Riding the Red Rose Transit Bus for a Month

For the month of November, I took the bus to work.

Friends suggested the idea to me in October, during a group discussion about the merits of public transportation. Public transportation, they proposed, is less stressful than driving your own car. It reduces traffic, it’s cheap, it’s gets you into contact with others.

So I decided to give it a try.

The bus that goes past my home and close to my office is provided by the Red Rose Transit Authority (called “RRTA”). The Red Rose is the symbol of Lancaster City, originating with the House of Lancaster in England. Every New Year’s Eve, Lancaster City drops a giant red rose.

Most people living in Lancaster County don’t have a bus route outside their home; RRTA buses have a central hub in Lancaster City and fan out along main routes from there. So it won’t be practical for most of my friends and coworkers to ride the bus to work. But I happen to live along RRTA’s Route 12.

After checking the schedule, I decided to “test-ride” the bus a few times in late October, to see if I wanted to commit by buying a monthly pass. I counted out $1.80 for a cash fare (the most straightforward way to pay) and early one morning I waited at the bus stop.

As I peered down the street, clutching my backpack and bus fare, I felt nervous. The last time I had ridden an RRTA bus was when I was a child, with my mother. She had always managed the fares and schedules and rang the bell for our stop. I would look enviously at the grown-ups who stood up while it was still moving, something Mom never let me and my brother do.

The old feelings of relief and excitement came rushing back as I saw the bus with its lighted destination display spelling out the words “New Holland” in yellow lights. I flagged down the bus, and it stopped!

I paid the fare and looked for a seat. The bus was less than half full, which was normal for a morning run, I’d learn. But among the strangers, I was happy to see my former classmate, Carolyn. We said good morning and I took a seat right behind her. Good, I thought. I can watch how Carolyn rings the bell. She will be an expert, I’m sure.

Carolyn rang the bell, or rather pulled the cord, and got off at her stop at Witmer Coach Shop, where she works. Fifteen minutes later it was my turn. Riding the bus had, of course, been a piece of a cake.

I rode the bus Monday through Friday from November 3 to November 28, missing only Thanksgiving Day. By the end of the month, I had a favorite seat in the middle of the bus. Since I had some extra time after my workday ended and the bus came, I would walk about a mile into New Holland and wait at one of the stops in town. I even quickly picked up the habit of getting up while the bus was still moving so I could exit as soon as possible.

Pros:

1. Is riding the bus relaxing? Yes, once you’re on it. I liked having the freedom to answer phone messages, read, or stare out the window as desired. I took along a paperback copy of Blaise Pascal “Pensées” (French for “thoughts”) and enjoyed some of his wit. Thanks to Philosophy Club, I know that Pascal was a seventeenth-century mathematician and theologian who invented (among many other things) the concept of public transportation.
2. Social benefits— although most of the riders, like me, were bored and silent members of the working class, I did catch up with several former Penn Johns classmates like Carolyn. Horse-and-buggy Mennonites use the RRTA buses quite a bit, sometimes loading their bikes on the front of the bus to complete their commute.
3. Cheap? This one depends on how long you ride. For my month-long trial, I purchased a 31-Day Pass on the RRTA app for $42.00. I estimated this was about breaking even with driving to work, or maybe slightly cheaper. Car depreciation is difficult to calculate. Certainly it is cheaper than paying for parking if you ride the bus into the city.
4. Fresh air and exercise. You have to spend some time outside waiting on the bus, and probably are going to do more walking than you would if you drove your car.
5. You learn to plan ahead. This happens to be something I like.
6. No warming up your car in cold and no parking hassles.
7. The bus is clean, mostly quiet, and smells fine. (A relative specifically asked me about the smell!) A few of the riders might not smell the best, but it was no different than being with the public in, say, a grocery store.

Cons:

1. Time! You have to figure extra time because you want to be early at the bus stop. I never missed the bus the whole month but I had a few close calls. Also, since the bus only runs every hour or so, you’ll probably have to kill time somewhere during the day to make everything hold out.
2. The weather and walking to the bus stop in the dark (I’m glad I don’t have to do this all winter.)
3. You can’t carry a bunch of heavy stuff with you. This wasn’t a problem for me going back and forth to work, but carrying a week’s worth of groceries on the bus would be tough.

On one of the last days I rode the bus, it rained heavily. I walked the mile to my usual bus stop in town, staying mostly dry because I had an umbrella (see number 5 on the pros list). This was my favorite bus stop because there was a low stone wall to sit on. As I sat down, a police car roared past, sirens blaring. I notice how much louder the sirens sound from the sidewalk then when you are inside a car.

Then a second EMS vehicle went past. I decided to check Countywide (a website with all the local emergencies listed). I saw that an accident had just taken place at a spot that I had just walked past moments before.

There was a bend in the road, and I couldn’t see what was happening. But traffic slowed, and I realized, Oh, no. The bus won’t get through. It’s raining, dark, and cold. My shoes are soaked!

I tried the “bus finder” feature on the RRTA app, and amazingly, it worked (most of the month I couldn’t get it to work for me). The app showed the bus taking a detour. But it would have to get back on the road… I just had to move fast.

Through the puddles I splashed, holding my umbrella with cold fingers. Was I foolish to try to outrun the bus when I had no idea where it would get back on its route?

I crossed over Brimmer and Railroad Avenues, waving the flashlight on my phone so drivers would see me. (I only used the crosswalks when I had a green light and the right-of-way, but legal rights don’t mean anything if a careless driver turns left without looking for pedestrians.)

On the other side of Railroad Avenue, there was a bus stop, and there I paused. The bus could have easily gotten back on the road by now, but of course there was no telling exactly what a confused driver might do.

And then— yes! The yellow lights! I waved my arm widely, and the bus stopped.

On the bus, as I tried to bring up my monthly pass on the app with cold fingers, I expressed my joy to the bus driver. “Well, I had to detour,” she replied.

I used my car plenty during November, I even drove part of the way to Virginia and back one weekend. But in December, I’ll go back to driving through New Holland to work every day. But overall, it was a great experiment, and who knows? Maybe in the spring, I’ll get another monthly pass.