Tag / bus

by Adron

Part 2: Pavement and Isolation – How the Car Killed Community

Welcome to Part 2 of this series where I continue unpacking how the U.S. systematically dismantled social connection in the name of “progress.” Last time, I wrote about how third places are disappearing. This time, I’m dragging the main culprit into the light: the car.

Yeah. That big metal box in your driveway? It’s not just polluting the air and draining your wallet—it’s actively devouring public space and community life.

How Cars Obliterated Third Places

Let’s be clear: the problem isn’t cars exist. The problem is how everything else was restructured around them, leaving zero room for anything human-scale. Starting in the mid-20th century, we redesigned American life for traffic flow, not people.

Here’s what that did:

  • Neighborhoods got zoned into silos—residential over here, retail over there, work way over there.
  • Public plazas, local markets, and informal hangout zones got paved over for parking lots.
  • Sidewalks were shrunk, ignored, or removed entirely. Because who walks anymore, right?
  • New “town centers” became drive-to destinations with no soul and no real public use space.

This made third places—those informal community spaces—impractical, unprofitable, and in many places, literally illegal to build.

Big parking with cars near the shopping mall center in New Jersey USA

Parklets: A Glimmer of Hope (That Mostly Got Crushed)

In the early 2010s—and then again during the pandemic—we saw something weird: parklets started popping up. Cities let restaurants and businesses convert curbside parking into mini patios and gathering spaces. They were scrappy, hopeful, often built with plywood and planters.

And for a moment? They worked.

People lingered. They talked to strangers. They treated streets like places to be, not just pass through.

Then the tide turned:

  • Restaurant leases ended, and the parklets vanished.
  • Cities caved to complaints from drivers about “lost” parking.
  • Insurance policies and red tape choked the small businesses trying to keep them alive.

And just like that, most parklets faded back into asphalt.

by Adron

Part 1: Disconnected by Design – The Death of the Third Place

> “A third place is a space that isn’t home (the first place) or work (the second place). It’s where people go to just exist together.”
> — Ray Oldenburg (Paraphrased and adapted for modern reality)

Let’s get something straight up front. Third places are disappearing (or already disappeared) in America. And no, we’re not talking about some twee idea of a cafe with succulents and overpriced drip coffee. We’re talking about foundational infrastructure—the places that once held the social fabric together.

We’ve designed them out of our neighborhoods, priced them out of our cities, and paved over them in the name of “development.” What’s replaced them? Nothing of substance. Just parking lots, chain retail, and algorithmic dopamine feeds that masquerade as community.

What Is a Third Place (And Why It Matters)

A third place is simple in concept: a social setting where people gather that isn’t home or work. Think:

  • Libraries (Please stop closing them, just figure out how to make em’ work, because they will!)
  • Coffee shops (actual community hubs, not Starbucks outlets)
  • Bookstores with comfy chairs
  • Park benches with regulars
  • Local bars, barber shops, bike co-ops
  • Public plazas, community centers, corner bodegas where people linger

These places foster unplanned conversation, spontaneous collaboration, and yes—real, human connection. They offer a counterbalance to the transactional nature of modern life.

And in the U.S.? We’ve systematically eliminated them.

Business freelance team chatting during coffee break in office. Creative multiethnic colleagues engaged in teamwork at coworking open space

From Common Ground to Commercialized Nowhere

If you’re in a suburb, odds are your nearest third place is at least a 10-minute drive away—and no, a drive-thru Starbucks doesn’t count.

Urban planning over the last 50 years has systematically pushed out the informal, low-cost, and unbranded spaces in favor of traffic flow, parking capacity, and revenue-per-square-foot. The result?

  • Communities where there is no place to gather without spending money
  • Spaces that feel sterile, overly regulated, or outright exclusionary
  • Entire generations growing up with no idea what a third place even is
An aerial view of the Twin Cities Outer Suburb of Apple Valley, Minnesota

The Great Digital Substitution (That Isn’t)

Somewhere along the way, we convinced ourselves that social media was a good enough replacement. That Discord servers could be the new pub. That Reddit threads replaced roundtables. That Instagram comment sections were valid forms of shared experience.

No.

Those are digital holding pens designed to manipulate your attention, not give you context, warmth, or presence. You can’t replace a knowing glance or a random conversation with a stream of hot takes and emojis.

They mimic connection. But they don’t create it.

Case Study: Third Place Commons – Holding the Line

Located in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Commons is one of the few community anchors that still embodies what a third place should be.

  • It’s open to everyone.
  • It hosts events like chess nights, concerts, and civic forums.
  • It’s tied into a bookstore (shoutout to Third Place Books).
  • It isn’t flashy, and that’s the point.

