What really bugs me is people who, for some reason I’m unable to fathom, choose to stand in the rear doorway of metro transit busses, requiring them to move out of the way EVERY TIME someone wants to get off. They stand there like a post even when there are plenty of seats. Near as I can figure, it’s some kind of phobia about being trapped on the bus, or an irrational fear that the driver will only give them a limited time to exit, and they need to right there. Either that, or they are deliberately looking for the place to stand that will inconvenience the most poeple. Sit down, for God’s sake, or at least get out of the way!
—Dartmouth transit rider
This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2009.
No worse than the mother with the gigantic stroller on the #1 from Dartmouth the other day, she’s got a stroller too wide to fit down the aisle so she sits right across from another parent with a huge stroller and dares to tell other passengers they should use the rear door if they want on the bus. I squeezed my way through the 6 inch path between strollers and tossed her the bottom of page 4 from the current riders’ guide: “after boarding the child may be left in the stroller if space permits; however the stroller cannot block the aisle or impede the movement of other passengers”.
There is no need to buy an SUV-sized buggy. A good example was set by the father who had his son in one of those lightweight foldup models… lightweight enough for him to pick up and carry over your obstacles when he boarded.
I find this happens mostly on the low floor buses and you get a group of kids crowding the back door. It’s amusing when the kids get nailed by the doors.
Aw man that says it all right there in your handle “Dartmouth transit rider”
Those types of people have the social mores of a pack of jackals.
In ottawa the back doors on the busses are not controlled by the operator — they open and stay open for a certain amount of time then BAM they close. I’ve been clipped by a few of said doors and…OUCH. Also, if you have a pass you can board on the back door of the bus in Ottawa and in fact, it’s actually encouraged. They just have random spot checks by OC Transpo staff for valid passes (which come with actual ID cards issued by OC transpo) and transfers. If you’re caught on the bus without either (you get a transfer as your “proof of purchase” every time you board the bus, requested or not and it’s a print out with an actual 90 time from when the operator presses the print out button) you get a $50 fine on the spot.
I hate to say it, but, I find it easier to stand by the back door if I have to stand. I can reach both poles and don’t fear flying around when the bus rounds a corner. After flying down the isle in 2007 and then flying off a treadmill last week, I think I’m prone to such crap. So back door it is.
The people who do this are mentally handicapped…….”retards”, to the layman.
That is close to what I say…
Most people that use the bus are a IQ point or two away from being reTarded.
I know!!!!!
Sounds like bus boy looks forward to the interaction. You should invite him to sit down next to you and chat it up a bit… give the other riders a break for once.
Voice I agree with you…..about the smaller stroller for transport
What gets me is the folks sitting in the seats designated for elder/ disabled persons…One day whilst sitting at the very back I yelled up to the front about how illiterate they must all be because the sign clearly states who gets to sit where. I was livid as I watched painfully as this one elder was hanging on for dear life being flung all over the place by the bus while he was forced to stand…
Now I expect the driver to say something but they seem more spineless than anything so it is left to Oppie-other passengers to speak up for those that cannot……
LEARN TO FECKING READ!
DISABLED and ELDERLY…… not LAZY and ILLITERATE!
mcgayle – the problem is that the drivers can’t force anyone to give up those seats unless a wheelchair user requires them to be lifted, and even then a person could refuse to give up the seat.
There is no bylaw forcing anyone to give up a seat, it’s an expected matter of courtesy but the passenger is under no legal obligation to give up a seat no matter what the sticker or driver says, and thats likely why so few drivers push the issue.
Voice, it is shame then because more times out of naught.,… they do not move…so what does that tell us about us…… I just do not understand how people can see elders standing while they sit and pretend that they do not see elders standing….. shame on them….. I though the drivers could say something…I know I would…
It only takes one to start it… I would be ashamed if I had to be told to be courteous … dang….
I was really impressed when they started giving preggies their own parking spots next to disability parking….guess we need to start seeing some elder parking to push the issue?????
I just see it all as elder disrespect…. on the day I said something I got some ‘cut eyes’ of course that started other ‘discussions’…LOL..but NOBODY moved..even after I publicly humiliated them……dang…
‘The treatment of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons’
(Fyodor Dostoevsky)
…so could be said about how we treat our most vulnerable and elderly
…
While we are on the bus topic…parents check with your day cares on their policy for travelling with your kids on the Metro….I was appalled and reported a day care in my hood who had many children sitting on the dirty unsafe floor because there were no seats available…..SORRY…..when I asked the workers the name of the day care to report to CS they swore at me…in front of the kids who were squashed like sardines on the dirty unsafe floor…..
