Random Thoughts of a Hills Bus Commuter

Observations, stories and commuting experiences.

[hillsbuscommuter]

Me Time

It was announced two weeks ago that my project team is moving back to the city. Most people in the team are happy with the announcement. 

For me it's bittersweet news: On one hand I'm glad we're moving back, with my commute time significantly reduced, I'll be able to spend more time with my partner and getting back to my old routine. 

On the other hand, I'm starting to get used to the long commute. Spending the extra time thinking and indulging my creative side has been uplifting.

As an active city dweller, I fill my time with various activities. Between work, going to the gym and hanging out with family and friends I rarely take time out to think, let alone to day dream.

Despite my constant moaning about the longer commute, I think deep down I really appreciate it. The whole experience has taught me that I need more "me" time. 

Being stuck on the bus with nothing to do has allowed me to spend time on myself. 

For the first time in a long time I actually wrote something that wasn't work related. It may not be Pulitzer winning stuff, but I felt good doing it and I am planning to continue.

I think everyone needs a bit of time to themselves. Putting aside some personal time is a luxury that we can all afford.

Now that I don't have the long bus ride I'm looking at alternatives. I can catch the train to work in the morning and walk home at night. I can stroll around the city parks at lunch time, which is not only beneficial to my health but should improve my mental state.

I hope everyone makes a bit of "me" time and starts doing things just for themselves.

"So long and thanks for all the fish." 

This is the last entry for this blog. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

I'm planning to relocate to the UK in the coming months, so look out for my new blog BT Globe Trotting.

[hillsbuscommuter]

Origami

Origami is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. I’ve been practicing origami for a while now. I sub-consciously do it when I’m bored, day dreaming, or thinking about things. I fold things during boring meetings, while commuting or sitting at my desk trying to solve problems. Some people collects things, I prefer folding things. It relaxes me somehow. Maybe it’s the repetitive hand movements that trigger my brain to relax. Maybe it’s just the fact that my hands are busy. Whatever the reason, I enjoy doing origami. Among my favourite things to fold are paper cranes, little stars, lilies or love hearts. I fold them using different kinds of paper: post-it notes, chewing gum wrappers, sugar sachets and bus tickets. I usually give the things I folded to friends or workmates. Sometimes I keep them at my desk to look at. Occasionally I find an origami piece that someone folded left behind at a cafe or on the street. I pull the piece apart and then attempt to put it back together. It’s satisfying to re-fold the paper and learn a new technique. Recently, using bus tickets, I’ve been folding love hearts and leaving them on the seat next to me. An origami love heart that I leave on a bus seat represents a smile. I hope it brightens some one's day when they find it. Like smiles, origami gifts are free and equally satisfying to give out as to receive.

[hillsbuscommuter]

Empty seats on 617X

[hillsbuscommuter]

Train commuters v's Bus commuters debate

Recently there was a debate between some of my friends on the topic of train and bus commuters. They believe that bus commuters are more polite than train commuters. One of the examples given were that bus commuters self organise into lines, allowing departing passengers off the bus, before boarding in an orderly manner, as opposed to train commuters who push and shove into the carriage before all the exiting passengers have been able to get off the train. Having commuted on both trains and buses, I’m unable to decide whether bus or train commuters are better or more polite. I think you need to take the environment into consideration. There are usually more commuters on a train. At peak times space on the train is limited and the time available to exit and enter the train before it leaves is small. If you can’t get onto the train then you’ll need to wait for the next one, which can mean standing on the platform for thirty more minutes. On the bus there’s only one entrance and the commuters know that the bus will not leave without them, provided that there is enough space available. Commuters can usually afford to wait their turn to get on the bus. The bus is much smaller than the train so most regular bus commuters know each other, by recognition, if not by name. This personalises the experience and reinforces the bus etiquette; you’re more likely to be polite to someone who you’ll see the next day. When commuting on trains I always wait patiently away from the opening doors to allow passengers to exit before I try to get on. I notice that most train commuters do the same thing but there are some occasions where people crowd outside the doors and I have to push my way out to prevent getting stuck on the train, which would be very annoying. I think we are a product of our environment. People’s behaviour changes in reaction to their environment and they become adept at achieving their goals regardless of what’s going on around them. The seasoned train commuters have become conditioned to deal with a bustling mass of people attempting to fit into a small space. Bus commuters have been taught differently.

