It's the little extra efforts that make riding TriMet so special. About a year ago they tore up my bus stop and threw away the bench. But they gave me a "Temporary stop" a half-block away marked by a laminated paper taped to a utility pole. So on Tuesday, I was standing at the "temporary" stop, counting the buses going the other way and wondering when one would show up going my way. Finally, I see one, but it does not appear to be slowing. I wave. It blows on past even though I can see it is nearly empty. Now I am going to be late for work waiting for the next one. But the kind driver was thoughtful enough to point over her shoulder as she raced by me standing in the rain. I looked up the street and, sure enough, my old stop now had a sign sticking out of it. No shelter, not even a bench, but it did have a new sign and some fresh concrete. Apparently it had opened THE DAY BEFORE. Obviously, there was no way the driver could have stopped for a frequent rider waving from a stop that had been in place for a year.
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I wonder if Tri-Met insurance requires them to only stop at posted stops? If they were to be involved in an accident because they stopped at a point no longer designated as stop would their insurance still cover their...
This possible explanation makes me feel a lot better about bus commuter life in general. Maybe there are other similar impersonal explanations for other seemingly mean bus driver stuff. Thanks, anonymous!
Well, the proper thing for that driver to have done was to stop, and plenty of TRIMET bus drivers would have stopped.
Unfortunately, some have gotten callous about the whole thing, which is too bad.
Thanks for clearing that up, Al, because at least on my route, whether a driver will stop is never certain. I got passed up a few nights ago while running a 200m sprint toward the stop. The driver didn't stop, even though she saw me. It was 10:00 p.m., and I had to hang out downtown in the rain, which is always fun and adventurous!
I laugh! Hollowly!
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