Therapy in Transit

 Written a decade+ ago by me, when I was in Vancouver.

Therapy in Transit

As a volunteer working in Burnaby and living in southern Vancouver, I face two, hour-
long commutes every day to get to work. Luckily, I avoid the big traffic on the Skytrain
because I travel West-to-East in the mornings and East-to-West in the afternoons. And
when I catch the Main bus to reach the Skytrain, I’m usually one of the first people on, so
I can sit down, relax, and reflect on the day ahead. Thus, I enjoy a relatively stress-free
ride to work everyday.
I’ll be honest: In the mornings, I am not a happy camper. I am usually a zombie; get on
bus, doze, get on Skytrain, doze, get to work, sit down. I think that without my commute
every day, I would be totally brainless at work. In some ways, taking transit is
therapeutic.
I often find myself riding the Skytrain, headed for no particular destination, getting off at
a station, taking a bus somewhere or another, and eventually making my way back on the
Skytrain grid to make it home again. I meet other wanderers, or if I don’t, I explore things
I’ve never seen before, and get a feel for a city that has so much to offer. I feel no
pressure, I have no expectations, and I go wherever the bus driver decides to drive the
bus.
The best part? Knowing that I’m lowering my carbon footprint by using sustainable
transportation instead of driving around producing unnecessary greenhouse gas
emissions.
I encourage everyone who really wants to experience Vancouver to get out of their car,
their bubble, and to use alternative, sustainable transportation to get around instead.