[hillsbuscommuter]

Characters on the bus

Like many major cities, the majority of commuters in Sydney seem to travel into the Central Business District (CBD) from the outskirts and suburbs. A smaller number, myself included, travel in the opposite direction, due to working for companies who have moved out of the CBD in favour of the less expensive business park locations. During my daily commute, I see many interesting characters. There are a few special individuals that always make me smile. One gentleman looks a lot like my ex-workmate, Phil, from Canberra. When I see this person on the bus I remember my time in Canberra. Probably in his late 40s, he reads comic books and this earned him the nick-name “The comic guy”. Sitting quietly on the bus, he happily reads his comics (and sometimes other books) on the way to work. I find him interesting because I imagine all sorts of work that he might be involved in. Perhaps he manages a comic book store,  works as a scientist, or could be a brain surgeon as there are many medical facilities out in Norwest. Another interesting character that I usually see in the afternoon is a guy that I named "Korean Jackie Chan". Usually wearing his retro mirrored aviator sunglasses and classic 70s hair cut, this person wears tight trousers and a white shirt with the short sleeves rolled up. He’s usually surrounded by a few giggling Asian females, that he pretends to ignore. "Korean Jackie Chan" and his entourage chat amongst themselves, oblivious to everyone else on the bus. One of the regular commuters is a girl that works in my building. When I first saw her on the bus, she looked shy and unapproachable. I imagined her to be a dentist or office manager, as there are many dentist and physiotherapist offices in my building. One afternoon, she and I walked together to the bus stop and started chatting; she was not what I imagined. I guess we’re all different and we can’t stop people from imagining who we are based on our appearance and behaviour. The best we can hope for is that they don’t judge us too harshly until they really get to know us.

[hillsbuscommuter]

View from the bus over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

[hillsbuscommuter]

Waiting for the bus that never came

[hillsbuscommuter]

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.

Albert Einstein

[hillsbuscommuter]

Orange blossoms, they're one of the highlight of Celebration T-way stop

[hillsbuscommuter]

Commuting Hurdle

How do you know when you’re a guru? Being a guru happens when you know more about something than someone else - to that person you’re a guru. Today someone asked me how I got to the bus stop before he did. He said, he saw me walking down the street and somehow I ended up arriving at the bus stop before him. There is a secret pathway that only experienced commuters know of. It’s not obvious and you wouldn’t find it unless someone showed it to you. The Express bus that I sometimes catch to get home, stops on the T-way; a bus-only traffic lane. The T-way lane is situated across the highway from my building. If you take the conventional walking route to the T-way, you have to loop around the block as there is no foot path; just shrubs blocking the way. When I first started, I would walk around the block to get to the bus stop. This would frustrate me endlessly, because I usually arrive late and have to run for the bus. Some of the commuters from my building must feel the same way but they’re smart and have worked out a shortcut, which cuts through the shrubs and across the road. I found the secret path purely by accident. One day I saw a co-worker emerging from the shrubs, I asked him for his secret and he was kind enough to show me the way. The secret was to go off the beaten track, jump over a hurdle, take a risk and reap the reward. I have used this secret path ever since, except for when I’m wearing a skirt, as it prevents me from climbing over the barrier to get to the bus stop. I was pleased that someone asked me about the secret path, and I was glad to share the secret with him. My fellow commuter laughed but was not convinced, as from where we were standing the path was completely concealed. I told him that next time we’d do it together and he agreed.

