Wednesday August 06, 2008
Katy Dickinson
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Wednesday August 06, 2008
Learning to Ride the Train
This was a big week for my 15-year-old son Paul. He rode CalTrain (the commuter train that runs from Gilroy to San Francisco on the Peninsula) and San Francisco's city trams and buses to his grandmother's house by himself, twice. Paul and his older sister Jessica are working on a summer project taking photos of some of my mother's folk art collection. Usually, they travel together but two days this week Paul had to start from San Jose later. The San Francisco Bay Area is made up of nine counties and about 100 big and little communities. San Jose and San Francisco are about fifty miles apart.
Jessica is independent and has been riding the train by herself since she was 11. She started riding CalTrain to San Francisco regularly in 2005 (when she was 17). This summer while she is home from college, she has been giving Paul lessons in public transit - showing him where and how to buy tickets, where the bus stops are, and how to work out transfers and connections.
Once you know how public transit works, it seems easy. I grew up riding San Francisco buses but I didn't ride the train by myself until I was about Paul's age. There was a boy in Jessica's class who waited until college to learn. I hope Paul will take advantage of his new knowledge to explore more of the Bay Area.
CalTrain engine 920
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CalTrain station engine decoration
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Images Copyright 2007 by Katy Dickinson
Posted at 10:15PM Aug 06, 2008 by katysblog in Home & Family |
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