A lot of us refuse to even think about taking the bus. If the destination can’t be reached by car, airplane, or horse-drawn carriage- it will never be reached.

However, public transportation is not the enemy, but a friendly neighbor offering to share their homegrown vegetables with you. Here’s a list of the top five reasons that you should probably think about inviting this neighbor to your next cook-out.

1. Super cheap

Surprise! It’s actually a lot cheaper to take the bus than to fork out the dough to insurance companies, car payments, repairs, gas, parking, etc. Not only is the bus fare relatively cheap for your everyday civilians (about $3.50 a ticket depending on location / time of the day) but the prices can drop even lower! Most public transport companies tend to give half fare to those with disabilities, the elderly and students. Some universities even enter into agreements with these companies in which their students can ride the buses / subways totally free of charge. These companies also offer “frequent traveler” options, in which you purchase a monthly pass for a one-time fee and can use the buses as many times as your wayfaring heart desires.

2. Environmentally friendly

Whether or not you believe in global warming, public transportation is the way to go. No more worrying about high rates of car emissions, you can save the Earth and get to work on time by taking the bus. Buy yourself a reusable water bottle and you’re basically saving 20 polar bear families. (Probably not, but you get the point).

3. No rush-hour traffic

At this point, public transportation has been around long enough that they’ve actually built and maintained their own private roadways. Buses totally bypass hordes of traffic in the morning by sticking to busways, as well as railways and lanes reserved specifically for, well, just that. You will never sit at a red light for ten minutes ever again.

4. Extra time to nap

This, of course, is totally dependent on your commute time. As someone who travels about an hour into the city every morning and evening, I always make sure to bring some sort of neck pillow to settle in for the daily commute. This also works great for the non-early birds out there needing to take time to enjoy their coffee in the morning before being able to function. You guys are no longer a health hazard on the road if you aren’t the ones driving.

5. Stories to tell the fam at the next party.

I’m not going to try and paint public transportation as totally perfect. Of course you’re going to have people that make you uncomfortable; a drunk man looking for his iPhone at two in the afternoon, another drunk man asking if you know his cousin, Lori, an elderly Asian grandmother insisting that the kid next to her teaches her how to use snapchat “for her grandkids,” and a man arguing on the phone with his girlfriend about her next Pilates lesson. However, I can guarantee that your live tweets on Twitter, your snapchats and your stories at the dinner table each night will improve drastically with tales of public transportation.

The bottom line is; public transportation is actually not that bad. Sure, you might find times when you're uncomfortable, in an odd situation, or generally grumpy about having to walk to the nearest bus stop. But there is more to appreciate in the little every day happenings than a public commute. (Also, sometimes there is free Wi-Fi, and that will forever be the top incentive).