A narrow dirt trail bounded by brush in the foreground, with many conifers in the distance, along with a mountainside peeking out between the trees.

Transit Trek with Me

As part of the National Week Without Driving, please join me for a Transit Trek and Trip Audit.

RSVP NOW

What: A Transit Trek

We’ll take the ferry to Bainbridge Island, catch a bus on Bainbridge and walk to the Grand Forest Trailhead to hike the Cross Island, Forest to Sky, and Battle Point trails, a total of about 4.7 miles. We’ll enjoy an easygoing hiking pace while also auditing our experience by noting the good, bad, and confounding about using transit for this recreational trip.

When: Saturday, October 7, 2023

Plan to catch the 9:35 a.m. ferry to Bainbridge at Colman Dock. Return to Seattle on the 2:10 p.m. ferry back to Seattle — or later if you want to mosey around town. This includes time to regroup in town and gather outdoors for an informal debrief over lunch. Additional info provided when you RSVP. 

Why: It’s the National Week Without Driving

The goal of the National Week Without Driving is to highlight challenges faced by people who can’t drive or can’t afford to drive by asking people who can drive to go a week without driving themselves. Taking transit has its benefits, but also a lot of gaps, including when it comes to getting out for recreation. By auditing a recreation-based transit trip, we’ll be able to highlight the gaps in infrastructure and service that, if addressed, would improve recreation as well as everyday transit trips. 

How: Hiking boots on the ground and notebooks and smartphones in hand

During our hike, we’ll chat about and document the experience — such as schedules, facilities, navigation, or safety — basically, anything of note related to getting to and from the Grand Forest and Battle Point Park without driving ourselves. I’ll compile our audit notes and photographs, publish a summary on the blog, and share the full audit with relevant agencies (parks, transit, transportation). We’ll also highlight where basic needs of transit-reliant people overlap with recreation needs, such as expanded weekend service and safe walk and roll routes. The goal is for this trip audit to demonstrate that people value investment in expanding bike, walk, and roll infrastructure and to put some of the barriers and needs on the public record.

Who: You

Info to help you decide if this is a trip you feel comfortable joining:

  • Attending is free, but participants are responsible for their own transit fare, lunch, and so on. Please note when RSVPing if you need assistance with fare; I’ll see what I can do.
  • I request that folks wear masks when we’re riding the bus together (about 10 minutes each way).
  • We’ll go rain or shine, but extreme weather may cancel.
  • The total one-way mileage is 4.7, including about 1 mile of walking on the side of a low-traffic road that has no sidewalk or real shoulder. Overall elevation gain is mild to minimal. 
  • Restrooms access at Colman Dock, on the ferry, at Bainbridge Island Terminal, at some Grand Forest trailheads, and at Battle Point Park. I have an e-mail inquiry to Bainbridge Island Parks about whether there is any kind of portapotty or similar restroom access in the Grand Forest.  
  • Kiddos: This trip should be manageable for kids who can walk up to five miles on their own and/or with caretaker assistance. After the first 3.5 miles, in Battle Point Park, playground options are nearby. 
  • Dogs: Kitsap Transit’s pet policy is “small animals inside enclosed pet carriers” only, so very small dogs may join this trip and are welcome; if anyone joining is uncomfortable with pups, I might ask dog walkers to walk a bit ahead of or behind the main group and to be extra mindful.  The Grand Forests and Battle Point are both dog-friendly; leashes required. Ferry policy is here.
  • Service dogs are always permitted on transit.
  • Battle Point Park has some wheelchair accessible paths, but the Grand Forest trails are not wheelchair friendly. If you use a wheelchair and want to meet the group at Battle Point, please include a note in your RSVP. Then plan to meet the rest of the group at Battle Point Park at approximately 11:45 a.m.
  • For deaf or hard of hearing participants, please note your access needs in the RSVP form. While I don’t have the budget to hire an interpreter, I will do my best to work with you to find a good alternative. 
  • Bicycles aren’t allowed on the Grand Forest trails or Forest to Sky trail as far as I can tell, so if you prefer to meet us via bike, you’ll need to figure out how to secure your bike near the trailhead. Or, you can meet us at Battle Point Park. 
B.I. Rides

I will request that Kitsap Transit’s B.I. Rides (a quasi-on-demand service) pick up the first five RSVPS at Battle Point to go back into town. (Why B.I. Rides? Because fixed-route transit doesn’t serve Battle Point on the weekend.) The limit I can request is for six people. If more than five folks RSVP, I’ll look into a shared cab back to town. If you are up for the return hike and are willing to catch up with us back in town, that works, too! 

