In Front of the Yellow Line

Changes in Routine

By Shawn Wells

Well, Old Man Winter has slapped my city across the face hard with his icy hand. The fact that I live in a Canadian city means that I’m not at all surprised, however the cold weather came in angrier than usual this year. Normally when I wake up to the first snowfall of the year, it is always frustrating and slippery, but little more than an annoyance. This year it was almost as if it rained all night, iced over and then dumped a bunch of snow on top, making it the perfect combination of slick and lethal.

Now, I say that to ME it is never a surprise and to ME it’s a minor annoyance. But, not everyone is like me. How short people’s memories can be from one winter to the next. And really, Canadians are supposed to be good at Winter...it lasts for half the year. Well, maybe not all Canadians. I’m looking at you West Coast Canada. That’s one of those “you have to live here to get it” type comments. In my city, we don’t shut down for anything. Snow days don’t happen here. Snow days are based on whether the city busses stop running, and we don’t. We may run extremely slow and constantly late on the really terrible days, but we don’t stop running.

But even with all this experience with winter every year, some people just fail miserably at it as soon as it starts. They have problems adapting on the fly. They forget that they don’t have the same traction on the roads and that they need to slow down. They forget that they need to give themselves more space to stop instead of being able to stop on a dime. And pedestrians also forget that too; dashing out in front of cars in their attempt to jaywalk (jay-slip?) across the street. I have actually had people running for my bus, in the road in front of me! I honestly don’t get very confrontational with people, but I have told people off for doing this. It is just plain unsafe. Anyone who has driven on ice before knows what kind stopping distance a car has. Now add several tons of extra weight. Luckily for these people that think standing in front of a bus is okay, I drive defensively and wasn’t going all that fast. I was driving appropriately for the weather. I adapted.

I just have to shake my head at people sometimes. On top of driving skill, people need to adapt to the temperature. Already this winter has been much colder than usual. We normally don’t see temperatures this cold for a couple more months. Maybe it’s the dad in me or the fact that I’m getting older, but why aren’t people dressing appropriately? If it is minus 20 degrees out, you should be wearing a toque and gloves. You should be wearing a proper winter coat. Or at the very least zipping your coat up. At what point in our lives is being warm more important than looking cool? Not High School or University age, I can tell you that much. I love when these kids get on my bus and say how unbearably cold it is outside, when they are wearing an unzipped hoodie as a jacket and no other warm clothing. Layers people! If there is snow on the ground, an extra sweater is probably a good idea.

A sign that this winter has been colder than usual, is the amount of times that we as bus drivers have already been asked to make extra stops. What I mean by this is express busses. These are the ones that will go from point A to point B with only a couple specific stops along the way. But in the extreme cold, we are asked to make stops in our express areas. Already, since the snow (which has been just under 2 weeks in my city) we have been asked to make this exception 5 different days. At this time of year, that number is usually zero. It’s not usually until January or February that this starts happening more.

Nothing throws a person out of their routine more than weather like this. Especially before they’ve had a chance to adapt and acclimate to the season. Boy, let me tell you, people hate having their routines broken. I’ve mentioned in the past how some regular passengers like to sit in specific seats on the bus and you can see the frustration on their faces when someone is already sitting there. Now, with the icy roads, all traffic is moving slow and the busses struggle to stay on time. More people are taking the busses to go only a couple stops, whereas in warmer weather they would’ve walked. And of course, stopping in express areas to help cold customers slows down the busses. And people just get angrier. They look at the bus drivers like all this is their fault. The weather, the traffic, the fuller busses. All our fault. You want to ruin someone’s day? Get stuck in rush hour traffic with them while they try to get to work.

I, for one, have decided to embrace change. We get too stuck in our ruts and don’t let things go. I find that the very nature of my job I have to adapt often. Sure, there are some things that I count on. When I work a route for a few weeks, I can start to predict the lights that I’ll make and not make. I start to see the same people at the same stops and times every day. Certain areas of the city that I’ll see certain traffic patterns. Some of my job becomes very predictable, very routine. But that isn’t always the case. There are times that my regular passengers get on at different locations. Some days I encounter unusual traffic.

The biggest part of my job that I have to adjust daily is with my actual bus. No 2 busses are created equal. Every bus has it’s own identifying number and even busses that are only 1 number apart can be very different. Like any job that has a fleet of vehicles, there are some you like and some you don’t. Every bus has pros and cons. I don’t think I’ve found the “perfect” bus yet. My day can be made or broken depending on the bus I get. And it can even be over the most trivial things. There are some busses that have no cup holders. Some have better wipers. Some have heaters that keep the bus at a more comfortable temperature. Mirror sizes, steering wheels, location of the kneel switch.... Every time I step into a bus, I have to make small adjustments to how I do my job.

I remember one time that I was driving a bus and the back doors were frozen shut. With the amount of time left in my day, it was pointless to get them to change my bus for me. Instead I carried on with it for the hour or so that was left in my shift. I was instructing people that the back door wasn’t working and that they would have to exit out the front. I had made a sign to attach to the back door stating “Out of Order.” But still, at least half the people tried to exit out the back before I reminded them to come out the front. Yes, even with the sign there. Don’t mess with people’s routines.

Now, I venture out into the biggest way of changing my own routine. Getting out of my own rut.  Every few months we sign our new work and so, for this upcoming shift I’m going somewhere else. I am changing garages. I’ve been in my current garage for almost 2 years. As I’ve mentioned before, there are 4 different garages in my city. Each one services certain quadrants of the city (not exclusively, but mostly). Because of this, there are certain transit centers that I haven’t even seen for 2 years. I am eagerly looking forward to the switch in environment. Getting out of my own comfort zone. Driving different parts of the city. New faces and new stories.

I encourage everyone to do one thing this month that takes them out of their comfort zone. Make one change to your usual routine. Or if you find yourself getting upset at an outside force breaking your routine, just go with it. Don’t let it get to you. Life is to short.

And zip up your damn coat, it’s cold out.

