Category Archives: living the life

Another transit paradox: car-free = car-“full”

I have chosen to live without a car for many reasons. Some that are most important to me: cars’ detrimental impact on human health and on both the built and natural environments. And yet, because I am car-free (and therefore require convenient access to transit and useful services), I live at the intersection of two very busy–and not in a good way–streets. Don’t get me wrong, I love living in the city–specifically, this one–and I don’t mind dealing with the associated activity/chaos. I just wish it was a city with more (better) transit, more bikes, more foot traffic, and a lot fewer cars. If the noise isn’t enough of a reminder that my family is contaminated with the exhaust (et cetera) of thousands of SOVs on the daily, the soot that regularly accumulates on our windowsills is.

It’s true that we Chick-Nerds could have a comparable level of access and convenience (with less noise and exhaust) if we lived a block in either direction, but: 1) since busing involves walking–sometimes after dark– it’s safer (especially for Chicklet, when she’s old enough to ride alone) to live as close as possible to stops and streetlights, and 2) I happen to love my home.

Of course, the details of my particular situation aren’t as important as the point I started out trying to make (y’all know how I get sidetracked): that living car-free usually requires one to be surrounded by cars.

And I thought my name was ironic.

The after-school special

And this was just a fraction of them:

Three stops in a row were packed (as they are every weekday at 2:30) with energetic, just-released adolescents. It’s faster to walk those five blocks than it is to wait through all the loading drama and then creep along on a vehicle filled far, far beyond capacity. And forget about getting off.

Did I mention that the 48 passes five high schools (that I know of)?

Caught slippin’

This morning, I had a meeting at 2nd & Jackson at 8 AM and so had to catch the 14 at 23rd & Jackson at 7:44 AM. When I got to the bus stop (a few minutes early, as usual), I immediately took out my pass. Then I sat down to wait, clutching it with the confidence and satisfaction of a transit geek who’s got an annual, peak-fare pass and is ready to use it.

Except, my friends, it was no longer a peak-fare pass. (Ahem.)

This morning’s ride was my first peak trip since the fare increase, you see, and it (the fare increase, that is) had temporarily slipped my mind. I’d been meaning to upgrade my pass, but, after several off-peak rides–on which my $1.75 pass still worked–I had grown complacent.

Of course I had no change–not even a dollar. The driver, who had no doubt been dealing with similar issues all morning, was cool about it (no problem–just pay me next time), but I was utterly mortified–in part because I have a phobia of being without transit fare (remind me to tell you about the time I lost my transfer in 4th grade and the 2 driver made me ride to the end of the line), but mostly because my bus chick pride was hurt. (Other people make those kinds of basic bus mistakes, but not bus experts like me.)

On the way home, I paid 50 cents extra.

The eternal question (or, Bus Chick vs. game theory)

From the NYT’s Year in Ideas (via Dave):

You arrive at the bus stop to catch the ride to work, but the bus isn’t there. Your destination isn’t very far, so you think, Hmm, maybe I should just walk. But then you might find yourself halfway between stops when the bus whips past, which would be deeply annoying. What to do? Should you walk or should you wait?

Apparently, a few bus nerds from Harvard and Cal Tech were determined to find an answer to this question.

[They] drew up the problem as a classic game-theory dilemma, began crunching the numbers [or they could have just texted MyBus] and, three pages later, had their answer:

You should probably wait — and whatever you do, don’t second-guess yourself.

Buses [other than the 48], after all, are usually punctual and move much faster than you.

Read the rest …

That figures. When presented with this dilemma, I almost always choose to walk.

Creative commuting (or, more snow talk)

Yesterday, Bus Nerd and I finally accepted that weather/transportation conditions were not going to improve on our timeline and decided to make our way downtown, despite the limited-to-nonexistent bus service and ridiculously treacherous sidewalks in our neighborhood.

The 48 was the only one of our six regular buses that was even running (they don’t call it Metro’s Heavyweight for nothin’), and the 48 doesn’t go anywhere near downtown. We were not deterred. Our options were:

1. Take the 48 south to Rainier & McClellan and transfer to the 7.
2. Take the 48 north to Montlake and transfer to a westbound 545 or 255.
3. Walk down Jackson to the ID and transfer to a 7, 36, or 42. (Our neighbor, Casey, who works in Renton, has been walking down Jackson to catch the 101, so we knew it was doable.)

