The Best Wellness Plan: Public Transportation

[RandySF]

This morning I had to go to Costco to pick up a few items. I got my butt out of bed, put some clothes on, WALKED to the bus stop, got off not far from the store and WALKED the rest of the way. I WALKED back to the stop, boarded the bus for the return trip, and WALKED home after my stop. And all this cost me $2.00 for the round trip which was deducted from my prepaid regional Translink card.. Granted, I did not have a lot to buy, but how often do we get in the car just to go to a store just several blocks away?

This particular trip was not exactly a workout for me, but imagine doing this more than one a day over a period of weeks and months? I came from suburban Detroit where public transportation was almost non-existent moving to downtown San Francisco with a robust system changed not only my personal habits but the way I thought about my health and how far I needed to go before I had to use any kind of vehicle. Public transportation will enhance overall wellness. You have to walk a little, get some sun and breath fresh air. So if you can, leave the car at home and get on the bus.

[dkf]

1. You can carry your purchases from Costco on a bus?

I can't imagine carrying even one purchase of toilet paper on the bus. lol.

[RandySF]

3. It was a small purchase

Just a few jars of vitamins.

[blogslut]

16. Why?

I've never had trouble taking shopping bags onto the bus. Is there something I'm missing?

[femmocrat]

2. Yeah, but in the winter all those sick people are on there, spreading germs.

LOL

[RandySF]

4. As opposed to

how fat I got driving everywhere in Michigan. Some people wear masks on the bus.

[dkf]

5. The bus system in SF in mahvelous.

I'd much rather use that than borrow my brother's stick shift and try driving up those crazy hills and find parking.

[valerief]

6. Imagine if our country invested in public transporation instead of

job transportation.

[pollo poco]

7. so true

I spent ten months attending school in Dublin, Ireland. I ate everything I wanted and still lost almost 30 pounds, just from the way things are set up for transport. Every trip was a combination of walking and public transport. I carried my groceries home in two sturdy canvas bags. European cities are built for walking. There were no cars when Dublin was being built. I did not miss my car. The difference in how I felt, and my level of general fitness, were greatly improved.

When I came back here, I gained the weight back. Zero change in eating habits. I did not go on a diet in Dublin. I do not eat fast food, nitrates, artificial colors, flavors or other additives, or any other crap, no matter what country I'm in. There are plenty of people in Dublin who do eat crap-and they are pallid and overweight, just like here. Poison food will kill you wherever you live.

Please- no replies questioning whether or not I am aware of what I am actually eating in a day. I eat a very well balanced diet, but one that is too calorie rich for my sedentary US lifestyle. It has become clear to me that diet alone won't do the trick. If we all walked more, we could all enjoy the fish and chips. And a bit of gateau at the finish, too.
I ate every treat Ireland offered me. And I still lost weight-effortlessly.

Also, please don't knock Irish food. The food there came from all over Europe, as well as OG locally grown stuff too. It was in every way comparable to, or superior to, the absolutely excellent food I get on the west coast of the states.

It really made me think. New studies in brain science show that exercise with a purpose (eg to get groceries) is much more mentally and emotionally engaging than exercise for it's own sake. (eg to spend a certain amount of time on a stationary bike in the gym). When you know that you are going for a walk, the brain even starts making new cells in anticipation of all the things you will learn while walking.

We spring to life when we walk, mentally and physically.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. After moving from Portland where I spent ten happy years without a car

to Minneapolis, with its mediocre transit system and my far-flung relatives (all of whom live in car-dependent burbs), I gained a lot of weight in the first year.

[RandySF]

12. Agree on one point, disagree on another

It's true that I hate exercising for it's own sake. After a few minutes of a treadmill and I'm bored. As for walkable cities, I would not exactly count Barcelona among them. Downtown did NOT feel pedestrian-friendly at all. I've also heard the same thing about Rome. Last night, when I was walking home with my son, a couple of tourists stopped me for some assistance with the parking meter. I tried my best but since we don't have a car, I had to make some educated guesses while the tourists were complaining that the city was not "car friendly". I wanted to say "if you live here you might have to get off your ass and walk sometimes".

[taterguy]

8. If you're gonna go that route, (pun intended), why not bike?

Bearing in mind your OP said you were only buying a few things.

Although I admit some of those San Fran hills are rather daunting.

Nice idea though.

Wish it was more prevalent.

[RandySF]

9. I WOULD get a bike

But the hills are too much for me. I also don't trust the traffic.