From in front of the yellow line, that’s how I see it.

In Front of the Yellow Line

My Superpowers

By Shawn Wells

Did you know that I have a superpower? Not very many people know this, but I figured it was time to come clean and let the world know. Do you want to know what it is? Frankly, I’m going to tell you anyway, otherwise that would defeat the entire purpose of a blog. So, if you answered “no” to my question, I guess you need to stop reading.

Ok. Confession time. I have the power of invisibility. Neat, huh?

This week in particular puts it more into perspective than normal. I’ve mentioned in the past that people tend to ignore the driver when they are on the bus. But that isn’t the only time I’m invisible. That’s why I mention this week specifically. This week in my city is Rodeo Week. Because the Canadian Finals Rodeo is in town, that means I am allowed to wear “western wear.” This is one of those perks I look forward to. One week in the year where I don’t have to wear my uniform. Sure, it’s nice to have a job where I don’t have to plan my wardrobe every morning, but these breaks from the uniform are nice. It’s just like the perk we get where we are allowed to wear hockey jerseys for our local NHL or WHL team when they play at home. Or to show support for our local CFL team by wearing a their football jersey during game days as well. I look at these days, firstly as a fan. But second, as approximately 60 days a year that I can wear something different to work.

I’ve gotten off on a tangent. The point to all this expository information is to help illustrate my point. When I get to one of my layovers, I can step off my bus and blend into the crowd. You see, if I sit in my drivers seat at a layover, I become the target of an endless barrage of questions. “What time does the #4 bus come?” “Do you go to such and such place?” “Do you leave before that bus?” And so on. Yes, this is part of my job, but sometimes it is nice to have the break. I can get out to stretch my legs while wearing a hockey jersey or western wear and no one sees me. It’s refreshing to be invisible sometimes.

However, that isn’t the only time I’m invisible. Sometimes I can be in my full uniform and still not be seen. People getting on the bus can get so lost in their own world and routine, they don’t even notice the driver as they get on. The best example of this is a friend of mine. Someone I actually know outside of work. She has been on my bus on four different occasions and has only noticed me once. I’ve even used her name to greet her when she gets on, but she has still only noticed me once. Hilarious really. And she isn’t the only friend that has done this.

I’ve also had the other situation where I see one of my regular passengers somewhere other than a bus, when I’m not in uniform and they have no clue who I am. I’ve carried on long conversations with these people and all I get is a blank stare when I say Hi.

Realizing that I have the  power of invisibility, it got me thinking. If I could fall into a vat of toxic waste and emerge with other superpowers, what would I want them to be? What else would benefit me in my job?  Well, the first and biggest power that would help would be mind reading. Just like Professor Xavier for the X-men, the ability to read my passenger’s minds would be so useful sometimes. Quite often I will pull up to a stop to pick up a passenger and someone will get off the bus without ringing the stop request bell. So, if I hadn’t stopped there to pick up, they would’ve missed their stop. Also, I’ve mentioned before that when I drive down the street I have to be fairly aware of body language of people waiting for the bus. Many times, instead of acknowledging the bus and shaking their head or waving me past, people will just stare straight ahead. The amount of times I’ve pulled into a stop and opened my door just to have no one get on, would make this power more than worth it. It would be a real time saver.

Another useful power would be super speed, just like the Flash. It would make it easier to use the bathroom on short layovers. Or sometimes, I get to the end of my shift and I have another driver taking over my bus, I can end up stuck in my seat for an extra few minutes while the thick, steady stream of passengers gets on and off. But if I had super speed, I could beat the passengers off the bus. It would also mean less commute time for me. Just like everyone else who works outside of their home, I still have to get to my place of work. There are 4 different garages to work out of in my city, but for me, the one I live closest to is one of the most popular to work out of. It’s the newest and shiniest, plus it is closed on weekends, so if you work out of that garage you are guaranteed Saturday and Sundays off. The garage I instead work out of is the next closest to me but still a 20-25 minute drive away. If I had super speed, my commute would take a matter of seconds.

Maybe teleportation, like Nightcrawler from X-men, would be even better. Especially if I could transfer the power to objects around me. Imagine being on a bus, stuck in rush hour traffic and having a bus driver that can just teleport the bus to the other side of the line-up of cars. No more people upset that they’ve missed their connection by a couple minutes… at least on my bus. However, that being said, I would lose some of the fun that comes with the journey. I had one passenger recently that asked what time I get to my final destination. She obviously didn’t like my answer and was in a bigger hurry to get there. So she asked where my next timing point was and phoned a cab to meet her at that stop. I then got to play a real life version of the tortoise and the hare. In this case, slow and steady ALMOST won the race. Her cab ended up beating me to where she wanted to go by about 30 seconds. There was a small satisfaction to the fact that this extremely impatient woman paid 3 times the amount of bus fare to get to her destination less than a minute early. Who am I kidding… It was a large satisfaction. Sometimes patience is all you need folks. Teleportation would’ve taken away my thrill that day.

Superman’s X-ray vision would be a handy power. When my bus is packed, it would be useful to see through the wall of bodies to see who is trying to get off the bus. Sometimes there is a lot of guesswork involved. The mirrors I have only do so much, but seeing through people is definitely not something they do. Or, the other reason vision powers would help is seeing bus passes. Some people will hold their passes or transfers at such impossible angles, or keep them in sleeves that are hard to see through that it would help to be able to get a clearer look. I’m sure some of these things are done intentionally to disguise expired or counterfeit passes.

I think these would all be the most useful superpowers to have for my job. Sure, there others that could also work. Super strength or impervious skin would give myself (and my loved ones) peace of mind while I’m at work. Although, I have yet to feel threatened at work, it is always a possibility. Assaults have happened on busses. Flight, laser eyes, walking through walls… all fun, but not as necessary in the case of a bus driver. But really, if I had any of these superpowers, I probably wouldn’t be a bus driver anymore. I enjoy my job but come on… superpowers.

But for now I’ll just have to stick with my power of invisibility. Camouflage can be enough some days.

