How To Get From Portland, OR To Mexico In Just 2 Weeks And 40 Transfers, Using Only Local Transit...

[tim]

...Well, almost.

For this experiment, I defined "local transit" as anything not Amtrak or Greyhound; a few of the bus lines in this route are probably privately operated, but most are municipal or county-run. There were two instances where there was no alternative to Amtrak I could find (in one case I think it could be replaced with a bus, in the other case not). There are also two gaps where I just couldn't find any transit; those gaps total 20 miles in a trip that would be over 1000 miles driving, so I don't think that's too bad. (I haven't figured out how long the trip detailed below actually is.)

Why? Of course, the easy way to get from Portland to San Diego overland is to take Amtrak, with perhaps one transfer. But that's boring! I wanted to see how far it was only possible to get only using local transit. With the caveats above in mind, here's what I came up with. Most of what follows is derived from Google Transit, but there were a few transit agencies involved that they didn't have maps for. Warning: I'm sure there are mistakes in this, so if you try it and end up stranded in Yuba City, don't come crying to me! I'm tempted to try it sometime, though. The only annoying thing would be finding places to stay. I found it interesting how it was possible to cover a ton of ground in one day during the Bay Area stretch, but for the most part, buses were so infrequent during most of the rest of it that you were stuck only doing 2-3 segments in one day. I would also be curious to figure out how much this would cost (besides lodging) and compare it to the cost of driving, but Google Transit didn't have complete fare data.

And yes, I would like to try to extend this northwards! Just not now.

In short: Portland, Tillamook, Otis, Newport, Sisters, Coos Bay, Brookings (OR); Smith River, Arcata, Willow Creek, Weaverville, Redding, Red Bluff, Corning, Orland, Chico, Oroville, Gridley, Live Oak, Yuba City, Sacramento, Fairfield, El Cerrito, Fremont, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Salinas, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Clemente, Oceanside, La Jolla, San Diego (CA).


How to get from Portland, Oregon to the Mexican border using only local transit:

1. Sample start time: Tues. Sept. 7, 10:40 AM

Start from Union Station in Portland, Oregon. Take the 5 bus
(Tillamook County Transportation District) to 2nd and Laurel in
Tillamook. Arrive at 12:50 PM.

2. Find a couch to crash on, because there's no bus till the next day.
Weds. Sept. 8 at 5:08 AM, take the 4 bus (Tillamook County
Transportation District) to Otis (the post office off Highway 18).
Arrive at 6:40 AM.

3. At 7:01 AM, catch the Lincoln County Transit Rose Lodge/Lincoln
City bus to Newport (at the same stop). (Google Transit didn't know
about Lincoln County Transit's schedules, and their web page was last
updated in 2006, so who knows if it still exists.) Arrive at Newport
City Hall at 8:32 AM.

4. Find another couch to crash on. Thurs. Sept. 9 at 5:45 AM, catch
the Valley Retriever Busline (15-minute walk from where you got off
yesterday). Arrive in Sisters ("Antler Arts") at 10:15 AM. (Yes,
going that far east and back west again is kind of crazy, but this
keeps Google from suggesting taking Amtrak, because that's boring.)

5. At 2:00 PM, take the Porter Stage Lines 102 bus from Sisters at Ski
Inn to 275 N. Broadway in Coos Bay. Arrive 7:15 PM. Find a couch.

6. Fri. Sept. 10 at 2:55 PM, from Porter Stages/Tioga Bldg., take the
Coastal Express North Bend (Curry Public Transit) to Brookings (Ray's).
At this point the bus becmes the Coastal Express Smith River. It looks
like you just stay on the bus. Get off in Smith River, California! At
6:30 PM. Google Maps is a little unclear about where the stop is, and
Curry Public Transit's web site is made of crap, but hopefully you can
find your way to the transfer point. You have 19 hours, after all.

7. Sat. Sept. 11 at 2:20 PM, go to the Lucky 7 store in Smith River
and catch bus 20 (Redwood Coast Transit) to Arcata Transit Center;
arrive at 5:00 PM. Find a couch.

8. Sun Sept. 12. at 8:25 AM, take bus 299 (also Redwood Coast Transit)
to Willow Creek. Arrive at 9:25 AM. Again, the map is a little unclear
as to where the stop is, but it's a small town.

9. At 9:45 AM, catch the Down River Route bus towards Weaverville
(Trinity Transit); arrive at Weaverville Library at 11:11 AM.

10. At 1:05 PM, catch the Weaverville-Redding bus (also Trinity Transit) at the same stop,
arriving at the RABA Downtown Transit Center in Redding at 2:16
PM. Enjoy scenic Redding until the next morning.