We opted for option 3. My experience Saturday left me a little skittish about bus crowding/getting passed up, so I liked the idea of being close enough to downtown to walk the rest of the way. Which is what we ended up doing.

Despite the challenges of maneuvering Chicklet’s light, bus-friendly stroller on the snowy/slushy/icy sidewalks, it wasn’t that bad. I was glad to be moving my behind for the first time in several days, and we actually made it all the way downtown before we even saw a 7, which was packed, Mumbai style.

We opted to walk (well, aside from a 70 ride to 3rd & Jackson) home, too. I was so not trying to be a part of the 17 zillion-person standoff on Third Avenue, prepared to fight just to cram myself in like a sardine and creep down a snowy street to another (cold!) bus stop and repeat the process. I’ll spare you the gory details of the journey home (after dark, on halfway melted sidewalks, with a snowsuited-up chicklet who was totally over it and then some) and just say that we were glad when we finally made it to our warm home.

In the walkway, we ran into our neighbor, Julieta, who was returning from a two-and-a-half hour trip home from her job in SoDo: packed ride on the 21 north to Union > long wait > packed ride on the 42 south to McLellan > long wait > packed ride 48 north to home.

I think she’s considering walking tonight.

No, no, no

Reroutes and delays I can work with, but I do have two busing-in-bad-weather pet peeves. Both are captured in this photo.

Westbound 14 stop at 23rd & Jackson, 11 AM

BiBW peeve #1: Bus haters-turned-(temporary)-bus-lovers

There were 15 people waiting for the (almost-on-time) 14 with us, and I’m willing to bet that half of them hadn’t been on a bus in a decade. (How do I know, you ask? I have my ways.)

I’m hardly one to complain when folks try transit (no matter the reason), but I do think all these bus-chicks-come-lately (who won’t be back on a bus until it snows again) should be the ones who stand on the routes they’re crowding up. I say, those of us who’ve been down with Metro since day one should be able to reap the benefits of our loyalty.

Priority seating for frequent riders? Why, yes! After all, ridership has its privileges. Maybe we OG bus types should start getting “Rider since” dates printed on our passes.

BiBW peeve #2: Slippery sidewalks

The dirt truck made it to my street a day and a half after Thursday’s big snow, but the sidewalks still look like an ice rink right before the Zamboni does its thing. And I don’t live off the beaten path; I live at a major intersection (which is also a major bus hub). Even some downtown streets are completely covered in ice. I’ve heard tell that property owners are responsible for clearing their section of the sidewalk, but I don’t think they got the memo (I’ve yet to see any communication from the city on the subject), and it seems like a less-than-efficient way of handling the issue. In the meantime, walking anywhere (not just to bus stops) is extremely treacherous.

I realize that the city has its hands full right now (and is probably up to here with haters criticizing its handling of weather issues), but what’s up with that?

Ho, ho, ho

In the spirit of the season (and in the spirit of recycling–you know how we bus chicks do), some of my bus-friendly shopping tips, circa 2006:

Tip 1: Buy less. The simplest and most effective way to avoid the hassle of shopping without a car is to stop shopping so doggone much. Your decision to try life as a bus chick means you’re probably interested in conserving — your money, the world’s resources, or both — and spending less time at the mall will surely help you accomplish this.

Tip 2: Use a different kind of highway. If you don’t need a particular item immediately, consider ordering it online. If it’s a gift that has to be shipped, you save two trips: the first, to the store to buy the gift, and the second to the post office to mail it. In cases where you want to see an item before you buy it (or you don’t want to pay shipping costs), you can still use the Internet to research products and prices. That way, when you’re ready to buy, you’ll only have to make one stop.

Tip 3: Concentrate! The bus-based life is not well-suited to the “running around” that has become the norm in our consumer-oriented, car-centric culture. (And who says that’s a bad thing?) Shop in places that have a wide variety of stores concentrated in a small area, so you can take care of several purchases each time you make a trip. I tend to shop downtown, mostly because it’s the concentrated shopping area that is most easily accessible to me. And speaking of downtown…

Tip 4: Shop on your way. The next time you’re in the center of our fair city waiting for a transfer, try using that time to take care of business. When I’m downtown and in need of a particular item, I decide how much time I’ll need, check the schedule of the bus I’m waiting to catch, and then head to the nearest store that has what I need. If I’m not in the market for anything in particular but the wait between buses is especially long, I’ll use the down time “pre-shop” for stuff (greeting cards, vacuum-cleaner bags, printer cartridges — whatever I’m closest to) that I know I’ll need in the future.

