Where is my breakfast?
2010 July 5
View from the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland on my morning commute
As a transit rider, I jealously watched bikers eating pastries and drinking coffee on the Hawthorne Bridge on my way to work Friday morning. I’ve known about Breakfast on the Bridges for a few years and think it is a great program. Transit riders really need some type of catalyst to make riding the bus as fun as riding your bike. We don’t have a bike polo equivalent for the bus (and probably shouldn’t) but is there a way to make riding the bus more of a group activity that encourages more transit use?
What about?
- Bus to beer trips (instead of the usual pub crawl – designated driver already included)
- Transit nature walks (take transit to a natural area as a group – just like a field-trip)
- Transit travel guide (people pay to ride buses and get a tour, why can’t we do something similar with free podcasts or cooperative bus drivers – I know a few who always call out city landmarks).
- Other ideas for creating a transit community? Please share!
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When taking the LRT over the river, there is one of the drivers who does a “this is your captain speaking” routine on the PA. He covers the local news and weather in about 30 seconds in a great radio voice and always finishes with a “thanks for riding the rails”.
Entertaining drivers always adds to the experience of a bus/plane/transit ride.
I wonder if there’s anything else like Breakfast on Bridges in any other city
I agree Wesley and Andrew – the bus driver (LRT/BRT/etc.) makes all the difference in the world. Maybe rail/rubber tire could learn from bike successes . . .
I’m with everyone on the driver being friendly deal. I love SWA because of their fun flight attendants/pilots. Also, when I was riding MARTA on vacation last week, my mom and I couldn’t stop talking about how the announcers were clear and the pre-recordings were very clear about where you were going.
As far as transit bringing people together, we rode a bus shuttle to the Braves game and we generally try to stay at places as a family that are near transit when we go on our city trips(and we rent one big van to carry us to our destination in the first place, it got us in the HOV lanes and out of Atlanta in no time when we were ready to go home).
Thanks for commenting Kristen! It really is the simple things that make a transit trip enjoyable (or horrible). Good idea about staying together to benefit from HOV lanes (and spend time with family).