I’d owned a car ever since I was 16 and my parents gave me a ’74 Plymouth Duster with a 3 on the tree manual transmission. That thing was a junker, but I was the only one of my friends with a car, so we drove it everywhere.
Into adulthood, cars were always a necessity to get to work, run errands, go to the movies, etc. I never even considered using public transportation. There were no trains or subways in the places I lived and buses were inconvenient. Worse, riding the bus had a stigma of being part of the underclass. This stereotype was unfair at best and probably carried more than a hint of racism.
Traveling to Europe for the first time, my eyes were opened. In Amsterdam, public transportation is truly for the public. ALL the public. Trams, metro, buses. EVERYONE rode these and they allowed for a car free quality of life.
From that point forward, as I moved from Rhode Island to Austin to Honolulu to Charleston, I looked for places to live with better public transit where I wouldn’t be so car dependent.
It wasn’t easy.
Austin, for all its talk of being a progressive city, only has 1 train line which is poorly designed and little used. In their defense, more lines are being built, but if you’ve ever been to Austin, you know it’s choked with cars and is very difficult to navigate by public transit.
Same goes for Charleston.
Honolulu was the one city in the U.S. where I felt truly liberated from my car. In fact, for the first time, we went down to a single car which was mostly used for my girlfriend’s commute and grocery shopping. Getting to the beach or the local coffee shop or brew pub were simple by foot.
So, when we decided to move to Europe, I wanted to do so without a car.
At first, it was strange. No worrying about parking or maintenance. No expenses like gas and insurance. What a relief! But, what if we wanted to go beyond the radius of a few miles where we could easily walk?
The solution was a monthly transit pass. For just 40€ we would have full access to buses, trains, ferries, and the metro. Not only in our city, but the entire Lisbon region!
Taking the train to Lisbon took a little under an hour and there were hourly departures from our local station. We starting visiting the city regularly when we discovered there was an even quicker way.
The bus!
In about 40 minutes we could be in Lisbon. And the station where we were dropped off has a Metro station (subway), train connections (both local and intercity), and bus connections.
The buses are big and comfortable. The ride is smooth and many seats are outfitted with USB ports. But, I was still a dedicated train traveler when it came to intercity travel.
If I wanted to get to Porto or Coimbra or the Algarve, I would always take the train. Somewhere, deep in my brain, the old stereotype was still holding on. Trains are better than buses, right? They’re more comfortable and more reliable, right?
Well, that changed when the cheapskate in me found out that a bus ticket from Lisbon to Aveiro was about 80% less than the train ticket. Sold!
The ride was comfortable and on time.
But, it’s not all rainbows and puppies with bus travel. While it emits far less CO2 (per person) than a car, buses are still bigger emitters than trains, especially since most trains in Portugal are electric while most buses run on petroleum products. I’ll still be using both trains and buses, but I hope more buses can be electrified moving forward.
About the Author
Brent Petersen is the Editor-in-Chief of Destination Eat Drink. He currently resides in Setubal, Portugal. Brent has written the novel Truffle Hunt (Eckhartz Press) and the short story collection That Bird. He’s also written dozens of foodie travel guides to cities around the world on Destination Eat Drink, including an in-depth eating and drinking guide to Portugal. Brent’s podcast, also called Destination Eat Drink, is available on all major podcasting platforms.