And now for a follow-up on on last week's "Dear Bus Passengers" letter

Redux … If you see me standing near the stop ... drive on by!

It appears a prior submission to this blog stirred up a bit of controversy in the comments thereto.  It’s time I explained why the story was presented as it was.  First, I am not a driver.  I was a passenger on that bus.  

And I wrote the story based on a conversation I had with the person who was ignored.

Here is my PRESTO log:

I boarded the 13:54 bus at Burlington station and we left on time.  As we crested and descended the railway overpass bridge on Plains Road, a pedestrian, some 300 m. ahead, stepped out onto the curb lane and waved at the bus with both hands, quite obviously attempting to flag the driver. Although it is not a GO Transit stop, it was a clear indication this was an intending passenger, as she was standing near the Burlington Transit bus stop.

But our bus didn’t stop.  It proceeded to enter the left-turn lane at the intersection with Brant Street.  I looked at the intending passenger and recognized her as a GO driver.  I scrambled up to our driver and informed her of who we just went by.  She asked me if that location was a regular stop.  I answered I wasn’t aware of anyone boarding there, but that’s not to say other drivers haven’t made the stop.

I suggested that if she pulled over on Brant Street, I could run back to assist and expedite the boarding of her colleague.  That offer of help was summarily rejected … with silence.  The driver checked her rear view mirrors for the passenger, but as the light turned green, she shrugged her shoulders and told me the person was walking in the opposite direction toward the train station.  We made the turn and were gone.

I exited the bus at St. Catharines and decided to wait the hour for the next bus to roll through.  I needed to know whether my eyes had deceived me or whether the person I saw was really who I thought it was.  I had my answer soon enough; she was on the bus.  I waved to her and she exited the bus just long enough to explain things from her perspective.  I could tell she was not amused by what had transpired.  I asked if there was significant traffic near or behind our bus that would have prevented our driver from making the stop.  The answer – only a Burlington Transit bus was behind us.  I thanked her and wished her well as she re-boarded the bus to The Falls.

The aforementioned recounting of events was how I wrote the story initially.  Pretty boring, don’t you agree?  I needed a different angle. 

What stood out most in this incident was the look of utter disbelief, shock, and anger in the aggrieved passenger’s eyes as our bus drove past her.  I decided to rewrite the story as if I were she.  This person is not a rookie driver; she knows her stuff and recently received yet another service commendation.

The Twitter posts that were the lead in to the story are just a smattering of similar incidents that afflicted paying passengers.  I drew on recollections of conversations with several drivers regarding unscheduled stops.  The theme of the story was to show how GO Transit’s policies and procedures are subject to interpretation on the frontline and, hence, are applied inconsistently.

I wish to apologize to the driver whose point of view I assumed for purposes of writing the article.  If my actions have caused you angst in your dealings with other GO Transit drivers or fear of reprisal from your management, I am truly sorry.  I hope you can forgive me.

I found the comments to the story enlightening.  Thank you to the driver who took time to share TTC’s policy on the matter.  It correlates to what a Greyhound Canada manager of driver training and safety told me; their drivers regularly make unscheduled stops, especially in urban areas.

There was conjecture on how unsafe it was “to cross three lanes to the turn in a very short distance”.  Let’s look at the Map view and the Aerial view of the bus stop in relation to the intersection.  There are only two lanes of traffic where the local transit stop is. 

In comparison, here are the Map view and the Aerial view of the GO Transit stop at Mapleview Mall in relation to the intersection of Fairview Street and Maple Avenue.

Buses inbound to Burlington GO station occasionally drop off passengers at that scheduled stop.  Sometimes on busy Friday afternoons, Fairview Street is quite congested with traffic making the left turn onto Brant Street a long drawn out affair.  What drivers of MCI buses have done in those circumstances is cut across three lanes to make the left turn onto Maple Avenue.  It's a detour that can be made with MCI buses but not DD's, because there is a low railway underpass on Plains Road.

Are we to believe the longer MCI buses (13.7 m.) can be maneuvered successfully across three lanes in 90 m. on Fairview Street in heavy traffic, but the shorter double decker buses (13.5 m.) can’t cross fewer lanes in 130 m. on Plains Road in very light traffic?  If that vehicle maneuver is so dangerous, why does Burlington Transit force their Route 5 drivers to do exactly that?

I found the admonishment “you were not the one driving the bus so you have no say in whether they deemed it safe to pull over or not” interesting.  By inference, every “follow-up” executed by a supervisor is invalid, because they are not on the bus.

The polarity between senior / retired drivers and the current breed is quite stark.  The comment by “retired GO” leaves nothing to the imagination.

In conclusion, I have one question for GO Transit.  Is “I was that driver and I would do it again!” the new standard for bus service?

Are you a Bramalea GO bus passenger? Do you recognize this man?

**** UPDATE ****
GO Transit/Metrolinx has assured me they are working with the proper authorities and their Transit Safety Officers on this case. Our safety and comfort remains their number one priority.

This upstanding citizen was filmed pleasuring himself as he rode the 31 GO Bus along Steeles Avenue this past Saturday afternoon. The video gets real disturbing (and very NSFW) as the bus passes Hartford Trail.

It was uploaded to Twitter with nothing left to the imagination later in the day. This morning, it was sent to me as a link in an email. I was walking through the Bay Concourse when I watched it and stopped dead in my tracks when I realized what I was looking at.

I don't know where anything stands except the video (there are two) is still online. I'm not linking it. I can't. If you're resourceful and interested, you can find it.

The person who posted the video wants to be compensated for it, stating in a tweet to GO Transit: "I was very disturbed by what happened & was wondering if there was any way you can accommodate me for my uncomfortable experience..."

