re: How much money do you put in savings every paycheck?

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I've just seen the dregs of society that hang around the bus stops in downtown (when I'm brave enough to vanture outside of the tunnels for lunch) and I imagined the bus to be filled with those types.

That actually doesn't sound bad at all. How late do those buses run? That might actually make the suburbs of Houston more appealing to me.

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There are zombies that roam and are drawn to some bus stops, but they are mostly harmless. My standard line is, "I'm sorry, but I don't carry cash". The dregs will mainly loiter in front of convenience stores. Each commuter bus has a designated stop every couple of blocks, so you can always be selective about your peer group.

The suburb I live in has riders who mostly wear neckties, and read from their Kindles/iPads. In fact, I'm posting from an iPad on the commuter bus at this moment. The passengers are mostly silent and always dignified. Do you know that moment on an airplane when the door to the cabin is opened and its time to exit the plane where passengers throughout the plane immediately stand in the aisle to be one of the first ones off and few if any courteously offer others in front of them a place in line? That NEVER happens on this bus. It is orderly as hell at the final destination, with riders only rising from their seats when passengers in front of them have exited their seats to walk down the aisle. It would be a break of etiquette to rise from the back of the bus and walk to the front in order to exit before others.

I only venture into the tunnels occasionally for lunch, and as a means of getting to my bus stop when it rains. I find the tunnels too crowded and full of slow moving people. I feel more efficient and aware as a surface dweller. Speaking of rain and busses, there are some building lobbies where riders can wait without being exposed to the elements. Rain also keeps the zombies away.

I can't speak for all the routes, but the one I take runs till 10pm. After 6:00 pm, the pickup times start to get spaced out until there's an hour wait between pickups, but that gives you time to grab a beer before the ride home.