A Wet Commute... Both ways

Yesterday was a lot wetter than the forecasters said it would be!. I always check the radar online before I leave the house if there is any weather predicted at all. And about 8:30 a.m. yesterday, there was a big ol' storm poised just northwest of Wilmington. Great. I leave at 9:40. So I put mu biggest, double-tier umbrella in my bag. It rained all the way to the bus stop, to Rodney Square, to the mall, and to Bear. Sloppy, wet rain. And of course the bus was freezing with air conditioning blasting. Then when I was safely indoors, the sun came out.

On the Route 33 bus, slogging down the 95 through pouring rain, towards the mall, the driver repeatedly stopped (on the freeway!), got out, and did something at the front of the bus. What was that all about? It doesn't seem like these buses are in a very good state of repair. That was pretty dangerous, seems to me. Was it necessary?

Later, about 1:30 p.m., there was a huge downpour, so that most of my students didn't show up. Made me really happy to be indoors. And it was still raining lightly when I left at 4:30, and when I got home at 5:40.

Fortunately, the buses were running on time yesterday (for a change.) I think the heavy ridership keeps the buses off schedule. All the stops to pick up or let off passengers really slows things down. And if there are many passengers standing, it takes people forever to even get down the aisle and off the bus.

They say ridership keeps increasing, and I believe it. On Wednesday afternoon, The Route 6 bus leaving Rodney Square was full before it even left, with people standing up and down the aisle. It took on a few more passengers downtown, but by the time it was on Union Street, the driver had turned on the "full" light. Which kinda pissed me off, because there really was room for a few more standees. I hate it so much when my bus passes me by with a "full" sign, especially when you can see that they just let off a passenger or two at the last stop. Totally uncalled for.

Riding the Bus

That's what I do every day. I'm carfree and to get around I use my two feet or I ride the bus. Dart First State, to be exact. I want to say a little about being a bus rider... it is wonderful, and it sucks. I like not being alone in a ton of steel, barreling down the 95 and burning gallons of gas, emitting tons of CO2... Being environmentally friendly, in other words. I like sitting there in the air conditioning, reading the paper or listening to the NY Times news on my MP3 player, checking my voice mail. Instead of concentrating on the same boring drive, day after day. It's sort of like having my own chauffeur... only it's one that often shows up way late, or has the limo already overfull with other passengers.

Like yesterday. I get off work, make my way across the road to my stop. Perfect... a little warm, but the bus will be air conditioned. But now it's late... 5 minutes...  then 10 minutes... now 20 minutes. Finally, at 10 after 5:00, I see it rounding the corner. It's not my bus, though. It's the next bus. Mine broke down somewhere. The second time this summer. Some buses are usually on time,or close to it. Route 40 - almost never any more. It's typically 10, 15, 20 minutes late. Why is that?

All spring the regular driver managed to keep his route on schedule. I virtually always made my connection to Route 6. A good driver, he. Then the big change back at the end of May, and the drivers are slugs. Or worse.