11. Mon. Sept. 13 at 11:10 AM, take the Susanville Rancheria bus
towards Red Bluff/Redding (operated by Susanville Indian Rancheria
Public Transportation Program!), arriving at Bus & Ride / Rio and
Walnut in Red Bluff at 11:50 AM.

12. At 12:15 PM, take bus E-5 (Tehama Area Rural Express) from the
same stop and arrive at Corning Transportation Center at 1:10 PM.

13. Here I have no idea what to do; it's 14.7 miles to your next stop,
so maybe you can hitchhike. One way or the other, get to Walker
St. and A St. in Orland, and try to get there before 3:46 PM. At that
time, catch the Glenn Ride bus to Chico, getting off at 2nd and Salem
at 4:50 PM.

14. Google Transit doesn't think you can get anywhere from Chico, so I
had to do my own research. Take the 20 bus (Butte Regional Transit) at
5:20 PM, arriving at Oroville Transit Center at 6:06 PM. Sleep.

15. Tues. Sept. 14 at 7:42 AM, take the 30 bus (Butte Regional
Transit) at the same stop where you got off, arriving at Heritage Oaks
Mall in Gridley at 8:12 AM.

16. Here I also have no idea what to do. It's 6 miles to Live Oak, so
maybe you can take a cab, if they have cabs in Gridley. Once you're in
Live Oak, relax, because the next bus only runs
Monday/Wednesday/Friday.

17. Weds. Sept. 15 at 7:00 AM, at Pennington and Larkin Rd. in Live
Oak, catch the Yuba-Sutter Transit Live Oak Route bus, arriving at
Alturus & Shasta Terminal in Yuba City at 7:40 AM.

18. At 11:00 AM, at I and 9th in Marysville (1.2 mile walk from where
you got off), catch the Yuba-Sutter
Transit Sacramento Midday Express bus, getting off at J and 4th in
Sacramento at 12:00 PM.

19. Go to Capitol Mall (10-minute walk) and at 1:41 PM, catch the 30
bus (run by Fairfield and Suisun Transit), arriving at Westfield Mall
(the directions say Gateway Blvd. and B Gale Wilson Dr.) in Fairfield
at 2:54 PM.

20. At 3:18 PM at Pennsylvania Ave. and Civic Center Dr. (9-minute
walk), catch the 3-A Bus (Tripper, run by Fairfield and Suisun
Transit) to Fairfield Transportation Center, arriving 3:27 PM.

21. At 3:42 PM, also from the Fairfield Transportation Center, catch
the 90 bus to El Cerrito BART, arriving at 4:25 PM.

22. At 4:27 PM (yeah, maybe 2 minutes is kind of short), take BART to
Fremont.

23. At 5:27 PM, take the VTA 181 bus (SB Express San Jose) and get off
at San Jose Caltrain at 6:15 PM.

24. At 6:25 PM, also at Caltrain, take the Santa Cruz Metro 17 bus to
Water St. and Ocean St. in Santa Cruz, arriving at 7:24 PM.

25. At 8:49 PM from the same stop, take the 71 bus (Santa Cruz Metro)
to Watsonville, arriving at 9:45 PM at Watsonville Transit Center.

26. At 10:00 PM from the same stop, take the 28 bus (Monterey-Salinas
Transit) to Salinas, arriving at 10:40 PM at Salinas Transit Center. You've
just come 221 miles as the crow flies (or rather, as the car drives)
on public transit in one day!

27. Thurs. Sept. 16, we do something slightly boring, but I don't know
a better way. At Salinas Amtrak Station (5-minute walk from the
transit center), take the Coast Starlight at 11:48 AM (you won't see
any coast), arriving in Paso Robles at 1:38 PM. Well, it's only one
stop.

28. From the train station, take bus 9 (SLO Regional Transit
Authority) towards San Luis Obispo, arriving at SLO Government Center
(Osos and Palm) at 3:27 PM.

29. From the same stop, take bus 10 towards Santa Maria, arriving at
Town Center Mall Transit Terminal at 4:43 PM. Get cozy somewhere.

30. Fri. Sept. 17 at 5:50 AM, take the Clean Air Express bus (run by
the City of Santa Maria) at the Hagermann Softball Complex, 4 miles
from where you got off yesterday. Get off at Anacapa and Carrillo in
Santa Barbara at 7:11 AM.

31. There's a bus from Santa Barbara, but its web site is down. So
instead we'll say: take the Pacific Surfliner (Amtrak station, an
18-minute walk) at 9:20 AM, arriving in Ventura at 9:57 AM.

32. Welp, you picked a bad time to get to Ventura, because Metrolink
trains only (apparently) run on weekdays, and again, Google doesn't
know the buses. So, on Mon. Sept. 20, at 5:15 AM, go to the Montalvo
Metrolink Station and take the Ventura County Line train to LA Union
Station, arriving 7:12 AM.

