The Stop Request

You get on the bus, and you know where you’re headed to. But when it comes time to let the driver know that you want to get off the bus, what do you do? For most transit agencies, one of the following three methods (or a combination) is used:

Bikes on Buses

It’s no secret. Most transit agencies nowadays (with some notable exceptions) put bike racks on their buses. The good thing is that most people who use bike racks are regular users, so they understand the rules and what to do/not to do. However, as more transit agencies see more and more new riders use their [...]

Intercity Buses (and some stories)

Public transit allows people to travel to destinations within a city or metropolitan area. But when someone wants to travel to another city outside of their area, what options are there? You could drive. Sure. As long as you have a car, which means you’ll be paying for gas, insurance, registration fees, and unless your [...]

Day Pass

In order to promote usage of transit by locals and tourists alike, many transit agencies will have a Day Pass, allowing unlimited usage of their services for that day. Instead of paying fare after fare every time you board a bus or train, you can just pay a flat fee for the Day Pass and [...]

1986 Guide to Summer Fun

While doing a search for an old map of Ben Franklin Transit Route 44 (a route that was discontinued a long time ago), I came across something interesting. (If you’re interested in browsing through this guide, I’ve uploaded it to Flickr.) Most of the guide is pretty generic summer stuff, but the biggest thing that [...]

August 2011 Board Meeting

Last night, August 11, BFT held their monthly meeting of the board. Though it is a rather simple affair, the board meeting brings to light a lot of information that normally isn’t circulated nor heavily advertised, but still is important none the less. The other benefit of going to the board meeting is that by [...]

UPDATE: September 2011 Service Change

As I mentioned before in this post, service changes to Ben Franklin Transit are scheduled to go in effect for next month. Since the last post, a few updates have come up: Though they are referred to as the “September Service Changes,” the new schedules/routes will actually be going into effect on the last Monday [...]

Epic Transit Journey – The Walla Walla Loop

170 miles. 4 buses. $7. Welcome to the highest levels of frugality. On August 2nd, myself and comrade @iAndrewPippin embarked on a trip that took us from the Tri-Cities to Walla Walla and back via Hermiston and Pendleton. Now, most normal people sleep during the hours of the night, particularly before any travel. But as for me, [...]

“Transit cat grabs attention, mice”

(By Fay Tolley, originally published in the Tri-City Herald on July 9, 1989) Ben’s a “fat cat,” she is. And the crew at the Ben-Franklin Transit bus maintenance shop hopes she maintains her well-rounded figure. The short-haired feline, dubbed Ben since she domesticated the workplace nearly three years ago, is a champion mouser and occasional [...]