OPB’s Lillian Karabaic and Prakruti Bhatt experienced the joys and difficulties of rural transit — and talked to many people along the way 00:00 / 05:53Stop Requested is a journey by public transit to all the communities that OPB says on the radio every hour This is a map of the route which took 14 days and 38 buses to complete After a two-day layover in Bend, we’re back on the bus and headed east on the Oregon Eastern POINT, which provides stops at eight different communities between Bend and Ontario It’s the only option for long-distance travel in this part of the state subsidized by Oregon Department of Transportation funds The five-hour hour journey isn’t cheap though but it’s a comfortable ride with slow-but-functional Wi-Fi and only three other passengers on the full-sized coach bus The bus pulls into Malheur Council on Aging in Ontario Then we face the challenge of getting to Baker City by public transit FlixBus, the company that acquired long-distance bus operator Greyhound in 2021 travels from Ontario to La Grande on its way to Portland Right in the middle of Ontario and La Grande is Baker City. But earlier this year, Baker City disappeared off the list of FlixBus destinations. This happened as FlixBus has been closing down bus stations across the country. I am left wondering — how are we going to get to Baker City? Grant County People Mover’s twice-a-month bus from John Day to Baker City was discontinued earlier this year due to low ridership (“approximately eight riders in the past year,” according to their general manager) There’s no official public transit route into Baker City from the east or the south anymore we find out we can buy a ticket to La Grande and simply get off the bus in Baker City at the truck stop and not get back on — as long as the bus driver would let us “It’s an unofficial stop,” says our bus driver When we reach Love’s Travel Stop in Baker City we get off the bus and are met by local transit enthusiast Matt Krabacher very limited public transit options to get out of the city,” says Krabacher a member of Association of Oregon Rail and Transit Advocates is one advocate trying to bring back the Pioneer Amtrak line which would connect Salt Lake City to Portland via Eastern Oregon by rail Krabacher is trying to change that. He’s part of the Association of Oregon Rail and Transit Advocates who are attempted to restore service on the Amtrak “Pioneer” route that ran from Salt Lake City through Eastern Oregon until 1997 Krabacher thinks trains are ideal in a region where driving “There’s two passes to the north of us that close regularly in winter due to inclement weather That makes it even harder to access health care in a part of the state that has dwindling health care resources We have two days until we can catch our bus to La Grande, so Krabacher recommends we spend our Saturday evening at an event you wouldn’t find anywhere else in the world: The Great Salt Lick auction Attendees browse the "art," which are actually already-licked salt licks to be auctioned at The Great Salt Lick contest and auction in Baker City on Sept "It's where culture meets agriculture" said attendee Matt Krabacher The raucous event raises money for Parkinson's disease research at Oregon Health & Science University Baker City local Whit Deschner says he got the idea for the event when he looked at a salt lick sideways and thought “doesn’t that kind of look like a sculpture?” They’ve raised more than $200,000 from selling blocks of salt Related: How East Oregon’s Great Salt Lick auction helps in the fight against Parkinson’s disease Related: Watch Oregon Art Beat episode on the Great Salt Lick Contest in 2011 This is the first year Baker City Lions Club is running the event whose own Parkinson’s has made running the event harder Attendees prepare to bid on salt licks at The Great Salt Lick contest and auction in Baker City on Sept which is where “culture meets agriculture” is about bringing the Baker City ranching community and the artist community together A few of the salt licks tonight are “forgeries” — actually sculptures from other materials meant to look like salt licks The event has become beloved in Baker City There is even a large salt lick sculpture in Baker City’s downtown — not made from real salt Locals Susan and Irv Townsend are ready to add to to their collection of salt licks we’ll buy ‘em and then put ‘em up for auction again." Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash carries a blue salt lick preparing to be auctioned at The Great Salt Lick contest and auction in Baker City on Sept Once everyone has picked their favorites … it’s time for the auction The audience of several hundred people cheers as salt licks are paraded down the aisle Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash stands in front of the new patrol truck that OPB's Lillian Karabaic and Prakruti Bhatt ride in to Community Connections NEO Transit hub on Sept One of the volunteers at The Great Salt Lick event is Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash Word spreads during the evening in a particular small-town way about our adventure by transit When Ash hears we need a ride to the bus stop on Monday morning There are no taxis or ride-hailing services in Baker City we end up riding in a brand-new Baker County patrol car The tiny holding cell is fresh enough that I might be the first person to sit inside It’s certainly one way to arrive in style to the bus station Baker City Herald reports that Baker City now has one Uber driver as of Nov Community Connection of Northeast Oregon (CCNO) operates a connector bus between Baker City and La Grande on weekdays is 70 years old and said that she appreciates that CCNO hires seniors She likes driving the bus and knows all her regulars — she even waited a few minutes for one of her regular riders in Haines when he didn’t show to the bus stop.Today the bus has one student and one professor on board riding to the first day of school at Eastern Oregon University We pull in right on time to La Grande Transit Hub where we have most of the day to wait before our next bus to Wallowa County Next in the series: We head from La Grande to Enterprise where the bus driver fills us in on all the local sasquatch sightings Tags: Baker City, Public Transit, Oregon, Bend, Ontario Stand with OPB and protect independent journalism for everyone Listen to the OPB News live stream (opens new window)Streaming Now