Tip 5: Be Flexible. Most of the items people regularly shop for can be easily reached and carried home on the bus. (Note: If it’s big enough to take up a seat of its own, consider traveling during off-peak times.) For those times when you want to purchase an item that is outside the bus’s coverage area or that exceeds your carrying capacity (and the limits of your fellow riders’ patience), rent a Flexcar [er, Zipcar–doesn’t quite go as well with the heading, eh?]. For all you Craig’s Listers and garage salers: They even have pickup trucks.

I’m not that into shopping (OK, I hate it), so this is hardly expert advice, and–given that I try to think about this issue as little as possible–I haven’t come up with many new tips in the last two years. But, here are a few updates:

• If you’re fortunate enough to live in a neighborhood with a variety of shops within walking distance, take advantage of them.
• Follow the advice of the waste-free holiday folks and buy experiences (tickets to concerts, plays, etc.) as gifts; they’re easy to carry home.
• When in doubt, buy the smaller one.

Happiness is…

heading to an evening meeting (short walk + 14) alone, sans baby pack or bag o’ tricks, wearing: shoes with a little flavor (nothing “earthy” about ’em), that gorgeous coat handed down from your fashion-plate mother, and your now rarely used shmipod, turned up to a volume that is surely damaging your ears (but it’s been so long since you’ve listened to Goapele!) and is preventing you from making progress on that novel you’re so enjoying–which is OK, really, because the author is such an amazing writer you’d gladly read one of her sentences 100 times, and you’re not in any hurry to finish.

The ultimate ride read

After five long years, Ms. Chloe Anthony Wofford (aka Toni Morrison), the writer for whom I gladly miss stops, whose books I actually buy (to avoid the library waiting list and because I want to keep them) and occasionally even sleep with, has released a new novel. The reviews are glowing, but I don’t need reviews to know I’ll love it. Bring on the drawbridges, long lights, multiple bikes and lift passengers (no disrespect), slow payers, and ride-delaying bus foulers! I need some time with A Mercy.

More good news on Third Avenue

Yesterday, the bus fam (that is, Chicklet, Nerd, and yours truly) hopped the 4 and headed to Seattle Center to attend a retro birthday party for my friend (and world-famous author) Sundee. Fellow natives of the 2-0-sickness: Remember back in the day, when the Center was the place to hang out in the summer (at 9: ferris wheel! at 13: cute boys!), and those rides and games at the Fun Forest seemed at least as good as Disneyland’s? My perspective has changed a bit since the 80s (about the Fun Forest and Disneyland), but I’m still sad that the park won’t be around for little Chicklet to enjoy.

I digress.

Instead of taking the 4 home from the festivities, we took the Monorail and transferred downtown, because, 1) I was in one of my nostalgic moods, 2) Chicklet had never ridden the Monorail, and 3) we wanted to save time. (The two-minute ride to Westlake beats any bus, and stopping downtown gave us the option of catching a faster route up the hill.)

We used our extra minutes to visit the new(ish) Kress supermarket on 3rd & Pike. I’ve been waiting for about a gazillion years for a grocery store to open downtown, and it was long past time for me to check it out. Plus, we were out of wine.

An escalator takes you from 3rd Ave. right to the produce section.

We get our produce (and a lot of other staples) from an organic delivery service, and we live within walking distance of a grocery store, so I won’t be using this Kress for major shopping trips. That said, it’s got a pretty good selection and reasonable prices. And since, like most transit types, I’m downtown a lot, I’ll certainly be using it for quick stock-ups (they carry my favorite crackers!) between transfers–and for grabbing something (chocolate) to share at a party.

Of course, as I learned on my very first visit, I’m not the only bus rider who appreciates the new Kress.

Captain, heading down to stock up on seafarin’ necessities

Captain finished shopping at the same time we did (which is to say, just in time to catch the 27), and all four of us enjoyed a speedy ride home with our purchases.