The carless amongst us

Public Transport Appreciation Post

I’d like to preface this by acknowledging that my adult life is full of wonderful people who have given and continue to give me rides. I have been given many lifts in the past, and in the future, I am sure, I will continue to ask for lifts. Sometimes I ask for lifts just because I enjoy the driver and want to solve all the world’s problems with them on the way home. Some friends blast music while we sing loudly to our destination. Other times I legitimately am running low on options and dying not to pay for an Uber. I’ll get in the car with questionable people to avoid paying more than I have to. Either way, this Substack is not about all the great people who offer me lifts and instead about why public transport is the way of the future. It would be grossly unfair to pontificate on why buses, trains, bikes and walking are probably the low-hanging fruit of solving world problems without first mentioning the good people who have helped me get from A to B.

If you are reading this and you have given me a ride in this life, I am grateful. Thank you. If you are reading this and you have given another person without a car a lift, thank you from me on their behalf. I assure you, it never gets old. The carless amongst us are always thankful.

I could not exist in Australia without kind folks occasionally offering me rides, and I damn sure could not exist in my home country, particularly Southern USA without rides from others or, gasp, my very own car. When I go back to America, I try to bus and train it, but without fail there are rides from friends and Ubers galore.

I bought my first car at 15 in 2003 and I sold my last car at 23 in 2010. I plan to never own another one. But before I moved to Washington, DC in 2009, and started taking the metro, the concept of getting around without a car was non existent to me.

In college I rode my bike up a few Appalachian hills and caught a few buses to town from campus, but the idea of alternative way to get around was foreign to me. This was partially because all the places I had lived at that point had so few options.

I am not suggesting that people who live in the country abandon their life and move to where there are trains. I know people depend on their vehicles. But is it a crime to point out that things could be so much better than what they currently are?!

Places exist in the world where even families with young children legitimately can easily get by without a car. Australia and America is mostly not there yet. Yet the more people embrace public transport, the easier it will be to make it more accessible for everyone.

This Substack is partially inspired by my hilarious, shit-stirring friend Aaron, a very important high up director in Sydney who recently made a post on Facebook about how public transportation is the only way.

I’ll never forget asking Aaron if he’s ever learned to drive and him responding dramatically with “darling, I get driven.”

In this post he self righteously told the story of how he insists his staff get to work as per usual during Australia’s fuel crisis rather than opt to work from home. I didn’t disagree with a lot of what Aaron wrote, but I also expected, due to the mildly condescending tone in which he wrote it, backlash, which he got.

Aaron writes:

The other day, my Team Lead asked me if I would allow staff to work from home every day while the fuel crisis is happening. I think working from home is great, but we have agreed to a set number of days where we do come in, and I don’t see what has changed. I said no. I reminded her I am the wrong Director to expect sympathy from when it comes to this issue.

Why? Because I have never driven a car. I don’t have a license. So, you know, welcome to the world of public transport. Or maybe it’s time you bought a bike? Or an electric car? This is an entirely predicted crisis - that the world’s fuel is running out and one day would be at the centre of world wars - and surely this is the moment the world shifts?

Anyway. I’ll see you all on the train. Or the light rail. Or the bus. It’s good! It’s gets you out and connected to the world around you! Embrace it!

Several people commented, pointing out that he didn’t have kids and that if he didn’t live in Sydney, public transport to get to work would be impossible. All these things are true. Yet ultimately Aaron makes a fair point.

My friend Myl is my train buddy. She pointed out on our ride home today that she’s seen more people riding perhaps due to Australia’s fuel crisis. She wondered if maybe now that people are more inclined to take the train to save money, some might realize that hey, actually, this ain’t so bad. She is originally from the Phillipines and also lived for years in Singapore. She is no stranger to public transportation. Myl gets up crazy early to catch a bus from New Lambton and then from there to take the train to Maitland.

At least two hours of four days of my week are dedicated to either training, bussing, tramming, or walking between work and home. I write on the train. I listen to my headphones. I play on social media. On St Patrick’s Day the other morning a jolly gaggle of Irish and Aussie men were training to the vineyards. Their accents and banter filled the carriage and had me wishing I could tag along. I fell a little bit in love with them.

I love seeing someone I know when I get on the bus, sitting down next to them and having a glorious impromptu catchup. No calendar invites nor scheduling required, just random friends out on the town living life in unison.

This afternoon I noticed a pretty patch of Lantana flowers as we passed by. A small pond glinted from the setting sun. It is because of public transportation that we collectively observe these things. Autumn is here. Soon the sunsets are going to light up the ride home from Maitland spectacularly, as they do every winter. I can’t wait.

I smile thinking about riding next to Myl on our afternoon commutes. Our friend Malvika used to ride with us and our friend Richard sometimes rides a few stops too. We called ourselves the train gang.

Like my gorgeous friends with cars who cart me around, I love my train friends too. I love people who will happily kill time with others so long as we’re going in the right direction.

Sure, I have felt threatened and smelled bad scents on public transport. My Substacks in July of 2023 were all about the interesting Greyhound and Megabus experiences I had with sometimes less-than-savory characters.

Public transport can be scary, but so is dying in a car accident.

I won’t stop enjoying being driven around by friends any time soon, but now feels like a good time for a trains and buses appreciation post. The fuel crisis is real. War is real. Nevertheless I love my neighbors, my friends and the strangers who kindly share their journey with me.