Yesterday, I took the bus to UCLA again. But for the first time I combined bus with bike and found out that it is the best way to commute to campus.
I live in the Marina del Rey about 1 mile from any decent bus stop. The nearest stop is to the Culver City green line, which has a pretty good service once you get to it. But I just hate walking there, so I decided to try biking instead. The bike ride to the bus stop is about 5 minutes. When I got there, I just put my bike on the rack in front of the bus and jumped inside. It was a surprisingly easy process.
The added benefit of the bus is that you don’t need to sit through traffic, reading the license plates of actors and wannabe actors in LA. You can free your mind for more fulfilling actions. I generally open a book or plan the things I need to get accomplished during the day.
By the way: Have you ever thought why vanity license plates are so popular in Southern California? There are several theories, but I prefer to think it’s marketing: it’s essential for personal branding. On the stop and go of the everyday traffic, people here spend a lot more time staring at your license plate than actually looking at your face. 
So I get to UCLA about the same time as if I were driving. Savings so far: a couple bucks in gas, and $8 in parking.
At the end of the day, I go back home using the same drill: put the bike on the rack in front of the bus, hop in and relax with your best reading, iPod and A/C. There were lots of traffic in the afternoon, and I was thankful to have left my car at home.
Now comes the exciting part of my day: Instead of changing from the Culver City bus that services UCLA to the one that goes to the Marina, I decided to bike the second half of the trip. My plan was to ride the bike until the bus caught up me, and then just jump in at the nearest stop. But the traffic was so tight that the bus never arrived. I ended up getting home faster than I would with the bus … or a car for that matter.
Bus vs car bottom line: $10 more in my pocket, about 1 hour of quality thinking for myself in the bus and no need to go to the gym that night!
