From the beginning, Bus 75: Hidden Portland was scheduled for a limited run. This is the final stop of this blog – for now. Follow along for occasional posts to come.
If you look beneath the donuts in the pink box you can find a different side of our city. It’s the real Portlandia.
Bus 75 covers a lot of ground. From the northern terra incognita of junkyards butting up against the Columbia River, to the southern exposure of small-town Milwaukie near the banks of the Willamette. It’s a transport through different areas and eras.
An interesting array of places and faces are found along the line. And everybody has a story to tell – if you ask. But nobody asks.
We’re all tuned into our own world, our own muse. On the bus, it’s quiet. Good time to think. Minds need time to ponder and wander. The silence is suddenly broken when someone getting off shouts out to the driver, “Thank you!”
Neighborhoods turn over. New generations cycle in and the past is pushed out. Block parties welcome new residents who take the place of old ones.
Perspectives differ widely and we’re all squeezing closer together. Pilgrims who landed here long ago and never moved live next door to new settlers who flew in yesterday.
Discover what’s hidden around you. Get on the bus, and off. Repeat. Observe. Connect. It may open your eyes – like it did ours.
In corners and cubbyholes along the 75, people work and play doing what they enjoy. Life is rich, if you don’t care about the money.
We are one vast, diverse country with a lot to celebrate. But beneath the sparkle, there’s much that is unseen, overlooked, and misunderstood. Bus 75 is a bridge between known and unknown.
Happy trails and best wishes!
Geoffrey Hiller & Tom Vandel
BUS 75: HIDDEN PORTLAND 
Last week, as the city iced over, I took my first bus and MAX rides in many months. Each time the bus pulled over, people leaving by the back door yelled “Thank you!” to the driver in the front. So grateful. So Portland. And now you guys are pulling over for a break too.
“Thank you!”
I’ll be back.
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It’s definitely a Portland thing. I’ve taken public transportation all over the world and never heard passengers do that either.
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That’s not fair ! But it depends on the environment. Here in London on our big crowded double deckers ( the W3 since you ask) we don’t tend to yell thank you. But on our small local W5 which takes my daughter and I back from swimming lessons on a Tuesday evening and stops almost anywhere along the route to pick up and drop off we always say thank you. And I’d guarantee that any rural bus in England you would see and hear the same thing. All the best –
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I’m going to miss this vicarious treat. I’ll be retiring soon and then I’ll have time to do my own explorations. Thanks for the inspiration.
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Your posts have been amazing!!! Your photography is wonderful. I really hope to see more!
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