A Matter of Time

Bus-smell is a strong smell. Of course, the distinct odor of bus-smell is contingent on the elements that have soaked into every seat, handrail, and wall of each respective bus - giving it it's unique flavor.

The first component is diesel gas. This seems almost unavoidable. Buses drive around all day every day. Buses run on diesel. I get it. I say "almost unavoidable" because my car, although not running on diesel, doesn't smell like gas all the time - not even after an eight-hour road trip. Why can't they make buses that don't smell like diesel gas all the time? Just a thought.

However, the strongest contributor to bus-smell is, unsurprisingly, cigarette smoke. Why do the bad smells always have to overpower the good? It really highlights the strength of smoke when you consider that smoking isn't allowed on the bus (See: March 4, 2009). The smell is completely attributable to the people that emanate it from their shoes, clothing, hair, skin, teeth, and breath. Case in point: In the morning on my way into the city, there is an old lady that often boards the bus just a few blocks before I get off. She oozes smoke. I'm usually ten feet away from her but can sense it as soon as she steps on. Sometimes I think the bus begins to smell of cigarettes even as it slows to pick her up - like the bus senses her approaching and emits a low-dose scent of tobacco to prepare the rest of the passengers. The best part - she's always lugging an oxygen tank behind her.

Nevertheless, the greatest influence on the severity and variety of smells that have come together, over time, to form the characteristic odor that defines a bus is time itself. Age has the same effect on bus-smell that it has on a fine Romano cheese, which takes anywhere between 5 and 12 months to meld it's separate ingredients together before ready to be savored. Except, the oldest buses are like a stale, moldy cheese that's been sitting in a pool of diesel on the floor of a smoker's garage for 5-12 years. Fortunately, not all buses smell strongly - yet. But it's only a matter of time...