Post by bennyp81 on Jun 20, 2005 10:27:43 GMT -8
John
User ID: 9510053 May 4th 12:30 PM
There are so many advantages of riding the bus to places that are beyond reasonable walking distance, it's hard to know where to even begin listing them! Two reasons why I now prefer the bus over the subway are: 1) the view; and 2) the connections.
What view is possible from the window of a subway train? Why, that of a dark wall, of course! Haha! I prefer a view of the good side of Nature, thank you very much! Why would I want a view of a dark wall when, by riding the bus, I can see TREES?
I also find connections via bus to be far superior to subway connections. For instance, when I was commuting to work via subway & bus, when I got off the train in the morning, there was only one coffee house very near the station where it was feasible for me to have breakfast, and I wasn't pleased by the service there. In contrast, now that I've returned to commuting solely by bus, I have a greater choice of establishments to visit for breakfast.
Moreover, when I was commuting by train & bus, the connecting bus choices were not as good as they are now that I'm commuting by bus only once again. Now, the connecting bus is far less crowded, and the headways are very good. Before, although headways were also very good on the connecting bus, it was normally quite crowded.
So, the view and the good connections are two of the primary reasons why I prefer bus riding to subway riding. There are various other advantages to riding the bus, which I shall mention in future posts.
John
User ID: 9510053 May 11th 10:50 AM
Another advantage to riding the bus is that one doesn't normally have to dodge people running down stairs! Back when I rode the subway trains regularly, the racing people problem was one I really came to dread. At the Wilshire/Western Red Line Station, for instance, almost every morning after alighting from the train and proceeding to climb the stairs, I would have to dodge people racing down those stairs! To this day, I haven't the slightest idea why those people felt they had to RACE downstairs. Why were they in such a hurry? Hahahaha! But the worst part was that they didn't just race down on the righthand side of the stairwell; no, sometimes they would descend on the righthand side, sometimes on the left, and sometimes on BOTH sides! Hahahaha!
But, though such behavior seems funny to me today, it definitely wasn't during the period when I took the subway regularly. I think I always feared that someday one of those racers might run into me. What a relief not to have to deal with the downstairs racing phenomenon anymore!
Andrew S
User ID: 0269124 May 11th 11:07 AM
We will all sleep better for that, and can refocus and rededicate our lives to less pressing issues.
Robert
User ID: 9934403 May 11th 12:22 PM
John,
That may be true, but how about all the RUNNERS crossing the street against the RED LIGHT?
Bob
Roberto
User ID: 9161143 May 11th 2:36 PM
I'm sure the people at Wilshire/Western are happy too, since the guy that stands there and blocks the stairs won't be there anymore.
John
User ID: 9510053 May 17th 5:46 PM
One particularly pleasing advantage to riding the bus is that if one feels uncomfortable at one bus stop, he/she can simply walk to another one! Contrast this to the situation at train stations, where one is pretty much stuck with the discomfort, given that the train stations are so very far apart!
For instance, due to the frequent presence of panhandlers at a certain bus stop on Olympic where I used to catch the #28 or the #328 bus, I have simply begun walking a bit further east to a more pleasant stop. And, as it turns out, this is to my advantage since I am able to get in a bit more walking this way, through a very pretty neighborhood full of old homes (some of them even have PORCHES!).
Gosh, there are a lot of advantages to taking the bus!
Robert
User ID: 9934403 May 17th 6:01 PM
This is the key to reduced travel time. That is why your Rapid Busses also run 25% faster than your local busses with many stops. Local busses are to slow to take drivers out of their SUV's and even PORCHES.
Bob
Bart Reed
User ID: 1606604 May 17th 6:18 PM
Now with the Sheriff patrolling the MTA bus system, you just need to call (800) 266-6883 ext. 23589 and tell about the problem bus stop.
I notified the Sheriff about the homeless who were living at the Union Station Bus Shelter and now it is usable by the public once again.
Þ-Þ-®-Þ-Þ
ohn
User ID: 9510053 May 18th 10:18 AM
Safety is another advantage to riding the buses. What happened to all the extremely rude and crude, downright scary people who used to frequent the buses? There seem to be fewer and fewer of them these days, and thank goodness for that! Now, of course there are still some of those; but it seems to me that, in comparison to the numbers of extremely rude and crude, downright scary people who ride the Metro trains (especially the Blue and Green line LIGHT RAIL trains) and who drive automobiles, the buses seem VERY safe and comfortable indeed! As I've commented elsewhere, there definitely ARE silver linings to the existence of light rail!
