A Simple Transportation Solution for Clackamas County?
Posted by: HeatherAug 23 2007, 1:54 pm
This morning The Oregonian published an interesting story about transit service in Clackamas County being woefully behind the rest of the tri-county region.
As a long-time resident of Clackamas County, in my two weeks at the BTA I have discovered a secret for Clackamas County residents who want a faster commute: go by bike!
Despite experimenting with a number of different bus/MAX combinations since starting here, most of my bus commutes have taken 75 minutes. And I only live one block outside Portland city limits…
That same commute, about 8-9 miles depending on my route, takes me a mere 60 minutes on my bike.
And I'm no spandex warrior. In addition to carrying extra weight on my body, I tend to take a lot with me–so my panniers are always loaded up, prepped for any emergency I may face. I'm also extremely conscientious about stopping at all stop signs, signaling, etc. When I arrive here at the BTA, I think about how happy I am that I saved bus fare, got to work early, got awesome views of the river, and–most importantly–I had a lot of fun doing it.
Bike commuting–try it today!
I, too, commute to Clackamas Co every day. Mt Tabor to Sunnybrook Rd (~9 miles). It was a dream when there was a 205 bike path and be will again in 2009. But now, it sucks. 92nd Ave actually has a bike lane for much of it, but glass and sharp urban detritus seem to increase proportional to the distance from Portland. The dip between Powell and Division and the stretch by Lents Park are especially bad. Rather than climb the 92nd hill south of Johnson Creek I max out Fuller, weave through the Walmart parking lot, take a deep confidence building breath and take on 82nd. Believe it or not, at 6:30 in the morning its not too bad. Except for the glass again. But you would have to have a death wish to try it going home. SO, from Clackamas Town Center north going home I weave through back ally's behind the big boxes and through parking lots until I get to Fuller. I don't think I'm alone in this. It is not fun. If I were not obsessively dedicated to commuting I would be riding the bus. If my wife knew the true experience of this ride I think she would make me stop. Its certainly not something that will get new riders out of their cars. Until 2009…