riding the bus

[Ashiuhto]

Please check the following sentence. Can the word "riding" be replaced by "taking"? Which is better?

It was a busy morning. There were many commuters riding the bus to school or work in the rush hour.

 

[Route21]

Hi Ashiuhto

As an NES, but not a teacher:

See the following link, which suggests that "rides the bus" is American English vs "takes the bus" which would be more usual for British English.

Definition of ride from Oxforddictionaries.com
"chiefly North American travel in (a vehicle or lift):she rides the bus across 42nd Street"

As a "Brit" I would prefer to ride a horse or a bicycle, but drive a car or take the bus/train

Hope this helps

R21
Apologies: The system won't allow me to paste the link (yet)

 

[Rover_KE]

I think I'd simply say 'There were many people on the bus in the rush hour'.

Rover

 

[Verona_82]

Sorry to butt in, but can the metro/underground be considered "a vehicle"? I mean, can we 'ride the metro?"

 

[5jj]

Sorry to butt in, but can the metro/underground be considered "a vehicle"? I mean, can we 'ride the metro?"

As a speaker of BrE, I take the bus/train/metro/underground/ tube/tram/ferry/monorail.

I also take the subway when I am in America. (In Britain I use a subway to get underground from one side of a road to the other - it's a pedestrian underpass)