What's so bad about riding the bus to work?

[Bright_Star]

I called my mom to wish her a Happy Thanksgiving & it wasn't long before she started talking about & getting upset over the fact that I take the bus every day to work. I said I don't mind taking it cause it's comfy & I read a book on the way. PLUS when I get to the transfer center & I know I have a ways to wait for the next bus then I head on over to a deli or someplace like that so I don't have to wait outside if the weather is nasty. & I get something to eat or drink while I'm waiting.

She was actually crying over the phone & I tried telling her that I'm doing fine. Said if she had the money to give me for a car then she'd do it but she can't.

Riding the bus gets me to work on time. Doesn't bother me one bit. Eventually I'll get a car but I'm no hurry.

[Cat]

I wish I had the option of a bus or train to work!! My commute is about 2 hours round trip, and I've love that time to read or watch movies :)


Nothing at all wrong a bus (unless ya sit near some crazies)

[Plaidman]

Saves money on gas. Less pollution. You enjoy it. Get to meet new people. Time to read and thus further your mind.

Yeah. Plenty of reasons to ride bus.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Bus is a lot cheaper than car maintenance. When I worked in Philly I drove 10 minutes to the train statin (50 cents a day to park, unless I parked in the overflow area and then it was free...but also came with the risk of finding your car in the middle of a mud puddle if it rained all day) and had a half hour train ride, then 6 blocks to walk (or 4 blocks on the subway and 2 blocks to walk) to my office. Of course, my train pass was in addition to my car expenses, but I didn't use nearly as much gas as I do now, with a 30-mile round trip and no convenient public trasportation. And that doesn't include the extra mileage and related upkeep. (If I worked in NYC, I would have a two minute walk to the bus stop behind my apartment complex.) And I can't read while I drive. :(

[Broomjockey]

I love taking the bus for a number of reasons. Unfortunately, my ride's not long enough to read any more, but you know how much I spend on transit in an average month? $45. Due to my job, I get to ride a portion of our subway for free, and I take that to/from work, and I just have to walk a few blocks in exchange. So I end up buying about 20 bus tickets a month for when I'm lazy or going somewhere outside walking range. Even if I didn't have the job I did, a bus pass is about $78/month for unlimited rides. I know people who spend twice that for gas a month.

[lupo pazzesco]

I personally don't really mind metro. It's about an hour to an hour and a half each way, depending on traffic. I can get pretty much most places around town by bus, and I spend $1.20, round trip. That's about $36/month, riding the bus once a day, with free transfers. I get to read or study. I honestly don't think there's anything wrong with it. My mom has expressed that she sometimes wishes I could have a car, for safety reasons, but it works for me.

[tropicsgoddess]

When I rode the bus, there were some good and bad things about it.

Good:

I can sleep, watch videos, text, talk and surf the net and read while riding the bus
Meet new people
Less Expensive


Bad:
Waiting for more than 20 minutes at a time for the bus (especially in inclement weather too)

Dealing with crazies and smellies on the bus

The long walking distances to some or most bus stops (especially those without covers)

[Soulstealer]

Maybe next time she mentions it you could sit down and explain to her that you like the bus and that there's nothing wrong with it.

[Chromatix]

Since the main railway station's underground section flooded a couple of weeks ago, I now have to take the train and then the bus (because the metro no longer stops there). The alternative is to walk to the next metro stop.

Fortunately the public transport here is completely integrated, so it doesn't cost me any extra - it's just dashed inconvenient. But it's still better than trying to drive or cycle the distance every day. (And I don't have a car anyway.)

[NightWatch]

I live 6 blocks from work and drive. I used to walk or bike to work, but my coworkers eat out nearly every day and throw a fit if I don't drive at least one day a week. I got tired of getting my head chewed off for it. I guess now that I can't afford to eat out anymore I can go back to walking/biking.

[Stormraven]

I have no problems normally with taking a bus. As has been said, gives me time to read, etc.

Couldn't do it at my last place of work, though. In order to get to work by 7 o'clock (actually about ten minutes to), I had to be awake at about 3:30, so I could walk a mile and a half to a bus stop, which bus would take me to BART. Three stops on that, then another bus would take me to work.

Relaxing, except for the sleep I'd lose. Still, if it were an option for any upcoming jobs I'd definitely consider it.

[Mikkel]

Did she explain why she thought it was so bad? I can't see why it should be.

[blas]

The OP's mother could be worried about her safety, because parenting is a lifetime thing :)

My parents are like that about my laundry....they don't want me taking it anywhere but their place.

[Gravekeeper]

I'm 29 and have never had a license. Never needed one. Public transit has gotten me everywhere since I moved out at 18. Why would I want the sheer expense of a vehicle and the stress of driving it when I don't need one in any capacity?

I mean if I had a car it'd be a 60 minute commute to work. Without one its a 45 minute nap to work. >.>

[Jester]

Public transit has gotten me everywhere since I moved out at 18. Why would I want the sheer expense of a vehicle and the stress of driving it when I don't need one in any capacity?

Two points here.

1. The OP's public transportation system may not be at the level of Vancouver's, and the OP's mother may well know this.

2. You have regaled us time and again with horror stories from your daily commute. From crazies to drunks to weirdos to police situations to transit breakdowns to stuff I am not even remembering. Frankly, I hardly think you are the poster boy for joys of public transportation! :lol:

[Soulstealer]

Two points here.