[taterguy]

10. The hills are too much because you don't bike. It's a vicious cycle.

Damnit another pun.

Sorry about that.

As for traffic, seriously it just takes getting used to. But San Fran traffic would scare the hell out of me since everyone's riding around in hybrids and you can't hear those damn things when they're behind you.

[RandySF]

13. I know what you mean

I saw someone get in a car and I never heard the engine as it rolled down the hill.

[taterguy]

14. If they ever get popular in my area I'm gonna have to buy a mirror for my bike

Which is something that I should probably do anyway.

[Fumesucker]

15. Biking in SF is doable if you're in shape..

Because SF never gets really hot or humid.

I live in the deep south and biking here is miserable except in the very early morning for at least four months a year, it's just too damn hot and humid, you end up dripping wet and stinking even if you're in shape. The hills in my locale are not as bad as SF but they are substantial.

I'm looking at an electric assist unit for my bike to make riding up the hills in the heat a little less sweat inducing.

Oh, and we have *zero* public transportation here too. And the drivers are not at all used to looking out for bicyclists, a lot of our roads don't even have a shoulder and there is often a thirty or more foot near vertical dropoff as soon as you get off the pavement.

Riding with my back to the traffic here terrifies me now, a surprising number of drivers really seem to hate cyclists and many of the rest are simply oblivious to anything weighing less than a couple of thousand pounds.

[taterguy]

17. All you'd have to do to stop hostility towards cyclists is send undercover cops out on bikes

Charge anyone who intentionally does something to endanger a cyclist with Assault on a Police Officer.

Most people who harass cyclists do it because it's a risk-free way of getting their aggression out.

If they knew there might be consequences their behavior would change instantly.

[Fumesucker]

18. That might work but it will never happen...

And that still doesn't address the problem of oblivious drivers.. I have a female relative that rear ended a school bus hard enough to jam the hood of her car about three feet up under the bus among many other automotive misadventures, you think she would notice a bicycle?

An actual bumper sticker I've seen here: If you don't like the way I drive then stay off the sidewalk..

Not that we have any sidewalks..

[izzybeans]

19. I recently read a study that suggested that communities that supported "instrumental" walking, r

rather than recreational (i.e. walking paths) promoted healthier body weight and respiration (If I remember it correctly).

By instrumental they meant doing what you are talking about in the OP. Being able to walk to a grocery, to the bank, to the court, out to eat, etc. We are wasting away in our cars while we commute.

[surrealAmerican]

23. ... and that's one one of the benefits of a walkable town.

It also builds a sense of community (you see your neighbors), and reduces crime (more witnesses mean fewer break-ins).

[izzybeans]

24. Definitely.

[taterguy]

25. But it's so much cheaper to maintain the status quo

How much do unnecessary health problems, excessive pollution and over-reliance on foreign oil actually cost?

in case anyone couldn't tell

[madokie]

20. If I had the chance to catch a bus to ride to town right now I'd do it

but we don't have a bus service. I could go out and start up our trusty ole f150 and haul my old ass down to town but I'll just work around the things I could use but don't have today. We don't have any bus service here at all but if we did I'd be on it right now rather than typing this.

[vadawg]

21. nah, not for me, i spent years doing the public transportation thing

spending hours stuck on the metro or in buses standing getting packed in like sardines, if im going to be stuck in traffic i want to be in my own vehicle, were i can do my own thing, were i can eat if i want to etc etc.. plus i would rather have my commute now (100 miles) and get home and work in my yard or go for a run, than spend more time using public transport just so i can walk between metro and buses..

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

22. Public transportaion just doesn't work for rural or even suburban living.

Unless you live inside of a major city, pub. trans. just isn't a viable replacement.
Most people would at least need one car for places pub. trans. doesn't make sense.

I lived in east Cleveland for 4-5 years. Car payments, gas, and a 30min drive are certainly worth getting out of the city.
Fresher air, quiet neighborhoods, guns/sirens not commonplace.

[Stephanie]

26. That's NYC every day for most of us.

I wonder if there are comparative health studies of NYC vs. anywhere else?

[4_TN_TITANS]

27. Wish I could...

Here in mid-size town TN people wouldn't dream of paying a cent more tax for anything that wasn't life or death. I'll never forget how impressed our family was on a trip to DC and the metro system there. Riding the metro was my daughters' favorite part of their stay in the capital.

[taterguy]

28. You could always work to change that

In several instances mass transit costs the government less than the amount they subsidize automobile usage.

If that's the case in your area then work to publicize that fact.

[Name removed]

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