Commuting - The bus ride

So I am now half-way through two bikeless commutes this week. Some impressions from riding on the bus today:

*The feeling of having to rely on someone else is one of the most helpless imaginable. I couldn't stand it. I ended up getting off a couple of stops before mine and just walking the rest of the way. May I never have to flirt with idleness again.

*I can't stand being totally out of touch with my surrounds. On a bike I can feel the wind, rain and heat, breathe the ocean spray, watch the waves roll in from the South Pacific, maybe even chat with another cyclist I meet along the way. On a bus nobody says a word to anyone else. The hum of the engine absolutely drowns out the outside world, trapping you from it completely. Within about 30 seconds of getting on the bus I buried my head in a book (Roy Keane's autobiography - a terrific read). It was all I could do to make the experience bearable.

The thing I don't understand is that I can sit on a train an hour to ride to Brisbane if need be, but sitting on a bus for 30 minutes to go to work is just terrible. Maybe it's the Werris Creek (Australia's first railway town) upbringing that makes the train bearable. Either way, I can't stand being cut off from the outside world!

I feel ya.

The funny thing about me when I don't ride is that I have no idea what street I'm on or how to get from point A to point B immediately. I was walking with another fellow cyclist I'd run into a couple of days ago (due to my pulled Achilles tendon injury, no bike), and after walking about five minutes, we both stopped and scratched our heads and tried to figure out exactly how far it was to the fitness club we were trying to walk to. It took a few seconds to get our orientation correct.

It's a bit odd to be without a bike, I think. I'm not sure if I'm ready for the bus, though. I'd rather leave an hour early and limp my way across the city then jump the bus, fersheezy man.

I've got my fingers crossed for you, Chris!

Koff

>>>>>>The thing I don't understand is that I can sit on a train an hour to ride to Brisbane if need be, but sitting on a bus for 30 minutes to go to work is just terrible.<<<<

The bus without a doubt, has to be the worse form of transportation ever created. Since our town spent 1.2 billion dollars on a light rail (Trolley), I have not taken the bus in almost a year. It's just incredible how much faster and smoother the ride is compared to a bus. The bus stops at every block and swings you back and forth, side to side. It's a totally cramp ride and I often find myself getting motion sickness after 20 minutes.

The bus was forced upon us by the major auto companies after the war when they bought out the trams and raised the rails so most towns are stuck with the inferrior system of transport. Unfortunately, it costs billions today to set up an effective trolley system so don't expect them to make a comeback anytime soon. Our state paid over 1.2 billion for about 15 miles of rail. Incredible. If they would have just left the rails alone thirty years ago, the cost savings would have been incredible.

I'm with you Chris L, I love riding the train, but I really can't stand riding the bus. For some reason, I have trouble actually doing any reading on the bus. For what I do, the train is actually faster too!

Some buses are efficient. I'll never forget the times I travelled through Singapore and took their bus system from point A to point B. What a smooth ride that was! Very efficient too.

Also, I used the bus in Sweden. Very impressive- the buses were more like trolleys, and I liked that they had digital clocks that would display how many minutes away each bus was from the bus stop. I wished they could do that in Chicago. It would help on those cold days when you're waiting 20 minutes in the cold for the bus wondering how long it's going to be before the bus comes and psyching yourself out every time a bus gets in your view, only to find when it pulls up that it's not your bus. :(

Koff

Chris, I feel for you, too! Going through withdrawls is something no one should do alone. :D

I have a trick for you. Learn the fine art of cat-napping on the bus. You see, with practice, you can fall asleep (a luxury) and wake up within moments of hitting your stop.

:thumbup:

However, it doesn't always work, as my Dad can testify. Once, on the train, a MARTA employee had to wake him up. He had fallen asleep on the train and ridden it all the way into the train yard. What if nobody woke him?

Imagine waking up at night in a dark train...

:eek:

The reason nobody is talking is because they are trying to get a few winks...

When I ride the bus-on-rails (Light Rail) here in SJ I have the advantage of living on the southern terminus and working at the northern terminus. Falling asleep is OK, then, b/c the train stops where I want to go !!

Chris L, sorry if I missed it (I've been real busy), but why the bus and not the bike? Injury?

Anyway, my hilly-half marathon training has put a dent on my commuting miles of late. Can't wait to get 100% back on track.

I actually enjoy people-watching on the bus, because for some reason the strangest people seem to ride it. What I don't like is the people that wreak of whiskey or urine and you are stuck smelling their stench all the way to work.

But I do understand what you're saying about being out of touch with your surroundings. I would choose a bike ride over the bus any day.

Andy-

Chris's bike was stolen by some jerk while he was at work. Since it was his primary mode of transportation, he's reduced to the bus until he gets a new bike. :cry:

It's described more fully in a thread he did called something like "Too angry to put a name on this" or something like that. It's still a recent thread if you want to check the latest bunch of threads from the last couple of days.