When You Erase the Third Place…

…you erase empathy. You erase frictionless socializing. You erase the chance to bump into people outside of work and curated social events. You erase the “Hey, good to see you again” rhythm that holds communities together.

You replace it with:

  • Loneliness
  • Economic stagnation
  • Fragmented civic life
  • Performative connection

And then we act shocked when people are burnt out, disconnected, and angry.

Next Up: The Car That Ate Your Community

In Part 2, I’ll get into how the automobile didn’t just kill walkability—it nuked third places out of existence. We’ll talk about the rise and quiet death of parklets, the shrinking of civic spaces, and how cities like Portland tried (and often failed) to fight the tide with bike co-ops and transit stations.

If this series hits a nerve, good. It’s supposed to.

You can’t rebuild what you don’t even realize is missing.

by Adron

The Chaos & Madness of Forgetting One’s Keys

I have a rather interesting commute these days. It consists of four parts for the time being.

  1. Departure from home and arrival at the Redmond Link Station via e-bike.
  2. Departure with Spacey (this bike) from the Redmond Link Station to South Bellevue Station.
  3. Departure from South Bellevue Station via the Sound Transit Express 550 bus.
  4. Then via bicycle to the little coffee shop (i.e. Starbucks HQ) in Seattle’s SODO.

Today I departed from home and traversed all of the parts of my commute until arrival at South Bellevue Station. I then realized I had forgotten my keys at home. The keys I use to lock my bike via u-lock at the coffee shop. No keys no lock, so that wouldn’t do.

So a good 1/2rds of the way into the city I made the u-turn to head back to get my u-lock keys. Back to the Redmond Link Station, I parked Spacey, and then took the e-bike back up the hill to home. I got my keys and headed back out again.

An Aside: Naming Chaos Among Key Chaos

Alright, let’s detail this topic for a moment. What the hell is wrong with Seattle and naming things. Before Redmond Technology Station became “Redmond Technology Center”, it was called Overlake Transit Center. They renamed it and the next station, which is still just touching Microsoft Campus, is called Overlake Village Station. No confusion to be had for anybody that has been in the area for more than a few years, no none at all.

Amidst that ridiculousness Marymoor Park Station is only tangentially connected to Marymoor Park. To get anywhere where people congregate in the park you’ve got to walk between 3-20 minutes to get there. Then there is the Symphony Station, once the University Station but not connected to the University District and confusing to folks about what University, if any, it connected to. Because the nearest was many blocks away. But I digress.

I could go on and on about this and the locations, because it is clear there were powers that worked diligently against the light rail to make it less than useful. However in spite of these assholes and short-sighted fools, it’s already immensely useful even with the stop locations.

Back to Key Chaos

Now that I had back tracked to get my keys, I was at least an hour behind my expected arrival at the office. In addition, a meeting was coming up that I wouldn’t make unless I only traversed part of my trip and stopped to have the meeting. I had done this before, where I would go part of the way, then stop at a coffee shop or somewhere that wifi exists to attend a meeting. Then I would continue onward.

Today I decided to stop at the Dote Coffee Shop at Redmond Technology Station. It seemed like a perfect, down to the minute, timing to get part of the way into the commute and also attend the meeting.

A Note on Dote @ Redmond Technology Station

The Dote located at the Redmond Technology Station (here) is a pretty cool location. It is however kind of a stand alone very transit station specific location. All of the other amenities that Softies (That’s what Microsoft employees are called, I kid you not) enjoy such as their walkable urban area is up the street a few blocks and not entirely evident – or that accessible without a little mischievousness or having a blue or orange badge. So this is the publicly accessible option in the area, and it’s pretty great.

However, even though it is a private business not particular part of Microsoft, this location is forced to use the Microsoft wifi. This has always been a bit of an odd logistical lift for Microsoft. The reason being is that Microsoft treats all of the businesses and amenities in the area – even when they are on public property and owned by the local city and public – as if it is their own owned amenities. It’s a weird relationship to say the least.

Amidst all that, I managed to arrive at the station in time to get into the shop in time for the meeting and a drink.

The Last Leg, Broken

Finally, my meetings wrapped up and I began the last leg to get into the office. I walked out of the store, unlocked my bike and progressed toward the Link tracks to board a south bound train. I arrived, saw a train sitting there and noticed it wasn’t moving. After a minute or so I gave up and headed over to the south bound 40th St stop to board – hopefully – the Sound Transit Express 542.

