On the heels of President Obama coming out in support of equal rights for same-sex marriage, pun intended, I must confess a growing <3 for SAM. SAM is the Sioux Area Metro, our local public transport.

I am regularly looking for ways to reduce my expenses and lead a more frugal life. So far, I’ve focused mostly on transportation expenses, especially with how gas prices regularly are. 2012 brought in myself having a membership at Meso Coworking, and with this membership, need to travel from my apartment at the southwest corner of town, to downtown Sioux Falls. Between the mentioned gas prices as well as parking fees, I knew that this was an opportune moment to cut down on my reliance on my car, and thus costs associated with traveling downtown many times a week.

Enter SAM into the picture. Bus stops couldn’t be better located. The Southwest Center stop for the bus system is approximately half a mile from my apartment complex, and the downtown bus stop is within a block of Meso. Perfect for my needs! Last thing I need to make this situation highly cost effective is a 30 day adult pass, which costs a mere $25 for unlimited use. This prevents me from having to add wear-n-tear on my vehicle and spares me from filling up my tank regularly. I still drive some places, but it is needed less and less. Driving can become dedicated more to special occasions instead of heading to work.

One of the side perks with using SAM is the fact that I’m forced to walk a little bit. I’m a web developer, I don’t succeed the best with exercise and physical activity. I’ve always found that doing things that force me to walk succeed a lot better than me trying to force myself to a gym.

All in all, I’m taking advantage of a situation that allows me to get out a bit for very low cost and many benefits, some that aren’t even mentioned in this post. If your local public transport offers convenience for you in your routine, I encourage you to try it out and see how it goes. Maybe you’ll fall for your local “SAM”, no matter the acronym.