[hillsbuscommuter]

The Battle of the Bus Drivers

The Hills Bus company must have a diverse culture, as over the last few months commuting on the Hills Bus I have came across bus drivers of all sort. There were Aussie, Indian and Asian bus drivers evenly distributed between male and female genders. My experience with these bus drivers was also diverse. Some were slow, some were Speedy Gonzalez, some were pleasant and courteous and some were abrupt and almost rude. Like any experience, you usually remember the very bad or the very good. Some of my bad experiences have been with drivers who constantly stomp on the brakes, which not only wakes me from my slumber but also makes me nauseous and risks losing my breakfast. It took all my strength to hold it down, arriving at work green-faced. On another journey the driver sped around the corner but didn’t stop to pick me up. All I got was a shrug when he saw me as he zipped by. On the other end of the spectrum, I saw some pretty awesome driving, under the circumstances. Driving a huge tube in Sydney traffic is no fun, but some drivers manage to thread their way through the densely packed vehicles and arrive on time, which is pretty impressive. There was one particular driver that I remember fondly. She had a Kiwi accent, and drove like a pro, weaving through the traffic without much effort. I think her experience and knowledge of the route helped, as she knew when the next stop would be and positioned herself in the correct lane to slowly coast in and pick up passengers, then assertively merged back out into the traffic with ease. Her skill at merging and changing lanes on the busy highway coming back into the city left me in awe. Watching her drive and negotiate the packed streets was mesmerising; I griped my seat so tight that my arms muscle were sore by the end of the journey and there were times I had to close my eyes as I anticipated a collision with the incoming traffic. Arriving at Wynyard station, I felt like jumping up and shouting, “Yeah you go girl!”, but I kept it to a smile and told her, “That was some good driving there. Thank you for getting us in on time”. I think being a bus driver is a thankless job. You take people from one place to another and most of the time you get ignored or screamed at for being late. This is probably why some of them are so grumpy. Maybe we commuters can improve their day by thanking them for providing the service and commend them when they do a good job.

[hillsbuscommuter]

Seat Selection

I'm always amazed by how habits are formed. Good or bad, intentional or otherwise. Habits are formed every day. When commuting by train I always try to get a seat positioned at the start of a window section. This gives me the maximum view of the "scenery". When travelling on an inter-city train, I like to sit on the top deck, so that I get a better view. When commuting around the city, there isn’t much to see and I don’t worry about the view. For my current commuting situation, my habit dictates that I take the fourth train carriage from the end, into the city. This allows me to exit the train right next to the stairs at my destination and quickly get out of the station, avoiding the crush of commuters. Once on the bus, I opt for the third window seat on the driver’s side. This usually puts me at the start of the window pane, much like the train and gives me a good place to rest my head for sleeping. I’m also close enough to the exit that I can scuttle out with no fuss. On the bus ride home, I usually sit at the back of the bus, over the back wheels. This seat has a round hump that allows me to rest my legs comfortably (I’m a little shorter than average). With my legs resting comfortably, I can prop my laptop on my knees, for watching videos or writing blogs. I get annoyed when entering the bus only to find that "my seat" has been taken. This usually happens when a “new” passenger gets on the bus; they’re not yet aware of the unspoken etiquette. When this happens, my brain immediately goes into disaster recovery mode, and begins performing a quick recalculation, looking for the most suitable seats given my preferred parameters. My partner and I discuss our travel habits and it seems that my habits are not so unusual after all. As it happens, he also has a preferred seat on the train, that he favours when commuting to work. Is it bad to have habits like these? I don't think so. In a sense they become a mechanism to help us cope in a potentially stressful, uncomfortable situation. We like familiarity, a sense of safety and belonging.  

