Life in the bus lane: 
Learning to enjoy a SEPTA summer
By Lucia Herndon
Wednesday, June 28, 2000
Philadelphia Inquirer

My stint as a public transportation commuter is officially over. Summer classes at Temple's Ambler Campus have finished and my daughter no longer needs the car to get there.

I have my car back, but I'm not sure I want it.

In the six weeks I have been using SEPTA's buses and subways an interesting metamorphosis has occurred.

I don't really like being a car commuter. Oh, I love the convenience of coming and going when I like; of being able to tote just about anything I want and listening to music of my own choosing.

But the bus provides a welcome relief from the aggravation of driving, finding parking spots, and paying too-high gasoline prices.

It also means that I carry a lot fewer necessities. I used to carry every notebook, book, piece of paper, CD, folder that anyone ever handed me. Well, I carried it as far as the car, where it eventually all wound up in the backseat. Riding the bus means I've pared the paper down to essentials. I am much better organized because I truly carry only what I need. No clutter. Amazing.

Other nice things have occurred. Every Monday morning I stop at a small neighborhood pharmacy to buy my pass. The owners and I talk for a few minutes. Now why is this so exciting? Because it reminds me of the neighborliness of a small town. I don't have across-the-back-fence conversations like this at the mega-drugstore. If I stop taking the bus, I won't get my weekly confab with the Coopermans.

People have politely suggested I use the regional rail system. It's comfier, cleaner, and you're less likely to encounter people who throw up on you (actual occurrence on the XH as it rounded the corner from Hunting Park onto Wissahickon). But riding the bus gives me a sense of adventure. Will I sit next to the man who sings in rhyme? (This is Gus' bus; don't make no fuss!) There's the element of surprise: wow, empty seats on the rush-hour 18! There is education: I'm learning a little Spanish from reading the bilingual advertisements on the subway cars.

But one of the best things about public transportation is that it allows time to decompress. I used to get angry when the wait for a bus was longer than I wished. Now I use the time to let my brain cool off. I think about nothing sometimes. Then again, I can use the time to think about life, love, the Zen of dog (canine) maintenance. Sooner

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