The Wheels on the Bus

OK, so in an attempt to save gas/mileage and in general be a good citizen I have been on the DC Metro/MetroBus system a lot more lately. I never have much issue with the Metro (by that I mean the actual train/subway) because it's usually on time, I can deal with crowds around rush hour and the stations are clearly mapped out.

The MetroBus system is a bit more of an adventure. It's really hard to get a clear map of a bus's route. You have to hope you have one of the buses that announces intersections or a sense of a neighborhood to know where you are sometimes. Now that it's summer one word describes all of my MetroBus experiences: Hot! I realize AC hurts the mileage, environment and gas prices are high, but when it's past 90 degrees and no one can open the windows, well that is just cruel! No air flow in a large metal can pressed against other humans is just not a helpful way to commute. The bus driver gets a nice big open window to help with the heat, but those of us in the back get the deafening noise of the bus rattling and no open windows. Oh well, public transport never promised to be perfect.

Case in point: my adventures on the bus to the garage where my car was getting a check-up. The garage is in Kensington (a town pretty close to home base) and there are a number of buses I can take to get back home after the drop off. I took RideOn Bus 5 back to home base. It's a very clear-cut route, I'd been on it before and I was riding it to the terminus of Silver Spring Station. It was a pretty smooth (hot) ride overall. My ride back to pick-up my car the next day was more of an adventure. I got RideOn Bus 4 and dear me was it a mystery. The route was even longer, more winding (the bus driver was awful lots of jerky stops and starts) and the ride actually involved me getting an ID check. The bus cuts through one of the Walter Reed outposts and apparently we had to prove we belonged on the bus to the security guard. The funniest part was that one stop before the stop I needed the bus driver just pulled over by a park and turned off the bus. She didn't even bother to tell me what was going on, just sat in silence. Not a huge deal, I was close enough to my final destination, but it was still weird. I then saw the driver just walking around in the park. I'm guessing it was her break, but that was still odd, I mean a passenger was still on the bus and nothing in the schedule said, "10 minute stop for bus driver to take a stroll".

I'll keep using the Metro System, bus lines included, for the rest of my time here in DC. Like with everything else in life there are good parts and bad parts to the system. I'm sure the more I use the buses the easier it will be to figure the out. In the meantime I shall think cool thoughts when I'm pressed in a bus or Metro car with no AC.