Thursday, August 14, 2008

#2: Express Buses/Trains

This love of getting someplace faster via public transportation dates back to when I was in college and going to school downtown in Chicago. I took the Metra train to and from school and it was always a necessity to get on the express trains. Stopping at all the stops made it an hour ride from point to point but with the express trains, I could be downtown without stopping at all in less than 40 minutes. It was an even bigger bonus on the way home. Getting home faster was always key....especially since I worked a lot of afternoons at the vet.

In Seattle, riding the bus is this whole different animal. Perhaps it is because I was never really a "bus rider" in any of my other forms of life thus far but I am well acquainted to it now. Metro Transit provides a multitude of transportation services in the Seattle area but mostly it is home to the multitude of the homeless population. On days like today you can't even get on a bus in the Ride Free Area without regretting you were born to suffer in such heat and stank. That is where the EXPRESS bus comes in. All commuters most of whom have showered fill the express buses so not only is your sense of smell spared but so is your sanity as you get home faster. And I cannot tell you how beneficial this is being that I live in Ballard, or as I like to call it, "Club Med for the Homeless and Stanky". They may live Downtown but they pick up a free transfer somewhere you bet your sweet ass they are gonna hop on a 15 or 18 and head out to Ballard. Because of all the fishing boats and what not, it is like we are hitting Black Gold Texas Tea out here in Ballard for the stankies. The EXPRESS bus is SO nice. You don't have to pick up anyone along Elliott and that is always a bonus because 8 out of 10 people who get on the bus along Elliot have a Negative Olfactory Rating. This is just when it is hot. Let's not even talk about how these people smell when they are wet with rain. Body odor + rain = No gracias.

Cons to the EXPRESS bus: The drunken idiots who don't realize it is an EXPRESS bus and yell at the driver along Elliot because they aren't stopping. It still makes all the stops in the ride free zone so you are not completely free from stankery.

This entry was brought to you by Metro Transit and the word "stanky".

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