John
User ID: 9510053 May 24th 5:18 PM
One the greatest advantages to riding the bus is that there are so many different routes from which to choose.
When I need to travel to El Segundo, for example, I have at least three available routing options. This, of course, was never the case when I traveled there by train. Back then, there was only one way to go: Red Line to Blue Line to Green Line, and then either walk the rest of the way into downtown El Segundo or take a connecting bus.
When commuting to and from work, there are also several bus routes I can choose from. This is so nice!
John
User ID: 9510053 Jun 7th 12:33 PM
One particularly satisfying advantage to riding the bus is that one frequently gets to hear bus drivers honk the horn at car culture proponents! I just love this! Although sometimes when I first hear the bus's horn honking, I can't immediately tell the exact reason, I always assume that the general reason is that some militant car culture proponent is driving recklessly! And then OH! the ensuing gratification from the bus driver's noble action is enormous!
Often, the reason is that some car culture proponent has managed to block the bus's path with their pollution-making contraption. Whenever this happens, and I'm sitting on the side of the bus which is closest to the obstructionist, I love to glare out the window at the offender as we bus riders pass by them! Frequently, of course, the offender is sitting in an SUV.
Yesterday evening, I was disappointed that the bus driver did not honk the horn at a female SUV driver who was blocking an intersection with her pollution-maker while at the same time yakking, unsurprisingly, on a cell phone. This cluttering by the car culture proponent caused the bus to have to wait through another traffic light cycle before being able to proceed across the intersection. But, I was reminded of the many bus drivers who DO honk the horn at obstructionists during such situations! Ah! I do so appreciate their noble acts!
Now, of course, bus drivers could never even HOPE to do as much honking at militant car culture proponents as such proponents do at EACH OTHER. I mean, there just wouldn't be any way. But then there really is no comparison between the two honking actions anyway, since when car culture proponents honk at each other, the good vs. evil factor is missing, in my opinion, unlike when a bus driver honks at a car culture proponent. THAT provides a purely ethical satisfaction!
John
User ID: 9510053 Jun 7th 5:46 PM
Another advantage to riding the bus is the comedy that bus riders are sometimes treated to. A good example of this is an incident that occurred on a bus I was riding one day in the past week or two.
At one point the bus driver turned on his P.A. system and lectured some of the passengers who were hovering next to the rear door. He asked why those people were doing that. Did they enjoy being touched by people trying to exit through the rear door? He just couldn't understand why they wanted to crowd around the rear door.
I of course agreed with the point the bus driver was making, having been obliged to brush against other passengers who like to crowd around the rear door many times. I can't imagine what reasons---other than rudeness and crudeness--- they have for hovering in that part of the bus.
But the irony was that all the time the bus driver was lecturing the ones crowded around the rear door, there were two passengers crowding around the FRONT door! Haha! And no, it wasn't that they were about to exit at the next stop, any more than those hovering around the back door were; they continued to clutter the aisle around the front door long after the driver's lecture ended! Yet, did he ever turn on the P.A. system and render a sermon about crowding around the front door? Why, of course not! Hahahahahaha!
I have to confess that I actually enjoy such comedy routines!
John
User ID: 9510053 Jun 14th 1:44 PM
I suppose one of the most obvious advantages of taking the bus is that one can travel most anywhere in the county on it. How very different from the situation with the trains, on which one can only travel only to certain limited areas!
Yesterday, a co-worker scoffed at the little light rail trains, pointing out---correctly of course---that they have apparently done very little to relieve congestion; and we both agreed that most people will never ride them regularly. (This co-worker is an SUV owner.) I added that even when it is possible for me to travel via the light rail trains, such as when I go to the South Bay, I rarely do so because I've had so many negative experiences on them. I asked if he'd ever ridden the little light rail trains and he replied that he hadn't, so I proceeded to tell him about how cramped they are.
When the co-worker criticized the idea of building more subways, I had to agree with him. I said I thought they should have been built long ago, but since they weren't, it would be far too expensive to ever try and build them now (under the present socio-economic-political system, of course).
