Nips' Conniptions

For some reason, I have a fascination with transportation. I thoroughly enjoy learning about the history of the el, the cut-and-cover NYC MTA, and the fact that, at one time, Minneapolis/St. Paul once boasted a transit rail system that was considered by many to be the best in the United States. While I would probably call myself a "fan," and hardly give myself the title of expert, I feel that I am a relatively intelligent man... at least one who has a fair amount of education under his belt.

Despite this, the Metropolitan Council's transit system still baffles me. It is my understanding that the word "express" means "restricted availability" with a connotation of "rapid travel," since there are fewer stops on the way, items in the cart, or cars in the lane. For example, in the "sane lane," carpoolers are allowed to quickly avoid single-passenger traffic that is not allowed to cross over. Typically, I believe, express trains operate in a similar fashion: Select popular stops on the line (generally including the two termini) are made, while the rest are passed over in order to speed up the line.

The other day, I was waiting to get on the bus at a very well frequented stop, but suddenly realized that I most likely misread the schedule (another story) and was best off just walking to campus. One block later, at a nearly-always desolate stop, I saw a hand written sign slapped on a pole saying something like "BUS DRIVERS DO NOT STOP HERE EXPRESS ONLY." Given the lack of critical punctuation, I could only assume that the sign intended to say that this was a "local" stop that should be skipped by express routes (never mind that I've never seen an express route here) and the sign would not affect the "normal" rider. Suddenly a non-express bus drove up, so I waved my hands at it to pull over. Unwillingly, the driver acquiesced and, when I got on the bus, he chewed me out, asking if I couldn't read and to tell him what the sign said. I did, and he said "NO." and reread the exact thing back to me... this time with a different inflection, saying that he wouldn't stop for me again. The whole bus was giving me bad looks. I still have no idea what happened.

So, I'm confused.

And I don't ride the bus anymore.

Posted by ndNips on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 at 10:08 PM | Permalink