Dear P2P: A love letter for the night bus

Dear P2P, 

25 years ago, you came into this world, and it’s been a little brighter since. Technically, you’re just a well-deployed bus service for UNC students and employees, but in our hearts you’re so much more. 

You are to us like the stars were to ancient mariners, coming out every night (except breaks, university holidays, when the residence halls are closed or other cursed times) to help us reach our destinations. 

From pre-game to party, from dorm room to YoPo, from study lounge to late-night restaurant, you get us there safely — and happily. 

The truth behind that second adverb is due in large part to the legendary kindness of your drivers, but that kindness alone can’t totally account for what makes a P2P ride special. 

Part of your charm stems from the context of your routes and riders. You are the major carrier from the desert of South Campus weekend activities to the relative oasis of Franklin Street. 

So, while not everyone riding on one of your buses on a Friday night is going to exactly the same place, almost everyone is going toward fun. 

Moreover, the bulk of your occupants on such a night are first-years, and some potion is spilled over from their cauldrons (freshly brewed with new college relationships and dreams) onto you. 

All this magic means the normal muggle rules don’t apply when riding with you, fey ferry. 

When someone pukes in the regular world, for example, it’s a disgusting inconvenience. 

When someone pukes on one of your buses, it’s the makings of an instant epic about community solidarity and triumph through laughter. 

And while that line near the front of your buses is always tightly enforced, normal social conventions about personal space dissolve on a busy P2P night. Which is sort of freeing. But sweaty.

Perhaps the best thing about you, P2P, is that you constantly try to improve yourself. When you were born in 1992, you only had a small fleet of vans. As a precocious one-year old, however, you listened to student government recommendations and expanded to include a fixed route. 

You’ve only continued to grow and change up to the present day, replacing worn-out old buses this year with new ones, and adding a fixed route by Baity Hill Graduate & Family Housing. 

It’s our deep wish that — as you keep changing over the next 25 years — you remember to stay wonderful.

Love, 

The Editorial Board