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There are four reasons why I should probably stop trying to catch the 248 in the mornings.
1) For the past four times that I have ridden it, it has had to let someone in a wheelchair off at the Redmond Transit Center where I get on, a process which eats up at least two minutes or more. It looks like this person in a wheelchair has become a regular rider. :(
2) Much more annoyingly, also for the past four times that I have ridden it, when we reached the Bear Creek Park and Ride, the bus driver got off the bus and entered what I assume is a bathroom (tiny little shack thing next to the P&R, accessible only by keys that apparently only Metro staff have). This usually takes 5-10 minutes, enough so that I'm able to get off of the bus there at the P&R and walk the rest of the way to work and still usually beat the bus to the intersection, though it would have been much faster reaching it on the bus if the bus weren't stuck sitting at the P&R. My other option is to get off at the stop before the bus actually reaches the P&R, but this means having to cross the intersection twice, which can sometimes take up to five minutes if I catch the traffic lights just wrong.
Today, when he tried the door, apparently there was someone already in there, so he came back to the bus and just... sat there. Needless to say, I got off then and started walking yet again.
Now, look, I know that the call of nature can strike at any time, and the first time was forgivable. But this guy seems to be making this a regular thing. Personally, I think that bus drivers should do their business either before or after their routes, not right in the middle of them. His route isn't all that long, even taking into account the need to load and unload a wheelchair.
3) Even before either of the previous two items came into play, the bus 248 was almost invariably late in getting to Transit Center anyway.
4) If I could make it to the Transit Center just a couple of minutes earlier, I'd be able to catch the 545. While this is slightly less than ideal since I'd have to get off either at the Target/Fred Meyer stop or at the Park and Ride, rather than the stop right across the street from where I work, which entails a bit more walking than (usually) required of catching the 248, the fare is 25ยข cheaper. Even if I don't make it in time to catch the earlier 545, I could just wait and catch the next one 10 minutes later, which is usually around the time the 248 shows up anyway when it is running the usual five or six minutes late. And if I'm going to be having to get off the 248 at the P&R anyway, I may as well just go ahead and catch the 545 at that point.
Note also that I don't normally ride the bus anyway, since I usually just walk to work, given that it's just a mile and a quarter or so. This means that the "past three or four times" is spaced out over a few weeks. Typically, I only try to take the bus when I'm running somewhat late or if it's raining harder than normal or some combination of the two. The fact that the bus is itself rather late most of the time doesn't really help matters at all.
1) For the past four times that I have ridden it, it has had to let someone in a wheelchair off at the Redmond Transit Center where I get on, a process which eats up at least two minutes or more. It looks like this person in a wheelchair has become a regular rider. :(
2) Much more annoyingly, also for the past four times that I have ridden it, when we reached the Bear Creek Park and Ride, the bus driver got off the bus and entered what I assume is a bathroom (tiny little shack thing next to the P&R, accessible only by keys that apparently only Metro staff have). This usually takes 5-10 minutes, enough so that I'm able to get off of the bus there at the P&R and walk the rest of the way to work and still usually beat the bus to the intersection, though it would have been much faster reaching it on the bus if the bus weren't stuck sitting at the P&R. My other option is to get off at the stop before the bus actually reaches the P&R, but this means having to cross the intersection twice, which can sometimes take up to five minutes if I catch the traffic lights just wrong.
Today, when he tried the door, apparently there was someone already in there, so he came back to the bus and just... sat there. Needless to say, I got off then and started walking yet again.
Now, look, I know that the call of nature can strike at any time, and the first time was forgivable. But this guy seems to be making this a regular thing. Personally, I think that bus drivers should do their business either before or after their routes, not right in the middle of them. His route isn't all that long, even taking into account the need to load and unload a wheelchair.
3) Even before either of the previous two items came into play, the bus 248 was almost invariably late in getting to Transit Center anyway.
4) If I could make it to the Transit Center just a couple of minutes earlier, I'd be able to catch the 545. While this is slightly less than ideal since I'd have to get off either at the Target/Fred Meyer stop or at the Park and Ride, rather than the stop right across the street from where I work, which entails a bit more walking than (usually) required of catching the 248, the fare is 25ยข cheaper. Even if I don't make it in time to catch the earlier 545, I could just wait and catch the next one 10 minutes later, which is usually around the time the 248 shows up anyway when it is running the usual five or six minutes late. And if I'm going to be having to get off the 248 at the P&R anyway, I may as well just go ahead and catch the 545 at that point.
Note also that I don't normally ride the bus anyway, since I usually just walk to work, given that it's just a mile and a quarter or so. This means that the "past three or four times" is spaced out over a few weeks. Typically, I only try to take the bus when I'm running somewhat late or if it's raining harder than normal or some combination of the two. The fact that the bus is itself rather late most of the time doesn't really help matters at all.
