In a car, you can’t hold hands with your loved one. The risk of driving one-handed is enough to make even the jovial Click and Clack of Car Talk tisk their tongues in disapproval. And sharing loving gazes from behind the wheel is more likely to cause a head-on than a heart-to-heart. There’s just not very much that’s very romantic about bucket seats, safety belts, and traffic.

But on public transit, you have both hands, both eyes, and your whole attention free. Trains, trolleys, ferry boats, and buses are where it’s at if you’re in love and en route. Imagine rolling through the countryside on a train with your loved one. Out the window, you see the beautiful landscape, which you’ve somehow never noticed quite as well before from the freeway. You’ve just been to the dining car, where you met a delightful couple on vacation, and now you’re relaxing together as you sip hot cocoa from the train’s kitchen. You sit next to one another, fondly gazing at one another and smiling. You’re free to hold hands, sit close, close your eyes and daydream, and look into one another’s eyes as you talk.

It’s moments like this that get lost in the hustle and hubbub of highways and freeways. Taking a trolley ride, strolling around the observation deck of a ferry boat, sitting arm in arm on the bus, watching the world roll past from the window of a train, or meeting your loved one at the station are wonderful experiences for every couple to share and enjoy.

If, by now, you’re not convinced that PT (public transit) is the best way for you and your sweetie to get around, then the following poem probably won’t do a thing to help change your mind. But what the heck, it’s fun. Enjoy.

PDA on the PT

While in the car, you must refrain
From holding hands, and do abstain
From loving gazes and flirting looks
From straying thoughts and reading books
From stealing kisses and nibbling ears
From playing games and sharing beers
From sitting close, both arm in arm
From cozying up, both safe from harm.

One hand’s just not enough, my dear
To steer the car when danger’s near.
And both your eyes must always stay
Fixed on the road and never stray.
Your bucket seats just won’t allow
For getting close, no way no how.
So don’t get stuck behind a wheel
Now that you know PT’s appeal!

Picture taken by Deepti Kalsi.