In Front of the Yellow Line

You’re Late

By Shawn Wells

Old Man Getting on my Bus: “You’re 12 Seconds late!”

Me: “Sorry, Sir. I got held up at my last stop where I had to knock out some guy who accused me of being 7 seconds late.”

Old Man: “Maybe my watch is fast…”

Late. Early. On time. It doesn’t matter. It seems impossible to please people when it comes to the bus schedule. As a bus driver, the one thing I am supposed to avoid at all costs regarding the schedule is being early. That is the ultimate no no. We refer to it as “running hot” or  “running sharp” My bosses would prefer that I was running a minute or 2 behind schedule.

But wait… being early isn’t a good thing? Not in my world it isn’t. Here’s the thing. Look at a bus schedule. You see that I’m supposed to depart point ‘A’ at one time and arrive at point ‘B’ at a different time. But you’ll also notice that along the way I also have listed points ‘1, 2 and 3’ which I’m also supposed to arrive at. These are my timing points. They are there to keep me from arriving too far ahead of schedule at point ‘B’. Basically, if you are expecting a bus at a certain time you’d probably be more upset to discover that you missed it by 5 minutes than you would be if you had to wait an extra 5 minutes. Because in that first scenario you’re waiting for the next one (which in some cases could be an hour)

The problem is that there are so many variables affecting my ability to  keep my bus on time. Recently, my city has started converting busses into something they like to call “Smart Bus”. These busses, have computer terminals and GPS locators on them. A very cool step for the future of public transportation, people can now track the actual real-time location of their bus rather than just guessing. From a driver’s perspective, the other thing it does is helps to accentuate these variables for me. My computer screen tells me exactly how early or late I am during my drive.

Ever had one of those days where you seem to hit every red light during your commute? Ever had one of those days while riding a bus?  I have. But more than just the expected red lights, poor weather or heavy traffic affect my schedule. Sometimes I have one of those trips where I have to stop at every bus stop along the way to either pick up or drop off a passenger.  This happens most for me on routes that drive to downtown. Sometimes I have one of those trips where everyone I pick up seems to be taking their time getting on the bus. Whether its because they have a walker or stroller or because they just have no sense of urgency. In fact, it seems to happen most when I’m already behind schedule.

When I’m running late seems to be when I get the most people who want to ask questions, thereby holding me up, and then choosing to not get on my bus. An example of the kind of question I get would be “Do you know what time the number 1 comes?” or “ Do you go near such and such place?” (which of course, if I don’t go near such and such, is always followed up by “Oh… which bus does?”) Do your research before leaving the house people! Or also when I’m already behind, I tend to get the people who want to count out there change before fully stepping on the bus. They’ll stand halfway in the door, blocking me from being able to close the door, looking for their pass or ticket. Back when I used to ride the bus as a regular patron, I used to have my change ready to go before the bus even pulled up. Had a special place I’d keep it so it wouldn’t get mixed up with my other change. Why do so many people come unprepared for their bus ride?  

I remember one time that I had to deploy my ramp 6 separate times on 1 single trip. Not one shift… one trip. Normally, on average, I deploy my ramp once a week. (I guess technically twice, once for getting on and once for getting off) But 6 times in the span of an hour? Almost unprecedented. I’ve mentioned in a previous post what an involved procedure deploying the ramp is. Needless to say, that trip I ended up behind schedule almost 15 minutes.

Along some routes, while watching the “Smart bus” clock, I’ve come to a red light and my screen reads 1.5 minutes early. However, by the time the traffic cycle completes its course and I get a green, I suddenly find myself 1.5 minutes late. I’ve even watched this clock while boarding passengers and seen myself lose over half a minute just because there is a large crowd boarding but they are delayed getting on because of someone not respecting the flow of traffic on the bus and exiting out the front.

But through it all, construction, traffic, weather, lights, pedestrians, passengers and so on, there is one variable that you may never, ever think of until you actually drive a bus. Sometimes, its the bus. Not all busses are created equal. Some have amazing acceleration and some are incredibly sluggish. This is the most frustrating thing of all to deal with regarding schedule. Because no matter what you do, no ,matter how good you are, no matter how well you know you route, the bus just physically won’t cooperate.

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