A Rural Public Transit Odyssey
6 comments
·June 14, 2025CaliforniaKarl
vitesse_oblige
For less of an interesting experience, try taking a connecting trip on the VTA Light Rail in the South Bay. I remember taking a few 7 mile trips and it often took 3 hours each way. If you're not lugging anything it's seriously faster to walk.
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arthurdenture
There's also a Youtuber who did this type of journey from San Francisco to Seattle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OQwA95sMbg) and to Los Angeles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Jdfkuy9Ik).
kibwen
Wonderful and evocative article.
> We lounged at a nearby gas station to wait, sipping tea and reading the local newspaper. There was something very “old world” about this — here we were, in the largest town in our county, dressed well, idling with a purpose. Leafing through that newspaper, dipping the teabag up and down in my hot paper cup, watching the traffic, nodding at passers-by; we were in town on official business, and yet we were doing exactly nothing. I realized as we sat that this way of doing things used to be a great deal more common — that train stations, courts, libraries, street benches, barber shops, and so on simply used to have a lot more people waiting publicly.
AStonesThrow
[dead]
For folks in the Bay Area, a challenge: Do a loop around the bay by non-commuter bus only. That means you can use skip-stop routes like Muni's 9R, but you cannot use routes like AC Transit's OX line. You also cannot use the Dumbarton Express, since it cuts off the South Bay.
It's an interesting experience, and it (or some portion of it) is one that many folks do every workday.