I contacted MT and they emphatically stated that they are NOT liable for any injuries in case of an accident…the day care is 100% liable so parent(s) PLEASE make sure your day care KNOWS that you do not want your child sitting on no stanking floor……get it in writing
Stand by the door if you must, just get out of the way when others are using it and we’ll all get along great.
As for the courtesy seats thing, more often than not, I don’t have to lift a finger to get people to use courtesy as the majority of riders will vacate when needed. Sadly though, we cannot force the issue, only ask. I have yet to get beyond the ask stage though. Also remember the driver has to also worry about the road so standing elderly people don’t immediately register on a driver’s radar.
Daycares, I agree, sitting on the floor is nasty and asking for trouble.
PDG, We have a community blog and I posted the day care bidness so parents will know it may have been their child(ren) on the floor…as a heads up…. and I was stunned at the response…I was attacked for bringing it to people’s attention….
so thanks for getting it…. 🙂
OK…I did point out that 7 adults -4 day care staff sat in their chairs while kids were at their feet and they would not get out their seats……but I got attacked….. while I was the one standing….. odd how folks react when they are WRONG!!!!
MT is full of shit mcgayle. If a reasonable duty of care is made by the passenger, MT is responsible for medical costs and lost wages under their section b insurance policy. As well, you have every right to bring a personal injury suit against them. They’re just trying to pass the buck here, but a kid traveling on MT is the same as any other passenger, even when they get injured.
The city has and will continue to be sued when/if accidents have/or will occur.
However, if a kid is sitting on the floor and flies into the windshield during an accident or a sudden rough stop they probably wouldn’t be deemed liable because of the lack of duty of care.
I had an accident on a MT bus in 2007 and they were pretty quick to shell out $$$ for my physio and medical expenses. So, like I said, MT is full. of. shit.
PDG: I’ve seen a few drivers who have yelled at passengers to gtfo of the courtesy seats. One even said they weren’t moving the bus until the fat ass sitting in the courtesy seat by the door moved out for a visually impaired person with a service dog so he could sit down.
I don’t generally sit in the courtesy seats because I like sitting more in the back/middle, but if I did sit in those seats I’d sure as hell wouldn’t sit there like a lump when someone who was obviously physically disabled got on the bus. That’s just disrespectful. Most people are good about moving, but….there are a few. Usually dumb ass young kids, although I have seen quite a few fat people who refuse to give up the two seats their ass was occupying when someone who was elderly or disabled got onto the bus.
Although seeing as being fat is apparently a “disability” these days, I guess they need to sit down just as badly as someone with a broken leg or someone visually impaired…right? *eyeroll*
PK, Glad they paid for your costs …..I should have been more clear…the MT was speaking exclusively to the issue with kids on the floor put there by the day care…that they would not be liable and that would be for reasons you state..the day care has the first duty of care to protect the kids and if they failed it would be gross negligence on their part not MT….. though you could certainly try because who wants the bad publicity anyway. MT and CPS did hook up to work on this issue but I do not know what the end result was…..
PK, thanks for posting that about ‘some’ drivers and their stance on courtesy seats…some of my faith has been restored….KUDOS to them
mcgayle, you should take a large dose of mind-your-own-business. You’re not a good Samaritan, you’re a meddler and I hate meddlers… we all do. Even you, I’ll bet.
voice_of_reason, I’d be willing to bet compliance with the bus driver’s instructions are part of the terms of service. No bylaw or other act of legislation is needed for a bus driver to take responsibility for the comfort and safety of his passengers.
Again OP, go talk to bus boy and see if you can’t lure him away from the door since it bothers you so much. Catching flies with honey is easy
Kay it is folks like you is why children get abused and neglected in the first place……and so while I was not out to earn any more brownie badges the safety of children IS everyone’s bidness….
Thankfully I did mind my own bidness and no such incident happened again on the bus in my hood…..in fact quite the opposite with KUDOs to HRM day care showing the most safety for kids on buses….
