Public Transportation Quotes

“The measure of a country’s prosperity should not be how many poor people drive cars, but how many affluent people use public transportation.”
― Michael Hogan

“The bus I am riding on must be on its way to a garbage convention. Never before has a more rancid assemblage of people congregated. I am at this moment privy to a momentous moment in the history of human smell. My name will probably be memorized by future students, preparing to answer this frequently asked exam question: Who demonstrated a supernatural ability to remain conscious on the most disgusting vehicle to ever disturb our debauched world?”
― Emily Austin, Oh Honey

“I do not know why people here have taken upon themselves the duty of making attempts at speaking to me. I work hard to keep the ‘don’t speak to me’ look on my face and yet it seems they read it as ‘please speak to me’….It really is very inconsiderate. Sometimes one just wants to be alone with one’s thoughts and not have to deal with bad breath and body odour so early in the morning.”
― Kopano Matlwa, Coconut

“Nana, how come we don't got a car?' 'Boy, what do we need a car for? We got a bus that breathes fire, and old Mr. Daniels, who always has a trick for you.”
― Matt de la Pena, Last Stop on Market Street

“I’m not saying I’ll turn down a good road trip, but it has been the trains, ferries, subways, and most frequently the buses that have most helped me travel the world. When I want to explore a place, to get a sense of its culture, people, and neighborhoods (even my own), I have found that there is no better way to travel than public transportation. Crowded or nearly empty, full of conversations or silence, scheduled or unscheduled, with live chickens or Styrofoam packets of eggs, on sleek coaches or beat-up minibuses, whether in my hometown or a new town in a foreign country: traveling on public transportation becomes a primary insight into a place and culture.”
― Bryanna Plog, Make Sure You Have a Map

“The experience of riding in a subway or elevator calls to mind Bertrand Russell's remark that much of modern anxiety stems from the time we spend in unnatural proximity to strangers without the preliminary sniffing that is instinctive in animals, including us.”
― Ralph Caplan, By Design: Why There Are No Locks on the Bathroom Doors in the Hotel Louis XIV and Other Object Lessons

“Stop it, Simone. You know there's nothing more erotic to me than well-maintained local infrastructure.”
― Rory Mullarkey, Mates in Chelsea