Secrets of the City

How can you suggest that something be taken with a ‘grain of salt’ and then call the piece ‘well-written’? If you believe this article – the bus system just ferries homeless or drunk people around all day. What a hack job.

Not true yoshi, there are also some people who are afraid of the homeless and drunk people and some disabled people. But yes, a hack job.

You should see the wastoid drunks on my express bus in from SLP.

Kevin Kling has a play called 21A, about the 21A bus.
http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsK/kling-kevin.html
Anyone see it? I didn’t but heard it was good.

We have a copy of it, but have never seen it performed. CJ drives the 21 quite often and we take it a lot. So does that make us drunk, homeless or scared?

My favorite thing about being unemployed is not having to deal with the hassle of the bus. I had a choice of decent routes (25 or 4) but our bus system for local commuting is terrible. Why would anyone spend over an hour of their day to go 5 miles each way to work? And this is best case. They need to get rid of about half the stops on most local routes.

I think our bus system has hope – some routes are actually quite convenient – but I agree with Dougie about the number of stops. There are areas where the 16 stops *literally* every block. It’s fricking crazy. There should be some other service for people who can’t walk a block. And for that matter, I’m sure the average person has to walk several blocks to a bus line anyways, so an extra block or two on top of that is insignificant, particularly if it makes the bus faster.

The 25 local has at least 40 places it could stop in less than 5 miles between downtown and where I got on and off.

@Dougie_D that’s why I stopped taking the 25 most days. That route takes forever to get downtown. Even the limited stop one.

jeff, most local buses stop every block. If I take the 18 home at rush hour it will stop to let someone off or on at every single block between the DT library and my house, past Lake Street. Every other block is fine except in the few places in the city where the blocks are exceptionally long.

My daily bus experience is an exercise in recognition without acknowledgement. I started a facebook group for my bus, but no one joined it yet, and I think that’s reflective of bus culture.

I’m also intrigued by people’s seating tendencies, where they’ll go or won’t go, who they’ll sit by, etc. I even started keeping track of who sits by me on a daily basis to test my theory that a small number of people sit next to me a majority of the time. This is kinda tough since I don’t talk to them to get names, so I’ve made up nicknames like “cutest girl ever” and “shuffley old guy.”

Kwatt, did you seriously start a facebook group for your bus? If so, I think that’s kind of awesome.

Yeah, I did. I just checked and I’m still the only member.

You should tell your bus driver to make an announcement or two about it. Or buy ad space on the bus and advertise your group.

I don’t see why MetroTransit hasn’t done it for all their routes, or at least the popular commuter routes like mine. It would be an easy and free way of communicating information and build a sense of *Ican’tbelieveI’mabouttousethisword* community *dearJoepleaseforsakethme* among riders. What business doesn’t want that?

Oh, bix, I don’t talk to people on the bus. That would be too much.

Maybe you should sit in front of the bus and hand out “Hello My Name Is…” name tags and have a cup of pens available.

That would be creepy. Plus, it would spoil my nicknames. And the pens with the germs and the H1N1, not cool. Not cool at all.

Look, if you aren’t going to put in the effort to get to know your co-riders, you’re going to be all alone in that facebook group. And that’s sad because it makes our transit system look empty to anyone who stumbles upon your group. So, thanks for giving MTC a bad name, Kwatt!

Hey, I save my drinking and slurred speech for after I’m off the bus.

Maybe that’s the problem.

I have bus nicknames too! My favorite is “Meredith” b/c this woman looks like Meredith from The Office. Like she’s lived hard and is currently hung over.

There’s also Obama Guy, Big Blonde Girl, and Did She Used to Be a Man?

Well I don’t know how well a drunken “You have purtty eyes” would work on Cutest Girl Ever, and no amount of Maker’s Mark could get me to try it on Round-nosed Leather Face. (shudder)

@Kwatt

Missed connections? Every day?

Unless the weather is bad, I walk to and from my office, so I don’t have to make a connection that often.

craigslist, k watt! post a missed connection every day.

HuH?

If you don’t want to talk to your busmates, get drunk at home and post missed connections and maybe you can strike up an internet friendship with them or something. Geez!

This story is not helping me overcome my fear of riding the bus.
Since I don’t drink, I can’t make it more interesting that way. I guess I could take a bunch of drugs and start yammering about the Mayans being right.

It might not win me friends, but it’d be a hell of a ride for me.