Getting Real on the Bus
By: Sophia Donforth, Vermont Energy Education Program
As a little kid I was really excited about trains–from the subway we rode in DC, to the big freight trains we saw crossing the road on long trips. I didn’t become excited about public buses until moving to Geneva, Switzerland where a truly excellent public transit system meant my family lived three years without needing a car.
Now I live in Burlington, and am delighted that in our relatively populous part of VT there’s a bus system I can use for everything from getting around town for grocery shopping and to take my kids to the library, to commuting to work in Montpelier once each week.
As head of an organization that educates people about energy and climate change, it feels extra important to me not to drive to work. I mostly work from home, but ride Green Mountain Transit’s #86 Commuter LINK from Burlington to Montpelier roughly once a week to get to my organization's main office. I am so grateful for this service that means I don't need to drive my car!
I leave at 7:30am to catch a 7:45am bus at the downtown transit center, and am usually arriving in Montpelier around 9:00am. It’s a bit of a longer ride, but I don’t have to do the driving myself, and can often use that time to listen to recordings of webinars I missed earlier in the week, or stare out the window. (Some folks read or catch up on email, but I find the motion too much to do that). Because my office in Montpelier is 2 miles from the transit center where the bus drops off (and because I sometimes have meetings in town), I bring my bicycle with me, and find that the bike-bus combination usually gets me where I need to go.
Here’s what’s wonderful about this:
I’m getting where I need to go without the aggravation of driving, or spending any money on gasoline
The bus runs several times in the morning and evening to allow for a few different commuter schedules (though I would love to see a few more runs added to the schedule!)
Even with the return of fares in April, the $2 fee to ride (one-way) to Montpelier is still remarkably cheap
I don’t have to worry about any maintenance costs, etc. for the bus
On days when I can bike I’m getting some exercise in the middle of an otherwise sedentary day
On days when I can’t bike, I can request a ride to the office via the MyRide app, and a smaller bus will meet me at the transit center and deliver me to my office
There are of course some drawbacks. Some are things I can address myself with assorted work-arounds/greater flexibility. For example, because of the hours at which that commuter link goes, I can’t drop my kids off at school (8am) or pick them up (2:50pm) and still use the bus, so I go to Montpelier only on the days my partner can take care of dropoff and pickup.
Other difficulties arise largely because we have a public transit system that doesn’t have all the resources it needs. Green Mountain Transit indicates they are nearing a financial cliff which could result in potential service reductions in 2026, which worries me because even with their current budget I’m aware of several shortcomings.
Some of the difficulties I’ve encountered in the last year include:
a canceled 4pm bus home (due to a driver shortage) which left me scrambling to find someone to pick up my kids from afterschool, since I wouldn’t be home until after 6
a missed meeting due to a MyRide pickup that never happened (again, driver shortage? Or faulty app? Not sure)
a day when 4 people showed up with bicycles to ride to Montpelier, and only two could take their bikes on the bus, causing two folks to be turned away
an inability to schedule meetings before 10am in the winter because I can’t guarantee that the MyRide will pick up in time to get me to the office after arriving in Montpelier, and having to schedule the return MyRide trip for 3pm in order to ensure I don’t miss the 4pm ride home–this makes for a very short work day!
arriving late to a conference in South Burlington because a late bus caused me to miss a connection, and the wait times between buses are significant, even in downtown Burlington
I spend a lot of time talking up the benefits of public transit and trying to convince people that through better planning they can make it work, at least for some of their regular trips around town. I’m aware from my limited ridership experience that it would be extremely difficult for me to depend on this as my main form of transportation, and for those with less flexibility in their lives (fixed work schedules, fewer childcare options, mobility issues, lack of cell phone and the associated apps to manage all of this) it is surely even more difficult.
But I know the magic of a really good public bus system, and I will keep advocating for one here in VT. For such a rural state we’ve got some great systems already in place, and I would love to see service like the Burlington-Montpelier link expand to other parts of the state. And in the meantime, I’ll use the system we have on the days I can make it work.
See you on the bus!
