A Rant on Buses

I am dependent on public transportation or upon my own two feet for transportation. I cannot afford the costs of using a car and have not driven since 2001. I appreciate public transportation and the service it provides. I would be a shut-in without it.

I travel the system with my disabled husband. Some drivers go out of their way to befriend and assist him. Many have been his "friends" throughout the thirteen years of his recovery from a massive stroke. Those special drivers are patient, understanding and compassionate to a degree I would only expect from true friends. We love and appreciate all of these nameless drivers.

Other drivers, however, disregard his difficulty with mobility and cause him much grief and distress. With stares of disdain and disgust, they refuse to lower the bus or won't even pull close to the curb. They pull out quickly from the stop before he is seated or let him off in gravel or grass where stability is an issue. I have filed more complaints about those drivers than I care to count. Each time that a driver fails to accommodate my husband's needs they are jeopardizing his physical safety and future mobility.

I have witnessed bus drivers stare straight-forward-unseeing as they deliberately pass people in wheelchairs because of the time required to load. The bus must be lowered and/or a ramp extended. The wheelchair or electronic scooter must be maneuvered into place. In the case of a new rider, this might take some time. Then the driver must leave his seat and secure the chair. It is a time consuming chore in a time-constrained business.

Yesterday, I was waiting aboard my bus at the terminal. The driver had parked well behind the sign for his route. A blind woman came to the terminal, located the sign and stood there. She was unaware of the fact that the engine she could hear belonged to the bus she sought. The driver stared at her for at least two minutes while our departure time quickly approached. The driver tapped his horn to get her attention. Three times this driver did this. Was he waiting for her to turn and see the bus? He has an external announcement system that will broadcast the number and destination of the bus. He refused to use it. Another passenger left the bus to escort the woman aboard.

Mothers with babies and stroller spread their nursery across the priority seating and stare down the elderly passenger desperately seeking a seat. I once heard a driver say to a mother, "It's O.K. Go ahead and sit there. You're considered disabled, too." I wanted to throw the entire Americans with Disabilities Act at him. Motherhood may feel like a disability but it does not qualify for priority seating designated for the elderly and disabled.

Passengers stare through the homeless as they board the buses dragging utility carts loaded to overflowing with all of their worldly possession. Their items, though necessary to them, are a hazard to fellow passengers. The stench is sometimes unbearable. The clumsiness of the rider, the careless collisions with others, while they fill the space reserved for the disabled all give rise to altercations.

Public transportation is a necessity in cities today. More and more people are beginning to rely on buses now. The inevitability of those numbers increasing in direct response to rising gas costs stares us down at every bus stop while the buses pass us by.