This co-worker says that a number of years ago, when he worked in a supermarket, he took the bus to work and hated it. However, he says he admires me for riding the bus!
As we were talking yesterday, he asked if my partner and I didn't feel limited by not having a car. He inquired as to what we would do if we had to go to see a doctor in the middle of the night. Would we ride the bus? I replied that I had gone to an Emergency Room at night at least a couple of times in the past, and that we had called a cab for that purpose.
My co-worker then asked about trips. Weren't there some places that we just couldn't visit via bus or train? I started to say that we might not go to a place like Palm Springs by bus, but then I realized that we WOULD if we really wanted to take a trip there! So I replied that no, there really wasn't any place I could think of that we used to rent a car to go to but that we now would rule out visiting by bus and/or train!
I never cease being thankful for Los Angeles's very good transit system!
Chris Ledermuller
User ID: 1718124 Jun 16th 5:42 AM
You can go to Palm Springs by bus, John. You just have to take a Metrolink train to get there.
John
User ID: 9510053 Jun 22nd 5:04 PM
One of the greatest advantages to riding the bus, as opposed to the subway, is that the bus system is so widespread and convenient to use! There are bus lines on almost all---if not all---major streets, whereas there is only one subway in Los Angeles, and it goes only to certain areas.
The great number of bus routes in Los Angeles is very impressive! To commute to my place of employment, for instance, I have a choice of three convenient bus routes! One day recently, I overslept; yet, I was able to get to work even earlier than I usually do simply by taking the most direct of the three bus routes! (I normally opt for one of the other routes because there are three places I can go to for breakfast at my transfer point.) How WONDERFUL that the MTA provides Angelenos with so many options!
And when I go to the Grove/Farmers Market, it ONLY makes sense to go by bus, as traveling there part of the way by subway would be very indirect and needlessly time-consuming. And though I don't live on Fairfax or extremely close to it, I only have to take ONE BUS---the #217---to get to the Grove/Farmers Market! Amazing!
Even when I occasionally go to the South Bay, the bus routes are quite convenient and, though the trips are a little long (in the case of one route this is partly due to the fact that one of the buses now has to pass by the Aviation Green Line Station), I do enjoy them.
I am sometimes reminded of something the teacher of a class I took a number of years ago said. He remarked that sometimes people would ask him how he managed to get around L.A. by bus. "Very easily," was the response he said that he gave them.
Cliffj
User ID: 0812164 Jun 23rd 1:56 AM
WOW John! L.A. sounds like it's far superior than most other cities with the convenient MTA busses!
Other inferior cities only have a regular bus system. What a pity....(tee hee)
John
User ID: 9510053 Jun 25th 10:44 PM
I declare, I have to state again that another great advantage to riding the bus is the comedy one is frequently treated to!
This morning, for instance, as the bus I was riding waited for a light to change, a male who appeared to me to be indigent approached the bus and began attempting to put a bicycle on the rack. Well, he kept trying and trying, in vain, to be successful in this endeavor. One green light came and went, and then a SECOND one, with the bus unable to move forward.
The bus driver yelled a couple of times for the male to hurry: that people were trying to get to work, etc., but the male didn't appear to hear him. Finally, the male moved the bicycle aside and just stared at the bus driver, and then at the side of the bus as it continued its journey at last.
I shook my head and laughed, thinking how glad I was that I didn't have to commute a long distance. Hee hee!
PaulC
User ID: 0206274 Jun 26th 12:15 AM
John, that was actually a negative statement about the bus. I believe its MTA's policy if a bike patron is having trouble getting his bike on the rack, the driver has to go out and assist him. That's not good bus service, that would actually be bad service. I guess its not that great on the bus.
Paul
John
User ID: 9510053 Jun 26th 7:49 AM
Paul, I certainly hope that isn't the MTA's policy. In my opinion, the bus driver should not leave the bus to go perform a totally unnecessary chore. Now, if a driver has to stop to run inside a restaurant and use the bathroom or something like that, that's a different story, of course. But I wouldn't want a bus driver to just waste time.
PaulC
User ID: 0206274 Jun 26th 1:45 PM
Ya, its policy. I looked it up. I hope that person got the bus number and complained.
