For my group’s transect walk, we decided to follow Bus Route 1 in the East End to get a better sense of the public bus system in practice. Starting along Congress Street and walking up Munjoy Hill to the East End, we followed the route counter-clockwise eventually returning to our original position at the bottom of Munjoy Hill on Congress Street. This direction is important to note because I believe we went in the opposite direction of the buses. Because we did not follow the same direction and also were only one particular side of the street during the walk, I do wonder how many bus stops we may have missed on our transect walk. This is something to consider when analyzing our observations in the future. The details of the walk are posted below.
Transect Walk
We began at the intersection of Congress and Mountfort heading east on Congress. I noticed that this portion of Congress has a bike lane heading out of Downtown Portland into the East End. The first bus stop we encounter is in front of 206 Congress Street and is displayed with the following sign:
All but one of the other bus stops we encounter are represented simply by this sign. (The two white lines in the image also make up the bike lane I mentioned). The next bus stop is at the intersection of Sheridan and Congress (and is not shown in Google Maps – see the next image where there is no bus icon indicating a stop at this intersection).
The divergence between our observations and some of the stops that are shown on Google Maps already makes me questions Google Maps’ accuracy (or perhaps my own ability to record the location of bus stops).
Anyway, the next stop we observed was on Atlantic Street (the bus route turns to the right on this street) at the corner of Atlantic and Monument. I notice that there is no one else walking on the street with us while we are on Atlantic and the street is lined with parked cars. The next bus stop is at 27 Atlantic Street. We then turn left on the Eastern Promenade and see a bus heading opposite our direction and on to Atlantic Street confirming that these buses do in fact exist. The next bus stop is at the corner of Vesper and the Eastern Promenade. And the next two are at 126 Eastern Promenade and 182 Eastern Promenade. We all notice how beautiful the houses are in this area and how most have an ocean view.
Many of them appear to be broken down into apartments. The next bus stop we see is at Turner and Eastern Promenade and then at 310 Eastern Promenade. We eventually get to the part of the promenade that leads up to the East End Community School. After passing tennis courts to our right, we reach a baseball field and the area unfortunately smells like sewage. We round the corner to the left and circle the school and come to a bus stop in front of the school.
It is the only bus stop we encounter that has a small shelter and map of the bus system. We continue down North Street and encounter bus stops at 143 North Street, Quebec and North, and Cumberland and North. We finish our transect walk when North Street intersects with Congress and we reach area that we have already covered.
Reflection
Admittedly, nothing too paramount devolved from my transect walk, but I did have notice a few important things. I did not expect the bus stop signs to be too significantly obvious on the street, but I was surprised that only one stop had a shelter. It was also comforting to indeed see a bus while on our transect walk. Stops were so frequent that I don’t actually think they are an issue at all. I actually think they are spread too thin and that there should be another major bus stop somewhere at the top of Munjoy Hill or near the Eastern Promenade (like the structure in front of the school) and that would suffice for the entire East End community. This could streamline the bus routes and allow for buses to more frequently come to the area. And following upon my maps and café ethnography, adding GPS and Wi-Fi to the buses could vastly increase ridership as well and is another way the bus system could be improved. Finally, one last impression I had was the lack of bikes or bike racks I noticed in the area. The only evidence of cycling was the one bike lane on Congress Street. It seems like Portland is not much of a bike city at all. Thus, I should also carefully consider the bike sharing ideas I was told by one of my mental mappers as another way to improve transportation as well.
I like the choice of walk and the observational notes. I agree with your comment on creating one major stop, instead of having so many minor, barely marked stops. One thought to continue the discussion on biking in the city: Perhaps the lack of bike racks in the area is an indication that people don’t intend on biking to that location. That is to say, it is not their final destination, but only a thruway to the Old Port or to their homes. A lack of bike racks would be concerning in a business section of town, but I’m not surprised by the lack in the residential area.
I think the idea of a few major stops instead of many small stops is interesting. However, I am not sure if the weather in Portland would allow a few major bus stops instead of many smaller ones. I do not think that weather would allow for fewer stops but larger stops, as people will not want to walk farther during the winter to get to stops to commute. I think the bigger issue with the bus system in Portland is that it does not run very often. This was a thought echoed by the commuters with whom I spoke about the mental maps. They thought that Portland needs more frequent bus lines, as currently, it is almost impossible for people to commute into downtown Portland using the bus from either the residential areas of Portland or neighboring suburbs.
Your conclusions about our transect walk is very similar to the ideas that I came up with. However, I do not know if I agree with having one major bus stop. I think that it is important to make the bus stops accessible to people of all ages and disabilities (essentially contributing to the common good). Having more than one stop is also something that I find to be valuable also because it increases your efficiency while traveling. Definitely take a further look into the bike scene around Portland. At first glance, I would have thought Portland would be a biking city. An increase in the amount of people who use bikes would be a great addition to a smart city. I wonder if it has something to do with Portland’s varying seasons? Are there only certain areas of Portland that would benefit from an increase in bike lanes and racks? Does the D=demographic of that area matter? These are all important questions to consider when looking into this suggestion.
Great points. Based on what Portland residents told me during my trip and what I observed myself, Portland Bus System could definitely use a redesigning of its routes and stops. Current bus riders in Portland also really wish that stops could be sheltered. The relatively small size of the city also makes Portland a very bikeable city, pending on more available bike routes. In a general sense, I think your recommendations are very worthy and practical to offer more options in terms of getting around in Portland.