Gene Jones drove for TriMet for 18 years and retired in the early 2000s. He started driving for Columbia Area Transit last year because he wanted something to do in the winter. “I enjoy people, it’s a fun deal,” he said.
Prakruti Bhatt / OPB
If you listen to OPB on the radio, you’ve heard hosts and announcers say a long list of letters and places at the end of every hour. We’re required to do this by the Federal Communications Commission.
But it also gave OPB “Weekend Edition” host Lillian Karabaic, who’s read this roll call of Oregon cities where OPB can be heard hundreds of times, a creative idea. She and OPB video producer Prakruti Bhatt decided to go on a madcap road trip to visit every single one … all by public transit.
This week, Lillian joins us to share what it was like making the 14-day journey on 38 buses to some of Oregon’s most remote places for OPB’s “Stop Requested” series. We’ll learn about the joys and challenges of rural public transit, and meet some of the friendly folks who ride it.
And if today’s episode leaves you wanting to learn more about rural transit in Oregon, great news: Lillian will be hosting a “Stop Requested” Live event at Portland State University in May. Registration opens soon. We’ll post the details on OPB’s “Stop Requested” page or on OPB’s events page.
Listen to all episodes of “The Evergreen” podcast here.
Stop Requested is a journey by public transit to all the communities that OPB says on the radio every hour. This is a map of the route which took 14 days and 38 buses to complete.
Lillian Karabaic / OPB