Why Buses are so useful

For many in the States, like myself for so many years, buses are never an option for travel, even short travel. Any kind of system like this seems a bit scary and a bit sketchy, which, in the States, they often are. But, here in Scotland, everyone rides buses, they are the major way people travel within the city and suburbs of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

That said, there are new thoughts that go on in your head when you are on a bus. Thoughts like: Why aren't I wearing a seatbelt? What if we hit a car? Would we even feel it? What if we hit a castle or something? start going through your head because you are moving quickly throughout the city and a lot of times you are standing up holding on to some kind of pole or something.

Anyway, Friday wasn't the best day for the buses in my mind. The first bus I took into school, the 19, was running about 20 minutes late. Usually at every bus stop there are buses that come every 10 minutes, every 15 minutes, or every 30 minutes. The bus route 19, which is basically the only one I take, comes every 15 minutes until 7 p.m. and then comes every 30 minutes. So for a bus to be 20 minutes late is not very good. On top of that, the bus just stops at a bus stop and tells everyeone to get off and that he is not going farther and to catch the next 19 that comes around!

So I want to leave school after a meeting with my supervisiors, and I get to the bus stop at 4:42. Immediately looking to see what 15 minute increment I was closest to, I see that I have only one minute to wait - or so the sign says.

I was going to meet Kelli for dinner at the best fish and chips place in Scotland, and arguably the best in the UK (as well as universe), and I could have walked, but it would have take at least 45 minutes to get there. Usually I can grab a bus and get back to the house in 45 minutes and the restaurant is only half way.

So, moving along, I wait 15 minutes for the bus to get there. We leave school around 4:57. We make good time getting into the downtown area, but then stop. It proceeds to take us 30 minutes to go a block. In that time, I kid you not, we sat at a light (the first vehicle in front of the intersection) and watched the light change 5 times. Now mind you, this particular intersection allowed the cross traffic to go twice, and the pedestrians to go once before we were allowed to go, so that 5 cycles of the lights was a long time. After we get going, the whole bus explodes in applause and the bus driver starts honking his horn.

So we are on Union street, which is the main street in the city. Union has a bus lane by the curb, so we were flying down that. It is weird to watch because I was standing all the way in the front, so it feels like I am just flying at an incredible rate with nothing holding me. So as we are flying down this bus lane a car decides to pull in front of us - and we hit it. To answer our earlier question, no, you don't feel it at all.

All in all, it took an hour and 20 minutes to take a bus down a 45 minute walk. Not the best day for public transportation. Well, it seems I will have to get used to the fact that rush hour exists even on buses.