I've been too busy to write, but that does not mean things are fabulous on the buses. I won't go too far back, just two days. On October 1, it was pouring rain most of the day which makes commuting of all kinds its own brand of misery, but waiting in the rain for the bus that may or may not arrive to pick you up on time or otherwise is uniquely miserable. I had been pretty fortunate with my connections that stormy day. My bus from work to the connection stop pulled in a couple of minutes early. This happens on rainy days because people who don't have to be out are not out which means fewer stops. Anyway, at the connection site, it was raining in torrents, and the connecting buses weren't there yet. At this point, my fellow riders got off the bus. I was flabbergasted. The bus we were on wasn't scheduled to depart for ten minutes or so and, optimistically, the connecting buses were not due for about five minutes. Oh yes, it must be the wonderful new shelters that were built with the best interest of riders. Well, no - not actually. The new shelters are about one-third the size of the old ones; no one can be sheltered from anything in those. The driver was out of his seat for a break from sitting making it obvious that he wasn't leaving imminently. Still, I was the only one left. I had no intention of stepping out there until I absolutely had to. When my bus arrived a couple of minutes later, I hopped out and ran the thirty feet to the bus and got drenched even with my rain gear. Drenched. That's how hard it was raining. You can only imagine the others.
To my surprise, we had a new bus driver on my last bus home (bus number0741) . In literature, lots of water is usually interpreted as a renewal, a rebirth, a new beginning. Could it be that that ride would be a gentler, but still effective ride home? I get crazy sometimes. A cockeyed optimist, I guess. The woman was so rude, I almost missed the old driver who pretends to be a deaf mute. She yelled at a passenger for accidentally indicating a stop prematurely. Hey, it's hard enough for us passengers to see out the bus windows with all the advertising wraps on the buses, not to mention the white muck (to be discussed in the future) that never gets cleaned, then add pouring rain in the dark. Really, she scolded loudly a grown man who had already apologized for his error! She was every bit as aggressive in her driving as the last guy, muttering to the drivers in front of her as if they could hear her barrage of complaints. She arrived at the special junction, discussed in previous posts, six minutes early. Again, the rain makes that easier...fewer stops... The twist here is she didn't wait until her scheduled departure time. She left six minutes early. The joining bus wasn't even in yet??!!!!! So, in torrential rain, the passengers expecting to transfer to my bus got to wait out in that pouring rain in an ineffective shelter for more than thirty minutes. I can only hope they called often to complain about that situation. The riders need to call in, clog the lines, but they also need to write to their Broward County Commissioners. The county treats the riders of Broward County Transit without regard for service or wellbeing. Maybe I'll start handing out addressed envelopes with letters of discontent addressed to the commissioners. Hmmmm. I'm percolating.
Until next time...
I remain Condemned to Broward County Transit
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