Unhappy driver

As a person with a disability, there are often moments when something happens and it bugs you. You may not know why but that feeling usually does not go away. This is one of those times.

The other day, I was headed to the University of British Columbia's bus loop. I had a connecting community shuttle bus right before; because of the boarding procedures for wheelchair users on those vehicles, I was racing to catch my connecting bus.

The bus was still there and people were boarding. Several others were chasing the bus as well. The front doors were still open. I got there and some of the people chasing the bus cut in front of my and hopped on. The driver let them on, no questions asked. He then realized that I wanted to get on too, and lowered the ramp. He was visibly unhappy.

For the first minute or so after I got on, he kept mumbling about how he was about to leave and I'm making him late, and how I should've waited for the next bus (even though the front doors were still open and the bus did not pull away).

I usually would understand the frustration but he proceeded to let other "chasers" on to the bus, both at the bus loop and for the next few stops – none of them got the third degree like I did. And in fact, one of the "chasers" got to the bus AFTER the doors had closed and the bus was pulling out. The driver stopped and let him on without giving him any sort of comment or remark.

I am not sure if I have a case here but this situation bothered me a lot. He was letting able-bodied late-comers get on the bus but because I'm in a wheelchair, he thinks I should be denied the ride and forced on to the next bus. It felt as if everyone else has a higher priority to board than I do, even though the bus was quite empty at the time.

I think I would've been less bothered by this if all the other late-comers got the same treatment.

So... Should this situation even bug me?

I hope you leave enough room for my fist...

After making a post about good bus drivers, it sucks that I have to write one about a bad one.

One time, I was heading to the bus stop at UBC Loop. The 44 bus was waiting there, which was perfect since I was heading downtown. I came up to it. The driver was looking straight ahead, preoccupied with something in the distance.

"Excuse me?" I said, trying to get his attention so he can deploy the wheelchair ramp.

"The bus is full," he said, without even looking at me.

I looked at the bus. It was a 60-foot articulated bus. The seats were all taken, but there were only a few standees -- starting from the back, the standees didn't even reach the articulated joint part of the bus. The front part of the bus was devoid of standees. It was NOT full.

"There's plenty of room," I told him.

"The bus is full," he repeated. Again, he didn't even look at me.

Some other passengers were hesitating to get on, unsure of what to do. "Are you getting on?" one of them asked me.

"He said the bus is full."

"It's not full."

"That's what I told him!"

The other passengers, not wanting to miss their bus and not sure what else to do about this, boarded the bus. Some of them told him that I could easily get on. He at least looked at them, but ignored what they said. He then promptly closed the door and drove away.

I was astounded by what just happened. Thankfully there was a transit supervisor on site, at the opposite end of the bus loop. I went up to him and told him what happened. As I did, an off-duty driver came up from behind me. "I saw the whole thing," he said. "There was plenty of room on the bus. He could've easily taken him [which meant me] and a lot of other passengers too."

The supervisor said he would inform the driver when he returns. The off-duty driver's bus wasn't leaving for a while, I guess, and he ensured that I got on the next one. I'm not sure if he was afraid that this incident would make me think badly of the other bus drivers (which would not be something I'd do since it was an individual driver who was the problem), but it was nice of him to do it nonetheless.

After this incident, I was genuinely concerned -- not for me, but for others who might receive the same treatment from this driver. I eventually wrote a letter to Coast Mountain Bus Company about this. I guess they saw it as a serious matter because they had someone call me directly to have a verbal report of the incident (in addition to the written one I sent in).

It was lucky that I was at UBC Loop, where it was a sunny day, where there were many other bus connections available and that I am a capable manual wheelchair user (rather than a power wheelchair user with more limited mobility). I can't imagine if this happened to someone with severe mobility limitations on a late winter night; hopefully this type of incident never happens again.

Drivers gone wild, in a good way

With so many incidents of bus drivers' bad attitudes, it's easy to overlook the drivers who do extra things to make their passengers' days better. With the hassles of navigating through Metro Vancouver's streets with a giant 40- or 60-foot bus, it's easy to just say "screw it" and stick to driving, and letting the tension of certain incidents build up over time.

However, there are some drivers who use the passengers as fuel to make their jobs and their passengers' rides a lot more enjoyable. I haven't come across nearly enough of these drivers but it's always nice when I do. Here are a couple of them I'd like to share.

On one of the routes connecting UBC to the Kerrisdale area, there was a driver who liked to give the afternoon students a bit of a puzzle before he left the campus. As the bus would leave 16th Avenue towards the "highway" stretch of Southwest Marine Drive, he would give a trivia question on the PA and the passengers would have until 41st Avenue to answer it. The correct answer earns you a candy bar. This is especially nice during midterm times, when students need a chance to unwind after a rough day.

Another driver is one who drove a pre-Canada Line peak hour route connecting downtown Vancouver to Richmond. (I know his name but I won't post it here for privacy reasons.) His route is a tough one, because it involved doing one from downtown to Tsawwassen, then making his way back to downtown to finish the day with the Richmond route. A lot of the passengers on this run knew about it, so we usually cut him some slack whenever he was late. (This type of run was poorly planned by TransLink/Coast Mountain Bus Company to begin with.)

Because his run was one of the last ones of the day, it would get dark whenever he started making his way from Broadway towards Richmond (unless it was summer). He drove an Orion V for that route, so it was really comfortable and a lot of people would sleep during that trip; it made sense to sleep because traffic to the bridge was often nightmarish at that hour. Realizing that, he would do something neat after leaving the Broadway stop -- he would briefly give the day's headlines and then say, "I will be turning off the lights shortly so you can take a nap. The lights will turn back on once we enter Richmond." A lot of people on board that bus really appreciated this gesture.

I also liked him on another level. Because he knew that I often rode his bus, he would actually check to see if the wheelchair lift on the bus was working before accepting it (since the Orion V buses, unlike the regular buses, can't take a wheelchair user if the lift mechanism is broken). And sometimes if he's a bit early and sees me coming, he'd roll out the lift and wait for me. Very nice guy.

Those are the two drivers that really stick in my mind. I'm sure there are many others out there.

Cheese + Whine

One time, I was on a bus leaving UBC Loop heading towards 4th Avenue. It was a typical school day around spring, when final exams are coming in and student anxieties and tensions were high. It was only normal that some students would be going a little crazy. But I didn't expect the craziness to come out on the bus. And in this manner.

Anyways, I was on the bus at the front. It was standing room only, as usual. The bus started to pull out of the bus loop. Suddenly, a student asked to get off. The driver was ready to turn on to Student Union Boulevard (a.k.a. no-man's land when it comes to dropping people off) and said he can't. The student then threw a tantrum.

Yes. A tantrum.

She kept whining about needing to get off. Finally, as the driver was making the left turn from Student Union Boulevard on to Wesbrook Mall, she screamed in the highest pitch ever, "LET ME OFF THE BUSSSSSS!!!" and jumped up and down with both her feet stomping the floor of the bus.

The driver ignored her but eventually did let off her right before we hit Chancellor Boulevard. As soon as she got off, almost everyone on board burst out laughing. It was ironic how one person's exam stress can end up being a de-stressor for everyone else.

At the next stop, a passenger said to the driver, "Well, that was something, huh?" The driver laughed and said, "I have a five-year-old daughter who acts more mature than that!"

And who says people get more mature in university?