I opted for the 542 (direct to University District) instead of the 545 (the more direct shot into the city) because I could ride it for a short haul into U-District and then board the Link Light Rail through downtown to SODO. They key difference here is I could work on the Link vs. not so easy on the bumpy buses.

I locked out and as I rode my bike up over the highway pedestrian and bike bridge to the other side to board the south bound buses, I only had 4 minutes until the 542 arrived. It pulled in, I racked my bike, and off we went. Upon arriving at U-District I took the elevator down and onto the 1-Line Link Train south through the city. I was able to rack my bike and get a seat, working through the remainder of the trip.

So that was my rather chaotic commute today, one for the books of misadventures in getting the logistics wrong over forgotten keys. Until next trip, cheers!

Sound Transit Double Tall
by Adron

Seattle Explorations & A Guide to Double Talls

First a bit about double tall busses. Then a bit about my trip out to Lynnwood to finally, after years of wanting to ride a double tall, doing so!

Double tall buses, also known as double-decker buses, have become an iconic part of Seattle’s public transportation landscape. These impressive vehicles offer increased passenger capacity while maintaining a smaller footprint on the road, making them an efficient solution for high-capacity routes.

The Alexander Dennis Connection

The majority of double-decker buses in the Seattle area are manufactured by Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL), a British bus manufacturer with a strong presence in North America. The company’s Enviro500 model has become the standard for double-decker operations in the region.

Sound Transit’s Fleet

Sound Transit operates a fleet of Alexander Dennis Enviro500 buses, specifically the MMC (Multi-Modal Coach) variant. These buses feature:

  • Length: 45 feet
  • Height: 14 feet
  • Capacity: 81 passengers (57 seated, 24 standing)
  • Engine: Cummins ISL9
  • Transmission: Allison B500R
  • Air conditioning and heating systems
  • Low-floor design for improved accessibility
  • USB charging ports and WiFi

The Enviro500 MMC is known for its modern design, fuel efficiency, and passenger comfort. Sound Transit primarily uses these buses on their ST Express routes, particularly on high-demand corridors like the 510/511/512 routes between Seattle and Everett.

Other Operators

While Sound Transit is the primary operator of double-decker buses in the region, other transit agencies have also incorporated them into their fleets:

  • Community Transit: Operates Enviro500 buses on their Swift Bus Rapid Transit lines
  • King County Metro: Has tested double-decker buses on certain routes

Technical Specifications

The Alexander Dennis Enviro500 MMC features several advanced technologies:

  • LED lighting throughout
  • Electronic destination signs
  • GPS tracking and real-time passenger information
  • Advanced driver assistance systems
  • Euro 6 compliant engines
  • Composite body construction for reduced weight

Impact on Seattle Transit

The introduction of double-decker buses has significantly improved capacity on key routes, particularly during peak hours. Their ability to carry more passengers while taking up the same road space as a standard bus has made them an efficient solution for Seattle’s growing transit needs.

Taking a Ride to Lynnwood

Today I took a ride, for the very first time, on one of Sound Transit’s double decker buses. I opted, since it would include some light rail usage, to take the 515 Express from downtown Seattle to Lynnwood. This is the story, of all the things I noticed along the way.

I believe it was the 4:15pm bus that I boarded between King Street Station and Union Station. I’d racked my bike, then stepped onto the bus, swiped my Orca card, took a video (see below) and climbed the steps upstairs.

The bus then carefully, and very smoothly, traveled forth through the streets of Seattle. Slowly coming to and striking branches of trees because of the height. We stopped at about a dozen stops, from the originating stop I boarded at through to the egress point from downtown. When we left, we did it in relative style because we exited via the express lanes.

Sound Transit Double Tall

To note – when I showed the “empty” bus just after the first stop downtown, it was almost entirely full by the time we left downtown. Don’t get in your head that this is an empty route, it’s a very well used rush hour service. A kind of extra interlined service, in addition to the light rail and other Sound Transit Express lines that go out this way.

However, if you watch the video all the way through, you’ll notice the enjoyment of zooming along in the express lanes comes to an end before we even got past the Greenlake and Ravenna areas! Motorized “road” transportation without right of way is, and always will be a joke when it comes to speed and throughput.

But, that didn’t really matter much because being on a double decker, in a cool air conditioned environment with big ole’ windows to see as far as thee eye could see was a joy! We carried on, as you do, at a reasonable 20-35mph. The traffic slugged into a accodian like zig zag of slow drivers stuck behind entire cavalcades of other slow drivers under the guise of the inefficiencies and stupidities of mass transportation movement via single occupancy vehicles.

In other words, we were limited by the stupidity of cars as primary modal option at rush hour.

But it was entertaining and pleasant. I wrote up this blog entry and got some work done as I explored this new transportation choice for traveling north to Lynnwood.

