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El Autobús

Posted by Connor on September 1st, 2006

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This morning was my first time riding the bus to work. I’ve been toying around with the idea for a few months. I work in SLC and have had a 30-50 minute commute (each way) which really is a waste of time, not to mention gas and money. The company I work for offers free passes if we choose, and so I decided to bit the bullet and start riding the bus.

I took the express bus, so it went straight from my stop all the way up to downtown, and it was one of the nice buses with comfy seats. I read my scriptures, a little bit of Fahrenheit 451, and boom! I was already downtown. Super quick - less than 25 minutes.

These are the immediate benefits I see to take the bus:

Stress-free commute, not having to worry about driving and not getting into an accident
My commute to/from work was about 50 miles total daily, which is 2 gallons of gas. At current market price, that’s $6 a day in gas. More date money!
Productivity increase due to additional time for reading and working on my laptop
Less wear and tear on my car

So far, so good. It may have its downsides that I will observe with time, but after my first experience, I love it!

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5 comments so far. Care to chime in?

/me waits until UTA gets wifi-enabled buses.

#1 John on September 1st, 2006

I rode the bus for about 9 months. It was a humbling experience for a prideful soul like me - mainly walking through snow storms to get in line and having cars drive by and splash me with wet slush. Other than that I really enjoyed it. It was as you described, a nice relaxing commute. Now I live 5 minutes from work so it would take me longer to take the bus

#2 Dustin Davis on September 1st, 2006

Dustin, I’m really not looking forward to the winter months for that reason. I’m very curious to see how it will be. My stop has a covered bench thingy, but that might not fit everybody that was in line this morning.. guess I’ll have to pack an umbrella and stand as far away from the street as possible!

#3 Connor on September 1st, 2006

James takes the bus a few times a week. Last week I was waiting and waiting for him to get home (not fun when baby is screaming). He was about 35 minutes late because the bus infront of his bus blew a tire. They had to pull over and wait while the passangers got off the one bus and onto his. He said it was a tight fit.

Besides that one mishap and the loud cell phone talker people I think his bus rides have been okay.

#4 Leah on September 2nd, 2006