Matthew H Fish
Lead Service Attendant
- Joined
- May 28, 2019
- Messages
- 499
This one had been on my list for a long time:
Lane Transit District, centered in Eugene, Oregon, has a "city bus" that goes 55 miles eastward, through the McKenzie River Valley to McKenzie Bridge. It only runs, currently, four times a day, and since I live in Corvallis, I had to really plan out how to get there. I took an Amtrak train from Albany to Eugene. It was supposed to arrive there about 30 minutes before the bus left, and so I was naturally a little anxious--- since Eugene Amtrak and Eugene transit center are 10 blocks apart, I was calculating how late I could be and still run to the station! To my surprise, the Cascades pulled into Eugene 10 minutes early.
I don't know the exact combination of politics and policy that led to a "city bus" up the McKenzie River Valley, but I am glad it is there! The bus takes about 90 minutes from Eugene to its turnaround at McKenzie Bridge, which is actually really quick for a 55 mile route. The stops are at a few towns, but at some places, the bus just stops by boat ramps and river access. The town I stopped for, waiting for the bus to turn around, was Blue River---a town that I learned, after arriving in it, had almost totally burnt to the ground three years ago.
One thing I talked about in this video is that sometimes it is hard to explain what Oregon, or the Western States in general, are like to people from the Eastern US or Europe, because the distances and the population densities are so different. In this video, I mention that Lane County is about the size of Connecticut, or a little smaller than Slovenia. And that for Oregon, Lane County is considered to be one of the "urban" counties since it has a big city. So the fact that this area gets even four buses a day is a good thing.
And finally, for Amtrak travelers, especially the more adventurous kind, this would be a good place to consider visiting, because it is possible, with a little planning, to pop off a Cascades or Coast Starlight, take the bus up to a campsite on the river, spend a night or two, and then head back to Eugene to continue your journey. It is even possible to do some of this in a day trip---although, as I showed, it is a cramped trip for time.
Lane Transit District, centered in Eugene, Oregon, has a "city bus" that goes 55 miles eastward, through the McKenzie River Valley to McKenzie Bridge. It only runs, currently, four times a day, and since I live in Corvallis, I had to really plan out how to get there. I took an Amtrak train from Albany to Eugene. It was supposed to arrive there about 30 minutes before the bus left, and so I was naturally a little anxious--- since Eugene Amtrak and Eugene transit center are 10 blocks apart, I was calculating how late I could be and still run to the station! To my surprise, the Cascades pulled into Eugene 10 minutes early.
I don't know the exact combination of politics and policy that led to a "city bus" up the McKenzie River Valley, but I am glad it is there! The bus takes about 90 minutes from Eugene to its turnaround at McKenzie Bridge, which is actually really quick for a 55 mile route. The stops are at a few towns, but at some places, the bus just stops by boat ramps and river access. The town I stopped for, waiting for the bus to turn around, was Blue River---a town that I learned, after arriving in it, had almost totally burnt to the ground three years ago.
One thing I talked about in this video is that sometimes it is hard to explain what Oregon, or the Western States in general, are like to people from the Eastern US or Europe, because the distances and the population densities are so different. In this video, I mention that Lane County is about the size of Connecticut, or a little smaller than Slovenia. And that for Oregon, Lane County is considered to be one of the "urban" counties since it has a big city. So the fact that this area gets even four buses a day is a good thing.
And finally, for Amtrak travelers, especially the more adventurous kind, this would be a good place to consider visiting, because it is possible, with a little planning, to pop off a Cascades or Coast Starlight, take the bus up to a campsite on the river, spend a night or two, and then head back to Eugene to continue your journey. It is even possible to do some of this in a day trip---although, as I showed, it is a cramped trip for time.