Bus Dating

Hello, it’s just a few of us here. Isn’t that nice? It means I can test out ideas I have rattling around in my head and maybe bounce some of them off you; let me know what you think!

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I recently attended a meeting about public transport in Christchurch. I knew Cantabrians loved their cars, but I was shocked to hear that only 4% of journeys in this city are by bus. When I talk to my friends, I find many of them have not been on a bus in decades. This is despite the fact that we have a good service that takes you from the centre of Lyttelton to the centre of Christchurch. And they cut the fare in half. And they have doubled the frequency of the buses so that you can get one every 15 minutes. But none of that is enough to persuade my friends, so I wondered what would get them on a bus.

I don’t think telling people how much I love the bus, the convenience, the cheapness, the fact that there is no stress and that I can let someone else do the driving and the parking is enough. It is not enough to urge people to do this for the sake of reducing their emissions, making the world habitable for their kids/grandkids, etc. Like a lot of these things, it needs a change in mindset. Just as volunteering at the community garden can bring you benefits you have not anticipated (fun and larks with like-minded people and lots of free fresh food), taking the bus can be a lot more fun than you might think. The only way to get that in their heads is to get them on the bus. And the only way I can do that is to bring them with me.

So I’ve made a bus date with a friend of mine for when I’m back on my feet. I offered to pay for her bus trip to the city ($2 each way on my Metro card – bargain!) and see what she thinks. Maybe she will just see it as a way to keep me quiet, or maybe she will actually enjoy it. I hope it will overcome her resistance to using the bus. To see it in a positive light and not as a loser cruiser.

Do you take the bus? And would you consider a bus date?

Lots of love,

Alex