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RSS icon Comments on I, Anonymous: It's Elementary—The Morning After

1

The driver is forbidden by law to take the time it takes to deploy the ramp into consideration. Riders who need the ramp must be treated exactly the same in every respect as riders who do not.

Posted by Fnarf | July 2, 2007 9:59 AM
2

"Comporable."

Posted by Matt from Denver | July 2, 2007 10:02 AM
3

She wanted the handicapped ramp? ECB approves, no doubt.

Posted by tsm | July 2, 2007 10:10 AM
4

fnarf, it appears the bus driver was following a policy that wouldn't allow anyone, handicapped or no, on the bus when it's not in a proper loading zone. The fact that deploying the handicapped ramp would have been even MORE unsafe than just opening the door is just an (accurate) observation.

Posted by giantladysquirrels | July 2, 2007 10:17 AM
5

i love how stilleto told the bus driver not be late in the other thread, like that was a valid and feasible point.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | July 2, 2007 10:38 AM
6

I can understand if the bus was late, but it doesn't excuse the times that buses arrive before they're supposed to. I have gotten to bus stops as early as 10 minutes before they're supposed to arrive, only to have to wait 40 minutes for the next bus, because the driver blew past my stop and probably wound up sitting at a stop further up the line until the schedule caught up to him/her.

Posted by elswinger | July 2, 2007 10:42 AM
7

@ 6, no kidding. I was fortunate enough to live at a timepoint on the 21's line when I first moved to Seattle so that didn't happen to me, but the operators would drive like hell then wait one stop prior to the next timepoint so they wouldn't be officially ahead of schedule. I never understood the point of that.

Posted by Matt from Denver | July 2, 2007 10:45 AM
8

I'm all for being draconian about pulling away from stops and not looking back. First the look of anger, surprise and exhaustion from the person who's just been rejected makes for a nice little boost in the morning. Second, add one runner and the extra wait at every stop and you have a run that is 10 minutes late by the time I get off.
So here's to all the metro drivers that are merciless when it comes to late arrivals.
I'd also like to see the beepy-ramps go. There aren't that many crippled folk and they could use those cute little van-bus things. The bus system will never be reliable if any given bus can end up 15 minutes late because of having to deploy the ramp.

Posted by kinaidos | July 2, 2007 10:46 AM
9

"I'd also like to see the beepy-ramps go. There aren't that many crippled folk and they could use those cute little van-bus things."

Wow.

...Did I mention "wow"?

Posted by Christin | July 2, 2007 10:53 AM
10

D.S.-Among other things, it’s interesting to note that professional bus drivers have compositional skills comparable to those of alternative middle-schoolers,


Yes...it's "interesting", isn't it, David?

Posted by BD | July 2, 2007 10:58 AM
11

"I'd also like to see the beepy-ramps go. There aren't that many crippled folk and they could use those cute little van-bus things."

is that a David Brent quote or something? jesus.....

Posted by greg | July 2, 2007 11:07 AM
12

#8 Why don't you ride one of those "cute little van-bus things"? (They're called Access, by the way).

I had to ride Access for the four years I was on dialysis and I can tell you those "cute little van-bus things" suck.

First of all, they are driven mostly by people who couldn't get jobs driving the real buses, and who drive without regard to the people riding in the back. Everyone knows how the streets in Seattle suck ass, now imagine riding around in the back of what is essentially a flat bed truck with walls you can smack into, in pain from whatever malady you suffer. I've had drivers slam into curbs, catch air while speeding down Lake City Way, I even had a driver who forgot to put on the parking brake, and when the bus started to roll, she slammed on the gas instead of the brake and we crashed into two parked cars.

Second, there isn't exactly a schedule. Sure, you have to call 24 hours in advance, but if you aren't waiting for them on the curb, they only have to hang around for five minutes before they can just drive away and call you a "No Show." Three no shows and you can lose your Access privileges. But there is no penalty for them being late. Several times I had to wait on the street for as much as two hours before my "pre-scheduled" ride arrived. This cut into the time I should have been on dialysis.

(FYI-There are also same day "will call" rides, but it can take several hours before they get around to picking you up, and there are no guaranties.

Posted by elswinger | July 2, 2007 11:13 AM
13

@12,

Aha! So I'm not crazy. I swore that Access drivers were more likely than most to try to mow me down as I cross the street. It seems that I was correct.

Posted by keshmeshi | July 2, 2007 11:17 AM
14

You are correct. Even Metro drivers hate (and fear) Access drivers.

Posted by elswinger | July 2, 2007 11:52 AM
15

Sounds like they should just pay for cabs instead of Access. At least then you could pick your own cab company.

As for the ethics of bus driving, consult this great book of short stories:

"Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God"

http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-0312339259-0

Posted by carlos | July 2, 2007 12:05 PM
16

Sounds like they (Metro) should just pay for cabs instead of Access. At least then you could pick your own cab company.

As for the ethics of bus driving, consult this great book of short stories:

"Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God"

http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-0312339259-0

Posted by carlos | July 2, 2007 12:06 PM
17

I agree Carlos. The Access buses are necessary for all the wheel chair bound people in Seattle (and there are a lot of them). But people who are ambulatory like me can ride the bus or a cab fairly easily.

I say fairly because, though it was easy for me to get to my 5:30pm dialysis appointment at 145th & Lake City Way by taking the bus from the UW, taking a bus to my apartment in Wallingford was unsafe, if not impossible.

I would get off dialysis around 10pm and it would take at least an hour by Access to get home (it would take two hours to go home by bus). The few times I took a cab took less than 10 minutes.

Posted by elswinger | July 2, 2007 12:29 PM
18

I usually like Schmader's contributions to the paper, but a journalist ragging on the writing skills of a bus driver is SO FUCKING SNARKY SEATTLE I can't deal with it.

I'm gonna have to side with the bus driver on this one.

Posted by Dougsf | July 2, 2007 1:05 PM
19

I agree with Dougsf. That was kind of asshole, especially since the bus driver wrote clearly and made perfect sense. Normal people don't care about The Elements of Style unless you're writing a newspaper.

Posted by jamier | July 2, 2007 1:48 PM
20

Re: 18 & 19: I didn't mean that as "ragging" on the writing skills of the bus driver, or conflating the writing skills of middle-schoolers. I was just making an observation, that obviously came off snarkier than I intended.

Posted by David Schmader | July 2, 2007 2:27 PM
21

Bad idea, schmader. The crack about writing skills came off as elitist. My morning bus driver has a four-year college degree and has been driving for Metro 35 years.

Posted by Weren't you supposed to be quitting? | July 2, 2007 6:33 PM
22

That bus driver sounds like a 100% dick. I don't give a fuck if he took Film Criticism class at UW with Chuck Mudede.

Don't blow off little old ladies. Who cares if it makes a couple of people a little late? IT'S THE BUS. If they need to be there precisely at 10:00 and they get there at 10:02, they should have given themselves more time or taken a fucking cab.

I rode the bus many, many times as part of bike/busing. 75% of the bus drivers didn't stop at the actual bus stop, and then gave me the stink eye when I had the audacity to actually use the bike rack on the front of their bus.

Yay, David. Boo, hypersensitives.

Posted by Big Sven | July 2, 2007 10:57 PM

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