From in front of the yellow line, that’s how I see it.

In Front of the Yellow Line

Time Management

By Shawn Wells

I would like to take a moment to talk about schedules. I know what you’re thinking, I’ve already talked about that. But this time I’m not talking about the bus schedules, I’m talking about my own personal schedule. This is something that a lot of people don’t even consider. I’ve said all along that I love my job, but if there is one thing I miss from any of my previous jobs it is a stable schedule.

Being a bus driver, I definitely do not work a 9-5, Monday to Friday job. I rarely get holidays off unless they happen to fall on my scheduled days off.  There are some shifts I work where I may have to start at 4am or some shifts where I may have to work until 2am. But most importantly, the big thing I have to deal with is split shifts.

Not all bus drivers have to deal with split shifts, but most of us do. We do get to choose which shift we work, however it is all based on seniority. Straight shifts are the most popular and I’m not high enough on the ladder to get those shifts, yet. The majority of the bus drivers that you encounter are probably working split shifts. The reason of course being that it is during morning and afternoon rush hours that you need the most busses on the road. During rush hours there are close to 1000 busses on the road. Some of the most popular routes will have 5 or 10 minute frequency which means that for those routes alone there are dozens of busses.

That being said, a common misconception is that your bus driver just goes back and forth on the same route all day. Quite often this is definitely not the case. I regularly get shifts where I will be servicing several different routes in my day. Here is an example from the work that I do right now. Thursday and Friday I do the same work, which starts at 6:40 in the morning at the garage. I drive my bus, out of service, from there to Point A. I then drive a partial route (stub route) to Point B. Then I out of service and drive back to Point A just to do the exact same thing again. Then from Point B its back to the garage to end my morning at 9:00. Then I kill time until my second piece of work which starts at the garage at 1:31pm. (That’s right… 1:31. Not 1:30.) Now I get back into a bus and drive out of service to Point B and reverse what I did in the morning, driving the partial route to Point A. Then I switch routes and drive to Point C, go not in service and drive back to Point B. Do that partial route to Point A again, go not in service and drive to Point D and drive yet another route back and forth between Point D and Point C three times before calling it a day and heading to the garage to end my day at 6:37pm.

Confused? Welcome to the world I live. Even more surprising is that this is one of my less complicated days because all my work begins and ends at the garage. Some days I have to start on the road and take over a bus that’s already in service. And with that I have to know which direction I have to take over the bus so I know what side of the street to wait on. Many times, the place I start a shift isn’t the same place I end my shift. So, if I want my car waiting for me at the end of the day, I have to take a bus to my starting point. Or sometimes, I make deals with the other driver I’m relieving and drive their car to my start point. Or sometimes I begin and end on the road somewhere and have to park my car at that location.

There is a lot of planning involved in working this job. Never before in my life have I worked a job that takes this amount of forethought. Here’s something most people working don’t have to take into consideration when working their jobs; I have to plan my bathroom breaks. I have one route I work where I start downtown. From there I head to a transit center that doesn’t have a convenient washroom. If I need to go to the bathroom there, it takes 5 minutes round trip of just walking. So if I don’t have the time, I have to hold it until I get to my next transit center, an hour later. That means, if I don’t take a washroom break before I head downtown, I have to wait at least an hour and a half before I have another chance.

Even on the few occasions where I’ve been fortunate enough to get a non-split shift, you also have to realize that a bus driver gets no scheduled breaks. Sure, we sometimes have long layovers at some of our stops but even that counts on traffic. If traffic is thick, I don’t get my long break. No time to eat a lunch, no time for a number 2. For my lunches, I tend to pack stuff that is easy to eat at work. Like carrot sticks or bananas. Things like soup or spaghetti are not the easiest lunches to take. Cutlery=inconvenient. But above all else, nothing that’s going to give you bowel issues. Can’t throw off the bathroom schedule.

But I just plug along, enjoying my job, dealing with the weirdness of my schedule. Waiting for the day that my weekends will actually be on the weekends instead of Tuesday and Wednesday. And just putting in the time so that one day, I will have the seniority to choose the good shifts.

From in front of the yellow line, that’s how I see it.

In Front of the Yellow Line

Tourists

By Shawn Wells

Over the course of the last couple of weeks in my city, there have been a few different major events happening. As a bus driver, it makes for a very unique time at work. We have had a FIFA women’s finals happen, a province wide bike race that made a stop in our city and of course a major international triathlon. On top of all this, we have also had other various city festivals and sports events.

I had one of the other drivers say to me during this time “Boy. It sure is nice to be appreciated again.” I can definitely see his point. Driving a bus, just like any service job, can definitely have it’s unpleasant customers. People that blame me for everything, even construction and traffic. Personally, I let very little get to me on a daily basis and find that my days usually run smoothly. Whereas some of the other drivers let themselves get worked up over the smallest little things. But whether or not I’m better at letting things go than others, I can still identify with that sentiment. There are some days you feel like you’re getting shit on for a living. But now, bring in a bunch of people from out of town… out of country even, and your whole perspective changes.

I’ve spent the last few weeks feeling very much like an ambassador for my city. It has been a very unique and refreshing experience. You really learn to appreciate your own city again and see it through new eyes. I had actually already started seeing my home town in a different light recently because of a friend of mine. She had been living in Europe for a couple of years and anytime she saw a picture of mine online from back home, I would start hearing about all the things she was missed. And it wasn’t even friends and family... It was things like the river valley. So, that had me looking at the things in my city that I take for granted. Now, bring in a bunch of people that are visiting for the first time and you start to wonder. What do they think about this city?

While the Triathlon was happening, the athletes were allowed to ride the bus for free. So, I was seeing a lot of them every day. New Zealand, Chili, Mexico, U.S.A., England, China…. I thoroughly enjoyed asking every one of them where they were from (if their clothing didn’t advertise) and what they liked most or thought of my city. Unfortunately, for many of them, they didn’t have strong enough english skills to tell me much. However, quite often it was what they didn’t say that I noticed most.

