Transported

Last week we were contacted by a woman in town doing a PBS documentary on land use. Apparently the documentary team was looking for a family that takes transit, and we were recommended through a circuitous friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend route. (I suspect that it's hard for us white middle-class overeducated types to network their way to a transit-dependent family.) Which was cool - I was kind of excited to get a chance to talk about transit. But it turned out they wanted footage of a family who uses... light rail. Which we do not, because we don't have the option. Never mind that the light rail (much of which runs alongside the freeway) is primarily useful for commuters, and that many of the users drive in to park-and-ride. Never mind that the light rail doesn't even run in the whole southeast part of the city. It's the light rail, not the bus, that's sexy and visually interesting. This weekend, our transit-dependent life will include the following means of transportation for six different outings:

• Zipcar
• Bus (6 different routes)
• Feet
• Bike
• Jog stroller

But not the light rail. Nor the much-ballyhooed streetcar. And over the weekend, as a family, we will end up spending probably four or five hours on the bus or waiting for the bus. I would LOOOOOVE for PBS to do a documentary on how freaking hard it is to get around without a car, even in a pro-transit city like Portland. How the system is all laid out hub-and-spoke style, for commuters to move in and out of downtown, and the buses run at times and routes that are convenient for commuters. How we rarely go anywhere on weekends or evenings, because it entails so much waiting-time. How we can't go anywhere that isn't downtown or in our neighborhood unless we're prepared to travel at least 45 minutes and two buses each way.

I bet that would be a super-popular documentary, too.