So, a very talented friend of mine is having an exhibition of her art at a small town close to where I live. Its a 30 minute drive, but 2 hours on public transport, with 2 buses, one train, and a long walk under the summer sun on the way. Whatever, I'll sleep/read on the way, right?

so I show up at the bus station 10 minutes before the bus takes off, the bus arrives, and the driver gets off and turns off the bus. I think he's just going to the bathroom, to take a break, smoke a cigarette, whatever. Nope. He never returns.

I've now been standing at the bus station for an hour after the scheduled departure time, staring at the switched off bus, and fuming about how I have just lost 20 bucks because I missed all the other buses and trai (i had to buy the tickets beforehand), how now I can't get to the exhibition without being late for work, how I will have let down my friend by not showing up and supporting her, and how this wouldn't have happened if I just had a fucking car and wasn't a depressed mess who can't find energy to do anything until the very last moment, letting down everyone around me.

I don't normally get angry, but this whole thing has made me very upset.

  • Chronicon [they/them]
    ·
    6 months ago

    It's a whole mess :/ I have been in that exact position, albeit with lower stakes, usually just trying to get myself home at night and missing the last bus. But one time it happened when getting home after a trip and my friend I was with was having a panic attack and it just broke me a little.

    Plus, if I'm confused and screwed over by it, as someone who really likes transit and uses it all the time, how is anyone else supposed to get around like this? Its my biggest gripe is just how inaccessible/scary this kind of thing makes transit. If that bus driver just went "hey X bus is cancelled" or "hey what bus are you waiting for?" then you could have at least tried to get there another way. It's not the driver's fault, they don't get paid enough to be always-on customer service in addition to driving and everything else, but like... it'd be nice? Running all the scheduled trips more or less on time should be the bare minimum, not a lofty goal

    My city does at least have a cool carshare thing, but thats an expensive bandaid solution.