LOCAL TRANSPORT

Public buses, trams and trains:  Portland is one of the top cities in the United States for public transportation, and I received an invaluable informal education by riding practically every line during high school and in my current job as a life skills instructional assistant.  I am pretty confident in reading bus schedules and maps, and am familiar with the different types of fares that cities offer.  That said, wherever we go, I do my due diligence and learn about the transit system and determine how to best maximize our time.  Sometimes a day pass works best, other times just a single ride ticket.  When possible, we will ride the public transit system because we get a chance to ride with the locals and we don’t have to worry about parking, tolls, tickets, getting stressed because we are lost, etc.  Riding public transit gives us the chance to focus on sightseeing and planning our day from the comfort of our own seat while someone else drives.

Taxi cab:  rarely will we use the taxi, but when we do we know ahead of time how much the fare should cost by going to TaxiFareFinder.com.   Yeah, we have been scammed before by people taking the scenic route or by turning off their fare tracker, which is why we have made more and more use out of….

Uber and Lyft:  We love using these car sharing services because it is easy to use, reliable and it is a cashless transaction — we know approximately how much the ride will cost and how long it will take for our driver to arrive by using the app.  We like the fact that drivers are rated and we can turn down a driver or car if we don’t like what we see.  Use this website, Uberestimate, to determine how much a ride will cost.  Sign up for Uber with referral code edwin472ue and receive $10 off your first ride.

LONGER DISTANCES – CITY TO CITY

Bolt Bus:  Think the Greyhound bus, but without the frequent stops and the bus station.  These buses pick up at the curb and run between major cities.  We have taken the Bolt Bus  Portland to Seattle route and the Portland to Vancouver, BC route, sometimes for just $1! (their promotions boast about one seat on every route being offered for just one dollar)  The buses are modern, equipped with Wi-Fi, comfy, reliable and cheap!  In our many adventures we have also used Megabus and Peter Pan.

Craigslist RideShare:  post a request for a ride or take a look to see who is offering a ride.  Typically you pay a portion of the gas and/or might share in driving duties.