The issue of child/day care/public safety with MT and CS was open for talks……and although you do not have to be child welfare activist such as myself….. it is a community issue and response for responsibility….
Since my posts cause you so much agony please refrain from reading them….or I may confuse you for American who eats at McDonalds then blames them for being fat….. 🙂
bidness? hood? people like me? fat Americans? oy.
I assure you, it’s not your posts that cause agony it’s your very tiny brain match with a very large nose… child welfare activist? You’re a fucking fanatic!
Children sitting on a dirty floor is a safety issue? How so? How many were injured? How many are sick? None, I’ll bet. Not even one.
Children standing on a full bus is dangerous, not sitting.
Children sitting in a seat on a bus that experiences some major catastrophe are at just as much risk if they’re sitting on the floor as they are sitting 2 feet above it. There are no seat belts on public transit. Maybe that’s your issue.
Young children are necessarily “dirty”. They touch their faces all the time, pick their noses, pick their bums then they share toys and food. They touch everything most adults would not want to touch. The healthy ones play outside in the dirt, eat quite a lot of it in their sublime youth and become strong and resilient as a result of it.
The floor of a bus is not a sterile environment given all kinds of foot traffic, ignorant teenagers who spit, garbage, maybe even dog shit, you name it… but it’s a brief exposure comparable to touching the underside of a restaurant table and encountering gum.
mcgayle, I’ll assure you, if I see abuse happening I’ve got a big enough mouth and strong enough ego to stand up for the victims. Unlike you, I would have done more than voice my puny attempts at sarcasm from the back of the bus (from your previous example.)
People like you presume (how many?) parents don’t give a fuck about their children, know how to properly care for them and would put them at risk with a bunch of idiots claiming to be a registered day care taking a rare field trip. I’d like to know what the parents think of your bullshit meddling complaint. Probably nothing at all. They probably shake their heads while attending to some really important problem like their annual food bank donation.
You call yourself an advocate of children. Lead by example and teach them how to not rock the boat, stir up shit for no good reason, create problems where there are none and what might be the most important coming-of-age lesson of all, when to mind your own dam business.
Kay I didnot get past your first paragraph, I try to keep my exposure to toxicity and other such odours to a bare minimum…. I am sure the rest of your post was beyond stellar in fact maybe even Nobel Peace Prize material…hopefully one of the other readers will nominate you….or you may be able to do that on your own behalf……
http://nobelpeaceprize.org/
As I do take my own advice I will refrain from exposing myself to your ‘verbose hysterics’ as not to blame you for causing my toxic levels to increase….. so here endeth my response to you…good day……
oh and Kay…get off my bus I do not ride with LCD-lowest common denominators………..banana ?
The truth hurts, I know. Don’t think we don’t notice your failure to tell us what the big deal is.
holy fuck I agree!~
there is nothing worse then early morning shifts which buses are hella packed but to have day cares omg!
Jane, the day in question there were 3 day cares and one had to sit on the floor in the back while adults stood and every time the bus moved some of the lil ones got trampled…. there is no need for this..
I watched folks miss their bus to work because there simply was no room…. we were over capacity as it was and I for one felt unsafe and I was standing.
I think from April to October MT can set up a day planner with day cares and put on extra buses for those times…..day cares will not be permitted on the reg run and folks will not be permitted on the day care runs…..
On this day 34 people missed their bus and that was just half the route……. I included that in my communications to MT…..I just hope no one got fired….
HRM cannot be pushing for enviro driving with the bus and then not make sure the bus is accessible to all….
Note to all day care centres… get ready to create more yard activities for the kids because mcgayle here is going to make sure public transit is inappropriate for your rare field trips. It seems to me, mcgayle, you’re setting the stage to make sure these kids don’t get to go on field trips because that’s the simplest and cheapest solution to all the problems YOU have taken upon yourself to CREATE. If I have 6 of my own children getting on the bus with me should we too be refused access to the regular bus or should there be a special bus for families too? Octo-mom might consider that discriminatory and I don’t think MT will risk it.
Those weren’t even your kids! NONE of them were “trampled”, hurt, maimed, afraid or made ill. You were choked because you did’t feel safe standing on a crowded bus shared with a lot of kids. You selfish, pompous bitch! THINK! What is the message you’re sending to the parents of those children? THINK! There’s a bigger picture to be seen here (despite the shadow cast your massive nose.)