Paul
User ID: 9510053 May 4th 12:30 PM
There are so many advantages of riding the bus to places that are beyond reasonable walking distance, it's hard to know where to even begin listing them! Two reasons why I now prefer the bus over the subway are: 1) the view; and 2) the connections.
What view is possible from the window of a subway train? Why, that of a dark wall, of course! Haha! I prefer a view of the good side of Nature, thank you very much! Why would I want a view of a dark wall when, by riding the bus, I can see TREES?
I also find connections via bus to be far superior to subway connections. For instance, when I was commuting to work via subway & bus, when I got off the train in the morning, there was only one coffee house very near the station where it was feasible for me to have breakfast, and I wasn't pleased by the service there. In contrast, now that I've returned to commuting solely by bus, I have a greater choice of establishments to visit for breakfast.
Moreover, when I was commuting by train & bus, the connecting bus choices were not as good as they are now that I'm commuting by bus only once again. Now, the connecting bus is far less crowded, and the headways are very good. Before, although headways were also very good on the connecting bus, it was normally quite crowded.
So, the view and the good connections are two of the primary reasons why I prefer bus riding to subway riding. There are various other advantages to riding the bus, which I shall mention in future posts.
John
User ID: 9510053 May 11th 10:50 AM
Another advantage to riding the bus is that one doesn't normally have to dodge people running down stairs! Back when I rode the subway trains regularly, the racing people problem was one I really came to dread. At the Wilshire/Western Red Line Station, for instance, almost every morning after alighting from the train and proceeding to climb the stairs, I would have to dodge people racing down those stairs! To this day, I haven't the slightest idea why those people felt they had to RACE downstairs. Why were they in such a hurry? Hahahaha! But the worst part was that they didn't just race down on the righthand side of the stairwell; no, sometimes they would descend on the righthand side, sometimes on the left, and sometimes on BOTH sides! Hahahaha!
But, though such behavior seems funny to me today, it definitely wasn't during the period when I took the subway regularly. I think I always feared that someday one of those racers might run into me. What a relief not to have to deal with the downstairs racing phenomenon anymore!
Andrew S
User ID: 0269124 May 11th 11:07 AM
What a relief not to have to deal with the downstairs racing phenomenon anymore!
We will all sleep better for that, and can refocus and rededicate our lives to less pressing issues.
Robert
User ID: 9934403 May 11th 12:22 PM
John,
That may be true, but how about all the RUNNERS crossing the street against the RED LIGHT?
Bob
Roberto
User ID: 9161143 May 11th 2:36 PM
What a relief not to have to deal with the downstairs racing phenomenon anymore!
I'm sure the people at Wilshire/Western are happy too, since the guy that stands there and blocks the stairs won't be there anymore.
John
User ID: 9510053 May 17th 5:46 PM
One particularly pleasing advantage to riding the bus is that if one feels uncomfortable at one bus stop, he/she can simply walk to another one! Contrast this to the situation at train stations, where one is pretty much stuck with the discomfort, given that the train stations are so very far apart!
For instance, due to the frequent presence of panhandlers at a certain bus stop on Olympic where I used to catch the #28 or the #328 bus, I have simply begun walking a bit further east to a more pleasant stop. And, as it turns out, this is to my advantage since I am able to get in a bit more walking this way, through a very pretty neighborhood full of old homes (some of them even have PORCHES!).
Gosh, there are a lot of advantages to taking the bus!
Robert
User ID: 9934403 May 17th 6:01 PM
... given that the train stations are so very far apart!
This is the key to reduced travel time. That is why your Rapid Busses also run 25% faster than your local busses with many stops. Local busses are to slow to take drivers out of their SUV's and even PORCHES.
Bob
Bart Reed
User ID: 1606604 May 17th 6:18 PM
Now with the Sheriff patrolling the MTA bus system, you just need to call (800) 266-6883 ext. 23589 and tell about the problem bus stop.
I notified the Sheriff about the homeless who were living at the Union Station Bus Shelter and now it is usable by the public once again.
Þ-Þ-®-Þ-Þ
ohn
User ID: 9510053 May 18th 10:18 AM
Safety is another advantage to riding the buses. What happened to all the extremely rude and crude, downright scary people who used to frequent the buses? There seem to be fewer and fewer of them these days, and thank goodness for that! Now, of course there are still some of those; but it seems to me that, in comparison to the numbers of extremely rude and crude, downright scary people who ride the Metro trains (especially the Blue and Green line LIGHT RAIL trains) and who drive automobiles, the buses seem VERY safe and comfortable indeed! As I've commented elsewhere, there definitely ARE silver linings to the existence of light rail!
