Da Bus: Making The Most of My Time

Hawaii's Da Bus Public Transportation System is billed as one of the best in the country. It's the only public transportation system that has won America's Best Transit System Award from the American Public Transportation Association TWICE. Now, it should be noted that these awards came in the mid-90's and early 00's (side note: do you say "00" as "oh-oh's" or "two-thousands"?) so it's been a while since Da Bus' glory years but this system is solid and serves as my primary mode of transportation. Now, before I get into my actual commute and why I both value and despise it, let's talk about why I even use the bus in the first place. Because I know to a lot of you, the concept of public transportation is so foreign and incomprehensible we're going to need a little context here.

I'd love to tell you that the sole reason for my choice to ride the bus is my environmental moral compass but it's not. Though it is a contributing factor and makes me feel good about myself, I ride the bus out of necessity. I have never had a driver's license. Shocking to your American ears, I know but I've never really had an issue getting where I needed to go. At least, that's what I tell myself when I have those fleeting day dreams on my 1.5 hr commute about how easy my life would be if I had a car. The the terrible fear I have of driving usually is enough to turn me away from heading down to the DMV to claim my ticket to a life of conveniences.

Having a car would be SO much more convenient, so why don't I drive? Well, again I'm terrified of it. Also I'm really bad at it. Ask my best friends, my parents, my girlfriend -they've all been foolish enough to let me drive their vehicles and will attest to my terrible, white-knuckled, nauseating, jerky driving capabilities. Should I practice more? Probably. Is it a liability for me not to have a license? Again, probably. BUT that's not why we're here today. If you want to know more about my thoughts on vehicles though, I agree with a lot of what this guy says. (If that doesn't make you want to buy a bike, you're wrong) We're here today to talk about Da Bus.

I live in Kapolei.

And I work waaaaaay over here.

Waikiki. The Eastern most edge of Waikiki.

It's kinda far.

With a vehicle, during a good traffic hour it's about a 45 minute drive. In a bad traffic hour you should budget +15-25 mins. Spending that much time commuting, bus or no bus, is not my ideal situation but you work with what you got. I refuse to spend 2+ hours of my day expending the mental energy that it takes to operate a vehicle (you guys, for me it would be SO much energy) so I bus. Well, I bike+bus.

I usually leave about 2 hrs before I need to actually be at work. So if my shift starts at 3pm I'll leave at 1. Before you freak out, let me explain..

My bus commute looks like this.

But before I get to the bus, a quick 15 minute bike ride (about 2 mi.) from my house to Kapolei Transit Center.

This little guy makes my life so much better. I mean the bike mostly, but also my very happy model helper Hannah who's visiting me from Portland.

Then I grab the C Bus which takes me to Ala Moana and I bike 2 miles to my hotel. I'm usually there about 15 minutes before my shift starts. Just enough time to change into my uniform and cool down.

The meat of my trip is spent on my beloved C Bus. Country Express to Ala Moana. This thing goes from Makaha all the way into town. Runs every 30 mins and is usually on time.

I spend roughly 60 mins on this bus. And this is where the magic of public transportation really kicks in. Instead of being hyper alert, getting pissy about someone cutting me off, and spending all that mental energy required for driving that we talked about earlier, I utilize this hour doing something more productive with my time.

I work in a hotel with a majority Japanese speaking clientele, so I brush up on my Japanese with my Memrise app. If you speak Japanese and want to be a homie and practice with me, that'd be awesome.

I listen to podcasts like The Tim Ferriss Show, The Ted Radio Hour, Hardcore History, The Herd, and of course any and all NPR programming on NPR One.

I listen to Audiobooks like Malcolm Gladwell's David & Goliath. Just finished that one (second time listening to it) so any and all recommendations are welcome.

I meditate! I meditate at least once a day and y'all- if you don't currently have a mindfulness practice I can't recommend starting one highly enough. This practice helps me to be kinder, more patient, more understanding, more empathetic and just really helps to put things in perspective. Headspace is a great helper app if you don't know where to start. They've got specialty guides for all types of activities, including sitting on the bus.

I also sleep. This one has the potential to be tricky if you fall into a deep sleep and miss a stop, but knocks on wood it's never happened to me. Sometimes I'm riding the bus at 4 am heading into work or at 12:30 at night coming home and honestly, I'd probably fall asleep at the wheel if I was driving. That little 30 min snooze is SO nice to have.

Those are just my go-to activities. I spend my time a multitude of other ways on the bus. I write this blog sometimes, do my freelance work, call my family, and sometimes I just sit and think. With the speed at which this world moves, and the amount of information stuffed down our throats every second, it's truly a gift to have time carved out just to sit with your thoughts. To day dream and to think deeply.

So, door to door -my commute is about two hours. Which is mind boggling to some. "You spend 4 hours a day commuting?!? That's insane!"

Well, technically I spend 4 hours commuting..but what am I really doing during that time?

1 hour of that time is spent working out. 30 mins biking each way to and from my bus stops.

The other 3 hours of that time is spent reading, sleeping, writing, thinking, listening, creating and learning.

So, thank you Da Bus. For getting me where I need to go and allowing me to use my time wisely. If you've never used your city's public transportation, try it! The time well spent is just ONE of the reasons I'm so hot on public transport. I didn't even mention the money and headache saved. If you're in San Antonio reading this, our buses are SO nice. There's free Wi-Fi and comfy recliner seats on most routes. Treat yourself to a less stressful commute for one day this week, I think you'll be surprised at how much you enjoy it.

Thanks for stoppin' by!

-Chrissy