Wheels on the bus

What I'm listening to: Savoir Faire by Suede

We ride the bus to work every day. I really don't like driving, to tell you the truth, and I especially don't like having to pay $80-$100 a month for parking in downtown Milwaukee. So, the bus is a relief. And there are no good morning radio stations in Milwaukee, but that's a whole other blog post.

Jim and I ride the freeway flyer from the State Fair Park n' Ride lot. It is about a mile from our house in Stallis. Work pays like 50% of our monthly bus pass costs. The bus is usually on time. It takes less than 30 minutes for us to get to work, and the bus stops right in front of our campus. I mean, can you beat that with a stick? No, you can't. Duh.

People don't want to ride the bus because they say that public transit riders are freaks. Yeah, I've heard the stories -- the one about the guy who talks to himself, or the one where the bum stinks of alcohol, or worse. And you haters probably have a point, but I've never seen these folk.

Saving money is great, and the fact I don't have to drive is even better, but the best part of the bus are our bus friends. Jim and I have been riding this freeway flyer for over 4 years now, and we have met some really cool people that I would have never talked to if we didn't ride the bus together. We have some fun times on our rides, telling stories about our jobs, our lives, our families. If I ever need a referral for any type of work -- be it a podiatrist to a fence contractor -- the bus friends have a suggestion ready. We even have inside jokes, if you can believe it! And if we miss a day on the bus, we get scolded the next day for skipping out.

All of us were even included in a Southeast Wisconsin Transit System commercial together about one of my bus friends, Mike -- "Mike's Ride". That was a lot of fun - check it out!

I heart the bus and I am so glad that we got the chance to meet the wonderful, warm and funny people that are our bus friends. I highly recommend public transit to anyone who commutes -- I know, sometimes people can't take the bus bc they have kids or whatever, but if you can, seriously consider it! Who knows, you might even meet some book people!

Hey, do you currently ride the bus? What's your favorite thing about riding the bus? And no, MCTS is not putting me up to this! LOL