tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post4261182691421170416..comments2024-03-26T04:26:04.911-07:00Comments on Lost City: I Take the BusBrooks of Sheffieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18297071358029060908noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-67502240290695536272017-01-30T05:27:25.578-08:002017-01-30T05:27:25.578-08:00Today flying on an airplane can be more of a hassl...Today flying on an airplane can be more of a hassle than a convenience. There are long, and often slow, lines when you're trying to go through the security checkpoint, there are a myriad of things you can't take on the plane with you, your flight and checking your baggage was probably expensive, and the list goes on. <a href="http://www.ewrtransport.com/ewr-transport-to-atlantic-city/" rel="nofollow">shuttle service from newark airport to atlantic city</a><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04258403403329675528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-88823594026969910812009-03-02T17:54:00.000-08:002009-03-02T17:54:00.000-08:00Your damned right the B61 is cursed. I curse it e...Your damned right the B61 is cursed. I curse it every day! <BR/><BR/>There is one very annoying facet of any bus ride that you don't get on the subway system - cell phones. On a train you can change cars at the next stop if someone is making a racket, but on a bus there's no place to hide. <BR/><BR/>I enjoy the buses at night when there's no traffic and few passengers. During rush hours I avoid them at all costs. <BR/><BR/>BTW, great blog you've got here!The Reaperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16844415801893137593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-28699846799047293002009-03-02T14:19:00.000-08:002009-03-02T14:19:00.000-08:00My mom used to take streetcars when she was a kid,...My mom used to take streetcars when she was a kid, back when streetcars still existed; I vaguely remember the last ones we had in Delaware, and the San Francisco MUNI electric busses are pretty similar. And most of Europe didn't rip out their trams the way the US did.<BR/>I've taken commuter trains from NJ into NYC and commuted by train to San Francisco for years - the long-distance bus was less comfortable, and would get caught in all the same traffic jams as if I were driving, so it was seldom worthwhile. But once you get to the big city, sure, busses are fine if they go where you want when you want and aren't way late.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08770156072563008118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-76516992850389639322009-03-02T08:28:00.000-08:002009-03-02T08:28:00.000-08:00I live in NJ and take a bus into NYC everyday. My ...I live in NJ and take a bus into NYC everyday. My coworkers think it is atrocious that I suffer that indignity by choice. However, there are several inches of snow on the ground and I got to work early today. Hmm, guess the bus is great after all...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-75108050672220666142009-03-01T21:21:00.000-08:002009-03-01T21:21:00.000-08:00I had the same experience when I lived in Paris fo...I had the same experience when I lived in Paris for a year. The metro is wonderful, but once I started taking the bus it was like a new world. I loved seeing the city from the windows of a bus, and I came to avoid the metro as much as possible.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for this beautiful tribute to busses!Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02441839717187205020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-44551936993963166722009-03-01T17:17:00.000-08:002009-03-01T17:17:00.000-08:00I've never lived in New York City (and in fact had...I've never lived in New York City (and in fact hadn't realized there *was* a bus system there--though now I think I should have known!), but I love the bus. There isn't really one in the town I've lived in for the last few years, but my once-and-future hometown has a lovely public transit system, all buses. There seems in that town to be less of a stigma for bus riding, perhaps because a lot of college students use it. But in any case, this article encapsulates nicely what I love about taking the bus. There's something really neat about the whole experience.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09170725148888991807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-25845062447329438232009-02-28T17:42:00.000-08:002009-02-28T17:42:00.000-08:00How insane is it that there is NO bus that can tak...How insane is it that there is NO bus that can take you from Brooklyn into Manhattan? None. It's inexplicable.<BR/>That is when I would most want to use the bus (I walk or drive around Brooklyn, but rarely drive into Manhattan during the day). The subway is the only option for that trip, and the subway is always depressing. <BR/>They did try a Brooklyn-Manhattan bus run once, 10 or more years ago. You could take it from the Heights (Cadman Plaza) to Park Row in Manhattan. It made sense. But they discontinued it very shortly for lack of ridership, without even giving it a chance, it seemed to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-72743274558457593982009-02-28T17:29:00.000-08:002009-02-28T17:29:00.000-08:00I've always been anxious about buses -- they can g...I've always been anxious about buses -- they can go anywhere. You never know where they might take a sudden detour. The stops don't have the blinking unmissability of subway stops. It seems plausible that I could get on a Brooklyn bus and wind up in Bay Ridge without any idea of how I'd arrived or how to get home. But I work in Canarsie, and once you hit the very end of the line on the L train you have to get on the b42 to get down to where I work. Once I've taken a bus that many times, become intimate with it -- then I can trust it.Emilyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16101894465905982286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-24041110057583886922009-02-27T08:25:00.000-08:002009-02-27T08:25:00.000-08:00Ooooh, don't get me started on Amtrak. When it co...Ooooh, don't get me started on Amtrak. When it comes train versus plane? I'll pick the train every time. Even when it's Amtrak, there's something much more romantic to train travel. Of course, it helps that I can spend $2 to get to Penn, versus the hassle of LGA/EWR/JFK.joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09329104162799729674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-30752257747635410772009-02-27T07:36:00.000-08:002009-02-27T07:36:00.000-08:00I love the bus as well. Even the erratic B61 with ...I love the bus as well. Even the erratic B61 with its eccentric regulars. I have also taken the scenic coastal Amtrak route between San Francisco and Los Angeles. That's an extreme case of inefficient travel (time-wise). It caters to those who appreciate views, rotating chairs, dining cars, and car games with strangers. As I recall, it took about 11 hours!