Map Love <3
Hey lurkers. The summer is almost here and the quarter is almost over. You know what that means — when these last two weeks of school are up, your favorite Transportation Desk Coordinator/Blogger will no longer be working at Western’s beloved BT Transportation Resource Desk. Sad face! It’s possible that I’ll keep up this blog (if Western decides to continue this position, I doubt they’ll hire another person named Zoey), and I’ll still be happy to answer all the transit-related questions that I can. Next year, if you want answers from people who seriously know what they’re talking about and get paid for it, you should contact the lovely and knowledgeable staff at AS WWU Student Transportation.
But enough official business! I have something else interesting to tell you.
As you may or may not know, I’ve been working on a little project: taking a map of Washington and basically annotated it with transportation possibilities. It’s got a key that includes possible routes for each destination, the basic outline of each route, and estimated costs. It’s attached to the desk now and I’m pretty much done with it, unless people have more destinations they’d like to see on the map. The marked destinations so far are Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, SeaTac Airport, Vancouver (WA), Vancouver (BC), Olympia, Bremerton, and Camano Island. Seriously, if you want another destination added, just ask and I’ll be happy to put it on the map with a thorough annotation. I’m hoping this will be a really useful tool, especially for people who would rather plan their trips independently than ask me for details, and also as a starting point for people who want fare information.
So yes! Come see the map if you want some basic information about getting to any of those places I mentioned, or contact me if there’s another destination you want me to add.
Now go outside and enjoy the sun… unless you’re a vampire, in which case you should enjoy the clear summer nights instead. Bye for now!
A Useful Study Break: It IS Possible
Hey lurkers (I’ll just keep calling you that until more people comment). Next week is Dead Week and everyone is totally stressed out! No one wants to think about transportation at times like these, but it will save you a lot of trouble when you’re devoting every ounce of concentration you have to your tests and projects on Finals Week. And we all know what “finals” stands for (if you don’t, Urban Dictionary can tell you). So do yourself a big favor by coming to THIS:
What: Trip Planning Party
When: Thursday, March 12, 3pm-5pm
Where: BT Main Lounge
Why: So you can figure out your travel plans for spring break and refuel with coffee and a snack!
Who: AJ Garcia (AS Transportation Coordinator), myself (BT Transportation Desk Coordinator) and YOU (Question-Asker Extraordinaire)
See you there.
Don’t change, 80X – we love you for YOU.
You know the 80X bus? That really useful one that gets you out of town (and into Mount Vernon) for free?
There’s been some buzz that there will be route changes. Hopefully the WTA will stay awesome and find a way to keep the 80X’s arrival times at Skagit Station the same, ’cause timing is damn important on the famous $5 trip to Seattle or Tacoma. If they don’t… I think it’s safe to say I won’t be the only pissed off person. Let me assure you, however, that if the schedule changes I’ll check out the new route times and post a new itinerary.
Also, the Western Front article hasn’t come out yet… but there have been several people from that newspaper coming in to take pictures of me looking awkward at my desk, so I’m sure it’ll be out soon. Keep your eyes open for your favorite “transportation desk lady” (which is apparently serving as a replacement for my first name) in the news!
How Are You Getting Home?
Dead week is here, and finals weeks is approaching fast. I can practically see the stress seeping out of everyone’s pores, including my own. Getting from place to place really shouldn’t be something we have to worry about right now, so it’s the perfect time to ask for help on how to get home.
Seriously, this isn’t self-promotion or advertisement. I’m telling you: figure out how you’re getting home over break now so that you don’t have to worry about it during the crunch of finals. Even though I’m pretty sure Amtrak and Greyhound prices will stay the same throughout finals week, I would book my ticket now if I was going home at the end of next week ’cause it’s going to be PACKED with homeward-bound students. If you’re going with the Greyhound option, remember to buy your tickets in person by heading down to Fairhaven Station (at least a few days before your trip!). This way you avoid that ridiculous $4.00 will call fee that comes up when you buy Greyhound tickets online. With Amtrak, however, buying online is the easiest way to go. I’ve travelled with Amtrak many times and they’ve never charged any additional fees for online ticket purchases.
Of course, if you really want to be adventurous, you can ask me how to get from place to place using the local bus systems and Sound Transit buses. You know it — the $5 route to Seattle, and beyond! It works well, it’s gloriously cheap, but it takes a long time (as I’ve said in an earlier post) and you need to plan it VERY well!! So come talk to me, or you can figure it out yourself using www.ridewta.com (for the 80X to Mt. Vernon), www.skagittransit.org (for the 90X to Everett) and www.commtrans.org (for anything between Everett and Dupont).
