A Canadian man was intrigued by public transportation and decided to travel from his home to Mexico, but with one condition: he wouldn’t take any Greyhound buses or Amtrak trains on his trip.
William Hoy, 40, left his hometown of British Columbia on June 24 and set off on a journey to the Pacific coast. The BBC reported:.
He aimed to reach Tijuana, Mexico, in nine days by using only public buses and trains and minimizing walking between stops.
“I never had to walk more than 15 minutes from one bus stop to another during my trip,” Mr Hui told the BBC on Friday.
A systems engineer for TransLink, Vancouver’s transportation authority, told the outlet that the idea came to him when he discovered a four-hour bus route connecting the northern California city of Eureka with Ukiah, about two hours north of San Francisco.
Hui said he tried to travel as far south as possible from Vancouver in 2013, but ended up abandoning the trip in Salem, Oregon.
Once he arrived in the rural Pacific Northwest state, “there was virtually no transportation from Oregon to central California,” he told the outlet.
But when he discovered the new bus route, Hui said it was “the missing link to move forward,” and he made a plan for how to embark on a public transportation journey to Mexico.
After setting off on his journey, Hui noticed one thing in particular had changed since he last attempted the endeavor in 2013.
The public transport bus he rode on was equipped with WiFi and allowed payment for the service by credit or debit card.
Another thing he noticed was the difference in public transportation in big cities.
“It was really great to see how different services are connected, especially in rural areas,” Hui told the outlet.
According to the publication, in cities like Seattle and San Francisco, buses make regular stops and don’t travel as far as rural buses, which can travel for hours and cross hundreds of miles to reach their final destination.
When asked what I did Pass the timeHui said he enjoyed looking out the window, enjoying the views along the coast and observing the atmosphere of the new towns and cities he passed through.
“It’s a lot of fun to look at the scenery as you go by. I love seeing how the town is laid out,” he said. Vancouver Sun.
“It was just fun for me to see the scenery as we drove past the coastline and the forest.”
Hui also couldn’t help but marvel at the vast farms of Southern California.
“I’ve seen fields from the air before, but traveling across the state really changes the size and scope of the fields,” he said.
Hui said that during his trip, he crossed all borders on foot as public transport was unavailable.
He revealed that while at the U.S.-Canada border, Border Patrol agents were skeptical about his reasons for entering the United States.
“There aren’t many people walking across the (northern) border,” Hui told the BBC.
Luckily, after he explained the situation, they allowed him to continue on his journey.
But once he reached the southern border between the United States and Mexico, Huy noticed there were a lot of pedestrians and was able to pass through without issue.
Looking back on his trip, he said one of the things he noticed most was how important public transportation was to the communities he passed through.
“One of the things that struck me on this trip was how important public transport is to local communities,” Hui told the outlet.
“I was never alone on the bus for any length of time.”
Finally, Hui said the “surprising thing” about the trip was how efficient the public transport was along the way.
He noted that even when he was stuck in long traffic jams in Los Angeles, he still had enough time to catch his next connecting flight and didn’t have to resort to a backup plan.
The systems engineer spent about $200 on the bus ticket, but said the trip was worth every cent.
Hui’s advice to anyone considering embarking on a similar journey is simple.
“Know when the bus is coming.”
