5 ms·

Sadly, this says a lot about the stigma of public transportation in certain parts of the world (esp. in the US). "Oh, so you're poor."

ax0n 17y ago
I would agree with you, but she drove to the bus stop in a Lexus, like a lot of folks out here. And she probably drove two miles or less to get there. I live in the most affluent county in the region and "public transit" is in place ONLY for the 8a-5p suburbanites commuting to downtown. A few buses in the morning go downtown. A few in the evening come back out to suburbia. It's worthless for anything other than getting to and from work for an average work day.
- MikeCapone 17y ago
  Good point. In my mind, I was picturing taking the bus in some random relatively small city. But in certain places, public transit is mostly used by the relatively rich people who live in the comfy suburbs.
SandB0x 17y ago
True. Maggie Thatcher one said "A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure."
pbhjpbhj 17y ago
The poor walk. Public transport in my city in the UK is too expensive for me. I have the choice of lunch or bus. If the journey is longer it's usually cheaper to take the car (which we need for our business just not normally for commuting) unless the parking is going to be very expensive. Often I'll walk home in the rain (just over a mile) and have several buses pass me - though if I'm away at 5pm I'll pass a couple of them - the buses are practically empty and I wonder why they couldn't drop the price and fill the seats. Perhaps they could have budget airfare style pricing with a cap? The only people who regularly ride the buses here appear to be those with free passes - pensioners and those on benefits.
RK 17y ago
The stigma is true, but is also somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophesy (at least in much of the US), in that if you can afford not to take public transport, you probably wouldn't want to. The one time I rode the bus where I live (for about 1.5 miles), my experience was as follows: Around 1pm, I wait at the bus stop for about 5 minutes and start talking to the other guy waiting. The bus comes and we get on. On the bus the guy tells me he just got out of jail and has been working at Wal-Mart for 2 weeks. A guy gets on at the next stop and starts yelling at the driver, who then pulls the bus over. The driver and the passenger get into a fist fight and the driver shoves the guy out of the door and tells him to go fuck himself. Then I get off the bus at the next stop and walk to the car rental place as quickly as I can (my destination). Certainly my experience was unique and depended on the part of town, but it didn't inspire me to ride the bus again. I commute about 98% of the time by bike. When I lived in Europe I rode the bus every day and didn't think twice about it.

ax0n 17y ago

I would agree with you, but she drove to the bus stop in a Lexus, like a lot of folks out here. And she probably drove two miles or less to get there. I live in the most affluent county in the region and "public transit" is in place ONLY for the 8a-5p suburbanites commuting to downtown. A few buses in the morning go downtown. A few in the evening come back out to suburbia. It's worthless for anything other than getting to and from work for an average work day.

MikeCapone 17y ago
Good point. In my mind, I was picturing taking the bus in some random relatively small city. But in certain places, public transit is mostly used by the relatively rich people who live in the comfy suburbs.

SandB0x 17y ago

True. Maggie Thatcher one said "A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure."

pbhjpbhj 17y ago

The poor walk. Public transport in my city in the UK is too expensive for me. I have the choice of lunch or bus. If the journey is longer it's usually cheaper to take the car (which we need for our business just not normally for commuting) unless the parking is going to be very expensive. Often I'll walk home in the rain (just over a mile) and have several buses pass me - though if I'm away at 5pm I'll pass a couple of them - the buses are practically empty and I wonder why they couldn't drop the price and fill the seats. Perhaps they could have budget airfare style pricing with a cap? The only people who regularly ride the buses here appear to be those with free passes - pensioners and those on benefits.

RK 17y ago

The stigma is true, but is also somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophesy (at least in much of the US), in that if you can afford not to take public transport, you probably wouldn't want to. The one time I rode the bus where I live (for about 1.5 miles), my experience was as follows: Around 1pm, I wait at the bus stop for about 5 minutes and start talking to the other guy waiting. The bus comes and we get on. On the bus the guy tells me he just got out of jail and has been working at Wal-Mart for 2 weeks. A guy gets on at the next stop and starts yelling at the driver, who then pulls the bus over. The driver and the passenger get into a fist fight and the driver shoves the guy out of the door and tells him to go fuck himself. Then I get off the bus at the next stop and walk to the car rental place as quickly as I can (my destination). Certainly my experience was unique and depended on the part of town, but it didn't inspire me to ride the bus again. I commute about 98% of the time by bike. When I lived in Europe I rode the bus every day and didn't think twice about it.