the wheels on the bus

I've taken the LA Metro buses to work for a full week now. As with most public transportation, I only had a general idea of what bus to get on and when, so I certainly ended up taking a few unexpected detours and arrived at the office super early or really late sometimes.

And, as with most public transportation, it takes about twice as long to get to work than driving in a car. Which is a big drag. I try to go to bed at 9pm now, which is my sister's bedtime that I once scoffed about. What was she, some kind of senior citizen or 3-year-old? I guess I am now, too.

A few basic notes:

1. Fare costs $1.25 (much less than NYC's $2.25). Just like the MTA in NYC, you need exact fare in cash (unless you have a card, called TAP cards here). Unlike the buses in NYC, you can't just dump your change down the slot. The coins have to be dropped in one by one.
   
2. The buses are standard--very similar to the MTA's. When you want to get off, you pull the cord. The big thing that has NYC beat is that all the buses have automated recorded voice announcements that play telling passengers what intersection is coming up, so you always know where you are
   
3. The bus drivers are all super friendly. Not one hasn't said "good morning!" to me when I got on. And the majority of the time, that's followed by a "And how are you??"
4. The buses are all equipped with two screens that play trivia, news facts, etc (above). Too bad I can't look at them without getting car sick.
5. The buses don't run that frequently. Sometimes I wait up to 20 minutes for the next one to come around.
6. Even during rush hour, the bus is rarely full, but maybe that's just my line.
   

Except for the longer commute, it's a very pleasant ride. It stops right in front of my apartment and drops me off at UCLA. Right now, N's temp job doesn't have a clear ending date (if it ends at all), so I'm not sure how much longer I'll be riding. But one of the good perks of my job is that I get 50% off monthly bus passes, which would cut down our spending a lot.