Only a day or so after writing a story about life on the bus, I found myself standing at my stop for many long minutes past the time the #2 should have picked me up. Five minutes late turned into 10 turned into 20, then 30. Dark fell. A bus friend called me from his stop a few blocks away. "I got through to TARC on the phone. The #2 is stuck in traffic at Crittenden because of the lines for the flu shot at the stadium." I decided I'd had enough of standing in front of Dr.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to ride the TARC bus? To give up a car; the payment, the insurance, the tax bill -- and the flexibility -- in exchange for a monthly bus pass? I wondered. When the time came for my husband to turn in a company car during a career change, we faced adding another car to the budget. I willingly take public transportation while travelling, so wondered why I should rule out the TARC buses that trundle around my own town. I decided to give it a go for a month and see how it worked out.