John
User ID: 9510053 May 24th 5:18 PM
One the greatest advantages to riding the bus is that there are so many different routes from which to choose.
When I need to travel to El Segundo, for example, I have at least three available routing options. This, of course, was never the case when I traveled there by train. Back then, there was only one way to go: Red Line to Blue Line to Green Line, and then either walk the rest of the way into downtown El Segundo or take a connecting bus.
When commuting to and from work, there are also several bus routes I can choose from. This is so nice!
John
User ID: 9510053 Jun 7th 12:33 PM
One particularly satisfying advantage to riding the bus is that one frequently gets to hear bus drivers honk the horn at car culture proponents! I just love this! Although sometimes when I first hear the bus's horn honking, I can't immediately tell the exact reason, I always assume that the general reason is that some militant car culture proponent is driving recklessly! And then OH! the ensuing gratification from the bus driver's noble action is enormous!
Often, the reason is that some car culture proponent has managed to block the bus's path with their pollution-making contraption. Whenever this happens, and I'm sitting on the side of the bus which is closest to the obstructionist, I love to glare out the window at the offender as we bus riders pass by them! Frequently, of course, the offender is sitting in an SUV.
Yesterday evening, I was disappointed that the bus driver did not honk the horn at a female SUV driver who was blocking an intersection with her pollution-maker while at the same time yakking, unsurprisingly, on a cell phone. This cluttering by the car culture proponent caused the bus to have to wait through another traffic light cycle before being able to proceed across the intersection. But, I was reminded of the many bus drivers who DO honk the horn at obstructionists during such situations! Ah! I do so appreciate their noble acts!
Now, of course, bus drivers could never even HOPE to do as much honking at militant car culture proponents as such proponents do at EACH OTHER. I mean, there just wouldn't be any way. But then there really is no comparison between the two honking actions anyway, since when car culture proponents honk at each other, the good vs. evil factor is missing, in my opinion, unlike when a bus driver honks at a car culture proponent. THAT provides a purely ethical satisfaction!
John
User ID: 9510053 Jun 7th 5:46 PM
Another advantage to riding the bus is the comedy that bus riders are sometimes treated to. A good example of this is an incident that occurred on a bus I was riding one day in the past week or two.
At one point the bus driver turned on his P.A. system and lectured some of the passengers who were hovering next to the rear door. He asked why those people were doing that. Did they enjoy being touched by people trying to exit through the rear door? He just couldn't understand why they wanted to crowd around the rear door.
I of course agreed with the point the bus driver was making, having been obliged to brush against other passengers who like to crowd around the rear door many times. I can't imagine what reasons---other than rudeness and crudeness--- they have for hovering in that part of the bus.
But the irony was that all the time the bus driver was lecturing the ones crowded around the rear door, there were two passengers crowding around the FRONT door! Haha! And no, it wasn't that they were about to exit at the next stop, any more than those hovering around the back door were; they continued to clutter the aisle around the front door long after the driver's lecture ended! Yet, did he ever turn on the P.A. system and render a sermon about crowding around the front door? Why, of course not! Hahahahahaha!
I have to confess that I actually enjoy such comedy routines!
John
User ID: 9510053 Jun 14th 1:44 PM
I suppose one of the most obvious advantages of taking the bus is that one can travel most anywhere in the county on it. How very different from the situation with the trains, on which one can only travel only to certain limited areas!
Yesterday, a co-worker scoffed at the little light rail trains, pointing out---correctly of course---that they have apparently done very little to relieve congestion; and we both agreed that most people will never ride them regularly. (This co-worker is an SUV owner.) I added that even when it is possible for me to travel via the light rail trains, such as when I go to the South Bay, I rarely do so because I've had so many negative experiences on them. I asked if he'd ever ridden the little light rail trains and he replied that he hadn't, so I proceeded to tell him about how cramped they are.
When the co-worker criticized the idea of building more subways, I had to agree with him. I said I thought they should have been built long ago, but since they weren't, it would be far too expensive to ever try and build them now (under the present socio-economic-political system, of course).
