I’ve ridden the city bus nearly every day for 4 years to my job. Still, I feel this slight embarrassment for doing so. Despite the “save the environment” angle and the “less cars on the road” and all the other good reasons to ride it - not to mention the real reason for me, it’s way cheaper than driving and parking costs.
Sometimes I think it’s left-over from the stigma of the school bus - not being wealthy enough to afford a car in high school - or maybe because people to poor to afford a car ride the bus and I’m somehow labeling myself as low-class.
So, how 'bout it? How do you feel about public transportation?
I live in Northern Virginia, work for the federal government, and work in Crystal City. We get a stipend of $100.00 a month in Metrochek vouchers and I really like public transportation. In fact, when I bought my condo, I specified that I wanted to live near buses and subways. Traffic is very heavy where I live and I like the idea of someone else paying attention on my commute. Parking is expensive as well. The main drawback is the waiting on inconvenient bus and subway schedules.
I always rode the bus when I lived in Minneapolis - and I was in good company. There were plenty of lawyers and business people who rode, too. I didn’t learn to drive until I moved to Nashville (at the age of 24), which has pathetic public transportation. And now that I live and work in the Nashville 'burbs, it’s even worse.
I’m in my car a good two hours a day. I used to have a much longer commute - at least three a day. Dallas has a public bus system, but currently it wouldn’t be convenient for me to use it as I would have to make numerous bus changes to get to work each day. I swear, however, that if there was a more convenient way for me to use public transportation I would do it in a heartbeat. I would love to hop on a bus or train with my coffee & paper and let someone else do the damn driving. Screw the stigma.
I never use public transportation. So, I am not credible on this issue. For what it’s worth, I think it is great that you ride the bus. I have been very tempted to use our city bus system on occasion but I am so uninformed about how to get where you want to go. There are times when it would be nice to just relax and ride instead of fighting traffic. We have the “HOV” lane and I spot them really moving as I inch forward. I am not sure why you really care what I think about your commute habits, or what others think. You stated that one of your considerations is cost. I think this makes you very wise, disciplined, and properly grounded. Those of us that have great affection for our automobiles and are so grounded in our own self-interest should take note of your example.
Happy bus riding to you.
I confess that I do not like public transportation. Buses often seem unsafe, go through bad neighborhoods and smell awful. In addition, it often takes 3-4 times as long to get somewhere via public transportation than it does via automobile.
Frankly, I feel about the same as Belrix does on public transportation as expressed in this quote:
(To be fair, there are advantages, such as being able to read on the way to and from work, if you can get a seat.)
I rode the city bus to school for six years. I like the bus. Yeah, it wasn’t (and still isn’t) considered cool, but it was convenient and cheaper than driving. And it saves the car wear, tear, bumps, and dents. I only wish I could take a bus to work now, but as it is, there just isn’t a bus route and I take the poor ole car (which is quickly working its way towards the 100,000-mile mark) for the commute.
That said, in this town, I couldn’t imagine driving a car to work everyday. I do wish I had a car for weekend trips, though. But I don’t think there’s much of a stigma associated with public transportation in DC, at least with the subway.
I grew up using public transit, which in Chicago isn’t that difficult; I could get almost anywhere I needed to on the bus or train. There are times when not driving is inconvenient, like when I need to shop for large/heavy items or need to get somewhere public transit doesn’t go, but I’ve got friends with cars who I can usually bribe to help out when needed.
I really like taking the SEPTA train system whenever I need to go downtown in Philly. Of course, I’ve been away from home for two years, so the fact that it’s such an essential part of my home city probably just makes me nostalgic.
I love public transportation. I feel no stigma in taking the bus, even if the bus stop near me is right outside the local housing project. Plus, I can listen to music and read at the same time, and I know how to do both while standing. I think the police would look at me funny if I tried making it through most of the Economist in a car. And you see interesting people on public transportation.
Personally, I would prefer to live closer to the subway, so I can avoid the extra bus trip to get in town, though.
I love the idea of public transportation. The supposed efficiency, the lack of pollution, the ease on traffic.
Then I try to take the bus. And so far as I can tell, the schedules are figments of someone’s imagination (they never come when they’re scheduled to, if at all) they’re physically uncomfortable, the temperature is never ok, they’re smelly, and they stop in inconvenient places (I have to walk blocks to get there, I have to walk several blocks between transfers, I have to walk even more to get to my final destination.) The only plus is that it is reasonably cheap (as far as money goes, incredibly expensive in terms of time) so long as I only take it infrequently to places that are not my job. Right now, to get to work on the bus would take $4-5/day (more than I pay for gas) and twice as much time as it takes to drive to work.
In addition, people on the buses that I have ridden are plain horrible. I always see the very, very worst of my fellow human beings on public transportation. As bad as car drivers are rumored to be, they have nothing on the general nastiness, rudeness, and flat out evil behavior of people on the bus. I would prefer to believe good things of my fellow man, and I can’t do that when I ride the bus frequently.
I also probably have some issues along the lines Belrix mentioned earlier, that and I’ve never liked buses.
So I end up being in very much in favor of other people using public transportation.
I love the bus. I do a lot of good thinking on the bus.
I live in a small village, but luckily for me, there are regular buses to the two nearest towns. I take the bus to go shopping and do bits of this and that. I work at home, but I used to take the bus to work. The buses are usually pretty empty, but for the old girls and occasionally a mum with a baby or toddler in a pushchair.
When I lived in London I used to take the number 11 bus to work each day. Good bus, the 11. I also like the 10 and the 31.
Regular bus user checking in. I’ve never owned, or even driven, a car… this may change, if the services around Oxfordshire get any worse, but I intend to hold out as long as I can.
Although I’ve seen some anti-social behaviour by fellow passengers, they very rarely sink to the depths of pure evil that amarinth describes. Personally, I can travel on buses for weeks without seeing any murders or demonic rituals. (Not that I believe car drivers engage in such practices either.) Feet on seats and Walkmen turned up too loud, that’s generally the extent of their perfidy.