For example, the Mexican athletes were obviously cold. I found this hilarious. Maybe because I’m a born and raised Canadian, I am just desensitized enough to the Canadian climate. But we were getting nice weather that week! Low 20 degree celsius, but still. For me, quite pleasant. Shorts weather even. But the Mexican athletes had toques, quilted jackets and quilted pants.

Or, another example of actions speaking louder than words, was facial expressions. I didn’t have to understand what they were saying to read their looks of wonder. I’ve never noticed certain things before. I’ve never thought of my city as having many major tourist attractions. No Louvre or Big Ben or Sphynx or enormous Jesus statue. We have a giant mall. To me, this mall doesn’t seem all that impressive anymore because I’m just so used to it. But to these visitors from out of town, they had looks of awe. Their mouths would drop open.

It was also interesting that I didn’t have to ask a lot of the questions I was thinking. Other passengers on the bus were enjoying showing off their city and asking them questions as well. They were embracing the opportunity to be ambassadors of their own. First question out of all their mouthes… “Have you been to the mall?” But it’s also interesting to hear what they suggest as other attractions. Some of them suggest some very strange things that have me asking myself “Really?!? You think they should go see THAT?!?”

It did also intrigue me to see the difference in bus behavior with the out of towners. For the most part, they were very polite and courteous, giving up their seats for everyone. They were engaging people in conversation. Asking questions that made me feel like an expert on my own city. I particularly liked the British family heading to a football game one evening. Discussing amongst themselves rules of Canadian football. And dressed much fancier than any football fan I’ve ever seen.     

Through all my enjoyment of teaching people about my city, there is one major, glaring problem with all these major events. Detours and full busses. As great as these things are for my city, it also makes for a stressful shift. Dealing with detoured traffic, having to learn your temporary route for the day, having people mad at you for taking detours (because, as I mentioned earlier they blame the driver for stuff like that) I had one girl, during our city’s marathon that said “I don’t understand why they have to close streets! Why can’t they just run on the sidewalks?!?” Obviously someone that has never run before in her life. But any minor annoyances and grumpy people was more than made up for by the people from out of town.

It’s nice to be appreciated again.

From in front of the yellow line, that’s how I see it.

In Front of the Yellow Line

Those special moments

By Shawn Wells

Writing this blog, I find that I have started to slip into negativity. This isn’t my intention because I really do enjoy myself while driving a bus. The negative stories are just more entertaining. And I’ll admit there are some really bad days. But what job doesn’t have bad days? On those days I search for those little moments that make me smile. Those moments that make up for any hard time. Even the small things like someone giving up their seat to a senior or someone who wants to tell you a joke. I’d like to share with you some of those extra special moments that stick with me.

First, let me tell you about the time I met Ronald Reagan. Yup…that was his name. He had proof. Ronald is the perfect example of a bright moment that makes my day worthwhile. Other than the famous name, there really isn’t much else that is truly remarkable about this 65 year old man. Just that he was fun to talk to. And he showed up at a time that I was feeling a little grumpy. In the half hour that he was on my bus, we discussed all sorts of subjects from steak to biking to a good pair of shoes. It’s amazing how a good, sensible conversation can lift you up. And make you crave steak.

I remember one day around Christmas that a young woman got on my bus with a full cart of groceries. One of those personal carts you see people shopping with sometimes (and us bus drivers see a lot). Our conversation on this full bus drifted to food and the fact that she had just stocked up to do some Christmas baking. My unhealthy love of peanut butter was discussed (one of my favorite treats is peanut butter marshmallow squares) and she asked if I’ve ever tried peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. Being a normal, non-pregnant person, I replied no. She told me it was delicious and I should try it.  Sure enough, when I got home that night, curiosity overtook me and there I was eating my very first Peanut butter and pickle sandwich. And although I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was “delicious” it was a surprisingly acceptable flavor combination. I expected it to taste horrific but it actually worked. But I don’t think I’ll ever have another one.

There is one major street in my city where all the partying happens. A ten block stretch featuring dozens of bars. Having a route that travels this road on a Friday or Saturday night, isn’t always fun. I’ve had to have more drunks removed from my busses on these routes than any others. But occasionally I’ll get someone that makes my night. Like the designated driver guy. He was accompanying his friend who was so incredibly hammered that he could barely stand. He explained that he was the designated driver for a group that was still at the bar, but this guy was done. He didn’t want to have to drive and lose his parking spot for this one guy. Could I please hook him up with a free ride so he can escort his friend home? And if it’s not too much trouble, a transfer too, so he can get back to the others as soon as he sees this guy home safe? I liked this guy’s style. That is a good friend. And on top of it all, I liked that I didn’t have to worry about the drunk guy passing out or falling over on my bus. Of course he got the free ride.

On the same party street, on St. Patrick’s Day, I arrived at my timing point early. Really early. While I was sitting there, 6 guys with guitars got on my bus. It soon became quite apparent that they were a Celtic band on their way to a performance at one of the Irish Pubs along the way. Because I was at this timing point for several minutes, boredom overtook them and they all pulled out their guitars and started performing for the bus. A very relaxing way to drive down the road once I finally got going. They played a few songs in the time that they were on my bus and I was sad to see them go. But for about 15 minutes that night, I was a moving concert. Fun to have a busload of people clapping and singing along.

There was also a night that some guy was singing “Part of Your World” from “The Little Mermaid”. But when he got stuck on the lyrics, he was happy that I was there to fill them in.

I remember one time, I had a teenage couple get on my bus after school. I was driving a residential route that basically drove out to the middle of nowhere, turns around and comes back. With layovers, it’s an hour round trip. These 2 travelled all the way out to the middle of nowhere, at which point they kissed goodbye and the girl got off. Then the young guy rode all the way back to the starting point. I thought it was one of the sweetest, most romantic things I’ve ever witnessed. I see little old men helping their wives off the bus daily, but nothing like this from someone so young. Gives me hope for the future of society.

