Bus rider shares pros and cons of public transportation lifestyle
If you didn't know Jennifer Dixon's age, you'd probably guess younger than her 39 years. Wearing an Oregon sweatshirt and a beanie pulled down over long, wavy red hair, seated in a Tigard coffee shop, Dixon looked every bit the college student – which, in fact, she is.
Dixon, who rides public transit everywhere and has never owned a car or had a drivers license, said people constantly mistake her for younger than her age.
"It's all the bus-taking I do," Dixon joked. "I'm not stressed out from driving. Somebody else is driving for me."
On any given day, said Dixon, she rides public transportation for about two hours.
"I go to PCC (Portland Community College) – I ride the bus to and from there," Dixon said. "And I go to meetings almost every day." Dixon also does all of her shopping, grocery and otherwise, using transit.
"I ride the bus a lot," she said. "Like, a LOT."
Sometimes, Dixon said, she listens to music and takes time to relax while on the bus. Often, her rides give her an opportunity to get some reading done for class as well.
Dixon, her husband, and their son live in one of the apartment complexes run by Community Partners for Affordable Housing, close to downtown Tigard and an eight minute walk to the Tigard transit center. Many residents of CPAH housing don't own cars and rely on public transit as their primary means of transportation.
Dixon's son Gabriel, who was born in Portland eight years ago, has been riding TriMet for literally his entire life.
"My son can tell you pretty much anywhere you want to go in Portland, how to get there on the bus," Dixon continued. "He is hyper-focused on TriMet. He just loves anything buses, anything trains. He wants to be a bus driver when he grows up."
Dixon said Gabriel sometimes pretends he is driving the bus when they ride – pulling the brake, opening the door, even waving to other drivers when another bus passes by.
"He's just like a little TriMet driver. It's unbelievable," she said with a laugh.
Needless to say, Dixon and Gabriel ride the bus together often. Dixon's face lit up as she shared their favorite places to go.
"We go to downtown Portland," she said, "or up to Washington Park. It's awesome that the bus goes there. That route just connects you with so much, all the trails and everything."
Dixon said they sometimes ride the WES commuter train for fun or to go shopping – ten minutes north to Beaverton, or 17 south to Wilsonville.
Dixon said she'd like to see something published for bus riders that highlights unique places around the region you can get to by transit – like Washington Park and the zoo, for example – that may not be immediately apparent to the general public.
"I don't know if they already have this," she admitted. "But something that would tell you places you could go on the bus that you didn't realize you could get to. Like Sauvie Island. There's a bus that goes out there, but how many people know about that, you know what I mean? Things like that, you know, tied to recreation. I think that would be helpful."
In fact, TriMet does have a compilation of recreational opportunities accessible via transit. Visit this page to learn about parks, cultural and community amenities, and commercial centers you can visit using bus, Portland Streetcar, MAX or WES.
Also helpful: resources from Metro to help you bike or walk to where you need to go.
Dixon had few complaints about Portland's transportation system, outside of the steadily climbing prices – "which is the same with anything," she allowed – and drivers who can be grouchy or rude. However, she said, more frequent service on routes with consistently packed buses would make riding the bus a better experience.
"An overcrowded bus is the only thing that really bothers me," she said. "Which is pretty low on the totem pole, I guess. But more buses from downtown to PCC would really be nice. The 44 is so crowded every time I'm on it, it's insane."
The same goes for the 76 and 78 buses between Tigard and Beaverton, Dixon said. "They get full and stay full."
Dixon was happy to hear the news that, come March, frequent midday service will be reinstated on the 12 line that runs down Barbur. Region-wide, TriMet is restoring frequent midday service on routes where it was eliminated following the recession a few years back.
"That's good," Dixon said, "because now sometimes it's a 20 minute wait. And people ride (the 12) so much, it really needs the frequent service."
Dixon knows the bus routes so well, she rarely needs to refer to TriMet's maps or other tools for riders. She says she is happy with the comprehensiveness and "laid-back" mood of Portland's transit, as opposed to San Francisco's more hectic service, where she lived for 10 years.
She said, in the future, transit planners should be aware of maintaining and increasing service in low-income neighborhoods, which don't always have strong representation in planning conversations.
"They can't always get to the meetings," Dixon said, of low-income neighborhood residents. "But those are the people who are really using and needing transit."
In her own areas of travel, her concerns lie not with level of service, but with safety.
"It'd be nice to see more lights and shelters at bus stops," Dixon said. "Especially on darker roads. I've been passed up, or almost passed up, some nights. Not everyone carries a flashlight on them after dark, you know?"
Dixon also talked about the necessity to extend consideration to others on public transit – from drivers and riders alike.
"You're dealing with people at all levels, income brackets, at all stages in their lives," Dixon said. "You need to have compassion when you're dealing with the whole public like that."