I said I would provide a different reason each week for why you may want to participate in the CTrides Drive Less CT Climate Challenge. This week, I present 30 reasons for why you may enjoy replacing car trips with rides on public transit – specifically, The Bus.

  1. It’s a safer option for those who have been drinking (or using other substances that affect judgment, coordination, and reaction times).
  2. You don’t have to do gross things like pump gasoline or check the oil.
  3. Unable to participate in whining sessions about how hard it was to find a parking space or all the traffic you were stuck in, you’re now free to make more meaningful conversations with acquaintances. For instance, how many boba shops can reasonably exist within a quarter mile?
  4. You get free lessons in patience. And a lot of y’all did not get these lessons in childhood.
  5. When riding the bus, you get to arrive at your destination (work, friend visit, church, wherever) calm. If someone cut off the bus, you probably aren’t even aware that happened . . . because you were able to scroll through Instagram, not having to keep your eyes on the road.
  6. Being on the bus doesn’t just feel safer – it is safer! In the United States, the “fatality rate for car occupants were found to be 23 times higher than those for bus occupants.”
  7. By taking part in this communal experience, you can break yourself out of the loneliness that comes from solitary modes of transportation.
  8. While someone else drives, you have time to sit back and finally delete the photos and emails cluttering your phone.
  9. People treat you with the same kind of awe held for those who have just come back from living in Antarctica.
  10. Those who say you can’t be spontaneous when taking public transit have never played bus roulette: waiting at a stop that is served by multiple bus routes and getting on the first one that arrives without looking at the bus number.
  11. Surge pricing is totally not a thing for buses. If the rate changes, there is typically a long period of public notification. You won’t be caught wondering if a ride home that night is going to be $1.75 or $25. Riding the bus allows you to budget.
  12. You are urged to be less selfish by virtue of sharing space with people you are not related to or even know. Character development.
  13. You are relieved of the anxiety that comes from sitting behind the wheel of a machine that can kill humans and animals.
  14. If the bus breaks down, you are inconvenienced, but it is not your problem. Once the replacement bus arrives, you get to go about your day. If this happens in your private vehicle, you are the one stuck calling the tow truck, waiting around in an auto body shop for hours and/or having to get a rental.
  15. You have time to read.
  16. You get lessons in how to get along with various types of people in a real way, rather than in a cutesy, detached, performative lawn sign way.
  17. There are bragging rights that one gets by moving large or unwieldy objects by modes other than private car. In the last year, I have seen people bring onto the bus: a large television, a comforter set, a heavy mirror . . . and none of those were in push carts.
  18. It’s a safer option when you’re tired.
  19. You are doing a favor for others by contributing less to congestion and pollution.
  20. On a date? You get to sit right next to your love interest without a stick shift in the way, and you can actually pay close attention to each other without risking injury. (The not-so-PG version of this is that later, you both will need to change out of your bus pants. YOU’RE WELCOME.)
  21. Riding the bus still requires getting to and from bus stops. Sometimes this means you get in more steps; sometimes this means getting dropped off directly in front of your destination, closer than anyone would find parking.
  22. When you are on the bus, you are unlikely to get sucked into some other driver’s traffic tantrum.
  23. You have an opportunity to meet people with whom you may not otherwise cross paths.
  24. Riding the bus encourages personal responsibility, organization, and independence. If you’re taking transit, you need to develop planning skills.
  25. Does your ego need checking? Ride the bus. Then, you get to say things like, “I take the bus because I don’t think I’m better than everyone else.”
  26. You wake up one day and realize you simply don’t care if a town has “enough” parking or not. This is not your problem. Neither is how to use a parking meter or exit a parking garage. From this perspective, you can see the reality of a parking supply for what it is – nearly always far, far more than anyone needs.
  27. It gives you back the time that you would lose in the driver’s seat. This means having the chance to breathe, get lost in your thoughts, catch up on emails, brainstorm project ideas . . . stuff that you can’t do while having to focus on staying in your lane.
  28. You are relieved of illusions of control, the kind that cause drivers to do petty and dangerous things like tailgate, roll over stop bars, and weave around.
  29. If you have to carry or roll purchases using your own strength, you’re less likely to make regrettable impulse buys. You have to at least ask yourself: is this worth carrying home from the bus stop?
  30. Anybody can sing in their car. It takes real guts to do the same with an audience on the bus. Do you have what it takes?