observations from riding the bus

For the past year and a half I’ve been living in Shadyside, two miles from Pitt’s campus. As such I take the bus roundtrip to and from campus at least once, sometimes twice, a day. Riding the bus so often one picks up on a few things. But first, let me share my first bus riding experience.

Before classes started freshman year Holly Asher and I took the bus downtown to Duquesne University. We knew which bus to get and where to get off, but that was it. We didn’t know how to actually get off the bus. Prior to using Pittsburgh’s bus system the only form of public transportation I was used to was Philly’s regional rail train system. On the trains two things are true: one, the train stops at each and every train station, regardless if any passengers are getting on or off there; two, anything that can be pulled on the train is only pulled to apply the train’s emergency brakes. So, we soon realized that the bus wasn’t stopping at all the bus stop signs and something had to be done. But I was afraid to pull that yellow cord. It wasn’t until a solid six city blocks after our intended stop that I worked up the courage to
pull the cord and finally get off.

Now, here are some random observations I’ve picked up on from riding the bus a few hundred times:

-If you are a male sitting in a seat that faces the front of the bus, a young female is very unlikely to sit next to you unless there are no other seats. However, if you are a male sitting in the bench seats that face the sides of the bus, a young female is much more likely to sit next to you even if there are other seats available.
-If a bus is mostly empty, a male getting on the bus usually sits halfway back or further. A female getting on will usually sit right at the front.
-If you have to stand on the bus there are four acceptable places to stand, unless the bus driver is trying to pack the bus like a dumpster: the least desired place to stand is the aisle between the front facing seats, you’re always in the way of people trying to get by; the third most desired place to stand is between the bench seats at the front of the bus, considerably more side room to move out of the way with to let people by; the second most is between the bench seats at the back, for the same reason as the previous but with the addition that far fewer people have to walk by you when you’re at the back; and the number one place to stand is in the alcove next to the door in the middle of the bus, here you are completely out of the way of people trying to exit the bus and you don’t have to reach over seated people to pull the cord.
-As previously stated, unless the driver is packing people in, standing at the very front between the wheel wells is extremely obnoxious because even without people standing there it is the narrowest section of the bus, it annoys everyone.
-If you have a backpack and think you might have to stand on the bus, you better be able to twist your upper body, otherwise you are the Achille’s heal of everyone on the bus because they have to forcefully push through you like a revolving door to get by.
-These next two I’m not trying to stereotype, just merely stating observed fact. When lots of people are getting on the bus and people stopping walking to the back of the bus at the steps, the clog is usually caused by an Asian that is clueless to everyone trying to cram into the bus.
-Whenever I see someone running to catch the bus, nine times out of ten it is an Asian.
-Old people trying to catch a bus always hail down buses like a taxi, as though the bus driver might go right on by if they didn’t hail it even though there are clearly ten other people at the stop trying to get the same bus.
-Many CMU students pack the buses for a whopping three blocks. Use your legs! WALK INSTEAD.
-No one likes it when guys sit with their legs spread, taking up a seat and a half.
-And lastly, no one likes you when you don’t have your money or ID ready when you have to pay.

That’s it for me.