That's right -- it's time for another NWTransport special! This one isn't as exciting as some of the others I have posted or planned, but I still thought it would be an interesting little side post for a change. (Of course, I wasn't originally planning to post this so close to my Portland transit extravaganza, but whatever...)
Each of the four main counties in the Seattle region have their own distinctive little transit things. Pierce County's is, admittedly, probably the least interesting, but it is what it is. Their fleet (operating for Sound Transit, the regional transit agency with service overlaid on that of the county-level agencies) includes the region's only long-distance/"coach" style buses, and these form the backbone of the fleet used on Pierce County's commuter express routes.
The view from the front seat is certainly quite nice, though it can't compete with Snohomish County's distinctive commuter fleet, which we'll see at some later date. It might be weird, but to me, there isn't much that's more relaxing than sitting up front on the bus and watching the world go by -- especially when there isn't much traffic!
A couple of less-interesting buses later, we finally make it to the
Tacoma Narrows Bridge, crossing over to the Kitsap Peninsula (though not Kitsap County -- the south end of the peninsula is in Pierce County instead for some reason, a fact I often forget when tagging photos on here!). The northwestbound bridge is the older, 1950-built span, the replacement for the infamous original bridge that's still widely discussed in engineering circles everywhere.
We've already seen all the retail photos from the Gig Harbor side of this trip, so it's time to jump back across the bridge! I'm sure this was supposed to be a much cooler picture if my slow photography didn't interfere, but the tops of the two bridges are visible between the golf course netting and the bus stanchion. On the right is the toll plaza, which the bus is able to bypass by using the electronic toll lanes; these bus trips have actually been my only times using the
Good to Go lanes, since my parents have never bothered to buy a pass.
The new westbound bridge isn't quite as pretty as the old one, but it's still nicer than many modern bridges. The curved approach on the northwest end allows for some very nice views as well! Notably, off on the right side of the bridge is a very nice trail connection, which I should really walk on someday -- I walked this bridge during the opening ceremony back when it first opened, but I was very young at that point!
That's it for today -- I hope this post was halfway coherent, since I'm mentally fried from my long test this morning. Tomorrow, back to Tacoma, for something that has been posted many times by others lately but which I was quite excited to find locally!
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