From the IMDB page:
A quiet observation of the triumphs and defeats of daily life, along with the poetry evident in its smallest details.
A bus driver played by…Adam Driver?
Poetry indeed.
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Stranger Than Fiction (linked above) - Here’s why pop culture features so little public transportation - #6 by peterk
Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhaal
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To which I reply, Murder on the Orient Express. 
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I don’t think this should be much of a surprise… The oldest movies were very much aspirational and people mostly went to escape their hum-drum lives… Seeing a character piloting a car is a very powerful message since it conveys self-determination, affluence and self-reliance, very american ideals (but also found in cinema from all over the world). In many ways the car is a deep part of film and the hero’s journey… It’s no accident that cars are the central focus of so many films; they’re more than transit; they’re freedom and danger, excitement, consumerism, and violence all rolled into one. You’re more likely to see public transit when the film language is closer to “realism” and a character is not in control of a situation.
Another big reason is purely from a visual standpoint… Cars are dynamic and fun to look at, and produce a great sense of movement and since film is a visual language, anything that makes for a compelling visual will be used often.
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Walter Murch’s commentary track on “The Conversation” gives another reason. The method of transportation a character chooses is used to convey a part of the character. Harry in the movie uses the bus to convey his attempt to be anonymous. But the general use of the bus as a primary conveyance is muddled.
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Yeah, that’s the one. Thanks.
It’s interesting not just that NYC seems to be the exception to this rule, but also how the subway is portrayed in NYC-based pop culture. Characters often have experiences like Michael Scott did. Yet despite the fact that riding the NYC subway is portrayed as a traumatic experience, it seems to get played up as part of NYC’s charm. The opportunity to see someone poop in a box on your morning commute is almost a selling point; sure, it’s an NYC character flaw but that flaw is part of what makes the city lovable. Public transit in somewhere like LA isn’t spun this way. It’s just a traumatic experience which is to be avoided at all costs.
On the topic of car product placement: I’m not sure if anyone remembers the terrible-but-strangely-addictive show The Glades that was on (I think) A&E a few years back but it had the most shameless, painful, ham-fisted car product placement I have ever seen in a movie or TV show. I hope Kia asked for their money back.
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They made a whole move about public trasnportation. A little movie called Speed. You may have heard of it.
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I think the main reason is because just like the 101 other mundane things you do in life, going from point A to B is just like going to the bathroom - something everyone does, but not usually very interesting.
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Harder to have action scenes on public transport - no car chases etc. Though I remember a great scene on a train in The Hunted with ninjas killing everyone.
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We watch movies for escapes. We’d rather seem our heroes in sports cars we will never own rather than a Greyhound or train.
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Although I guess adding a helicopter - one of the least public of transportation methods - is kinda cheating…
This makes me want to make an late-80s, early-90s style infomercial for a “Just Add Ninjas” product to spice up your life…
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That is what they did for this music video…
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I certainly think that is the perception in Hollywood, because that is the case in LA. And that drives the use of public transit as a “class marker” in film. But in older, denser, Eastern cities there are plenty of middle class people taking the subway or commuter rail.
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A “Lost in Translation” DVD had a featurette about the guerilla style shooting on the subways and streets of Shibuya which inspired me. I have worked on several indie films involving bus scenes shot guerilla style. It really is a fun challenge, but you can’t get long shots because the environment can’t be controlled at all so continuity errors are inevitable with retakes. For short montage shots and short interactions it adds a lot tothe depth of a film without spending a lot of money. One of the most satisfying things is getting good production dialog recordings; all the sounds in the background make a rich environment.
I’ve also filmed in buses in closed sets, and it’s a nightmare trying to get big lighting rigs for “pooor man’s process” simulation of the light changes that happen while driving. And greenscreening requires much larger backgrounds than for a car.
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Re product placement: ISTR that all the cars in Edward Scissorhands were AMC products…
One of my favourite public transport scenes:
Aeroplanes are public transport too, there are plenty of films with them in…
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Anyone out there who hasn’t seen this… SEE IT! Extremely inventive and fun to watch! Instantly gets you over watching silent films.
The blu ray of ‘The General’ is drop-dead gorgeous.
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Speaking of product placement and public transportation…
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Google up info on the bus, how it was made, where it ended up… very interesting.