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-64955058480541409892009-02-26T20:27:00.000-08:002009-02-26T20:27:00.000-08:00I also prefer the bus. It seems when I get on a su...I also prefer the bus. It seems when I get on a subway I nearly wind up in a fist fight with someone, or at least a shoving match. That never happens on the bus. <BR/><BR/>The bus pictured is the Q60, which used to be part of the Green Line (and the bus was green too), and ran down Queens Blvd, over the bridge, ending at 59th (or 60th?) St. and 1st Ave. On weekends it was our primary way to get into the city. I have many memories waiting on that corner of 60th & 1st for what seemd like hours to go home. People ALWAYS stood in a neat line while waiting, no cutting, no huddling. It was quite orderly.Jillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04362859175287085919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-61746500013408134782009-02-25T21:36:00.000-08:002009-02-25T21:36:00.000-08:00B61s aren't cursed, they just travel in pairs. Tha...B61s aren't cursed, they just travel in pairs. That way, after you've waited 45 minutes for one to show up, you can gasp with pleasure and say, "Look! There's not one - there's TWO!"<BR/><BR/>I enjoyed this post. The bit about wait time did call to mind an Onion headline from several years ago that I particularly liked:<BR/><BR/>"Transit Authority Pledges To Double Number Of Out-Of-Service Buses By 2006"Therese Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07516328708322780202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-24645348140645972882009-02-25T20:50:00.000-08:002009-02-25T20:50:00.000-08:00Harpy, Neighborhood Threat, Elizabeth, HK, Joy: Th...Harpy, Neighborhood Threat, Elizabeth, HK, Joy: Thanks so much. I'm glad people feel the same way I do. I almost didn't write this post for fear of sounding nutty (or nuttier than I am), or that people just wouldn't care.Brooks of Sheffieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18297071358029060908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-26035861768641682852009-02-25T19:00:00.000-08:002009-02-25T19:00:00.000-08:00Suburban commuter buses, such as the ones from New...Suburban commuter buses, such as the ones from New Jersey into the Port Authority, don't seem to have any low-class stigma.<BR/><BR/>PeterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-26412630834268725042009-02-25T17:31:00.000-08:002009-02-25T17:31:00.000-08:00If this were FB, I would click on the silly thumbs...If this were FB, I would click on the silly thumbs-up icon that means "joy likes this."<BR/><BR/>Seriously the best post I've read about riding the bus in NYC.<BR/><BR/>I, too, love the bus. It's just a more civilized way to travel, if you have the time (and sometimes, even when you don't).<BR/><BR/>I will say that sometimes, the crazies ride the bus, and then you're actually stuck for a longer period of time with them. You know the ones - the ones who don't move all the way to the back of a crowded bus, the ones who yell when you bump into them, the ones who feel like chatting, the ones who wear the tin-foil-lined cardboard backpacks with a makeshift tin-foiled satellite dish on top.<BR/><BR/>Still, I love the bus system here. It's the best way to actually SEE New York!joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09329104162799729674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-10339553020765630912009-02-25T17:23:00.000-08:002009-02-25T17:23:00.000-08:00Thank you, thank you, thank you. Not one single p...Thank you, thank you, thank you. Not one single person seems to understand why someone at the age of 33 in decent shape, with a busy life, makes so much extra time for the bus. I've been likened to an old bag lady. You summed it up perfectly!Elizabeth Sarosihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15329532094863076272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-48486476493060326072009-02-25T16:59:00.000-08:002009-02-25T16:59:00.000-08:00I love the bus! (I'd never take a bus to someplace...I love the bus! (I'd never take a bus to someplace out of town, but in the city it's great.) And you left out the best reason: people talk to each other on the bus. I've met all kinds of people, including a guy I ended up dating for a while. There's nothing like those weird random chats with strangers to make you glad you live here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-48915062586146068222009-02-25T14:48:00.000-08:002009-02-25T14:48:00.000-08:00It's funny because there isn't really this kind of...It's funny because there isn't really this kind of anti-bus snobbery in England, where I'm from, or Paris, where I live. There are fantastic bus routes here, including the mythical number 29 route. It used to have an open air kind of terrace at the back, but they closed that off of course for 'health reasons'.Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06453626318828119830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-35920622694896455472009-02-25T14:16:00.000-08:002009-02-25T14:16:00.000-08:00I love the bus. There's the elusive Q39, that seem...I love the bus. There's the elusive Q39, that seems to follow my boyfriend and myself around. Some spring weekend day we are going to get on it at one end and ride it to the other, just because.<BR/><BR/>I remember when apartments were advertised as being "in the one fare zone!" back before Metrocard. The key was to be able to walk to the subway if you could. But you still knew the buses in your neighborhood no matter if it was Midwood or the Upper West Side. <BR/><BR/>When I lived on the LES the 2nd Avenue express bus was the fastest way to midtown east and the upper east side, by a long shot. But people would look so confused - "the bus"?<BR/><BR/>I have this conversation with folks regularly, especially newcomers to the city. They wrinkle up their noses and say something like "I've never taken the bus" when I suggest that they can take the train to X and then the bus to Y, or that the bus right outside goes here, here and here. <BR/><BR/>How can you be so proud of being so ignorant of the place you live?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21554899.post-73563035019191156072009-02-25T14:06:00.000-08:002009-02-25T14:06:00.000-08:00i too like the bus, more time to read the book I'm...i too like the bus, more time to read the book I'm in love with.Harpyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13848185633441248658noreply@blogger.com