Never mind.

I've ridden my fair share of busses and neither enjoyed nor despised them. Well... except for the few cross-country bus rides I took... ick! I do however prefer trains, trams, lightrails and subways. When I was younger, my grandfather would often get stuck with watching over my brother and I during the summers. For lack of better things to do, he used to take us on the Chicago El and we'd just ride different lines around all day... hopping from line to line. I got to know the city pretty well that way.

>>>>>I've ridden my fair share of busses and neither enjoyed nor despised them. Well... except for the few cross-country bus rides I took... ick<<<<

OH MAN.... Years ago, I made the mistake of taking a bus to Washington DC during the middle of the summer on a hot day. It was the worse trip in my life and I'll never do that insanity again. First the bus was cramp as all hell and the air conditioner stopped during the middle of the trip. It was an OVEN inside that bus as we we could only get air from the windows which could only open about 1 inch for safty reasons. I got totally sick to my stomach as we were stuck in traffic for hours. When I decided to use the bathroom, it was an absolute DISASTER as some slob blew the joint up with crap and urine all over. There was no way I was going to sit on that toilet seat. The worse travel experience in my life.

Everyone I know who takes a bus for a long distance journey say the expereince was terrible and they would never do it again.

Originally posted by Chris L
May I never have to flirt with idleness again.
That is one of the most astoundingly simple yet in depth statements I've read. I'm going to quote that often.


On a bus nobody says a word to anyone else. The hum of the engine absolutely drowns out the outside world, trapping you from it completely.
Be glad you're not in Japan. You're smashed into trains there so close to people it's almost carnal. And yet no one talks much. It is sad that people don't talk more often.


(Roy Keane's autobiography - a terrific read).

Who is or was Roy Keane?

Here in Atlanta, the buses can be either jammed and hot, or roomy and comfortable. You just have to know which one to take.

I enjoy a quiet, comfortable ride, maybe even a short snooze, after which I can resume my trek on foot.

I enjoy the feeling of freedom I get by walking. You can think, you're head is clear.

Originally posted by William Karsten
That is one of the most astoundingly simple yet in depth statements I've read. I'm going to quote that often.
....
Who is or was Roy Keane?

Roy Keane is the originator of the quote you're going to quote often. :D He's also the legendary club captain of Manchester United - the greatest team in the world. :D

Originally posted by Andy Dreisch
Chris L, sorry if I missed it (I've been real busy), but why the bus and not the bike? Injury?

Theft. (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?threadid=27694)

I enjoy riding commuter rail far more than riding the bus, but either one is much better than driving a car in a "rush" hour traffic jam. My employer is contemplating an office move, and the most likely new location will give me the one-way choice of a 7mi/11km bike ride or a 2.5mi/4km walk/jog with a 15-minute bus ride. Fortunately, both the walk and the bike ride would include a pretty decent hill climb!

Originally posted by John E
I enjoy riding commuter rail far more than riding the bus, but either one is much better than driving a car in a "rush" hour traffic jam.

I would think the only difference between riding a bus in a "rush" hour traffic jam (as I did in Friday) and driving in a rush hour traffic jam would be the book you can read while you are sitting on the bus. I'd much rather be on my bike where I'm immune to traffic jams.

I ended up getting off a couple of stops before mine and just walking the rest of the way. May I never have to flirt with idleness again.

Totally understand. There's a cafe in the lobby of my building but it usually has a line at the counter. So I always walk to a cafe a block and and half away that's less busy. A friend pointed out that it takes longer to walk to that one than to stand in line at the close one. But to me it seems faster. I just can't stand waiting like that.

Anyway, you'll be back on the bike soon.

I'm off the bike at the moment..twisted my ankle recently, but thankfully not on the bike so no damage there. I have been commuting as a car passenger..give me the bus anytime (unfortunately it doesn't go in the direction of work.)

Sitting in the car, I have noticed a lot more cyclists than usually..might be jealousy on my part? But I find it very frustrating knowing I could just duck down another street, or pass all the cars stuck in traffic if I was on the bike. At least on the bus you can get lost in a book or something..unless you're like me and fall asleep, thus missing your stop..

I agree that was a good quote above. I thought everyone had heard of Roy Keane. The bloke around the corner painted his house dark blue, and at the top painted in white "Goodison Park". I think he might be an Everton supporter?

Originally posted by chester2
The bloke around the corner painted his house dark blue, and at the top painted in white "Goodison Park". I think he might be an Everton supporter?

How far is he from that phone box where their supporters hold their meetings? :D

I hate taking the bus, but sometimes I need to, the reason I hate the bus is their are always too many losers on it, drunks, and people don't leave you alone, someone is always trying to talk to me, when I have no interest in talking to them. also everytime the bus stops, a teenage girl with a baby stroller gets on, after about 4 or 5 times of this it becomes deperssing, listening to screaming kids, I wouldn't be a bus driver for a ll the money in the world.