So I've been commuting to work now for about a month from our new apartment which involves me riding the bus. Usually in the evenings I'll take the N Judah home but in the morning, I hope on the 71L right outside my front door. The drivers have all been super nice and friendly and I can tell they are concious of their riders and make sure to not stop suddenly (especially when an elderly rider might be standing up). Yesterday morning I missed my usual 7:15am bus so took the next one at about 7:40am. The bus driver was out of control. Speeding, sudden stops, slamming on breaks...I almost felt like he hated his job and was taking it out on us. It was bad enough that all the riders were shooting eachother glances with worried faces and I even had a moment where I considered getting off the bus b/c I was pretty sure we'd crash sooner or later.
I was kinda late so I stayed on the bus and even offered my seat to a terrified lady who was standing next to me. I was so mad by the time I got to work! I wanted to give the driver a piece of my mind but then got worried that I might see him again someday so I got off the bus and didn't say a word. Just took a deep breath of that downtown SF air and felt happy to have made it all the way to 1st & Market in one piece. Do you have any muni/public transit horror stories? I wonder if you can log complaints about drivers somewhere.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Bus Drivers
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5 comments:
Hop on a bus in China and this morning's bus ride will feel like a relaxing walk in the park!
There is no such thing as a red light or one-way road to a bus driver in China. The only way I could handle the ride was to sit in the back with my eyes closed. So scary!!!
678.MUNI but you need to know the driver's number and bus number would help too. I tried that once when the driver shut the door in everyone's face after waiting for a wheelchair to be loaded into the bus and there was clearly more room in the bus. Muni didn't seem to care unless I had the bus and/or driver information. One time I was ticked off and I asked the driver for his number (it's on the side of their arm but I couldn't see it). The driver wasn't too happy about that but I didn't call it in; I think I was overly sensitive after the first incident.
OK, I don't have that much experience with S.F. transportation but I took a 3 week course at SF Art Institute one summer and took a bus cross town from Caltrain. The bus drivers (different everyday) were so wild. I used to have a humungous fear of buses for this very reason. I kind of go over it. But, I almost always hit someone and sometimes I felt like we were going to tip over when we turned too fast. I think that bus drivers think they're driving sports cars. Good luck....don't die!
Since then I've been to Africa and Italy and um...yeah...you can imagine.....I hear India's bad also.
Oh wow, I have soooo many MUNI bus stories. Way too many. The absolute worst? This will break your heart...
I was on the 5 or the 38/38L (I can't remember) and there was an elderly man sitting right behind the driver. Anyway, I'm not sure why but suddenly the driver had an absolute fit and started slamming the glass door (that separates the money machine from the driver seat) against the elderly man's legs - bam! bam! bam!. It was CRAZY. Then at the next stop the bus driver stopped the bus and got up and started yelling at the man who was covering himself (as if you were expecting to get hit). A bunch of men on the bus got up to restrain the driver, they called the police.
CRAZY huh.
Oh my gosh!!! That's horrible! I think mostly I'm scared for the old people. They just seem so frail and they are holding on for dear life!!! I'm going to make it my mission in life to protect grandma & grandpa on the bus. :)
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