Evan Dodds – Non-work-related blog

I find it strange to be writing this. I’ve always liked bus drivers. Even the “mean” ones when I was in middle school.

And I’ve always been exceedingly nice and polite to my drivers, at least since I’ve been an adult (maybe not so much when I was in middle-school).

But I’ve now had a second “not very pleasant” bus driver experience. The first one (and I forget if I’ve even blogged about this) was trying to catch the “Nacht-bus” to make our flight out of Amsterdam last April.

Quick digression: The 6am Sunday-morning bus (a time at which it runs only once per hour) just blew right past us as we stood at the bus shelter. We had to run many MANY blocks to catch a different bus and were very worried we would not make our plane. We had about 30 seconds to confront this bus driver when we arrived at the transfer station (he evidently had a very long layover at the transfer). His response started with how he “thought we were waiting for a taxi” and ended with “so fuck off”. Waiting for a taxi in the bus-only lane. At the bus shelter. With a taxi-stand (stocked with taxies) just down the block. Yeah, right.

So that’s bad bus driver experience number one.

Yesterday was bad bus driver experience number two.

I catch the SoundTransit 545 express bus home from work when I ride the bus. It’s generally a nice ride, apart from the fact that 520 is at a dead stop (even in the wonderfully designed HOV lane) most days so it’s hardly an express.

Really, it actually is quite a nice ride both to and from work. It’s an articulated bus, so except at the peak times you normally can find a seat. And, this is key, the bus drivers are always very professional and friendly. I always have my flex-card prepared to show to them, and I’m always very compliant to any and every request to “please move back” for standing or to give up a seat for someone, etc.

So what could possibly be a bad driver experience yesterday if they’re all so nice? Well, here’s the dirty secret. At least one of these drivers is a total asshole. I almost gasp to hear myself say that, even in an implied whisper.

Yes. The driver of SoundTransit bus #9565 that stopped at the Overlake Transit center last night Thursday, February 9, 2006 at approximately 6:16pm is a total asshole. I don’t know his name, because I was not able to get onto the bus to ask him for it.

You see, the 545 bus stops at the Overlake Transit Center, a nice little park&ride facility about 10 minute brisk walk from my office. It’s hard to gauge what time the bus will actually arrive since it’s sometimes on time, sometimes a few minutes late, or even sometimes a few minutes early.

Getting to the transit center is further complicated by the fact that at the time I’m trying to get there, it’s a certainty that there are lots and lots (a steady stream, really) of cars in motion on 156th street: the street I have to cross to get into the transit center and board my bus. There’s a walk-indicator light at this crossing, but it generally takes about 3–5 minutes after you push the “please let me walk across” button before it will actually stop traffic to let you across.

Scene is set, now back to the story… I arrived at the crosswalk just in time to see the 545 bus arriving into the transit center. No sweat, I thought. All I have to do is cross the street. I’ll totally make it onto the bus, and therefore totally not have to wait 25 minutes for the next one to arrive.

Waiting, waiting, waiting. Eventually the light turned to walk, and I was able to sprint across the street. Now, there must not have been too many people waiting at the proper transit-bay (Bay 2), since just as I was crossing 156th Street the bus started to pull away from the transit bay.

No biggie, I still thought. This happens from time to time and the solution is just to change direction and instead of running to transit bay 2, catch the bus as it drives around the back of the transit center loop and runs right past bays 4, 5, and 6. My experience has been that as long as you catch the bus before it gets out of the transit center, you’re golden.

But not yesterday. No siree. I flagged the bus driver at transit bay 6. He ignored me. I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he simply had not seen me and jogged over to where he had stopped at the red-light prior to exiting the transit center (see, the buses have to wait for the same stupid 3–5 minute delay before exiting that pedestrians do to cross).

Now, I KNOW he saw me then. Because I was tapping on the front door of the bus and he was looking right at me. Looking right at me, shaking his head “no”, and mouthing something I couldn’t make out.

You got it. I can only presume he was telling me something along the lines of “it’s too late, I’ve already cryogenically sealed the doors and can’t take the chance of opening them here to let you onto the bus”.

Now, I’ll be fair here. I haven’t looked all over Metro’s site to see if there’s some arcane rule about how once the bus has undertaken the motion of exiting the transit center it’s too late to stop and let anyone else on. Hell, let’s even assume there is such a rule. If so, it’s a totally stupid rule. Not only was this bus still in the transit center through all of this, he was stopped at a (protected right-of-way inside-the-transit-center-still) red-light. There was ABSOLUTELY NO SAFETY PROBLEM with opening the door to let me onto the bus. It would not have slowed down his route in any way, nor would it have inconvenienced him or any of the other passengers.

But no, I just stood there for 3 minutes while he tried his best to not to meet my glare. And then the light turned. And he drove away, leaving me to wait for the next bus (whose driver, by the way, seemed — as expected — very nice).

Great service driver of bus #9565, SoundTransit Route 545, Overlake Transit Center @6:16pm. Not only did you arrive (and depart) two minutes early according to my watch (the website schedule says 6:18pm)… but you pissed off a daily rider in the process.