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<\/a><\/p>\nStarted at Eastern Promenade and Congress Street. Walked up Congress Street.<\/p>\n
Almost every block along Congress Street had at least three bicycles outside houses or on the street. The bicycles locked on the sidewalk were usually locked to sign posts or trees. There were almost no bike racks and the bike racks that existed had room for at most two bikes. There were no bus stations along this section of Congress Street despite it being both a residential and commercial area (there were a lot of cafes). Though there were bus stops along Congress, no buses were seen.<\/p>\n
Right on Washington Avenue.<\/p>\n Despite having many restaurants with good food and a surprisingly diverse food selection, the actual street looked dilapidated, largely due to the run down roads and unkempt sidewalks. There were no bike lanes and the shoulders were not particularly accessible because of the parked cars. The roads were not in good condition.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Right on Walnut Street.<\/p>\n The street is much more residential than Washington Ave., but the roads were still rather run down. There were still plenty of bikes outside houses but no bike lanes.<\/p>\n Left on Eastern Promenade.<\/p>\n There is some sort of bicycle road race for adults and another course for children. It looks like the race is almost over. It was pretty crowded and there were a few food trucks. Further down the Eastern Promenade is deserted probably because the road is closed for the race. There is a school which we stopped by to find some mental maps. A few families with small children and someone walking their dog. The school playground was relatively deserted.<\/p>\n Left on North Street.<\/p>\n We walked by a bus stop with seating and a rain cover. There was a large map and schedule for bus routes. However, there was a paper flyer stating that the stop was closed. The stop was by a church and a school and a few blocks from a residential area. There were a lot of cars parked at the intersection of North and Eastern Promenade and there seemed to be a lot of people in the church. There was a family packing\/unpacking family bikes into a car.<\/p>\n Left on Melbourne Street.<\/p>\n Melbourne Street took us back into a residential neighborhood. Again, I did not notice the bus stops and there were no bike lanes but still a few bikes outside. The roads were a little nicer than those along Washington Avenue.<\/p>\n Right on Merrill Street.<\/p>\n Still a rather residential area. I did not see any bus stops or buses along the road.<\/p>\n Right on Congress Street.<\/p>\n Went to Hilltop Cafe. The few blocks had to the cafe had already been walked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The transect walk confirmed what was said about the public transportation system in Portland. There were few bike lanes or bike racks despite every block having a number of bikes locked outside houses or to street signs. The easier suggestion would be to increase the number of bike racks to make the city more aesthetically pleasant and to encourage biking around the city. Since biking on the sidewalk is usually dangerous for pedestrians and bikers, it would be nice if there were more bike lanes or at least larger shoulders for the streets. The only bike lane I noted was along parts of Congress Street. However, the city does seem to be encouraging bikers as the day I visited Portland part of the Eastern Promenade had been closed for road races for adults and children. There are also nice trails along the water by the Eastern Promenade.<\/p>\n The more accessible and perhaps useful alternative form of transportation is the bus system that, based on my transect walk, is severely lacking. I saw very few active busses and could only find one schedule of routes and stops. The schedule attached to the bus stop did not have hours for Sunday. Instead there was a note at the bottom that stated, \u201cLimited holiday, weekend, evening and Sunday Service,\u201d suggesting the unreliability and inaccessibility of the transportation system. There was then a paper note stating that the bus stop was not running that day although that might have been for the aforementioned road race. Though the map showed that a few bus lines went into neighboring areas such as Westbrook and Falmouth, there were hardly any actual bus stops on these routes making the bus system seem largely ineffective. Though it would be a large investment to increase the number of routes, stops, and hours, three out of my four mental map people mentioned that the public transportation system was lacking, and one emphasized especially for senior citizens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Transect Walk Munjoy Hill Area October 19, 2014 Started at Eastern Promenade and Congress Street. Walked up Congress Street. Almost every block along Congress Street had at least three bicycles outside houses or on the street. The bicycles locked on the sidewalk were usually locked to sign posts or trees. There were almost no bike … Continue reading Transect Walk and Public Transportation<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n