I enjoy when young children wave to me. Not just when they get on or off the bus, but sometimes just when they’re on the sidewalk. Kids in strollers waving to me as I drive past. I always try to wave back.

I enjoy when I get to a stop that has someone in a wheelchair waiting. And before I even get the ramp started to deploy, they’re already on my bus. I’ve encountered 5 different people in the city so far that do this. I also appreciate when I see people lifting up the needed priority seating for them as well.

I appreciate when people turn in lost and found to me. Especially when it’s something like a wallet. (which still has cash in it) Or even turning in a bus pass. In our city (because it may be different elsewhere) our passes have no distinguishing feature from one to another. So anyone could use any pass without getting caught. But my faith in humanity is restored when I see people’s honesty with things like this.

I had one night where I had to have someone removed from my bus by security. It was a case of a passed out drunk that I couldn’t wake up, no big deal. But seeing this guy being removed, a girl getting on asked if everything was ok. She thought something major had happened to me. She was sincerely concerned for my well being. She was worried I had been assaulted or something. It made me feel good that a stranger was worried about me. Through the dozens of people I’ve had removed from my bus by security, this is the only time someone has ever asked if I’m ok rather than what was going on.

Finally, there was one day I had someone get on my bus and he missed the step onto the bus and ended up on his butt on the floor. He was the filthiest person I had ever seen. He smelt worse than anything I had ever smelt before. Homeless. Drunk. Also had some sort of actual physical ailment (he had a walker.) He probably would not have been able to get up on his own. That’s when a good samaritan got up from the back of the bus and came to this guy’s rescue. I have to emphasize how truly disgusting his homeless guy was… I honestly couldn’t bring myself to touch him.  And this good samaritan ended up behind him helping to hoist him up. Luckily, I had hand sanitizer to offer him after all was said and done. And he very gratefully accepted it.

It’s little moments like all these that make my days.

From in front of the yellow line, that’s how I see it.

In Front of the Yellow Line

Open Communication

By Shawn Wells

Guy getting on my bus: “Do you go past the Epcor tower?”

Me: ”No.”

Guy: “How about the Casino?”

Me: “You mean the Casino right across the street for the Epcor tower?”

Guy: “Yeah, yeah! That’s the one… oh…”

They say that communication is the key to any good relationship. If this is a statement that is true for a marriage, shouldn’t it also work for temporary relationships like that of a bus driver/ passenger relationship? As a bus driver (and the person that brought up this argument to begin with) I say Yes, yes it is.

For the most part, people seem to be afraid to talk to the driver of their bus. I’m here to tell you, you don’t need to be. The majority of us are very approachable. We are in a customer service position after all.  And I’ll let you in on a bit of a secret, you’re more likely to get things done if you just open a dialogue. Look at it this way, if you are in a restaurant and you want your dressing on the side, you have to ask. It’s the same thing on a bus if you want a specific stop or if you aren’t entirely sure where you’re going. Ask. There are no dumb questions. Well, there are but I will seldom point out when you ask one. However, for a guy like in my opening example, I subtly will.

I like to keep an open line of communication on my bus. I am one of those drivers who isn’t shy about making an announcement, if I feel it’s necessary. The biggest thing that I will address the bus for is if there is something special about my route. What I mean by this is if I’m driving an express route, for example. So I will announce “Hello everyone! Just as a heads up to anyone that has never taken this bus before, I go into express service as of my next stop…” and then announce the specifics of what that means. (Some express routes still have designated stops in the express area) I like to keep people informed so there isn’t a chance for someone to say “Well, I didn’t know.” You do know now. I’m taking ignorance out of the equation. The other thing that may be special about my route is if I’m only making a partial trip. When I set my destination sign on the front of my bus, I list the final destination. So, even though I may go through downtown and past a couple of major landmarks like colleges or malls, I only list the end location. But sometimes, to fill the required needs for the city, I will only need to do part of the route. And people tend not to pay attention to what the destination sign says.  In this case, I actually announce “Before I leave.... In case you didn’t pay close attention to the destination sign on the front of my bus, on this particular trip, I only go as far as (point A). If you’re looking for (point B, C or D) you are on the wrong bus and will want the next one instead.” Amazingly, I often still have to kick people off when I get to “Point A”, but hey… at least I tried.

Regularly, I will get people on my bus that are new to town, or just visiting, or just don’t know the city very well. These people are usually not afraid to ask their questions. “Do you go past (such and such)?”  “Can you let me know when you get to (some specific place)?” Quite often (and this shows the age that we now live in) I will have someone stick their phone in front of my face and show me a text from a friend or a Googled address. All of these questions all usually end with the same request… “Can you let me know when to get off?” As their diver, I am more than happy to tell them when I get to their stop. But I’m human and on occasion have forgotten. Especially, for some reason,  in the cases where they are asking for the best place to transfer to a different bus. I’ll tell you right now though, if I forget to tell people when to get off, the number one reason is because people make their request and then go sit at the very back of the bus. I have a lot of things on my mind and like a string tied around my finger, it helps if you stay near the front as a constant reminder.    

In past posts, I’ve mentioned when someone rings the stop request bell too soon, by accident, all I ask is for you to acknowledge and own up to to your mistake. “Oops sorry… next one!” Something like that. But it also goes the other way too. If I zoned out or didn’t see your stop, say something. I also respect and appreciate the people who know their physical limitations. I pride myself in being a fairly smooth driver and I try to give people long enough to get to the nearest open seat before I start driving. But some people just can’t physically handle walking against that momentum. Although I can usually spot these people, some of them will actually specifically ask me to wait for them to sit. If you ask, I will listen. Same if you feel you require the ramp, or you need me to kneel the bus. No problem. Don’t push your limitations. Ask.

Some people will ask to be let off somewhere that isn’t a designated stop. Sometimes I can, depending on the situation. If I can do it safely and it doesn’t interfere with the flow of my route, sure. Why not? I’m willing to. But you’ll never know if you don’t ask. Or are you a little short on change? Don’t try to hide it. You’re 30 cents short? Ok. Thanks for letting me know. Pay extra next time. I’m not going to lose sleep over a few dimes.

