The riders' line on light rail

So I cheated a little.

Instead of kissing off my car and walking or busing to my light-rail station Monday morning — the first commute day for the new line — I drove to a $3 parking lot in Columbia City and walked the few blocks over.

As I did, I served penance in my head: Next time I will get up earlier and walk to the station, and pack brass knuckles for the walk home at night.

Or maybe I will get a bike. Then I could ride it to the station, bring the bike onto the train, ride into the Westlake Station, then bike it up to the office.

Or I could take the Metro bus down Rainier to the Mount Baker Station, ride light rail to Westlake and walk the rest.

There you go. That could work. I can be a light-rail lady and make all this tax money and politicking and hot air worth it.

But then I boarded the new train and took a seat behind Marsha Donaldson, who promptly put me to shame.

In the time it took me to wake up and get my sorry butt to the station less than a mile from my house, she had been to the airport and back.

That morning, she and a friend walked to University Way, where they caught the No. 71 Metro bus. They took it to Westlake Center, rode the train to Tukwila, took the shuttle to the airport, said their goodbyes, then Donaldson did the whole thing in reverse. Her feet had barely touched the ground.

You are Mayor Greg Nickels' dream girl, I said.

The best I can do for Green Seattle is recycle, mostly because I fear Hizzoner himself sorting through my trash, finding an errant plastic bag and putting me in the stocks during some free concert at City Hall.

"(Deputy Mayor) Tim Ceis would do that before Nickels did," quipped a woman across the aisle.

Donaldson recycles, she said. And composts. If she had a Prius (she doesn't) I would have to hurt myself.

I looked for some kind of validation from Joe Bahr, who was sitting behind me. No dice.

Bahr is a Metro bus driver who was spending the morning riding light rail — on his own time and money — so he can help his riders with any questions.

That morning, he rode his Honda Helix (an oversized scooter) from his Bothell home to the Northgate Transit Center, took the Metro bus to Westlake and then, like Donaldson, caught the train to Tukwila. He was on his return trip when I got on.

Bahr and Donaldson bonded over all things mass transit. How great it will be when it stretches up to Lynnwood, or better, if they include the 520 bridge, not just I-90, in plans to expand light rail to the Eastside.

"Never going to happen," said a man two seats away. "Because Bill Gates owns in Medina, on the lake, and he doesn't want the bridge any wider to encroach into Medina."

See what you can learn riding public transportation?

Donaldson made a couple of suggestions for the light-rail mucks. (And really, who better?)

The cars need maps showing where each station is in relation to the region. Such maps are posted at the stations; why not inside trains?

The shuttles from Tukwila to the airport need to be clearly marked. Right now, Donaldson said, they're just "blank white buses."

Suggestions for me? Donaldson was too polite, but I knew already: Get with the program and leave the car behind.

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Tuesday and Friday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com.

She'll get back to Katie the nanny.