I always find it interesting how Americans name public transport as "the" bus. As in singular.
this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2025
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Is this uncommon?
Expression is the same in German, even in the places with really good public transport: "Sollen wir den Bus nehmen?" - "Should we take the bus?"
Yeah, I imagine it's the same most places. You aren't taking all the busses. You're only taking the one. Multiple may exist, but they aren't the one you're on.
It's the same for cars, trains, etc.
At least where I am from, yes. Maybe very specific, but I always notice it.
How do you phrase it? Is it "take a bus/buses"?
Where I live we usually just say the station name. And because you have multiple fast lines to get to said station, it doesn't make sense to say, I take the bus, or I take the underground, or I take the train. Because all of them take you there. It's mostly about preference.
Here in the UK we do the same, I’ll say “I caught the bus from [place]”
It's because if you say you take the bus it implies that you only need one and have no transfers. If somebody needs to go two cardinal directions to get to their destination they need two buses, ie they are lost to the American public transportation system and won't be seen until archeologists find their remains.
The hubris of those who wish to travel 7 kilometers or more using public transit in the States is punished. Those who wish to travel 5 miles swiftly learn that feat is only attainable in a a minimum of 4 hours or alternatively you can walk or bike and get run over at a crosswalk by a pickup with more blindspots than a Abrams tank.
Wait what, the US has distance based transit pricing?
Most importantly: the US has no actual system, just a patchwork of small providers.
So the answer is: yes! / no! / maybe!? / which transit?
All depending on location...
For some systems. The NYC subway and buses you pay once to get on and you can go as far as you want. NJ Transit right over the river you buy a ticket specific for your start and end, and it costs more if you go farther.
(I didn't watch the video because I'm supposed to be working and I don't like video as a format, but hopefully this is what you meant)
The San Francisco systems have at least some of that. You're supposed to use a card to get in and out of the trains and you're charged by distance.
Most systems don't really have such a thing, though many have one way or time-based tickets (like 2 hours).
We have it too in India (in addition to daily/monthly passes). I thought that was common?
I did not watch the video but suburbs accessibility is a global issue that needs real politic implication (I mean money) to be solved.
Here, 15km from a medium euro city, an express and affordable bus line arrived only last year thanks to a global metropolitan project. Before that there was only an overpriced line that was pretty far from many districts, it was faster and more convenient to go by bike, that's how I realised 15km is 20 min by car (without congestion), 40 by bike, 3h by feet, and random by bus.
I would say "take the bus", in the same way I'd say I'm taking the car, or the bike.