A Manifesto for Riding the Bus
It’s 7:30. pm. Tonight I’m going dancing, and because this is the modern world where we trust our electric lights, the program doesn’t start for another hour. And I will get there on the bus. I will also be coming home on the bus at around 10:00. Maybe even 10:30.
Please do not faint.
I’ve been told that Christchurch’s public transport system - entirely made up of the bus system and a train that connects Chc to the rest of the East Coast - isn’t very nice. I’ve been told it’s dangerous, slow, unreliable and limited. I’m getting tired of answering incredulous “You don’t have a car?!”s, and I’ve begun to be less inclined to lie and tell people that it’s ‘cause I’m concerned about driving on the left. So I’ve decided to write it.
This is why Wen takes the bus:
1) It’s actually not that dangerous - it’s really well lit, y’all, and the bus drivers are nice people. It’s certainly less dangerous than hitchhiking in Africa. Also, it’s not that slow, it’s not that unreliable, and it’s really pretty extensive. Chc isn’t all that big.
2) It’s cheaper. Taking the bus costs me $20 a week. That’s it. Sometimes it costs me less, if I walk a little more often, but that’s the cap that the bus company sets: it’s never more than 20. (And, that’s 20NZD - currently hovering around 13USD ) Now, you add up what owning and running your car costs you - petrol, insurance, maintenance, buying the thing in the first place, interest on the loans if you got one. Unless you don’t actually use your car much, I can pretty much guarantee it’s more than $20 a week.
3) I get to walk a little every morning. And every afternoon. Occasionally, I get to walk as far as 15 or even 20 minutes from a bus stop to an out of the way address. I get to meet cats and dogs along the way, and listen to birds waking up in the morning. I get to enjoy the daffodils that are just starting to come out, and stop and smell the blossom trees. Try doing that from your car.
4) I don’t have to worry about doing the driving. My bus ride in the morning is just about 15 minutes long. Almost exactly enough time to get through my heretics rosary once and mentally run through my morning plans so that I know what I’ve got to get done once I get to school. I don’t have to deal with the traffic, with the roundabouts, with the cranky other morning drivers. I don’t have to keep an eye on the traffic lights. And you know what? I’m sure I could handle driving on the left - I’m not an idiot and I’ve been living in a left-driving country for the past 2 years. But on the bus, I don’t have to.
5) I am forced to interact with just a few extra people a day - and for me, every one counts. Plus - extra bonus people watching time in every day.
6) There’s a decent chance it’s more environmentally friendly. The debate’s ongoing, and I haven’t checked the numbers on the Chc system, but I’d bet big money that when I take the bus home in the afternoons - when it’s packed with school kids headed home and people coming home from work and people going out to the supermarket - that ride, person for person, has a much lower impact, than if I were to drive home alone.
7) I’m forced to keep to a schedule. I can’t just leave whenever I want, and personally I think that’s a good thing because it leads to…
8) It reminds me that my concerns and schedule are neither the only, nor the most important, in the world. If the bus comes late -- it’s not because they had it out for me personally, it’s ‘cause a bus broke down, or because there are, in fact, hundreds of other people who are taking the bus at this moment and sometimes people slow the system down. If there aren’t a lot of buses coming at 8 at night, it’s because there just aren’t a lot of people who need one right then, and my needs are actually not the first priority of the bus system. I think it’s important to *not* be the priority sometimes. In many ways it reminds me of being in Africa - when I take the bus, I’m not in charge. I have to cede control to the system and risk the bus breaking down and having to come up with a new plan. I have to let go and recognise that I am not the main character of the world’s plotline.
There.
Stop asking.
Please do not faint.
I’ve been told that Christchurch’s public transport system - entirely made up of the bus system and a train that connects Chc to the rest of the East Coast - isn’t very nice. I’ve been told it’s dangerous, slow, unreliable and limited. I’m getting tired of answering incredulous “You don’t have a car?!”s, and I’ve begun to be less inclined to lie and tell people that it’s ‘cause I’m concerned about driving on the left. So I’ve decided to write it.
This is why Wen takes the bus:
1) It’s actually not that dangerous - it’s really well lit, y’all, and the bus drivers are nice people. It’s certainly less dangerous than hitchhiking in Africa. Also, it’s not that slow, it’s not that unreliable, and it’s really pretty extensive. Chc isn’t all that big.
2) It’s cheaper. Taking the bus costs me $20 a week. That’s it. Sometimes it costs me less, if I walk a little more often, but that’s the cap that the bus company sets: it’s never more than 20. (And, that’s 20NZD - currently hovering around 13USD ) Now, you add up what owning and running your car costs you - petrol, insurance, maintenance, buying the thing in the first place, interest on the loans if you got one. Unless you don’t actually use your car much, I can pretty much guarantee it’s more than $20 a week.
3) I get to walk a little every morning. And every afternoon. Occasionally, I get to walk as far as 15 or even 20 minutes from a bus stop to an out of the way address. I get to meet cats and dogs along the way, and listen to birds waking up in the morning. I get to enjoy the daffodils that are just starting to come out, and stop and smell the blossom trees. Try doing that from your car.
4) I don’t have to worry about doing the driving. My bus ride in the morning is just about 15 minutes long. Almost exactly enough time to get through my heretics rosary once and mentally run through my morning plans so that I know what I’ve got to get done once I get to school. I don’t have to deal with the traffic, with the roundabouts, with the cranky other morning drivers. I don’t have to keep an eye on the traffic lights. And you know what? I’m sure I could handle driving on the left - I’m not an idiot and I’ve been living in a left-driving country for the past 2 years. But on the bus, I don’t have to.
5) I am forced to interact with just a few extra people a day - and for me, every one counts. Plus - extra bonus people watching time in every day.
6) There’s a decent chance it’s more environmentally friendly. The debate’s ongoing, and I haven’t checked the numbers on the Chc system, but I’d bet big money that when I take the bus home in the afternoons - when it’s packed with school kids headed home and people coming home from work and people going out to the supermarket - that ride, person for person, has a much lower impact, than if I were to drive home alone.
7) I’m forced to keep to a schedule. I can’t just leave whenever I want, and personally I think that’s a good thing because it leads to…
8) It reminds me that my concerns and schedule are neither the only, nor the most important, in the world. If the bus comes late -- it’s not because they had it out for me personally, it’s ‘cause a bus broke down, or because there are, in fact, hundreds of other people who are taking the bus at this moment and sometimes people slow the system down. If there aren’t a lot of buses coming at 8 at night, it’s because there just aren’t a lot of people who need one right then, and my needs are actually not the first priority of the bus system. I think it’s important to *not* be the priority sometimes. In many ways it reminds me of being in Africa - when I take the bus, I’m not in charge. I have to cede control to the system and risk the bus breaking down and having to come up with a new plan. I have to let go and recognise that I am not the main character of the world’s plotline.
There.
Stop asking.