33. Take the Purple Line subway from Union Station at 7:41 AM,
arriving at 7th St. / Metro Center Station at 7:46 AM. Change to the
Blue Line at 7:55 AM, arriving in Long Beach at 1st Street Station at
8:45 AM.

34. From Ocean and Long Beach Blvd. (3-minute walk), catch the D bus
(Long Beach Transit) to PCH and Second, arriving at 8:06 AM.

35. Catch Bus 1 (Orange County Transit), at the same stop, at 8:21 AM,
arriving at El Camino Real and Cabrillo in San Clemente at 10:27 AM.

36. At 11:18 AM, at the same stop, catch Bus 395 (North County Transit
District) and get off at Oceanside Transit Center at 12:31 PM.

37. At 1:03 PM from the same stop, take Bus 101 (North County Transit)
and get off at N. Torrey Pines Rd. and Expedition Way in La Jolla at
2:27 PM.

38. Walk to Gilman Dr. and Evening Way (10 minutes) and at 2:56 PM,
take Bus 150 (run by MTS) to Front St. and B St. in San Diego,
arriving at 3:26 PM.

39. Walk to Civic Center Station (4 minutes) and take the Blue Line trolley to
San Ysidro Station, arriving at 4:03 PM. You made it to the border!

Comments

[etb]

It's hard to see a 4 1/2 hour bus trip as transit, though I believe there are 3-hour NJ Transit bus routes.

Maybe the dividing line between transit and not-transit should be whether you need a reservation. (Entertainingly, that would mean that c. 2004, you could take "transit" from New York to Pittsburgh, because the Amtrak train used to be unreserved. Now you can only do that to Harrisburg.)

[tim]

Picky, picky. The Valley Retriever doesn't seem to need a reservation to get on anywhere except Albany, though their web site is a little unclear about it.

[redbird]

At Step 16, maybe you can just walk: it's six miles, and you've got most of a day. If a person was doing this at all, they'd be well advised to travel light, I think, and expect to wash their clothes frequently.

I wasn't expecting this to be quite so problematic, but I live in New York City, which has more transit for quite an area surrounding it: I went to Philadelphia for a weekend by commuter rail, a few years back, and that was routine enough that the conductor on the first train announced on the PA exactly where to get the second.

I appreciate the "bad ideas" tag.

[tim]

Well, yeah; of course you could also walk the 14-mile stretch, if you have two days, and want to camp by the side of the road :-) I feel like there is a connected route hiding out somewhere, if a circuitous one, though. I mean, if you can get from Portland to Reno... (Which you can also do, changing in Redding, with two more segments.)

Actually, I'm not even sure this is possible on the East Coast. NY->Philly would work, but I'm suspecting it would be much harder to find a route like this otherwise. Even just in Massachusetts, I'm not sure you can get from (say) Boston to Pittsfield.

[redbird]

I did a little poking around on my lunch hour, starting from stuff I already knew. What you can easily do in the Northeast is from New London, Conn. through New Haven, New York, Trenton, and Philadelphia as far as Newark, Delaware. I think you'd need Amtrak, Greyhound, or something to get from New London north to Providence, R.I., which puts you into the MBTA's commuter rail network.

At the other end, I'm not sure how you'd connect from Newark to something that hooked into Baltimore-area bus and rail, but once you're on that you can get down to Washington, D.C. and get the VRE as far as Fredericksburg, VA. (This is not remotely complete: I haven't spent a lot of time on it, or tried to puzzle out less-than-straightforward bus or light rail system information.)

[naath]

That's pretty cool.

I guess you are aware of the fantastic seat61.com which does similar instructions for rail travel to Absolutely Everywhere (that there are trains), although generally trains go further for each step than transit busses do.

[tim]

I didn't know about that site. But the concept of getting everywhere on local buses just fascinates me -- trains are too easy (unless you're going to South Dakota :-)

[naath]

Well, trains are easy in the US :-) trains to Delhi are a bit more... challenging.

Local buses are cool too.

[luinied]

I like that Amtrak is boring by your standards, yet the reactions I get when I suggest taking Amtrak to anyone who doesn't live in a major East Coast city (or, I suppose, a city in the Pacific Northwest, but maybe that just says something about who I know there) would suggest that train travel is only one step up from hitchhiking.

[tim]

You should show them this, then!

[juli]

There are pockets of commuter train use in lots of strange places, but they're largely unknown to people who don't commute using them. I took a commuter train within North Carolina once and everyone I knew was less disdainful and more surprised that that was even an option, thinking that trains were for New England and the 1920s or something. I love obscure trains. Ferries are even more that way -- I didn't really think of them at all until I moved to the Pacific Northwest and now I've done some research and been surprised to learn that there are tons of them, including little commuter pockets like with trains.