In short, plan ahead and save the hard work for finals.
You can come talk to me at the desk in BT on weekday evenings (usually from about 6pm to 9pm), or email me at bt.travel@wwu.edu. I check for new emails everyday, so you can expect a fairly prompt reply.
Happy travels!
Amtrak for people who sleep in.
Hey all.
Did you know that Amtrak has buses? They’re a few dollars cheaper, but admittedly not as cool as the trains. There are usually two times for the trains to go south from Bellingham: quite early and quite late. The bus runs in the afternoon. There are overhead bins and cushy seats, plus they’re typically less crowded than the trains and the Greyhound buses. Too bad there are no bathrooms, and the scenery just isn’t the same. Nothing compares to taking the train along the coast… then again, nothing compares to sleeping in.
It’s a good alternative.
B’ham to Seattle on $5 – The Epic Journey
Hey everyone.
Yesterday I set out on that fabled journey that has made financially frustrated college students burn with curiosity.
You know what I’m talking about: getting from Bellingham to Seattle on less than FIVE DOLLARS.
Yes, it is possible, and yes, it takes a very long time. Four hours, in fact — but it’s worth the $15 (or more) that you save by not taking the Amtrak trains or Greyhound buses. That’s worth three pita wraps at the Medeterranian Grill, a new shirt, or a really nice-looking paperback book. If you’ve met me in person you probably know that I love Amtrak, but this is a decent alternative.
Just remember this: you NEED to plan for your bus to be late. Make sure there’s some in-between time between your bus’s scheduled arrival time and the time your next bus takes off. If you’re looking forward to an evening in Seattle, you need to start early!
Start by catching Bellingham’s WTA Bus 80X at 3:15pm from Downtown. It’s free with your student bus pass, and it’ll take you to Skagit Station in Mount Vernon… eventually. The 80X that I was on yesterday kept getting on and off the freeway, stopping in Alger, a gas station, and some odd spots on random country roads. I kept thinking, am I on the right bus?? I was, but it took much longer to get to the Skagit Station than I thought it would. We were scheduled to arrive at 3:57pm, but we got there at around 4:15pm. Good thing I didn’t take the 80X that was scheduled to arrive at 5:57pm, because the connecting 90X Everett Express leaves at 6:00pm… and that’s the last one on weekdays!
So at 4:15pm, we arrived at Skagit Station. At 4:45pm, I walked to the other end of the station and boarded the 90X Everett Express (which costs $2.00, by the way). The Everett Express was pretty decent — cushy seats, not too crowded, and fairly close to arriving on time at the Everett Station. The Everett Express makes a bunch of stops all throughout Everett, so make sure you get off at the actual station. It’s at the end of the line for the Everett Express and all the remaining passengers will get off at that stop, so it’s fairly easy to tell. The Everett Station is pretty fancy — there’s even a swanky-looking cafe.
To get from Everett to Seattle, you’ll need to take the southbound bus 510. This can be easily confused with the northbound 510, so make sure you go to Bay C1!! I got to the Everett Station at around 5:30pm, and the 510 was supposed to come at 5:50pm. It was late by about 10 or 15 minutes. It costs $2.50.
The 510 was a party. There were all sorts of interesting characters hanging out, talking loudly, playing music… If you’re looking for peace and quiet, you probably won’t find it on this bus. Also, if you’re depending on getting to 5th and S. Jackson St. in Seattle right at 6:45pm (when it’s supposed to get there), your plans will possibly be foiled. With this bus (and many others) it’s better when you’re not on a tight schedule, because they run pretty late and stop all over the city before getting to the end of the line. I ended up getting to 5th and S. Jackson St. at about 7:10pm, but I wasn’t in a big hurry.
So there you have it — four hours, three buses, and $4.50. Not a bad way to go!
Some quick notes:
- There are no overhead bins on the buses, so pack light!
- There are also no bathrooms on the bus, but you should be able to use the stations for that. Just space your trip out so you’ll have enough time in between buses.
- If you’re getting off the bus at a particular stop that isn’t a bus station, sit up front and ask the driver to announce when you’ve reached the stop.
- Take quarters and dollar bills to pay for your bus fare — most buses don’t give change.
