bus

“The 54 Bus Not Stopping at 11th and E Street”

By Prince Of Petworth

bus
Photo by PoPville flickr user Rich Renomeron

“Dear PoPville,

I live in Columbia Heights and commute by bus in the evening. I catch the bus at 11th & E N.W. At that stop I can catch the S2, S4 and the 54 buses. Sometimes I like to wait for the 54 because it’s faster. However, the drivers have a bad habit of just driving off and not picking up passengers at my stop. Short of laying down in the road and getting hit by the bus I don’t know what else to do to get the drivers to understand that I want to be picked up. I wave my hands wildly and stand right at bus stop but they shoot by me like they’re in the Indy 500 and just keep on going. It’s happened to me at least 6 times since the summer. I’ve written three complaints to Metro and all I get back is the generic “we’ve received your message and will get back to you” kind of response.

My question is: is anyone else having this problem with the 54 bus or is it just me?”

“West admitted to punching the bus operator because he was “angry.”

By Prince Of Petworth

west-arrested

From Metro Transit Police:

“Metro Transit Police have arrested the man wanted for assaulting a Metrobus operator on November 6, 2015.

Darren Lowell WEST, Jr., 20, of Northwest DC turned himself in to the Metro Transit Police warrant squad yesterday and was arrested without incident. Subsequently, West admitted to punching the bus operator because he was “angry.”

The incident occurred on the 92 route while the bus was servicing the bus stop at North Capitol and P streets NW. The suspect walked past the bus operator without paying. When the bus operator requested the fare, the suspect walked to the front of the bus and, without warning or provocation, punched the operator multiple times in the face with a closed fist. A passenger aboard the bus, acting as a Good Samaritan, had to physically pull West off of the operator and force him off the bus.

The operator was transported to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries and was released.

MTPD released images of the suspect within hours of the incident and sought the public’s assistance to identify him. Media coverage and public tips were instrumental in obtaining an arrest warrant for West.

West will face assault charges in the District of Columbia where, under DC law, assault on a bus operator could carry an enhanced penalty at sentencing.”

five “brand-new 60-foot accordion style articulated buses” unveiled for 14th, 16th and Georgia Ave

By Prince Of Petworth

accordion
Photo by PoPville flickr user evegophotos

From WMATA:

“Riders along the busy 16th Street corridor may notice that “new bus smell” on their commute home as Metro today put in service five brand-new 60-foot accordion style articulated buses, replacing some of the oldest vehicles in the fleet.

The new buses are part of a larger order of 21 articulated buses and 274 standard buses that will be put in service over the next year, replacing vehicles that are at the end of their 12-year lifespan.

CTYgSJbWIAAYYim

The 21 new articulated buses will run on three of Metro’s busy north-south corridors: 16th Street (S-Line), 14th Street (50-Line), and Georgia Avenue (70-Line). Combined, these routes carry more than 50,000 passengers on a typical weekday.”

This Photo Has Not Been Altered

By Prince Of Petworth

Thanks a million to the reader who kept updating me with the whereabouts of this crazy bus until I could finally snap a photo. It’s been spotted on Rock Creek Church Road for almost a week. Dang, I suppose this would’ve made for a good caption contest. Well, if you’re feeling particularly inspired we can have a bonus caption contest.

DC2NY Bus To Go Out of Business?

By Prince Of Petworth

 Thanks to a reader for sending the below information. I don’t know if I’d call L’enfant plaza a “scary, unsafe” location but it is certainly interesting to know that DC2NY thinks they’d go out of business if forced to move there.  So what do you all think – is it unfair to make all the intercity buses move to this location?

“Your readers who use intercity buses should be aware that new ’emergency rules’ by the DC DOT are going to force all buses into a scary, unsafe, and inconvenient strip of road in southwest DC –by July 3rd.

