How to ride the bus

 City bus city bus go go go! Take the fast lane don't be slow! - Logan Greene

Riding the bus is a skill, and I'm learning a lot of people have no clue how to do it. So, at the risk of sounding condescending, I figured I'd share some helpful tips. 

There's a large sign on the front of the bus, it tells you which bus it is and which direction it's going. Please read that sign. Feel free to ask your bus driver questions, but ultimately it is your responsibility to know how to use the bus.

This rich girl from South Carolina who's never ridden a bus before asked me how to get to Walgreens and I said "you have to get off at this stop, wait for the yellow bus, and that will take you to Walgreens." Then she started crying. 😐

Each bus has a fixed route, and it runs back and forth along that route. There's little street signs that say "bus stop" stand under them and wait for the bus. Ride along and watch where the bus is going. Pull the cord or ring the bell when you're ready to get off the bus, and the bus will stop at the next stop. On average there's a bus stop every quarter of a mile, depending on the population density.

The robot announcement lady isn't very helpful, she talks too slow and only announces some of the stops. There is a marquee in the bus that says what stops are coming up, that should help you decide when to pull the cord.

Every few days I get a passenger who misses their bus stop and they come up to me and say "yo you were supposed to stop back there" but they didn't ring the bell. Turns out I was supposed to read their mind for when to stop. Then they get mad at me for not reading their mind lol

Knowing cardinal directions is helpful. Each route has two different directions it's going, get on the bus in the direction you're trying to go. For example, the white bus runs north and south. If you're trying to go north, get on the side of the road where the bus is heading north. 

I had a gentleman get on my bus and as we were driving north, he came up and asked me how to get to the Egyptian Theater, I had to tell him you should have gotten on a southbound bus, I'm driving northbound. Then he said "I didn't even think it went two different directions!" My guy, how did you expect to get back to your hotel after the theater. Then he cussed at me and stormed off back to his seat. A trip that should have taken 10 minutes ended up taking 35 minutes lol

There's such a thing as "express" busses, these buses are meant to go farther & faster. They only stop at certain popular bus stops. If you get on an express bus, it will not stop when you pull the cord or ring the bell. You'll have to wait to get off at the express stops.

Driving the express bus is the worst because people every day watch their bus-stop pass by even though they rang the bell. Then they feel like they're being kidnapped and taken to no-man's-land. 

Electric buses have to dock on a charger, so the bus will very slowly pull forward and then jerk forward to dock. When it's slowing down the passengers will get up and walk to the door, and when it jerks forward they all fall down. Then they get mad at me for not knowing how to use the brake and accelerator.

Sometimes one bus stop will be used for 2 or 3 different routes. Make sure to read the sign on the front of the bus to know you're getting on the route you want. Knowing the route terminus is helpful. Bus routes usually end at bus stations or prominent landmarks. The sign on the front of the bus will say "Blue bus to Transit Center" or "Green bus to Deer Valley" it won't say every bus stop along the way to Deer Valley, but if you know your stop is closer to deer valley than the transit center, that should give you a clue on which bus to take.

If it is dark out, and you're standing underneath a bus stop, wave your flashlight when you see your bus coming. This is super helpful and I love it when my passengers do that.

If you're driving a car, give the city bus lots of room. Do not park so close to an intersection.. Those things are hard to drive. Turning the bus requires a lot of room. Even better if you're at a four way stop and you see a bus trying to turn, stop WAY before the stop sign, so the bus can creep into your lane as it's turning. If you're driving a car and are stuck driving slowly behind the bus, too bad you should have taken the bus. 

If you see a school bus stopped, stop your car, even if the bus is going the opposite direction, even if you're late and angry. Just stop. There's children dashing around and you don't want to hit a child with your car.

Some cities like Tucson, and Albuquerque and Park City have free buses. Public transportation should be free in my opinion. But most cities you have to pay a fare to ride public transportation. In the US, there's kiosks at bus stations where you can buy a card and load it with money. You'll tap that card on a magnetic scanning box as you enter the bus. If your card has insufficient money but the bus driver let's you get on anyway, congratulations your bus driver thinks you're cute, or they're trying to stay on schedule and don't wanna fight a poor person.

Google maps is super helpful. Type in the address of where you're going, and there's 3 little icons on there, walking, driving, and public transit. Click on the public transit icon and it'll tell you what bus to jump on and how often it runs.

As you exit the bus, hug your bus driver, he hasn't felt human touch in months.

Share your helpful public transportation tips in the comment section below! Love you all.