content: For my 500th review, I thought about writing about beaches in San Diego, art centers in Los Angeles, cafes in New Mexico, or bookstores in Boston.  But it seemed right to focus on the Mass Transit District of Champaign-Urbana, the bus system that keeps my life in order.  \n\nI moved a month ago to Chambana, and it has quickly become apparent that I do not live in Southern California any more.  The land is flat, the wind comes sweeping through, the place is smaller in scope, and I'm rapidly realizing that I'm not going to want to rely on my car when the snow falls from the sky.\n\nEnter Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District.\n\nThere's no need for a parking permit when there are countless, continuously running lines covering the entire area.  My weekday mornings find me checking my house, looking through my backpack, making sure all my stuff is in order, before frantically hustling down the street in order to catch the 13 Silver South Line to campus, which runs twice an hour.  \n\nIf I'm worried about catching the bus, the MTD has a text messaging service, where you can text the bus line with a number and get real time information for when the bus is arriving.  Let me tell you, a text message has saved me more than once from missing the last bus before class starts. :)\n\nThe website is unfortunately abbreviated (http://www.cumtd.com), but wonderfully comprehensive.  I've had generally great luck with the drivers on the 5, 10, 13, and 7, and I'm really glad to have made it to a place with really accessible, constant, reliable mass transit.  I'm slightly less worried about gas prices, as it's free for university students to ride the ever-present CUMTD system. :)\n\nIn short, thank you so much, Chambana MTD for getting me where I need to go all the time, every time.