More often than not, I’m amazed at how my mind wanders and what comes as a result.

I am a member of the Davis Odd Fellows and was attending an event at the Lodge recently when I learned about the 12th Annual César Chávez Elementary School Bike Swap at 1221 Anderson Road set from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 6. Last year more than 350 bicycles were sold — both adult and kid’s bikes, and several bike trailers, too. All proceeds go to PTA programs at participating Davis Schools.

From that nugget of information, I got to thinking about the bicycle racks I see on Yolo Buses.

And that got me thinking about what was happening with regard to a proposed downtown “Transit Center” in Woodland, which I wrote about in early February, stating that it was a good idea in a bad location being proposed on Court Street in front of the Post Office.

And then I read about the direction provided Tuesday night by the Woodland City Council to appoint Mayra Vega and David Moreno to an ad hoc subcommittee with the Yolo Transportation District to work on relocation options for a new Transit Center because the council didn’t like the location at Court and Second streets either.

That got me thinking about where in “downtown” Woodland would be a good location. I thought the parking lot on Court at College streets would be adequate, although Transportation District staff said it would not due to accessibility problems for buses.

So, then I spent a Wednesday morning — after the council’s decision to form an ad hoc subcommittee — driving around downtown trying to see what areas would be relatively inexpensive to adapt to a Transit Center yet still be convenient for riders.

No one disputes that the old County Fair Mall location is inconvenient for any of a number of reasons ranging from safety to accessibility. And remember that a downtown bus Transit Center has been studied for many years, yet there is still no agreement on where it should be located.

The city has indicated it would prefer a new Transit Center at Sixth Street and Lincoln Avenue. If the city is referring to that precise location, I guess I could agree but it would mean developing a small parcel of land immediately north of the old Railroad Depot now fenced off; or developing the far east end of Lincoln Avenue where it merges into the Woodland Joint Unified School District’s parking lot.

In my drive downtown, I looked at the Sixth and Lincoln location, but I also looked at Sixth Street between Cross Street and Oak Avenue, where two parking lots have been built primarily for people going to and coming from the Yolo County Courthouse.

Both parking lots offer plenty of space for people driving their vehicles there to catch a bus bound for Davis or Sacramento. They are about three blocks from Main Street and near the Police Station.

The parking lots could also be adapted to accommodate Yolo Buses by tearing out some entry and exit points to make them bigger and removing some interior concrete barriers.

At worst, buses could park on Sixth Street. That would be no different than what has been proposed on Court Street.

The lots could also accommodate bicycle riders since the city has been working diligently to provide more bicycle lanes. Some of those bicyclists might be from Davis, where they bought a bicycle at the César Chávez Elementary School Bike Swap.

Jim Smith is the former editor of The Daily Democrat, retiring in 2021 after a 27-year career at the paper.