By AJ Slepian /// Staff Writer
The Pio is our infamous cheap connection to the real world. It certainly does its job chugging along and getting us here and there, but reliability isn’t always part of the bargain. Besides its spotty punctuality, the Pio can be the ultimate resource for getting off the hill. You just have to know how to work with it.
Catching the Pio
You’ve just gotten out of your third time seeing “Frozen” this week and you realize you’re about six minutes away from missing the last Pio of the night. Luckily for you, the Pioneer Place Cinema is only six blocks away. But getting to the stop in time isn’t always necessary depending on the driver. If it’s someone nice and they see you frantically stumbling up Salmon and waving your arms wildly, there’s the slight chance they’ll recognize you as a forlorn LC student trying to get home and wait that precious few seconds for you to climb aboard. If you miss the last Pio, well, I hear it’s only a three-hour walk back!
The Ultimate Truth
There actually is no schedule. The drivers just pick up and drop off when it’s convenient and time isn’t hugely relevant in that equation. So that convenient little schedule on the lclark page is somewhat useful but not entirely reliable. The best tool is the Fleetmatics app if you don’t have a smartphone or a scouting pigeon. The info for downloading the Fleetmatics app is on the transportation page of lclark and it tracks the Pio in real time.
All of the Transports
Hey! Did ya know you can put your bike on the Pio? Yes. You have to pull the bar all the way out and around the wheel, otherwise impatient bikers will sarcastically point this out to you while you struggle to lift your oversized mountain bike onto the rack. Some drivers will require you to have a bike pass sticker on your ID card in order to transport your bike. These can be picked up in the facilities office free of charge. It’s always nice to bike all the way down to Portland and then have the Pio carry you and your lazy ass back up to school. JK ain’t nobody got time for biking up Terwilliger.
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