I take "The Bus" to work every day. Did you know that Honolulu's bus system ranks top in the Nation? Yes, it's that awesome. Not only does the bus save me money, maintenance, and gas, it also keeps me sane. The traffic here is horrible. It takes me an hour to work in the morning and an hour or more on the way home. I live 15 miles away from the office. The only way to avoid traffic in the morning is to leave at 5 am. I don't start work till 7. Now, with the bus, I catch the 5:30, sleep for the hour ride, and get to work by 6:40. That gives me enough time to get a coffee or read the paper for a bit.
The cost for a bus pass is $60 a month for adults and $30 for youth. They do have disabled and senior rates as well. When I drove, it costed me $60-$70 for a full tank of gas every 10 days. Now, I spend about $70-$140 a month on gas, depending on how busy I am on the weekends. Using the bus, I save almost $3000 a year on maintenance and fuel costs.
By being a bus rider, I get to see and meet different people. I get time to RELAX. I don't have to "fight" traffic. I can read, sleep, snack, car watch (while they crawl in traffic and we zoom by), and just "think". It's kind of nice to have that time to just turn your brain off and zone out.
When I tell people I ride the bus, I often get a negative or surprised reaction. As if riding the bus is a bad or dirty thing. I attribute that to ignorance. They either look down on people who prefer mass transit. Or, they don't know how easy it is to ride the bus. The buses now are much nicer and sometimes cleaner. The express buses are filled with office people not homeless people who don't smell very nice. The express bus takes you straight from your town to downtown Honolulu. If you take the regular routes, those stop at every stop. So obviously those routes will take you 2+ hours to get to town from the West side. If only more people understood, knew, and would give the bus a try. After over a year of riding the bus, I dread having to drive long distances. Or even to go to a place where I know parking sucks.
Yeah, driving is so much more convenient, for some. I find riding the bus easier than driving, and its less stress. With the new apps that give you real time information on bus locations and arrivals, using the bus is so easy. I remember when my Grandma memorized the bus time tables and have us hustling behind her scurrying to get to the bus stop on time. Back the, the buses did not have air conditioning. They actually had windows you could OPEN!
The cost for a bus pass is $60 a month for adults and $30 for youth. They do have disabled and senior rates as well. When I drove, it costed me $60-$70 for a full tank of gas every 10 days. Now, I spend about $70-$140 a month on gas, depending on how busy I am on the weekends. Using the bus, I save almost $3000 a year on maintenance and fuel costs.
By being a bus rider, I get to see and meet different people. I get time to RELAX. I don't have to "fight" traffic. I can read, sleep, snack, car watch (while they crawl in traffic and we zoom by), and just "think". It's kind of nice to have that time to just turn your brain off and zone out.
When I tell people I ride the bus, I often get a negative or surprised reaction. As if riding the bus is a bad or dirty thing. I attribute that to ignorance. They either look down on people who prefer mass transit. Or, they don't know how easy it is to ride the bus. The buses now are much nicer and sometimes cleaner. The express buses are filled with office people not homeless people who don't smell very nice. The express bus takes you straight from your town to downtown Honolulu. If you take the regular routes, those stop at every stop. So obviously those routes will take you 2+ hours to get to town from the West side. If only more people understood, knew, and would give the bus a try. After over a year of riding the bus, I dread having to drive long distances. Or even to go to a place where I know parking sucks.
Yeah, driving is so much more convenient, for some. I find riding the bus easier than driving, and its less stress. With the new apps that give you real time information on bus locations and arrivals, using the bus is so easy. I remember when my Grandma memorized the bus time tables and have us hustling behind her scurrying to get to the bus stop on time. Back the, the buses did not have air conditioning. They actually had windows you could OPEN!
I love the bus. I don't care what people say or think about bus riders. It saves me money, keeps me grounded, and I get to meet neighbors from my area that I would never have if I drove my lonesome to work every day.
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