Parts Evolution
This one was a tough exercise for me since there really only was two forms of transit to use so I decided maybe instead of focusing on the technology in the system. Perhaps I could break it down into the destinations that were visited during the day utilizing the transit system instead? So taking that approach I broke it down into climbing, meals, and time utilizing the transit and started pondering what would happen if I changed some aspects of this? Removing the climbing made the story seem more relatable to an audience that was outside of the Seattle area or perhaps did not have an interest in that hobby. From there I decided to increase the amount of meals and hanging out with friends and space that out throughout the story. This resulted in a story, that although seemed a bit more of a reach, was relatable because the activieties were more relatable to what an average person might want to try and do today. Also highlighting the benefits of also getting work done on a train was to highlight some of the distinct advantages a train might have versus what we might think the future of transportation might actually hold. For instance, many of us tend to think of flying cars instead of better transit options being the future of transportation.
A Day Between Cities: Sarah's Transit Tale
In the cool, misty morning of Seattle, a young woman named Sarah wakes, wanting to meetup and grab lunch with one of her friends in Leavenworth on the other side of the Cascade mountain range. The year is 2032, and Sound Transit, in partnership with Trimet, has finished the construction of an inter-county regional rail system. They system goes from Eugene in the south, up ot Bellingham in the north. From Neah Bay in the West to Spokane in th East. It connected the entire region together in a way that it never has been before providing fast easy connections to the center of each city without the need for driving a car.
Sarah has to start off her day a little early because she takes a bit of time to get ready. The train ride itself takes about two to three hours so she needs to pack some things for her to do along that long journey. She also has plans to stop by and grab dinner with friends in Everett and drinks with her uncle in downtown Seattle before getting home the evening. With all of those, she needs to make sure that she has everything packed and ready to go.
She's currently a graduate student enrolled in a storytelling class so she has plenty that she should be doing on the way. So she quickly grabs her e-ink tablet that she uses for note taking and reading throws that in the bag. She then frantically begins searching for her laptop so that she can begin working on the assignments that she needs to type up for the day. Briefly, she gives up and brew her morning coffee to take with her on the train. It was then that she notices she left her laptop next to the coffee machine and quickly throws that in her bag two. She then puts her coffee in a thermos and hopes on her bike to get to the train station so she can catch the next trip to Leavenworth on time.
Sarah makes it just in time to Union Station for her 8am train to Leavenworth. Hurrying onto the train she drops her bike and then settles into the passenger car, taking out her tablet and begins reading some of the literature that had she had to review for the upcoming class. Time flies by quickly on the train as she's taking notes and what not. She remembers that if she had wanted to meet her friend before in Leavenworth, she would have had to drive the two and a half hours there, wasting time in a car, unable to do anything but focus on the road. As soon as she finishes up one of her readings the train is coming into the station at Leavenworth.
She grabs her bike off the train and then heads for a small cafe where she meets up with her friend John. John is actually enrolled in the same class as Sarah in graduate school, so to start off they quickly go over some of the assignments that they had been working on. They quickly exchange stories two reading them allowed to each other to see if there was some improvements that they other could suggest that they needed to make. Soon they sandwiches that they order arrived so they quickly started eating those. After lunch, John and Sarah decided to take a walk around town and explore the fake German village that was meant as a tourist trap to draw in people from around the Washington area. They had a lot of fun, found a few interesting shops, but by three it was time for Sarah to head out so that she could grab dinner with her friends in Everett.
Sarah again hopped on her bike, headed to the rail station to catch her train, then settles into her seat bringing out her laptop to begin making the edits to here story that she had discussed with John after their story exchange. Her story was about all of the strides that society had made in the last decade and it went over where humanity might go from here. Soon she arrived in Everett hungry and ready for dinner. She quickly hopped of the train and headed for the italian restaurant that her friends were at. She was running late but luckily they had saved her a spot at the table. They were almost done eating, so she scarfed down the food that they had ordered for her and had a quick conversation with them after before needing to catch the next train to meet with her uncle for drinks.
Soon after getting into Seattle, she quickly hopped on her bike and texted her uncle that she would be at the brewery soon. Luckily, the brewery was right next to where she lived, so she did not have far to travel after that. She and her uncle spent a few hours together and by ten it was time for her to head home. While getting into bed, Sarah remembered how lucky she was to live in this time, because had it been a decade before a day like this might not have been possible. Especially spending time getting homework and everything else she needed to do if she had been driving a car solely focused on the road.