At this point I also had zero idea what I would do once I got to Lynnwood, but I didn’t really care, I’d likely the board the Link Light Rail line back south and then take the 542 at University District back home.

The Bus Itself

The bus itself, being a double decker, is very smooth similar to one of those intercity buses. The air conditioner worked great, so it was a cool ride in spite of it being a bit warm outside.

Additional Observations

As we rolled forward and stopped, then moved forward again, and stopped, and then lurched and stopped, we made our way ever so slowly to Lynnwood. I couldn’t help but wonder, was this even faster than light rail with all this traffic? I had no idea, as I’d never even looked at the schedule vs. what time this was taking now.

At one point we just stopped for a solid 20+ seconds and sat. Traffic unmoving and a light rail train zipped by beside us, one going north full of people and one going south with a dramatically smaller number of people.

It really did seem like the light rail would have been the faster choice at this point. However this is likely the smoother option, considering how the double deckers ride! They really are not like other buses.

Drama!

In normal society fashion, at some point some guy got a phone call and began talking loudly – very “American” of him – about a financial situation that a child or someone in family was having difficulty with. He wanted to see funds and bank accounts and started “telling them” a number of things.

Why are people like this, what is the deal with the lack of situational awareness? So many parents bring up kids to become these adults that just utterly drives me nuts as a parent. I’ll take rowdy kids any day over an oblivious adult yapping drama out of the pie hole openly and loudly!

But even with that slight little interruption along the route, the ride was great. One more great way to commute in the Seattle area, so great I’d even put this up close right after “Ferries”, “Commuter Trains”, competitive with “Light Rail”, but definitely better than intercity buses!

by Adron

Thursday Wrap Up, Some Standard Seattle.

I ride up to Capital Hill and check out Elliot Bay Books. I find the book I’m looking for, “Apple in China: The Capture of The World’s Greatest Company” and have a sit down at book store coffee shop, Oddfellows, for a read and drink. Upon purchasing a delightful Arnold Palmer I take a seat and dive right into one of the chapters. It’s the section on Navy Seals, not the real Navy Seals mind you, but a group of security folks that ended up dubbed the Navy Seals. But I digress, after reading a while I purchased the book, tossed it in my backpack and back upon my steed I rode. After the drop back into downtown Seattle I went over to Union and boarded the next Sound Transit 550 Express.

That’s where the stupid started. Upon arriving at the South Bellevue Station to transfer to the Link Light Rail, I realized the train was off. As in, there was no applied power. I had just took the elevator up to the platform, but the train power seemed to be off. I stook patiently by the train waiting, and listening to the driver’s radio chatter. It sounded like the power had just been restored. Great, I thought!

So I boarded. The AC kicked on, but the train had been there long enough without power in this 80+ degree day that it was hot inside. As the train sat there the driver exited his driver’s cabin (cockpit?) and tried over and over again to fix the front right door. It seemed to be stuck in a state of being closed but in alarm. The normally blue lights of the door shown red, and he worked on it and worked on it. Opening the bay overhead and fiddling and fiddling.

Finally, off we went with the door, theoretically, fixed. Arriving at the very next station however things went sideways again. The door opened, but then upon closing went into an alarm state again. After attempting to shut the doors several times, the driver again existed the driver’s cabin and started fiddling with the door again. The interesting thing, was the lights went green this time instead of red when the door was in alarm. The other oddball thing was, the train wouldn’t depart.

Yay Seattle issues! We’ve gold plated things at ludicrous prices yet still get these ridiculous toothing problems. I’ll give em’ this, at least on the east side the line is relatively new, so these kinds of things happen. But hot damn it’s rather ridiculous.

After a few more attempts and another half dozen Sound Transit employees and Sound Transit security showing up they fiddled and fiddle with it and eventually it shut, the lights went blue, and off we went.

Finally, after almost 8 minutes, we arrived in Bellevue. For the record, it usually takes about 2-3 minutes to get from South Bellevue to downtown Bellevue.

But whatever, it’s a nice day and things were going well otherwise. I got to read a book, enjoyed a nice drink, and rode my bike around the city. A solid day plus a significant number of code contributions for the day too.

As for the book mentioned above that I purchased, it’s a must read if you want to get a solid grasp of the magnitude of how much the west basically sold off to develop China (and hats off to China for benefiting off that) with the misleading idea that China would become more focused on freedom, liberty, individual rights, and opening up to the world. Even though the book is about Apple, the correlations to what Apple has done tightly correlates to what transit and transportation organizations and companies have done for and in China. But I digress, more on all that later!