Really??? GTFO. So disturbed that he called Peel Regional Police? Contacted GO Transit himself? Called Transit Safety? The video was online for three days and the person did nothing about the incident.

Once you put something out on the Internet, it's out there, Who knows where the video is now as this person tagged a major Toronto news outlet and a viral video website. Anyone with screen recording software can capture the video. It's no longer his (or hers).

The person again tweeted GO Transit, "... and for helping with the investigation & before I take down my video, is there any way you can accommodate me for that?"

How about a big fat NO? How about you think about how other passengers feel, like myself, that you took no action???

A passenger on a bus is sharing his DNA openly on public transit. It's illegal. It's gross. It's wrong.

The videographer doesn't deserve a reward! You should have reported it.

If you recognize this person, contact GO Transit Safety at 1.877.297.0642 or Peel Regional Police at 905.453.3311.

I am also surprised GO Transit hasn't alerted its customers about this incident. That's disgraceful. As passengers, we should be concerned.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bathe myself in bleach.

Tales from the GO Bus

May we offer some love advice? "We" as in your fellow GO bus passengers

I worked late last night and as a result, took a later bus home. I quite enjoy rolling through Oshawa after 8 pm because it's a unique cast of characters that make their appearance known in that city.

Meet Bob. I don't know his real name but he looked like a Bob. Bob boarded the bus at the Oshawa Centre and sat right next to me, iPhone glued to his ear and a pained expression on his face. Clearly the conversation he was having was not about which spatula to get at Walmart (the conversations I have with my husband).

Because he had the volume cranked, I could hear Melissa, too. Bob made it very clear who he was talking to as he used her name a lot but I'll call her "Melissa". Melissa sounded very angry.

Melissa was upset that Bob has friended a female neighbour on Facebook and not in a way to post recipes about low fat muffins on each other's wall,  or to muse about the weather such as, "Are you enjoying today's "Sprinter" weather?". Melissa believes Hilary is seducing Bob.

Trust me when I say this was not a conversation to be having on a bus. Melissa was rhyming off all the times Bob has been in her garage for service and emphatically reminded him that these inspections have always included an incredible amount of lube, oil & filter.

My ears were burning. I mean, seriously, they were on fire.

I stared out the window as Bob tried to explain he was not attracted to Hilary and he just feels sorry for her because she's a single mother and he didn't want to appear rude.

Melissa wasn't buying it. She fired off a bunch of questions: How did she find you? She needs to know your last name and Superkalifrikiousahmodisish (thats what his last name sounded like) isn't easy to spell. Doesn't she need to know your email address? Why are you lying to me? Why are you hurting me like this? What have I ever done to you? Why do you need her on Facebook? You already have friends! You have me! You don't need her on Facebook!

Bob then got super mad and started shouting. The bus got real quiet. Everyone (all 11 of us) were holding our breath.

Bob started to do something you should never do, and I mean ever, when someone is clearly demonstrating major insecurity issues. He started to list every single thing wrong with Melissa.

Melissa hung up.

Bob was in a rage. He called her back and left an awful voice mail.

Then he threw his phone. On the bus.

A woman sitting where it landed stared at it for a few seconds and then got up to pick it up and brought it back to him.

He took it from her and nodded.

Bob got off four stops before mine. You could actually feel the atmosphere change after he left.

The lady who retrieved his phone and I had a lot to say about Bob. Unfortunately, we couldn't finish our analysis because I had to get off at my stop, but the consensus was that Bob owed Melissa an apology and Melissa needs to address why Bob friending a neighbour on Facebook makes her feel tossed aside.

I would have loved to have heard the driver's take on it.

I can only imagine the stuff GO bus drivers hear.

Only those who ride a GO bus will know this struggle

Lovingly penned by Anonymous

Let's talk about the external audio announcements for GO buses. By these, I don't mean the ones inside telling you the next stop - I mean the ones that run like this:

"81A, Port Perry. Thank-you for pre-purchasing your fare. For passengers using Presto, please have your card ready. Thank-you for choosing GO Transit".

Firstly, this announcement is so long that it will still be playing after the doors have closed and the bus is driving off. Pity the poor people who live right by a GO bus stop. But, maybe there's a reason for the length. Let's examine the announcement in detail, one piece at a time:

* "81A, Port Perry". So far, so good. The pause between "81" and "A" seems a little long (so it's more like "81, eh"), but it's better to err on the side of clarity, particularly when you have routes like the "21T". (Say it ten times fast...)

* "Thank-you for pre-purchasing your fare". Now, at the vast majority of stops (over 95%), there is no option for pre-purchasing your fare. There is no point thanking people for something they can't possibly have done. Further, at the few stops where you could pre-purchase your fare, those haven't done won't suddenly run back in to buy it. Consequently, this just comes across as passive-aggressive: "Thanks for pre-purchasing your fare, which we know you couldn't have done. How dare you board a bus with cash and expect to exchange for the service we provide. Bah!". 

* "For passengers using Presto, please have your card ready". If you have a Presto card, you know how to use it. Very possibly, the first time you might need a little guidance - but even then, you'll know you need the card available, not at the bottom of your bag. Every Presto user knows full well how to use the thing, and hardly needs reminding. GO might as well say "For passengers not using Presto, please have your cash ready". But they don't. Clearly, GO trusts passengers with cash (who aren't regular users) more than Presto users (who are regular transit users).

* "Thank-you for choosing GO Transit": A pre-recorded thank-you is not a real thank-you. It's a recording of a voice actor. I don't send recordings to relatives thanking them for gifts. 'nough said.

The only bit which is useful and necessary is "81A, Port Perry". 

Please GO, just limit the external announcement to that.