Lillian Karabaic and Prakruti Bhatt were a bit worried about finding a ride to the bus early Monday morning, Sept. 23.
Then they met Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash, and their dilemma was solved.
The two work for Oregon Public Broadcasting, and they were on a two-week trip around Eastern Oregon that focused on public transportation. Their project, as advertised by stickers they distributed, is called "Stop Requested."
"Everything we've taken is publicly funded," Karabaic said.
She designed their itinerary to be in Baker City on Saturday, Sept. 21 so they could attend the Great Salt Lick art show and auction that raises money for Parkinson's disease research.
They had coordinated a ride once they arrived by bus in Baker City, but had to catch the Community Connection bus in Baker City early on Sept. 23 for the trip to La Grande.
That's where Ash comes into the story.
While interviewing attendees at the salt lick event, Karabaic met Ash, who was assisting at the auction and offered to give them a ride to the bus on the 23rd. She then rushed to find Bhatt, and the two decided that yes, riding in a law enforcement vehicle counted as public transportation.
Riding around Oregon
Karabaic is the host of OPB's Weekend Edition, and Bhatt is a digital video producer (music, arts and culture) for OPB.
Their route passed through all 16 OPB radio stations in Oregon.
They began in The Dalles, then went west to Hood River, Portland and Astoria. Next they traveled south on the Oregon Coast to Newport, then east to Albany on Sept. 15, a Sunday, where they discovered the Historic Carousel and Museum.
"Everything is closed (on Sundays) except the carousel," Karabaic said.
"And one coffee place. And a Thai place," Bhatt added.
The next day, they caught the train south to Klamath Falls, then a bus that was transporting supplies to the food bank in Lakeview.
A shopper bus took them north to La Pine and Bend — Bhatt learned all about local trees and mountains from a fellow rider — then they rode POINT, an intercity bus service funded and managed by the Oregon Department of Transportation, from Bend to Ontario.
"You get free wifi, and the seats are comfortable. The route's beautiful," Bhatt said.
From Ontario they rode Flix (formerly Greyhound) to Baker City and arrived on Sept. 21 to stay two nights. In addition to the salt lick auction, the two interviewed local residents, including Matt Krabacher, who is part of the effort to restore passenger rail service to Baker City.
On Sept. 23, they rode Community Connection's NEO Transit bus from Baker City to La Grande, then Enterprise. The next day, their route took them back to La Grande, then Pendleton and John Day. The final stretch was to Bend, then home to Portland on Sept. 26.
Karabaic made lists and a spreadsheet to coordinate their route, which was complicated by public transit that runs on specific days of the week.
"It was a challenge," she said.
For instance, the bus in Enterprise operates Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
"We had to get there on a Monday so we could leave on Tuesday," she said.
The food share bus they caught in Klamath Falls only runs twice a month, and other transit options have adjusted hours in the last few years.
"Everybody's reduced routes since COVID due to driver shortage," she said.
In the many hours riding buses across Eastern Oregon, Karabaic has questioned drivers about the state of transportation in rural areas. One challenge, she discovered, is the requirement of a commercial driver's license for vehicles that carry more than 14 passengers.
"It costs almost $2,000 to train someone up with a CDL," Karabaic said.
And sometimes those drivers leave for other, higher-paying jobs, she said.
Aside from buses or other transit options, these two found that taxi services or options such as Uber and Lyft are scarce in rural areas.
They've walked a lot to explore towns, between the long hauls on public transit.
As for their work, Karabaic is a financial reporter as well as the host of "Weekend Edition," and will use this trip for a radio series.
"I'm doing radio postcards from a ton of towns," she said.
Bhatt has captured video along the way, and also explored the music and culture scene across the state.
"It's nice to step into a record store, or a cool venue like this," she said, waving a hand at Churchill School, where they recorded audio and video for the Great Salt Lick auction.
(c)2024 the Baker City Herald (Baker City, Ore.) Visit www.bakercityherald.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
