Portland

Episode 17: conversation in transit with Brock Dittus from The Sprocket Podcast, regional connections

I hopped on a train from Boston to Providence last week with Brock Dittus from The Sprocket Podcast. On the return train we got out the microphones and had an interesting chat about bikes, buses, trains, slow travel between cities, suburban sprawl and much more. Brock mentioned Tri-Met of Portland, the Lower Columbia Community Action Project which provides limited rural transit service in Washington state on a shoestring budget, and Transportland cargo bikes. Thanks to Josh Zisson from Bike Safe Boston for loaning Brock a superb single-speed bicycle.

At the end of the show I share an experience where a connection between LRTA and MBTA was practically useless due to lack of information. A great example of an inter-agency regional transit connection is the Coastal Link operated jointly by Bridgeport, Milford and Norwalk transit agencies on the Connecticut shore line. This decade-old route fills a gap in a retail-oriented suburban area and is part of a a series of local bus routes running from the New York line to the Rhode Island line.