My family lives on the other side of the valley in the Township of Magna. It's a nice change, moving out, but sometimes numerous reasons demand I head back to the Oquirrh Mountains for a visit. Fortunately for my car-less self, public transportation including Trax and Maxx bus routes can get me within about 500 feet of my family's front door.
However, life with light-rail is not always peaches and sunshine. Public transportation is great at getting me from point A to point B, but when it comes to my possessions-- not so much. Last month, when I was bring back some clothes, games, and groceries from Magna, I was carrying a large reusable shopping bag, a straining backpack, and a large plastic sac. With my hair scrunched up in a hat and a baggy jacket covering my frame, the visual line between college student and homeless individual began to blur. Someone on Trax got confused and gave me some money, though no, I didn't ask for any.
After giving the change to an actual homeless person, I started to think about how a person who never had access to a car managed to get their possessions home. Sure, it's not hard to put a bag of groceries on your lap and another under your seat, but beyond that, things must be tricky. Ikea furniture, for example a crib purchased by a mother-to-be, comes disassembled in flat boxes that are supposed to be public transit friendly. But, even mostly compacted, their new owner must decide how many she can carry, how much room she'll have access to on the bus, and how quickly she can get them on and off the vehicle before the driver chews her out. And most places don't sell things with minimal packaging that maximizes a limited space anyway.
I've spent some time researching this question, and I have yet to find a community that has a simple method for serving such a need, the closest being hiring a cab which could be an expensive endeavor. Perhaps on certain days of the month, Trax could include a luggage car? But that would certainly slow down the schedules for other passengers who just need to get to work on time. I just don't know. How can public transportation serve so many people with a variety of purposes?
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