THIS IS A WELLINGTON BUS

[spatch]

I know it's an unwritten rule that the MBTA hire surly Travis Bickle types to drive the buses, but I really gotta say at times I can't blame the drivers for eventually snapping.

See, I ride the 90 from Davis Square to Wellington almost every weekday. On the way we stop at Sullivan Square. The 90 hits Sullivan twice -- once on the Davis-Wellington run, and once on the Wellington-Davis run. It stops at the same bus berth no matter which direction it runs. Being only one of two buses whose routes pass through Sullivan rather than terminate there, it can cause a bit of confusion. Too much confusion, really. Even when the lighted display sign is working and the driver is speaking clearly and loudly, nobody ever bothers to listen. This means that every day, without fail, a variation on the following scene happens. The variation I'm writing actually happened today.

DRIVER: Wellington! Wellington Station!
PASSENGER 1: Is this going to Davis?
DRIVER: No, Wellington! (hollering out the open door at the crowd of people waiting to board) WELLINGTON STATION, THIS IS A WELLINGTON BUS.
PASSENGER 2 (putting his money in the fare box): You mean we're not going to Davis?
DRIVER: No, we're going to Wellington! WELLINGTON.
PASSENGER 2: Oh. Can I get my money back?
(DRIVER gives PASSENGER 2 a transfer. Meanwhile PASSENGER 3 pays her fare, nods at the driver, and boards the bus.)
PASSENGER 4: But isn't this bus the one that goes to Davis?
DRIVER: The Davis bus will be along shortly! I'm going to WELLINGTON! THIS BUS IS GOING TO WELLINGTON, THIS IS A WELLINGTON BUS.
PASSENGER 5 (running into the bus all frantic): IS THIS MY BUS?!
DRIVER: I don't know! Where are you going?
PASSENGER 5: DAVIS!
DRIVER (finally losing it): GET OFF THE BUS! THE DAVIS BUS WILL BE HERE SOON. ANYBODY ELSE GOING TO WELLINGTON? WELLINGTON?
(The rest of the crowd outside shakes their head. So the DRIVER closes the bus door and takes off.)

Then, as we make the right-hand turn to go to Assembly Square instead of going left to Broadway...

PASSENGER 3: Wait, I thought we were going to Davis! Stop the bus, STOP THE BUS!!

Every.
Single.
Day.

I'd turn surly too.

Comments

one time i accidentally got on a greyhound to Omaha

[rosalux.livejournal.com]

...and between Des Moines & Omaha there ain't a lot of good places to get off the bus. But it wasn't my fault, I swear. They were having a strike and all the staff had been moved in from other cities and two different people told me it was the bus I wanted (going NORTH toward MINNEAPOLIS stopping at BOONDOCKS, not going WEST toward OMAHA stopping NOWHERE). I swear. I cried. I ended up in Omaha anyway.

The bus drivers in Minneapolis are awesome, though. Everyone says "good morning!" when they get on the bus and "thank you!" when they get off, and since the bus stops all just say BUS instead of something helpful like "14, 94, 494 south/east" and most stops don't have schedules posted, you can just hop up on a random bus and ask how to get where you're going.

They also have a helpful infoline that generally answers within a few minutes (though they assume you aren't willing/able to walk AT ALL and unless you say "I'll walk up to 6 blocks" or whatever they'll give you complicated and time-consuming transfer options instead of saying, like "And your destination is 4 blocks south on the street the bus stops on", plus an "online trip planner" that's almost always correct.

On the other hand they're raising fares & cutting service again this year. Whoo! $80/mo to ride the bus to work!

Re: one time i accidentally got on a greyhound to Omaha

[kleric.livejournal.com]

Beats the $125/month it takes to park downtown! Plus gas!
I've been ridin' the bus up here for 3 years now and it's just great, I can't believe I didn't switch earlier.

Keith

[(Anonymous)]

I loves the Minneapolis bus system. My bus picks up a block from my house in the far North suburbs, and drops off a block from work in downtown Minneapolis. And the reverse is true. It couldn't possibly be more convenient for me, unless the thing rolled up to the house in the morning.

I make a point of thanking the driver when I get off the bus. They have a hard enough job without everyone being all surly and stuff.

subsidized parking

[rosalux.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the Minneapolis buses are a joy. I tried to ask a New York bus driver if his bus stopped at a specific corner one time...he made fun of me over the loudspeaker so all the other riders would hate me, too. And didn't answer my question.

Parking is ridiculously cheap where I work. The Strib owns like 5 blocks over here on the edge of downtown so monthly parking for employees is like $40. And I only live 2 miles away - usually I ride my bike all summer. Which is FREE! FREE! FREE! Since I'm still all morning sick I've actually been driving 2-3 days a week - it's $4/day if we don't have a monthly contract, and that's only 50 cents more than the rush hour bus 2 ways.

Wow, this is making me angry again that the company stopped subsidizing bus passes. We used to get a $2 discount on a $22 bus pass. I didn't realize the parking fees were so far below market.

Re: subsidized parking

[lno.livejournal.com]

I work in downtown Mpls at 225 S 6th. My employer has a plan that allows us to take out up to $200/mo pre-tax and use that to pay for parking or bus/rail passes. It's not as good as company-paid parking, but it's a damn sight better than nothing.