This co-worker says that a number of years ago, when he worked in a supermarket, he took the bus to work and hated it. However, he says he admires me for riding the bus!
As we were talking yesterday, he asked if my partner and I didn't feel limited by not having a car. He inquired as to what we would do if we had to go to see a doctor in the middle of the night. Would we ride the bus? I replied that I had gone to an Emergency Room at night at least a couple of times in the past, and that we had called a cab for that purpose.
My co-worker then asked about trips. Weren't there some places that we just couldn't visit via bus or train? I started to say that we might not go to a place like Palm Springs by bus, but then I realized that we WOULD if we really wanted to take a trip there! So I replied that no, there really wasn't any place I could think of that we used to rent a car to go to but that we now would rule out visiting by bus and/or train!
I never cease being thankful for Los Angeles's very good transit system!
Chris Ledermuller
User ID: 1718124 Jun 16th 5:42 AM
You can go to Palm Springs by bus, John. You just have to take a Metrolink train to get there.
John
User ID: 9510053 Jun 22nd 5:04 PM
One of the greatest advantages to riding the bus, as opposed to the subway, is that the bus system is so widespread and convenient to use! There are bus lines on almost all---if not all---major streets, whereas there is only one subway in Los Angeles, and it goes only to certain areas.
The great number of bus routes in Los Angeles is very impressive! To commute to my place of employment, for instance, I have a choice of three convenient bus routes! One day recently, I overslept; yet, I was able to get to work even earlier than I usually do simply by taking the most direct of the three bus routes! (I normally opt for one of the other routes because there are three places I can go to for breakfast at my transfer point.) How WONDERFUL that the MTA provides Angelenos with so many options!
And when I go to the Grove/Farmers Market, it ONLY makes sense to go by bus, as traveling there part of the way by subway would be very indirect and needlessly time-consuming. And though I don't live on Fairfax or extremely close to it, I only have to take ONE BUS---the #217---to get to the Grove/Farmers Market! Amazing!
Even when I occasionally go to the South Bay, the bus routes are quite convenient and, though the trips are a little long (in the case of one route this is partly due to the fact that one of the buses now has to pass by the Aviation Green Line Station), I do enjoy them.
I am sometimes reminded of something the teacher of a class I took a number of years ago said. He remarked that sometimes people would ask him how he managed to get around L.A. by bus. "Very easily," was the response he said that he gave them.
Cliffj
User ID: 0812164 Jun 23rd 1:56 AM
How WONDERFUL that the MTA provides Angelenos with so many options!
WOW John! L.A. sounds like it's far superior than most other cities with the convenient MTA busses!
Other inferior cities only have a regular bus system. What a pity....(tee hee)
John
User ID: 9510053 Jun 25th 10:44 PM
I declare, I have to state again that another great advantage to riding the bus is the comedy one is frequently treated to!
This morning, for instance, as the bus I was riding waited for a light to change, a male who appeared to me to be indigent approached the bus and began attempting to put a bicycle on the rack. Well, he kept trying and trying, in vain, to be successful in this endeavor. One green light came and went, and then a SECOND one, with the bus unable to move forward.
The bus driver yelled a couple of times for the male to hurry: that people were trying to get to work, etc., but the male didn't appear to hear him. Finally, the male moved the bicycle aside and just stared at the bus driver, and then at the side of the bus as it continued its journey at last.
I shook my head and laughed, thinking how glad I was that I didn't have to commute a long distance. Hee hee!
PaulC
User ID: 0206274 Jun 26th 12:15 AM
John, that was actually a negative statement about the bus. I believe its MTA's policy if a bike patron is having trouble getting his bike on the rack, the driver has to go out and assist him. That's not good bus service, that would actually be bad service. I guess its not that great on the bus.
Paul
John
User ID: 9510053 Jun 26th 7:49 AM
Paul, I certainly hope that isn't the MTA's policy. In my opinion, the bus driver should not leave the bus to go perform a totally unnecessary chore. Now, if a driver has to stop to run inside a restaurant and use the bathroom or something like that, that's a different story, of course. But I wouldn't want a bus driver to just waste time.
PaulC
User ID: 0206274 Jun 26th 1:45 PM
Ya, its policy. I looked it up. I hope that person got the bus number and complained.
Paul