Non-verbal communication is just as important. Some roads that I drive are in areas that will have a dozen different routes going past the same stops. To save us the time of having to slow down at each stop, if you don’t want my bus, give me a signal. Shake your head, wave me past, make a cut signal with your hands. Something. We drivers appreciate it. Same if you’re running for the bus. Give me a wave. Communicating with me makes my day run smoother. Anyone who waves me past gets a wave from me in return. I appreciate these people. However, I also find it funny when people get so visibly irritated when they are trying to wave me past and I pull into the stop anyway because someone rang my bell. With their arms they are practically screaming at me to keep moving. They forget that they aren’t the only people I service.

Now, I know not everyone wants to sit and talk to the driver. That’s fine. No hard feelings. But you also don’t have to act like I’m invisible. If I say good morning as you get on, social politeness would see you saying something back (not just walking past… yes this happens.) It’s also appreciated when you say Thank-you as you get off the bus. Surprisingly, I’ve noticed that teenagers as a whole are the best for saying thanks. If I drive a school special, on average, half of the kids getting off say something. And while on the subject of me being invisible, in all the time that I’ve spent driving a bus, I have sneezed hundreds of times. In all that time, I’ve had ONE person ever say “Bless you.” I actually say bless you almost every time I hear someone sneeze on my bus. But in return, only one. Don’t be afraid to say something to us. We like thank yous. We like bless yous. I actually told that one girl (who I must say would’ve been the last person I would ever expect a “bless you” from… she didn’t look the type) that I truly appreciated it and that she was the only person to ever say that to me. Which is saying a lot considering I sometimes have Mormon missionaries on my bus. Instead it takes the teenage girl with the pink hair and punk clothing to be the first.

One final note on communication. If you go to McDonald’s and get exemplary service, how often do you pull a manager aside and tell them what a great job their employee is doing? Most people never do (I know what I’m talking about… in a past life, I was a McManager) But have a bad experience and the same customer will tell anyone who’ll listen. The same is true on the bus. Have a bad experience and people will call in a complaint. I had one woman who was venting about another driver tell me she was going to call the Mayor’s office. But, very few people think to call in a compliment. If you have a good experience, call in. It makes us feel good. I have three commendations myself, no complaints, and every one felt great. So, if you ride with me and like my service, call in and say I did a great job. My name is Shawn.

However, if you thought I did a poor job and pissed you off in some way… my name is Mark.

From in front of the yellow line, that’s how I see it.

In Front of the Yellow Line

Look out

By Shawn Wells

I’m surprised that I haven’t killed any pedestrians with my bus.

I’ll put it this way, some people are so clueless. I remember one time last winter, on one of those super icy, low visibility type days, I had a passenger come running for the bus waving his arms. The problem with his approach was that it was in the middle of the road coming towards me. I guess he wanted to make sure I saw him. I did. Nearly killed him too. This Mensa applicant decided that standing in front of a vehicle that weighs several tons on slick roads was the best way to make sure I didn’t overlook picking him up. You know the part that makes this story scariest? The fact that this was at our local University. Common sense is obviously not a course that’s offered.

For clueless pedestrians that don’t think, the university students are the worst offenders. They just walk wherever they want, whenever they want without any regard to their safety. Not to say that they are the only people that don’t use their heads. There are plenty of others. There is a shopping mall in my city that comes in a close second to the University.

If you’ve ever heard the saying “Common sense isn’t so common” I’m here to confirm that fact. People waiting for a bus are a good example. In case you haven’t noticed, a city bus has mirrors. I know… shocking revelation. The thing a lot of people don’t seem to realize is that the mirrors stick out almost a foot wider and are set right around average head height. The other thing to realize, is when I pull up to a stop, one of my goals is to get my bus as close to the curb as possible. For some reason, some people waiting for a bus insist on standing right on the edge of the curb. These people are lucky I’m paying attention. I get the same thing with people waiting to cross the street when I turn a corner. I have come close to running over toes or knocking someone out with my mirror on numerous occasions.

What is it about people having to be right at the edge of a curb? Take a step back! You aren’t saving a significant amount of time by being a foot closer to the curb.

Many people take for granted what we, as bus drivers, go through on a daily basis. And they expect us to be sharp and alert at all times. I’ll be honest… we aren’t. Just like anyone else that drives long hours my focus can slip, my reflexes can become dull. I’m human. When you see me on road, you don’t know if it’s my first hour on the road or my ninth. You don’t know if my baby had me up in the middle of the night or if I’m feeling sick or if I’m busy thinking about a fight I had with someone.. The people on the street don’t know the distractions I have on my bus; the sounds, the smells.

In fact, I have an incredibly high list of things that are all going on other than my actual physical or mental state. Look at the actual driving. Anyone who drives knows how much goes into operating a vehicle. Yes, it eventually becomes second nature but re-evaluate what actually goes into the act of driving. Obeying the laws, making decisions based on your surroundings. Red lights, other traffic, pedestrians. Now consider that when driving a bus, I don’t have a rearview mirror (anyone with experience hauling a trailer can relate to this challenge) I am busy watching the back of my bus in my side mirrors when I turn corners. But while I’m busy watching my back end clearance, I also have to make sure no one is going to dart in front of me to cross the road. Or that a car will cut me off.  Quite often coming around a corner I’m focusing on the mirrors and only watching out the front windshield with my peripheral vision.

So as I drive down the street, I do all the regular driving stuff and obey all the laws. (And you know I HAVE to more than other motorists... I constantly have an audience and I drive in a giant billboard.) Now, unlike other drivers I am constantly scanning my environment, watching for people waiting at stops and reading their body language (do they want my bus or a different one), people running for the bus (if you’re running for a bus, give a wave… LOOK like you want the bus) and people requesting stops on my bus. Making sure my transfers are set right, trying to keep my bus on schedule, driving with a full, loud load. And the whole time I have to make sure I’m going the right way. My mind is full.

