Yes, if you live within about 1 mile of downtown and also work there. If you live downtown and your job is in Beaverton, you're likely in for a 90 minute commute. Or if you live in Beaverton and your office is downtown. Portland's mass transit is adequate for a subset of people and completely impractical for most.
Source: I've lived in and around Portland for 50 years. Worked downtown much of it, and have lots of friends and former colleagues who used public transit. You have to really want to not have a car because the time commitment is real.
That 90 minute commute by bus isn't one where you're driving though. A strict time comparison ignore the fact that the bus or train ride merely requires you to get out when you reach your destination. You don't have to sit in stop and go traffic driving. Sitting in traffic driving sucks unless you have comma.ai or equivalent. Mentally it's just exhausting by the time you get home/to work. If you have to drive and can shitpost HN for those 90 minutes, vs trying to do that while driving (don't do that), then who cares if it takes a bit longer? There's obviously too much longer, but still.
Okay, but clearly there’s a difference between, “the bus makes sense if you live or work near downtown,” and, “people only ride the bus when there is no other option,” as the GP said.
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Yes, if you live within about 1 mile of downtown and also work there. If you live downtown and your job is in Beaverton, you're likely in for a 90 minute commute. Or if you live in Beaverton and your office is downtown. Portland's mass transit is adequate for a subset of people and completely impractical for most.
Source: I've lived in and around Portland for 50 years. Worked downtown much of it, and have lots of friends and former colleagues who used public transit. You have to really want to not have a car because the time commitment is real.
That 90 minute commute by bus isn't one where you're driving though. A strict time comparison ignore the fact that the bus or train ride merely requires you to get out when you reach your destination. You don't have to sit in stop and go traffic driving. Sitting in traffic driving sucks unless you have comma.ai or equivalent. Mentally it's just exhausting by the time you get home/to work. If you have to drive and can shitpost HN for those 90 minutes, vs trying to do that while driving (don't do that), then who cares if it takes a bit longer? There's obviously too much longer, but still.
Okay, but clearly there’s a difference between, “the bus makes sense if you live or work near downtown,” and, “people only ride the bus when there is no other option,” as the GP said.
Yeah theres a couple spots that it’s fine for people that have never experienced what’s actually possible.