Benefits of public transport - Run errands on your way home

Photo by daquellamanera

This post is part of a series of posts about the benefits of public transport.

When I talk to other people about using public transport, I often hear one argument that seems to be a killer-argument against taking the bus: They need their car to run errands.
At first sight this really looks like a strong argument. But if you take a closer look, you'll find that you don't really need your car most of the time. If you need to buy big items, a car might be necessary, but most things you buy won't be that big. The milk for tomorrow's breakfast will easily fit in your bag and go with you on the bus. But there are other arguments...

My shop can't be reached by bus.

So what? Your favourite shop can be reached by car, but you won't get there with the bus? Maybe that's because you chose it because you alway go there by car? Don't you think there are other shops that will sell you your milk? Try to take the bus to work, take a look out of the window and count the shops you can reach this way.

But my shop is much cheaper!

Even if you found a shop that sells everything much cheaper, driving there by car isn't free. On the other hand, you can easily leave the bus to go wherever you need to go and take the next bus home.

But this will take so much time! I prefer to have one "big-shopping-day" per week!

Granted, your commute will take longer if you go shopping every day compared to doing it just once a week. I used to drive to a big shopping center every saturday. I thought that I saved money by buying there, but one day I realized how stupid this was. It took me half an hour to get there and half an hour to go back. There were lots of people there and my shopping took quite some time.

Today, I visit the shop on my way home with the bus everytime I need something. This takes a couple of minutes every day. This is no time compared to my hour long journey to the shopping center. As a bonus, there is no need to go shopping on the weekend, so I've got more free time. And I always have fresh fruits at home.