RSVP NOW
What to Bring
  • ORCA card or cash for fare
  • Dress for weather. We’ll go rain or shine, but extreme weather may cancel. 
  • A mask to wear on our two short bus rides
  • Snacks and water (water fountains at both ferry terminals, on the ferry, and at Battle Point)
  • A sack lunch if you don’t want to purchase one in town
Handy Links
Transit stops near Colman Dock include
  • Metro route 12 stops at 2d and Marion; from there cross 1st and follow the pedestrian walkway to the terminal
  • Rapid Ride Line C and Line H and Metro route 21 and route 125 stop at Alaskan Way and Columbia St. Other routes serving this stop don’t run on weekends. 
  • Link Light Rail: University St or Pioneer Sq 

Action Alert — Pedestrian Access on the Bridge of the Gods

While house-sitting this week in Hood River, OR, I took the bus to Cascade Locks to check out transit hiking conditions at the southernmost Washington trailhead of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). My assessment? Mixed. And in some cases — decidedly not great. And a lot of that is because you have to cross the Bridge of the Gods over the Columbia River to continue on the PCT, whether you are traveling northbound or southbound.

I did some preliminary digging to see if I could understand why authorities have not done the most minimal separation — simple concrete curbs and a few flex posts? — to afford pedestrians real space while crossing the bridge. I didn’t find the fulll answer to that question, but did find that there is local support for a pedestrian bridge, some preliminary funding and studies were secured, but due to some byzantine federal rules about toll bridges (vehicle drivers pay tolls) the pedestrian bridge addition is on indefinite hold. As I said in my Twitter thread, I don’t know numbers for locals who cross the bridge on foot, but I do know that in 2023 people should not have to walk in a lane of traffic to cross a major river.

Just a couple weeks ago, the Pacific Crest Trail Association published a Call to Action to urge legislators in both Oregon and Washington to fund the bridge. It’s a short read and easy to sign on. Please sign and share.

Advocacy Update — Summer 2023

Here’s a few quick notes on the advocacy fronts I’m working on.

WTA adds transit-accessible hikes to their quarterly Hike It section

I’m a big believer in the power of using small levers to make modest but important changes. So I’m thrilled to report that Washington Trails Association reached out earlier this year after I wrote several trip reports based on some of my transit trekking outings. The result was this Q&A — and an informal agreement that I’ll write a transit-focused listing for their Hike It section in their quarterly member magazine. The first one appeared in the summer 2023 issue – a trip guide for McCurdy Point in Port Townsend. 

It’s so important to keep showing that transit-based recreation is possible, so that people can try it, and to build support for its expansion. If you are a member of WTA or use their site to look up trip reports, please take a minute to express appreciation for featuring more transit-accessible hikes, and let them know you’d like to see an increase in this kind of content and to see WTA step up support for transit as one of the key means for addressing climate, equity, and conservation. You can email the editor at editor AT wta.org (I’d love if you cc me, too: hithere AT this webdomain).

Transit Trekker is a host organization for the National Week Without Driving

If you want to help invite leaders from the Washington state area to take on this challenge, get in touch using the email above and put “NWWD” in the subject line. If you have connections to Mason or Jefferson counties here in Washington state, I’d especially appreciate hearing from you. 

The Feds

I’m participating in organizing at the national level, learning about some developments at the federal level that could result in increased support for rural and small town transit — more on that this fall. Sign up to get on the mailing list if you want to be in the loop on that.

Want More Updates?

Check out the press page. And if you’ve got travel plans beyond Washington and want to find some transit treks, check out the resource page. Follow on the dying site of Twitter or, now, Blusky at transittrekker.bsky.social, or the blog.