[hillsbuscommuter]

Route Selection

Late December last year, I started commuting to Norwest. To get to Norwest from Surry Hills, where I live, there are three routes I can use. The first option is to catch a train to Parramatta and then a bus to Norwest. This route is the longest and takes a minimum of 1.5 hours. The second option is to catch a bus directly from Central station to Norwest. This route represents shortest total commute time; usually about 50 minutes, however, the earliest bus leaving the city is at 7:50am,  which gets me to work by 9am. This is a bit late, as my team are early risers. The third option is to catch a train to the city (Town Hall or Wynyard) and then a bus directly to Norwest. This route is a bit slower than the option two but a bit faster than the option one, taking 1 hour and 15 minutes. This route usually gets me into work before 9am. I've chosen the third route: Train to the city and bus out to Norwest. Since deciding on the optimal route, I have had trials and tribulations. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, the earlier scheduled bus arrives a little late and I arrive a little early - the ideal situation. Other times I'm right on time, miss the earlier scheduled bus and then the later bus is running even later and I have to stand around waiting. The most hateful thing is to miss the bus by 5 seconds, while I'm stuck at a crossing and the bus just drives on by. Sometimes I wonder if the other routes would be better, maybe it was just a case of the greener grass and all.

[hillsbuscommuter]

Sleeping on the bus

I think the length of the commute time correlates with the activities people do on the bus. 

If you have a 15 minute commute, then you probably just want to check your Twitter messages or Facebook news feed. However with a one hour commute, you can do much more.

Not being a morning person, my favourite activity is sleeping. 

When I first started commuting, I tried all sorts of sleeping positions.

I've tried slouching down on the seat and resting my head against the backrest; this landed me in the physiotherapist's office with excruciating back pain, as I'm putting a lot of strain on my lower back.

A few physio sessions and a few hundred dollars poorer, i've learnt not to slouch on the bus and that it's time to try alternatives.

Next was the Nodding Violet style, where you just nod off, with your head nodding every five or ten minutes. This proved unsuccessful, as every violent nod wakes you up and you're forced to re-start the cycle again.

I saw a few people fully stretched out on the back seat of the bus. It looked comfortable but I'm scared of rolling off the seat and ending up right back in physio.

Through trial and error, I have found the perfect sleeping position. 

This involves me carrying a few items. A large fleece jacket, a towel and a cardigan.

The fleece jacket is to keep me warm and toasty, as the bus airconditioner is usually on high and we all freeze during the long ride. The towel gets rolled up into a makeshift pillow and the cardigan is a back up pillow but can also double as a blanket.

To get into the most comfortable position, I usually wedge myself tightly against the seat and the side of the bus. The rolled up pillow is tucked between my head and shoulder and rests against the window.

With headphones on to block out the noise of the bus and my makeshift pillow and blanket, I'm snug as a bug in a rug; snoozing all the way to work.

[hillsbuscommuter]

Hills Bus route 618

My first thought when leaving my apartment this morning was "Am I going to miss the bus today?" I think this must be every 'Hills Bus' commuter's thought when they leave their abode to get to work each day.

Being a Hills Bus commuter is tough because every day you put your life in the hands of the Hills Bus drivers. You never know if it's just pure luck that you catch the bus or if it's due to your military-precision planning.

My name is Bao Tram and I'm a Hills Bus commuter. I used to work in the city where my total commuting time was 15 minutes door-to-door but my project team must have pissed off some senior executives, as recently we were relocated to a little place called 'Norwest Business Park', located 39km north west of Sydney CBD. My daily commute time has increased to 1 hour and 30 minutes each way, for a total daily commute of 2.5hrs extra.

A positive person might think of this as a blessing, as I now have extra time to day dream and nurture my random thoughts. Being a less positive person, I hate the early mornings and wasted time spent on the bus. I especially hate waiting around for the late buses or buses that never arrive at all.

Why don't I just quit and find a job closer to home? I'm doing this because I'm working with friends on my current project and I don't want to let them down. Maybe I'm just a whiney person that likes to feel sorry for herself. Whatever the reasons, I'm pretty much stuck with this until I can't stand it any longer and run away.

The upside of a long commute, though, is the extra time to day dream, so this blog will collect the random thoughts of a Hills Bus Commuter.