Bus Seats

Not ours, though they suck except for the new buses, but for the drivers. I head Dr. Bose (of Bose Corporation) talk about how truckers were developing internal injuries from the abuse their bodies take just riding/driving the big rigs. He said he was working on something.

I've seen the DART bus seats...they need it too.

The Bose Ride System for Heavy Trucking

Unaware

Most times I ride during the day along the Red Line from Downtown to Plano, there are 2-3 cars of the train, people sitting mostly 1 per every two seats, occasionally people standing, but never really packed. I've ridden during rush hour on both sides of the day...same set up.

However, same path, on Friday and Saturday nights, they send only one car. Why, I don't know, because between LBJ and City Place Station, the freaking thing fills up to the breaking point. And I've never seen a DART officer on there during this time. And we've needed it a few times. One evening, we were delayed a couple of minutes because two "gangstas" were talking shit to each other and the one was flashing a gang sign and the other would let the door almost close and then jam his hand inside of it. An almost "I ain't skerrrrred" sort of "F. U."

And I hear, more on this ride than any other "Man, the cops don't ride this one, we don't gotta pay for anything."

DART, what do you think you could do? Because there are a number of people who increasingly do not feel safe?

Delays

Two types...

First, the delay in posts. My usual neighborhood wifi spot was without wifi for weeks. I didn't realize how much I relied on them until this blog was just started. It's back up now and I'm getting it at home in a week or so. These will be more timely. In the mean time, I have been typing these things in Word and saving them, so I just cut and paste when I get online and have paid my bills, caught up on other things, and have time.

The second type...the delays that public transit runs across. Since I began this little journey, I have upped my start time 30 minutes from what I should be able to pull off, since cutting it within about 3 minutes or so of connections meant missing my connection on several occasions. Usually, trains run early, buses run late. I've done the mad 1/4 mile dash in dress shoes and slacks and a dress shirt to catch my train, because the consequence for missing it is another 20-25 minutes in the sun.

There aren't many shade points at DART rail or bus stations. It's been triple digit heat for some times now. You find yourself searching for shade if your wait is more than 30 seconds. The heat has caused other delays, as the tracks are warping and now some of the cross metro trains (especially the TRE) are being told to slow down almost 20 mph from their usual pace. This is backing things up and letting us have more sunshine time. But, that's just Dallas.