In other words, my objections to the bus had a distinct classist prejudice. Buses are for the poor, buses are for people who can't afford a car. Airlines have a halo from many well-heeled travellers. What if it were an airline? We forgive airline delays for weather, equipment problems, you name it.
Plus, I decided I was really being a bit classist. The bus I'd been waiting for was a victim of all those chain removals backing things up. No, taking chains off a fleet of buses means some normal bus runs get dropped! Taking chains off bus tires is not a five-minute job. After all, the morning bus I rode still had chains on, mostly for the prior days' ice and snow. Okay, I made an impulsive decision: No more TriMet bus rides for me, even if free.Īt home, in the warmth of my home, I reconsidered. I went back to work, warmed up, and cabbed home. I didn't understand: The bus line runs twice an hour and I was to wait 45 minutes to see the first bus! The bus was more than thirty minutes late, one run seemed missing.
The real-time update said the bus would be there in another fifteen minutes. It hurt to stand facing the wind, looking for the bus to the east because the wind-chill factor was easily in the low 20s.Īnother fifteen minutes went by and I called TriMet on my cell phone. The scheduled arrival time came and went. When it was time to go home, I got to the bus stop fifteen minutes early. I took the bus and walking from the bus stop to my job was still treacherous with ice. The day I returned to work-with snow and ice about-biking would have been drawn-out and not particularly safe. Two days of snow and freezing rain gave me two work "snow days" in a row. In different circumstances-my employer not within bikeable distance, or exorbitant parking charges at that distance-I might find mass transit-the bus-advantageous.īut as it is, I use the bus rarely, when biking doesn't make sense. It's a nice perk for many, but not for my situation.
This despite the fact my employer gives me a free annual bus pass that lets me ride anywhere TriMet goes.
I ride our local bus probably less than once annually. 1:18:16 Forgiving Portland's City Bus Line