Commuting by MAX - I did it, thanks to the Cedar Mill Shuttle!

I did it! I finally achieved my No. 1 "sustainable living" goal by starting to take MAX to work every day. It's not very easy, because the Sunset Transit Center parking lot is full before 7 a.m., the bus to the STC is slow and infrequent, and I'm not in shape to bike to the STC.

BUT! There is a resource that every Cedar Mill resident should know about: the Cedar Mill Shuttle. Get this: Tri-Met picks you up at your front door at an appointed time in the morning, and takes you to the STC. Tri-Met picks you up at the STC in the evening, and delivers you to your front door. What could be easier? It's scandalous!

We need to increase ridership on the shuttle, to show Tri-Met that this is one good solution for suburban areas where bus routes don't work well. All you have to do is call them. The number is available on the Tri-Met website. If you can ride in the morning at one of the times when a shuttle can pick you up, you are in luck. Otherwise, they will put you on a list of people who are waiting for pickup to be available at different times.

This mass transit commute is certainly not as easy or quick as driving, but it's worth it. I've been able to give up my expensive downtown parking spot, the cost of a monthly pass seems to be less than the cost of gas, and I have more time to keep up on the reading I have to do for work. Plus, I've actually met some of my neighbors. And I feel a lot better about myself. And more relaxed.

WashCo Commuter Rail

Curious about the new Washington County commuter rail line? Me too. They describe it here.

I don't know what I would use these trains for. It will be all too interesting to see whether people ride them. The problem is that -- unlike light rail to downtown -- your destination is relatively unlikely to be within walking distance of the station. You can't use park & ride on both ends, unless your employer runs a shuttle!

So the key question is: where are the stations going to be? See here.

Another problem: the trains will run only every 30 minutes, and only during commuter rush hours. We're all counting on everyone that is able to use these trains to commute to work. Because it sounds like few of us will be able to use them for anything!

Suburban mass transit is really tough. To get people to use it, it has to be really frequent. But it's not very frequent, because too few people use it. Smart people have been trying to figure this out for a long time. We HAVE to figure it out.