There seems to be this misconception about public bus riding. It has been dismissed as an activity reserved only for those with lower socioeconomic status, though it was originally implemented as a way to encourage economic transportation. This notion has been diluted over the decades, due in part to the fact that bus routes are mainly prominent in the inner city as opposed to the suburbs. We at Cashmere Agency believe that this is the final stop for this misconception. Our aim is to erase the idea that bus riding is simply a blue-collar activity, and restore its image as an environmentally conscious and socially healthy experience.
Living in Los Angeles, it is easy to take bus riding for granted. According to the Huffington Post, 99.1 percent of no-car households in the L.A. area have easy access to public transportation. Riding the bus has many benefits that are overlooked by the public. In the L.A. area, 355,457 carless households rely on public transportation on a daily basis.
Obviously, riding the bus is beneficial for the environment, but people often miss out on the social dimension of bus riding. Networking, meeting new people, riding with friends and family; these are whole new aspects of bus riding that have been untapped for decades. We would like to call this “The Original Social Network.” Though it seems that only videos of antisocial bus riders make it to the Internet, we don’t believe it’s an accurate representation of the experience as a whole – and that it’s just as fun as any rider intends to make it.
Making connections
Every day, you have millions of people who become exposed to people of different backgrounds, ages and ethnicity through an easily accessible social-gathering tool. And much like Facebook and Twitter, riding the bus always offers something new to experience.
Recently, several members of Cashmere Agency took a trip to the local mall during our lunch break to prove that bus riding can be fun and exciting, and, boy, was it ever. We took the bus from Slauson and Western avenues to the Fox Hills Mall in Culver City. Not only did we not have to drive, but we got to chat, mingle with strangers, sightsee and find out new things about each other.
One aspect of bus riding in Los Angeles that we discovered was how accessible the bus was at almost any location. Taking the bus was much more convenient than we had originally presumed. We also received a discount on our lunch just by sharing our public transportation experience through retailers participating in a bus-rider incentive program. All in all, not only did we help the environment, but we also strengthened our camaraderie. Simple things like this are often overlooked because of the misconception mentioned earlier.
We hope that our efforts raise awareness on this subject and potentially start a movement that will change the world. Join and share your public transportation experience by following this QR Code to our Facebook page.
Annie Chen, Timothy Lee and Anthony Kennedy all work at the Cashmere Agency, an L.A. marketing firm. Their colleagues, Ashten Winger, Hila Bendavid and James Koo, contributed to this op-ed.
