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April 04, 2001
Stupid bus.
So, the T has been making all sorts of noise about improving lately. I've never been very dissatisfied with the service (except for the fact that it stops running so early at night) but then, I've never been terribly satified, either. Since moving to my neighborhood, I've gotten more and more disgusted with it, though. The town I live in is working-class, low- to middle-income. There are two bus lines that run to it. Two. It's not a small area. Lots and lots of people live in my town -- lots of people who depend on public transportation. Two bus lines mean that the buses are horribly overcrowded. Two bus lines mean that, during rush hour in the evenings, there are crowds of upwards of one hundred very unhappy people waiting to get home. I've seen shoving matches, and even fistfights, break out among people waiting to get on the bus -- because when one arrives at the station, everyone desperately mobs it. I have given up on trying to get home during rush hour -- if I don't have errands to run after work, I just stay and play on the computer until 6 or so, when I might have a fighting chance of actually getting on the bus. I started doing this over the summer, after I'd spent an hour standing in the sun at the bus stop, watching buses that were so full people were literally mushed against the windshield drive by. I have to laugh every time I read anything about the T's plans to make customers happy -- I mean, the current "Passenger Bill of Rights" is a joke. If your bus or train is more than half an hour late, you get your fare refunded. Gee whiz, that dollar is really going to make me feel better about being late for work! It'll make up for the hours spent at the bus stop, being jostled around in the angry crowds of waiting commuters. And really, who is going to take the time to call the T, or fill out the little card they're supposed to have at the stations, just for a buck? I read a story in one of the papers that said that T officials were surprised by how few responses they'd gotten -- surprised? Really?
So, what triggered this little rant? All this week, I've managed to wake up nice and early. I hop in the shower, and speed through getting ready for work, so I can catch the bus that's supposed to pass my house at around 7. If I catch that bus, I get to work in time to grab a coffee, check my email, and generally just relax a little before starting the day. If I catch the bus later than that, I usually end up stuck in traffic, and get to work late. Plus, the earlier I catch the bus, the less crowded it is. The past three mornings, I have gotten to the bus stop at about five minutes to 7, and have waited... and waited... and waited... there's supposed to be a bus every ten minutes or less, according to the schedule. I've waited about a half an hour each morning this week, which makes me late for work, and thus very cranky. This morning, when the bus finally arrived, it was absolutely crammed with people, so full that no more could fit inside. I found a little corner to wedge myself into (getting far too intimately aquainted with the ass of the guy next to me) because I really couldn't wait for the next bus. The bus had reached critical mass, but the driver still stopped at every stop, holding the doors open while people stood on the street and blinked at him, wondering if he was waiting for them to climb into peoples' laps or something. When someone muttered a complaint, (not even a very rude one) the driver hit the brakes and demanded "Who said that?" So, no, I'm not satified with the service at the moment -- I've had a low-grade irritation toward it for a while, but right now, I'm disgusted. And, since I have no other way to get to work, I'm stuck with it. Despite the promises, I know full well that any complaint I might make is a waste of breath.
Posted by Mary Ellen at April 4, 2001 03:34 PM