I finally figured out how to ride buses in my greater neighborhood in Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City and the core of the County have decent transit, although it's best in the light rail transit shed which I don't live in.

The problem for me is that my mobility mindset is really shaped by the bike and point-to-point movement, that is going directly from origin to destination.

While there are a bunch of bus lines serving my area, and I can get within 5 miles pretty easily riding buses--since my congestive heart failure I am not supposed to drive, and I don't have the stamina to bike--mostly I get driven places.

The problem with point to point thinking is when bus routes aren't point to point.  In the eastern side of the city, the University of Utah Union is a key bus transfer point.  (The campus is also served by 3 light rail stations, and students get free transit access as part of their ID cards.)

But I only know the routes as they are, where I go to and from.  But there are bus stops for two major routes within a few blocks of my house and one of those routes takes me to my hospital.

UTA transfer ticket.

But when the line "breaks" and deviates from the main road, I get hyper and off the bus, to walk to the place where I know I can transfer, back to a different main road.

But it's really hard because of CHF, so I have to stop a lot and rest.

Saturday, after doing this to come back from the 9th and 9th Festival, I realized that my point to point approach doesn't work up here, that it's significantly easier if I go with the flow and when the bus route deviates to go to the University of Utah, so should I, because I can still catch the transfer bus there, and I won't need to walk as much.  It will also shorten many trips for me in terms of time, even if the distance is longer.  From the University website:

A new transit hub, located in front of the Union, will accommodate more frequent UTA bus service coming to campus. The Transit Hub construction project includes: 

• Expanding the bus stop and staging area 

• Relocating the ADA stalls to the pay lot 

• Creating a new entrance to the Union pay lot, which will be located at the north end.  each week.

Being less focused on point to point makes it easier to go to my primary hospital if I have to and other places.  Many of my primary destinations are within a 5 mile distance, and if you use the online transit trackers, pretty easy to get to and from.