Transit in the Desert

Opinions in this post are entirely my own, and do not reflect the views of any past, present, or future employer.

The predawn sky is just starting to show hints of orange as I step out into the cul-de-sac. Half an hour later, Arizona sun in full force, I’m picking my way along a narrow, glass- and plastic-strewn strip of gravel between an irrigation ditch and the steady, percussive wind blasts of high-speed vehicles, hoping like hell one of the drivers doesn’t get a text message at the wrong moment.

It’s mid-February and I’m in the western suburbs of Phoenix, visiting a good friend for the weekend. Taking advantage of one of my favorite structural perks of working for a big company, I’ve extended my trip by a few weekdays, intending to work from the downtown office during the day and hang out in the evenings. Through a mix of curiosity, thrift, and transit geekery, I’ve decided to take the bus to work.

In my case, it’s more than a three-mile walk to the nearest bus stop, so I start out early, just after 7am. The walk is pleasant at first, with the cool desert air and relative lack of traffic. I pass an elementary school where cars are already lined up for the dedicated pickup/dropoff zone, but some parents are even walking with their kids. However, after turning from the residential side street onto the main drag, the exurban landscape begins to reveal itself in full.

Strip malls now fringe a street that, for all intents and purposes, might as well be a highway (though oddly enough, also includes a bike lane). While not exactly scenic, I tell myself, at least there’s a sidewalk…

And then it just went from bad to worse.

My walk ended, appropriately enough, at a massive gas station adjacent to a bus stop. While I was waiting, three other riders showed up. One told me she had spent the previous night in a nearby shelter, but didn’t feel safe there — so she was headed downtown to find hopefully better accommodations. The shelter staff had given her a bus pass to make this possible.

The #3 bus picked us up on time, and arrived at my destination stop just over an hour later, also on schedule. The ride was uneventful, gliding at first past farms and warehouses, then oddly-designed and -placed housing developments, freeway interchanges, and strip malls, gradually increasing in density until we reached the high-rises of downtown.

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