And then to top it all off, I have to be hyper-aware of the movements on my bus as well. There’s something most other drivers don’t have to think about… people standing in their vehicle. I’ve had people fall on my bus before, mostly because they forget that they are on a moving object. I pride myself in being a fairly smooth, safe driver… but if I have to slam on my brakes because of an unexpected situation, you want to be holding on. Let this be a lesson to you if you’re standing on a bus. 3 points of contact. Inertia is a bitch.  

One final note on pedestrians waiting for a bus, keep the line moving. Have your fare ready. I’m Canadian and the Canadian stereotype is politeness. I remember one day, sitting at a stop while I watched 3 different strangers play the “after you” game. (“After you.” “No I insist after YOU.”) It took at least 30 seconds for one of them to take the initiative to step on the bus. I appreciate the politeness rather than the entitled pushiness I see on other occasions, but there’s a limit. I was tempted to close the doors and drive off. Leave them to sort it out. So if someone says “after you”... take it. Keep the line moving.

And take a step back from the edge of the curb!

From in front of the yellow line, that’s how I see it.

In Front of the Yellow Line

Bus Games

By Shawn Wells

If you’ve been following my blog, you understand how entertained I am by everyday life. It is definitely the grind of the job that forces me to do so. Not that it’s a tough job. On the contrary, it’s the easiest paycheque I’ve ever earned in my life. If you can go with the flow, you’ll be just fine. When traffic gets thick or weather unbearable, the mantra a bus driver needs to repeat is “I get paid by the hour.” However, once you know a route like the back of your hand or you’re working a slow time of day it is very easy to get lost in that more vicious of problems. Boredom.

The first problem is having no one to talk to. The social aspect of my job is a strange one. I don’t actually know a lot of the other drivers by name because I seldom get a chance to chat with them. Unless I’m willing to come into work early or stay late, the only time I get is layovers at transit centers. In fact, often I will have a passenger refer to another employee by name, whether it’s because it’s an old friend or their favorite driver from another route. They will ask if I know them and almost always the answer is no. But you also have to consider, in my city, there are over 1200 drivers and 4 different garages. Plus, knowing someone that works for the transit system, doesn’t guarantee that they are a bus driver. We staff a full time maintenance department (again out of 4 different locations), management, office staff, training department, inspectors, motormen (that’s the train drivers), disabled transport. A couple thousand employees in total. And I’m on a first name basis with about two dozen of them.

But Shawn, you say. Why not chat with passengers? I do, sure. I just usually don’t initiate the conversations. Superficial discussions about the weather or local sports teams are fine at first, but then you end up saying the same thing dozens of times a shift. I tend to wait until someone starts up a talk with me. Unfortunately, the people that start up conversations with a bus driver are usually people that you wouldn’t want to talk to in any other context. I remember one passenger I had once, I had pretty much tuned her out, answering with the occasional “Wow” or “Really?” or “I see”. From her end, it was repetitive and uninteresting and non-stop for 20 minutes. “You know what else driver?”  After overhearing this conversation, when she had gotten off, I had another person come up to me and say “Boy are you patient.” Really, I had no choice because I was stuck in a situation I couldn’t just excuse myself from. So instead I made a game out of it. I started counting the number of times she said “You know what else driver?”

This is the solution to the monotony of my job. I shut my brain off and get lost in my own thoughts. Not to scare you, I am still watching the road. Sometimes, the smallest things bring me amusement. Like the fare box game. This is the game where I try to collect as big of a pile as possible of coins and tickets without dumping it down. Several factors contribute to the challenge of this game. Looseness of the plate the coins land on. The number of coins versus tickets. The bumpiness of the road. Sure, not the most exciting game in the world, but when you’re bored at work, you’re playing “Ker-plunk”. And if anyone asks, I leave that pile there for kids that want to dump my fare box. But in my heart, I die a little when a kid does dump my fare, especially if I have a good pile going.

When you’re bored driving a bus, you notice small things. Like when your turn signal syncs up with the car in front of you. Or spotting a certain type of car all day. I had one early summer Saturday where I realized I had seen 9 different Corvettes, all different models or years. I’ve been known to challenge people to a drag race when at a redlight just for fun. I had one guy, in a suped up something or another, right hand steering, who I pulled up to at a light one day. My window was open and he looked at me and asked “Whatcha running in that thing?” We reved our engines and chatted for the minute we were stuck at the light. (He won the race, by the way) Next night, same intersection, I pull up next to the same guy who is in the middle of telling his girlfriend in the car the story of what happened there last night. He looks over mid sentence to say “...Oh my god! And that’s him!!” and busts out laughing. I informed him I wanted a rematch. (He won again)

Sometimes as I’m driving along, I will try to predict the exact moment my regular passengers will ring the bell with a snap of my fingers. This is similar to trying to predict which door someone will use or which seat they will sit in. Or as I pull up to a crowded stop, I will tear off the amount of transfers I think I’m going to need. Will I be right? Who is paying and who has a pass? And on occasion, what is that person’s excuse going to be to try and get a free ride? (You can usually see them coming a mile away)

There are days that you are forced to play a little game called “What’s that smell?” Often it will be something obvious like alcohol, marijuana or armpit. But sometimes it will be a food smell you’re trying to pinpoint like KFC or pizza (which is even more mysterious when you look in your mirror and don’t see anyone carrying a KFC bag or pizza box) And every once in a while you get a smell that you can only describe a garbage. Just straight up garbage smell. These are the days that I’m glad I carry scented hand sanitizer. Dab a little under my nose and I don’t have to smell the bad smells.

Occasionally, I will pass the time by figuring out what celebrities my passengers look like. It usually involves throwing an adjective in front like “Fat Bradley Cooper” or “White Will Smith”. Sometimes it’s a far stretch, sometimes it’s almost bang on. But it passes the time. Kind of like looking in my mirror and imagining people’s sex faces. This can sometimes send you down the rabbit hole and you regret playing this game.

