Skitch Kitchen, 27, knows what it’s like to be intimidated by public transportation. The Phoenix transit planner grew up car-dependent in Atlanta, and when she went to college in Boulder, Colorado, her roommates taught her how to use it there.
It’s something she had to relearn in Phoenix, and again every time she visits a new city.
“ I’m like, ‘Well, how do I pay? Do I need cash? … And then when I get on the bus, where do I pay? And then how do I request a stop? How much is it gonna cost?’ All that stuff,” she told Rent Check PHX.
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That’s why, in 2024, she started posting videos on Instagram and TikTok that demystify public transit and promote walking and biking, in the hopes that it gives Phoenicians the confidence to try it for themselves.
“ I just want to make sure people know how to ride [transit],” she said, “so that if they do want to come downtown for a game or a concert, they can be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I remember. I can use the Park & Ride, and I can download the app and scan it, and then I can get there and not worry about parking.’”
Some of her walkthroughs include her shopping trip to Target via light rail, how she got to a concert by taking the bus, and how to load a bike onto a Valley Metro bus.
And it’s not just local transit she’s passionate about—earlier this year, she documented her honeymoon with her partner Jamie Trufin, traveling around the US on Amtrak. Trufin also makes videos about car-free living, showing people how to do things like cross the US-Mexico border without a car and walk from downtown Phoenix to IKEA in Tempe.
Going car-free
When Kitchen moved to Phoenix for grad school at Arizona State University five years ago, she didn’t start out riding public transit much.
But two things changed that for her: (1) She visited friends in Chicago and felt inspired by their experience riding the train, and (2) she started dating Trufin, who was passionate about public transit and got around without a car.
“ I was like, ‘I’m gonna impress him.’” Kitchen said, “So I took the light rail into downtown Phoenix one day.”
From there, she started using the light rail to commute to her internship. Then, after moving downtown, she was using transit so much that it made financial sense to get rid of her car.
“ I was paying $125 a month to park my car, and I was searching for reasons to use it every week to keep the engine running,” she said. “So after a few months I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’”
Kitchen said the money she saved from not owning a car—including a car payment, insurance, parking, tickets, maintenance, and gas—allowed her and Trufin to buy a home.
The pair intentionally bought a condo last year near the downtown Fry’s so that they could make small, frequent trips to buy groceries on foot. Kitchen gets cat food and litter delivered since the closest pet store is “a pain to get to.”
For longer trips, they’ve had success taking a rideshare, borrowing a car, or riding with friends. And while Kitchen hasn’t rented a car, she knows it’s an option if necessary.
The social benefits
Beyond financial and environmental benefits, Kitchen sees social benefits in public transit.
As a member of the neighborhood group Downtown Core Community, Kitchen organized a bus ride to an ice cream shop so others could learn how to ride the bus and enjoy the trip together. She also organized a group trip to the opening of Valley Metro’s South Central Light Rail Extension.
Kitchen also enjoys running into people she knows while traveling, a type of spontaneous connection she wouldn’t experience on the road.
“ Seeing people get on the bus and we weren’t planning to see each other is just always so wholesome,” she said, “and that would have never happened if we were driving because we would have been in two separate cars, and one person would have been distracted, listening to music or something, and not been looking.”
And while she said she’s too shy to do this, there’s an opportunity to build community on transit.
“ You could absolutely just start chatting with the people next to you and make some friends, and maybe befriend someone who has the same commute as you or something, or befriend your drivers,” she said.
Kitchen said she hopes the videos she creates help to destigmatize and advocate for public transit, especially buses which tend to be overlooked.
“ If people want to drive, that’s fine,” she said. “I just want them to be able to choose between driving or walking or biking or transit. They shouldn’t be forced to drive.”
