Valley Metro

A few months ago, I , with my wife's prompting, decided to participate in "Don't drive one in five". My work provides me with a pass that pays for it. It was pretty easy, I must admit. In order for it to work, the route you need has to be convenient. Mine is. I walk about a quarter of a mile from my house to the bus stop and less than that to get to my work. No transfers, it only requires a 13 minute journey. Because of the price of gas these days, I am riding the bus at least 3 days now( I just paid $3.75 a gallon at Quiktrip). Here are some random thoughts about my experiences. The bus drivers are always pleasant. This surprises me. They great you with a smile, are always willing to answer questions, and generally care about your experience. I guess you really would have to like to drive, but even if you did, why would you want to drive a city bus? Because of the culture of the bus environment, I would be scared to drive it. They are not. I thank them for that. They are truly enforcers. I have literally had a driver get out of his seat and remove a person from the bus because the person was swearing. Imagine that! (that was the most tense moment of my bus career!). The buses are generally clean. Again, this surprises me. For the most part, people are considerate of the cleanliness. When I ride the bus, I am the minority. I do not have any negative experience because of this, but good or bad, I am aware of it. At least once each week, on the trip home, I have to get off the bus I start on and get onto a second bus. I do not understand why. It pulls over, waits for the next bus, everyone is told to get on the new bus, and the first bus drives away. It usually doesn't take that long, but when your commute is only 13 minutes, and the switch takes 5-10 minutes, its annoying. I do not know how effective the fares are in paying for the expense of the bus. About 50% of the time, the machine that collects the money is broken. When it is, everyone rides for free. If the dollar people are using for the fare is rejected (old, wrinkled, torn), the driver doesn't make them pay. They ride for free. If people ask for a free ride, the driver lets them ride for free. I have seen more than a couple people do this. It surprises me how many people sleep on the bus. I would be afraid to relax that much. I am sure I would wake up at the end of the route way past my stop. Not everyone is willing to share their bench. People will put their personal belongings on the seat next to them and expect people to stand to ride. It amazes me that people are that inconsiderate. Lastly, the buses are usually on time. Once in awhile, they will run a couple of minutes late. They never leave early. They have certain stops that they must wait until the correct time to leave. This happens all the time. The drivers will pull over and wait until it is time. At least they tell you what they are doing. If you miss your bus, its your fault for running late, not theirs for running early. I am lucky, the #45 route (my and my fellow bussers' route) runs every 30 minutes westbound and every 15 minutes eastbound. I am thankful I not only have the ability to ride the bus, but also that it is convenient. Thank you Valley Metro !!!