But above all, being in a job where I spend my time solo simply gives me time to think. There are times that you really don’t want to know what is going on in there. Other times, I spend time thinking about a confrontation I had and what I should’ve said. We’ve all had this time to stew on something that upsets us, but with very little stimulus it seems worse to me. Most of my blogs have taken shape in my head for hours before I ever have a chance to write something down. In my spare time, I like to act in theatre so I will use this time to run lines in my head. Singing when my bus is empty. Speeches or emails have been written in my head. And as long as I don’t forget by the time I get to paper or computer, it works well.

From in front of the yellow line, that’s how I see it.

In Front of the Yellow Line

My Many Hats

By Shawn Wells

Woman on my bus: “Do you get some really annoying people sometimes?”

Me: “You get used to it.”

Woman: “Tell me the worst one.”

Me: “Well… I once had someone ask me if I get some really annoying people sometimes.”

 I’ve worked many different jobs in my life. But through all of them they’ve all had at least one thing in common. The job description that I applied for, is the job that I worked. Until, that is, I became a bus driver. I expected to drive a bus and provide customer service. The end. I never expected all the other roles that I would have to take on.

The first is psychologist. You could also say bartender without the serving drinks part. I’ve been told by people that work in call centers that they deal with the same problem. I see some people at their absolute worst...It’s sad sometimes. But it seems that when people are at their lowest, that is when they want to open up the most. I had one woman one day, who I happened to remember from a couple of weeks earlier when she was on her way to a job interview. I asked her how the interview went. This turned into a long discussion about how her testing for the job hadn’t gone well because she wasn’t in the right frame of mind that day because of something that had happened to remind her of a traumatic experience from earlier in the year and did she ever tell me about what had happened to her because she had been kidnapped and taken to Mexico and, and, and….. Boy… that was a can of worms I opened that day.

Like a bartender will sit and listen to people’s problems, so do I. It’s amazing some of the personal things a person will share. I remember one guy who, on a cold winter day, said “Boy its a cold one!” I responded with “Could be worse… at least it stopped snowing.” Innocent weather talk, right? His answer was “Or your girlfriend could’ve sucked off a black guy!”  and then proceeded to tell me all about how he had caught his girlfriend cheating and so on. How does someone respond to this? Completely out of the blue! I wasn’t talking about infidelity or black guys. How does someone find the connection to segue from weather to that?!?

The other thing that makes me like a bartender is the amount of drunks I have to deal with sometimes. I mean, let me start off by saying good for them choosing public transportation instead of driving. But, out of all people in the world, I have the lowest tolerance for drunks. And at least a real bartender can walk away rather than being stuck in a confined space with them. From the girls pole dancing at the back door (and not usually the type of girls you’d WANT to see doing this) to the guy trying to carry on a slurred conversation right in your face so you can smell everything they drank that day… it does give me a new respect for people that work at bars. However, when they get kicked out of the bars, that’s when they end up being my problem. It is awkward moving the bus when there is someone that can barely stand trying to get to their seat. But the worst drunks, are the passed out drunks. I worked a stretch of night shifts for several months at one point, and usually had to have security remove at least 1 drunk a week from my bus.

Now just because we have transit security, that doesn’t stop me from being a cop occasionally myself. This is the second part of my job description I was never informed about. I actually had a really drunk guy call me “officer” once. For my own safety, there is not a lot I will police on my own bus. That is why we have the professionals. Sometimes it feels like I’m more of a professional tattletale. But I have been known to kick people off my bus myself.  Occasionally, we will get a call over our bus radio saying that police are requesting our assistance in finding a missing person or person of interest. I have had the person on my bus before too. Bus drivers see a lot of people and places during their shift. The system works. Honorary police. I’ve also had someone come to me saying that they witnessed someone vandalizing a building downtown and that they had just gotten on my bus. I had that person arrested off my bus. But more importantly, the kind of cop I am is traffic cop. There have been times when, while stopped for pedestrians at a crosswalk, I’ll see someone coming up fast beside me. I will stick my hand out the window to try and stop them. Or sometimes I will use my bus to physically block traffic to allow someone to make a turn along a busy road. Bus drivers will actually do this for each other quite often.

The third unexpected job title I have is human G.P.S.. People will always ask me if I go past something or if I know where something is and how to get there. Usually it will be a question like “Do you go past a Safeway?” or “Where is the nearest TD Bank?” But sometimes the names they give me are so random that it would be a miracle if I did know. But people expect me to know where every union hall or warehouse is located. I find it interesting that I can drive the same route for 3 months. In that time, I can learn where every single stop is, which ones are most popular, which ones have potholes, where every bump is on the route, which corners are tight… etc. But then someone will ask me if I go past a liquor store and I’ll have no clue at all. I’m fascinated that I can be so blind to certain things. Sometimes it will even be a question of if I go to such and such street and I have no idea, but it turns out I do. I know all my turns, but because the street they are asking about isn’t a main road, I’ve never noticed the sign.

But this leads to the next job I have, tour guide. If you get me driving a route in my city where I actually know a lot about the history, I will happily answer questions for a tourist. Before I started this job I was never as informed on city events as I am now. Major sports events, concerts, festivals… some of these are things that I never really considered before but people will ask me about. Never would I have cared that there was a Ke$ha concert in town, but if it affects my route, I know about it. Parades, “Paloozas”, Raves, Rodeos, circuses. And

when I get to a section of my route where there is heavy traffic and I don’t know what’s going on, I will pull out my phone at my next layover and Google it.

Through all my different job titles, I get insight into people’s lives. Like the excuses for why someone doesn’t have fare. “Please can you hook me up with a ride? My direct deposit didn’t come through and now I have to get to work to pick up a cheque.”  It makes me appreciate my teachers growing up who had to listen to every excuse as to why my homework wasn’t done. I’m just waiting for the day that I hear that someone’s dog ate their bus pass.

From in front of the yellow line, that’s how I see it.