Ettiquette waiting for the bus

Is it really that hard to realize other people are in line, waiting for the same bus you are, so you should probably stand at the end of that line, rather than moving to the front?

Is it really that hard to stand down breeze of said people while you smoke?

I don't really care if you do, but please, down wind. I have to go to work, and I don't want to reek of cigarette smoke thank you very much. I don't wear my club clothes to work for a reason.

Lastly, when you are asked to please do these things, be polite, apologize and just do it. Don't start an argument.

And to the other person. Just saying "Second hand smoke kills" Is not a polite way to ask someone to move their smoking down wind. Try, "Can you possibly move down wind of me?"

Costs and Conditions

the buses are simply getting more crowded. The gas station across from where I catch the 174 is up to 4.25 a gallon for regular unleaded. Car dealerships are not even willing to take in the HUGE SUV's that they have been selling. You almost cannot give those vehicles away. More and more people are seeking other options on how to get to work.



There have been articles in the major news sources all citing that cities are going to have to do more for public transportation. Most systems are already growing taxed with the number of additional riders. The problem is only going to grow as the summer progresses and gas prices continue to climb.



Rumor has it that Metro is going to raise fares again soon. I can understand that. Diesel gas is $5.00 a gallon. That is a huge cost increase for them. But they are going to have to increase service somehow. Buses cannot operate at above capacity and skip stops because they are full

Back on the bus

I'm back to riding the bus the last two weeks, and it has been both good and bad.

The 522 in the morning is usualy pretty busy, as I'm near the end of the line for it. I'm thinking of researching when the 312 comes by. If it is within 5 to 10 minutes of the 522 I may switch to it. The reason is that the 522 misses my connection to the 545 by about 2 minutes every day. This isn't a big deal, I just end up waiting the 15 minutes for the next 545.

The down side is that I end up 15 minutes later to work. That extra 15 minutes puts me into the time frame when I have to wait for a fixed route shuttle to get me from my work building, back to Overlake Transit Center. The walk from work to where I pick up the 545 is a bit long. The bus stop has no shelter, and if I can't count the number of times I've been waiting for the light to change, only to see the Bus go by right in front of me. It's about 2 blocks from the light to my bus stop, and there is just no way I can run to catch it. So I started catching the work shuttle to Overlake. Here is the rub. If I miss the first shuttle, it's 20 minutes to the next. That 15 minutes in the morning, can easily translates to an hour at night. Not because of how long the bus takes, but entirely because I have to wait for connections. So, if the 312 runs a bit earlier, I can make that morning connection, and get home at a reasonable hour!

Really wish I had a direct line from home to work, but alas. At least I get to ride Sound Transit the entire way, unless I change to the 312.

May 20th, on the 174, at 5am

As I have stated before, this route is normally standing room only. So crowded. This morning's actvities are becoming more normal. I mean relly. i used to ride both the route 385 and route 7, which are both bad routes, but the two of them combined to not match the route 174.

Two people having a violent verbal altercation, screaming profanities at each other. Standing up from the seats they werein.

The driver did nothing, nothing at all. they are supposed to at least contact dispatch and advise them of the problem.

The group of commuters were appalled at the lack of response, and according to them, this type of behavior will only get worse as the summer goes on.

I voiced my complaints to King County Metro and will continue to call.

after two days of driving...

I am already ready to go back to riding the bus. Even just two days of sitting in I-405 traffic has made me more grumpy and irritated.

Riding the bus is not easy, it means getting up way too early, and having to go to be way too early. But it means not having to face the annoyance of 405

Odd conversations overheard on the bus

the couple sitting behind me was speaking in Russian, but I understood just enough that they were talking about their nephew's bar mitzvah this upcoming weekend.

The two people in front of me were discussing how long they thought they could ride the bus so they could get some more sleep. Which buses routes were better because they stayed more crowded, then the folks needing the sleep could hide. the driver would then never make them get off.

Around me other conversations in Chinese, Russian, Arbaic, and other things I don't undersand. I don't even recognise them. I am always amazed at everything I hear on Metro.

Paused to collect thoughts

I must agree that Metro needs to raise fares. However, that being said, I think they do a good job based on the funds available to them. No matter how poor the service, they are hopefully doing the best they can.

The problem with raising fares is sometimes it hurts those you are trying to help get to their paying jobs. From personal experience, I can say, that unless my employer was paying for part of my pass, it could get really tight to buy a pass, or to have exact change for the bus. thus, making it hard to get to work. Granted I had a car, but there were times that money was so tight that gas was hard to come by in the budget too.

The fare raises do not have to be in .25 increments. The Bus in Hawaii, frequently only raises fares by dime. Increasing the revenue, but not causing hardship to the poorer riders, that we want to be able to get to work.