![]() ![]() Climate change is threatening billions globally. The pandemic saw ridership numbers plummet across all transit modes as a life-or-death crisis literally afflicted the entire planet. ![]() North (central Tacoma) is left and south (Spanaway) is right in this image. It has the potential to facilitate substantially more development with adequate upgrades. Route 1 plugs multiple communities into the system, providing them with easy access to central Tacoma and Sound Transit’s regional network. In short, I was living in a streetcar suburb with no streetcar, which explains why demand for the 1 is naturally so high and why two to four cars piled up in front of every house left me with a sense of claustrophobia despite the quiet streets and quaint little homes. Speaking with bus drivers and transit users, I learned not only that Pacific Avenue’s route 1 is straining to meet demand, but Parkland was originally designed around a transit corridor along that very route-it had initially hosted regular tram service. Pierce Transit’s route 1 along Pacific Avenue became my lifeline, both as a connection to central Tacoma and for transfers to Sound Transit’s 594 to Seattle. This decision forced me to quickly familiarize myself with Washington’s current transit network and left me to rely on a bicycle more than I had anticipated (to the benefit of my physique). Throughout the entirety of my year-long program I lived in Parkland without a car. I first arrived in Washington State in 2022 to obtain my Master’s in Education from Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland, as both the state and university have a good reputation for education, especially compared to my home state of Illinois. Originally, I was born and raised in a car-dependent Chicago suburb before living outside the United States for six years teaching English as a Second Language, where I learned that life based around rail and bus timetables is both financially and psychologically more liberating than car dependency. Is it reasonable to expect a person to wait for a bus longer than it would take for them to order and receive a pizza to said bus stop? No. In the 1980s, Domino’s declared 30 minutes too long to wait for a pizza delivery.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |