her fifth bus (1. Ocean Shores to Aberdeen 2. Aberdeen to Olympia 3. Olympia to Tacoma 4. Tacoma to downtown Seattle 5. downtown to Aurora Village), and seven hours in.
In case you’re interested in making the trip (or, like me, awestruck and curious), you can find the itinerary details at Evan Siroky’s regional transit site. (Yes, he’s the same Evan who won the January, 2007 Golden Transfer.) Evan knows a lot about how to get around the northwest using transit, and, like a good transit geek, he’s sharing his knowledge with the rest of us. From Evan:
The web page has the complete schedules for all transit connections possible throughout the region. These range from Seattle-Portland, Seattle-Vancouver, BC, Aberdeen to Tillamook, and Yakima to Walla Walla, to name just a few.
And, as I mentioned, he’s covered Ocean Shores to Seattle. I wonder what would happen if I introduced him to “public transportation adventure” Jim…
For better: My brother Jeremy moved back to Seattle last week! (And who can blame him?) He’s remaining car-free for the present and so has chosen an apartment close to a frequently running bus route. I plan to visit him often, to make up for the year (plus) he was away.
For worse: The bus route he’s close to is the 358. Pray for me.
At least one rider travels with something other than a laptop:
Sorry for the bad phone photo. In case you can’t tell, it’s a dog in a stroller.
This is pretty cute, but I thought ST didn’t allow pets. And anyway, don’t they have to fold those down for the ride, like folks with human babies?
Despite the fact that I’m kind of done talking about bus hackers (ST is aware of–and hopefully working on–the problem, after all) Bus Nerd is making me post this:
It’s a screen shot of his network connection dialog during a recent ride on the 545. (This time it was coach 9539.) All told, he’s experienced this issue three times in the past few weeks. Just so you know.
This month’s Golden Transfer goes (for the second time) to the city I’m proud to call home, the S-E-A double-T L-E (don’t trip; you know you have that CD lurking somewhere in the depths of your music collection), Seattle, Washington, USA. On three consecutive Sundays this summer, Seattle will close some streets to cars.
• On Aug. 24, 14th Avenue East will be closed from East Republican Street to Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill from noon to 6 p.m. The park’s Western Loop will also be car-free.
• Rainier Avenue South will be closed between Orcas and Alaska streets on Aug. 31 from 3-6 p.m.
• Alki Avenue in West Seattle will be closed to motor vehicles from noon to 6 p.m on Sept. 7
Pinch me…I must be dreaming! The only way this could be better is if one of those streets was the one in front of my house. (OK, there are many ways it could be better–more streets, more hours, more Sundays–but I can definitely work with this.)
Some business owners are feeling salty (not to mention caught off guard) and are afraid they’ll lose business if their customers cannot drive to them.
“We might as well close for the day,” said Joe Fraser, general manager of Duke’s Chowder House on Alki. West Seattle is one of the neighborhoods affected.
“Closing the street for construction, I can understand. But closing the street just for the sake of closure, that does not seem well thought out,” he said.
Fraser said summer Sundays are among the restaurant’s best days, when customers come from throughout the region for dining on the deck or sidewalk.
(Source: Seattle PI)
I’m guessing they’ll be surprised by the number of people (people who actually live in the neighborhood, for example) who come out to enjoy our streets on foot, bikes, skateboards, and et cetera. I, for, one, will be hitting up all three of these events, and, as we learned earlier today, car-free types have plenty of cash to spare.
So thanks to my city, for stepping out there just a little bit, and for giving me hope that it will be a place little Chicklet will grow up to love as much as I do.
How you like us now, Portland? (Sorry–that just came out. It’s all love.)
As I said before, we bus chicks aren’t just sexy; we also have big bank accounts. From an APTA press release:
WASHINGTON, DC – A person can save more than $8,000 per year annually by taking public transportation instead of driving based on today’s gas prices, according to new analysis released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). According to APTA’s “Monthly Transit Savings Report” a person can save an average of $672 dollars per month based on today’s gas price of $3.909 as reported by AAA. The savings are more than the average household pays for food in a year.
And there’s more. Out of the 20 cities with the highest ridership, Seattle ranks #4 for savings (over $8,400 per year), based on the cost of a monthly transit pass and the price of gas in the region.
You can calculate your own savings (with or without car ownership) at the APTA’s website.
A tidbit from an interesting (read: transit-friendly) article in Slate:
You think the government is wasting a few billion a year on mass-transit subsidies. But what about the huge subsidies for cars and trucks?
[…]
What hasn’t been acknowledged is that the automobile is supported by a government subsidy that dwarfs anything provided to mass transit. How big is the subsidy? By my (admittedly extremely crude) calculations, it could total nearly $100 billion per year.
Can I get an amen?
There’s more to it, of course–but that’s what the link is for.
It appears that the new sign designs have gone live. I spotted this, sans disclaimer, at a stop near the airport:
I guess they didn’t need to use the airport icon on this one, since the airport is across the street. I’m wondering, though: Is there an icon for trife (or at least some sort of warning icon) to put next to the 174?