1. The OP's public transportation system may not be at the level of Vancouver's, and the OP's mother may well know this.

2. You have regaled us time and again with horror stories from your daily commute. From crazies to drunks to weirdos to police situations to transit breakdowns to stuff I am not even remembering. Frankly, I hardly think you are the poster boy for joys of public transportation! :lol:

Indeed, if I ever visit Vancouver I may have to rent a car just out of fear of Broadway;) Although in all seriousness if the poster doesn't have a problem with the transit system then it probably doesn't suck too much. His mom might just be a little over protective but then again has a parent it's their right to be that way.

[blas]

Thanks for pointing that out, Jester.

Not every one of us is from a big enough area to have a 24/7 (or even close to that) transit system.....or even a transit system that goes literally all over the city.

I can see people in Milwaukee or Madison or Green Bay could probably get away with it, but for those of us in these piddly towns and cities where public transit is a bigger joke than a spray tan...yeah, we have to have our own vehicles or rely on someone else who does.

I for one love having my own vehicle. Maintenance and gas sure can be a pain and being stranded occasionally sucks, but I think it still beats the heck out of the crazies and weirdos on the busses around here.

[KellyHabersham]

The main thing I always disliked about having to ride the bus to work (this being from my time at Macy's) was the way the bus routes were planned out. I had to take two buses to get there, and because the second bus didn't complete the entire route every trip, if I missed it, I had to wait an hour for the next "full trip" bus to come by.

[NightWatch]

Around here we have great roads and even downtown is highly accessible by car. We actually have a reasonable amount of parking. The busses are expensive here, like $2.50a pop, and more if you take an express route. The stops are limited and therefore if you aren't travelling near a major thoroughfare, you're kinda SOL, unless you don't mind biking or walking the rest of the way. and the rest of the way isn't always "just a few blocks". Also, if you are going to be out later then 9PM, a lot of the busses have stopped running. Although the TRAX line runs til midnight on some nights.

It's also a retarded set up. Sometimes the only way to get somewhere is to take a bus that goes the opposite way. For example, it your job is far southwest from your home, you might have to get on a bus that takes you 3 miles north, to get on a train that takes you west, to get on another train that finally takes you south. The further south you get, the fewer busses you'll find too. and FYI, a LOT of people live in the southern part of this city.

[protege]

Pittsburgh's mass transit system is awful. Mainly because there aren't that many subway routes, and several bus routes have seen cutbacks lately. The Port Authority's fiscal woes have managed to turn a 15-minute trip into well over an hour in many cases. Not helping matters, is that most bus routes from the 'burbs end up downtown. To cross the city, or even head into other areas, you'll need a transfer. But, because of cutbacks, if you're late...you've missed your transfer, and will be waiting a bit for the next one. Years ago though, you could take a trolley or bus anywhere in town. Most of the trolley routes were gone by the 1970s--trolleys were scrapped in favor of buses. Either way, service was better then.

If I could, I'd *gladly* take mass transit to work. But, until the system is expanded (and by "expanded," I don't mean that billion-dollar hole under the river to serve the stadiums!), it's not happening. I can get wherever I need to be, usually faster, in my own car.

[Chromatix]

Meanwhile over here, they just put a new type of train in service a couple of weeks ago. So far only one unit is actually in service, with a second used for driver training, but a few dozen of these 4-car units are on order.

They're a heavily localised version of the Stadler FLIRT, for those of us from the rest of Europe who know what those are. In this case "heavily localised" means they widened the wheel gauge, widened the body, winterised it to -40°C with triple glazing and a heat-feedback system in the air circulation, and even put in a special seat layout to cope with commuter loads.

Probably they'll be used to replace a lot of the 1960s and 70s units that are still in heavy use. I regularly see all four types of commuter EMU on my line (Sm1/2 as the oldest type, Sm4 as the newish one, and Sm5 as the FLIRT - the Sm3 is the Pendolino which is only used for fast expresses).

As it happens the Sm1/2 are actually still quite comfortable and sufficiently fast and reliable, but they're not wheelchair accessible and barely pram-accessible (it's easier if someone helps). Unlike in Britain, the platforms are not above chassis height, so non-unibody trains all have steps up to floor height.

The older trams have the same problem, but to get around that they've had someone build a low-floor unit to insert into the middle of them, re-using some extra bogies in the process. The result is a perfectly good tram with an extended lifespan and which needs a longer platform...

And they've started work on the extension of the Metro into next-door Espoo. As part of that, they're migrating to driverless operation, resignaling the entire existing line too. They hope that the flooded Central Railway Station stop on it can be re-opened in January, after they've replaced the lifts and repaired the escalators.

[Gravekeeper]

2. You have regaled us time and again with horror stories from your daily commute. From crazies to drunks to weirdos to police situations to transit breakdowns to stuff I am not even remembering. Frankly, I hardly think you are the poster boy for joys of public transportation! :lol:

Touche. Though Broadway denizens aside our transit system is pretty awesome.

I'm still alive and I ride it weekly at the worst possible times of night. But then I mean we can leave the office here at 3am for a munchies run and the worst that will happen to you is someone might ask you for change.