DC2NY bus is probably going out of business due to the new DDOT emergency rules, WHEN they go in effect July 3rd. The owner of DC2NY returned my email with a voice mail and said they’d met with DDOT to tell them that they’re not the problem, but he said DDOT doesn’t care. He sounds like there is nothing he can do. New rules go into effect July 3, and the only DC Council person to get back to me was Mary Cheh, who said she was not aware of the new rules. I have it unconfirmed that one other bus company, with 20+ employees, will also leave DC, and I’m working to confirm that.  Looks like jobs will be lost, and minorities/poor will have one less travel option.  (Mayor Fenty and all the at-large council members have not returned my emails.)

The links below are the original story, the DCist story, and the DDOT’s website, which has PDF’s of the rules and the new application for using the strip of road in SW.  The application is really arrogant if you know anything about how these buses work.  For example, no public vending of tickets.  Anyhow, NY and Philly don’t seem to have a problem with the buses.  (The reader comments in both stories are great, too.)

I’d start an advocacy website/log, but it looks like these new rules are going to go in effect nothing short of a law suit, and after speaking with two bus companies, I do not get the feeling they are headed in that direction.

DC should prepare itself to be mightily embarrassed, once again; and we should all look forward to catching our buses in Bethesda after July 3rd.  Maybe you guys can find out what ‘complaints’ were really made about the buses?  Maybe the complaints come from a bus company that has it’s own private loading space and is exempt from the new rules?  Greyhound?  Why the ‘Emergency Rules’ with no live-public hearing, little media coverage, and a 30 day window?  Why weren’t the bus companies informed until 15 days after the rules were entered into the DC Register?”

http://www.examiner.com/a-1446804~Low_cost__regional_bus_companies_forced_to_load_in_designated_zone.html

http://dcist.com/2008/06/18/intercity_bus_terminal_planned_for.php

http://www.ddot.dc.gov/ddot/cwp/view,a,1255,q,563937,ddotNav,|32397|.asp

 

          

Hey New Bus Shelters!

By Prince Of Petworth

They look pretty good. This is what I imagined bus shelters would like in 2008 back when I used to ponder about this sort of thing in the late 90s.

“Short People Got No Reason”

By Prince Of Petworth

Short people got no reason
Short people got no reason
Short people got no reason
To live

A classic song by Randy Newman, you must check it out. Now I come from a long line of short people but make no mistake we are a proud people. And this song would make it’s rotation in my house at least a few times a year when I was growing up. And my dad would laugh his ass off. It is our sense of humor that has sustained us short people for thousands of years. At any rate, I was overjoyed to see metro had unveiled it’s hanging straps on some metro cars. Upon seeing these straps, the song immediately popped into my head, short people go no reason, short people got no reason to live…and then I couldn’t stop smiling.

Special Guest Post From Author, Eric Nuzum

By Prince Of Petworth

Eric’s earlier post about moving to Petworth can be read here. And his personal blog can be found here.

The likelihood of unusual things happening on a bus is far greater than it is on a subway. Why is that?

The other night it was cold and rainy, so I hopped on the 64 bus at Fort Totten for a ride over to my house near Rock Creek Cemetery. At the first stop, a number of people got on. After several people boarded, a guy got on the bus, half-heartedly felt around his pockets for a non-existent transfer, and said to the driver, “Hey man, it’s my birthday.”

After being waved past, the guy took a few steps in, then addressed the entire bus, “Hey, it IS my birthday. Everybody say, ‘Happy Birthday Kev-iiiiiiiin!'”

“Holy balls,” I thought. “This dude is doing a call and response…on a city bus.”

Then a chorus of people erupt around me, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEV-IIIIIIIIN!”

“Holy balls,” I corrected myself. “This dude is doing a call and response…on a city bus…and it worked!”

Before moving to Petworth, I’d never ridden on a Metro bus. There really is no good reason for this, just that our old apartment was two blocks from the Red Line, as is my office. However, since I’ve been introduced to the bus system, I’ve noticed something that I don’t quite understand. It seems that the likelihood of crazy nonsense happening on the bus is significantly larger than on the subway. I think most people who use both modes of transportation would agree with this assumption. My question is: Why? Story continues after the jump. (more…)

View More Stories