THANKS for stopping by, I do my best to acknowledge when someone leaves a comment,you do not have to be a member here & everyone is welcome. Ps: This site is monitored but not actively posting on a regular basis. Mostly these are stories & some photos saved from a defunct site known as Verdun Connections which was on MSN Groups initially then on a social network called Multiply.
53 comments:
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Before I drove for transit, I owned a small catering company. I had one of those coffee trucks and had the title of The coffee hag. Now there was a hard job. Talk about a job of beating the clock, I don't think you could find much worse.
Smac
The Sordid side of Transit
There are many outstanding stories we could tell on the experiences of being a bus driver,and I would love to hear more about other peoples experiences on their jobs. I have written a couple of amusing transit stories, but there are many more dismal, outragous occurances that we should not have exposure to. I’ll tell you a couple of these stories. Please if you'd like add some of your own work stories. We don't often get to hear what its like to be a waitress or, a construction worker, buisness owner, nurse, doctor, lawyer, merchant, Crook, etc. lol. I'd like to hear stories. Smac
Pay the 50 cents or walk buddy.
We had a driver who on his days off was a volunteer policeman. He was one of those bus drivers who worked by the rules with no exceptions. That was his right and the rules backed him on that, but on this job you have to have the insight to read people well so as to protect yourself from possible attack. This one morning at 6:00am or so, two young men get on the bus. The first one paid his full fare but the second man put his money in and it came up short 50 cents. The driver decided to refuse the guy a ride and demanded the extra cash or get off. The man argued with him, it became heated, and grew to threats, and then an all out attack on the bus driver. He was punched, pulled out of his seat while the bus was still moving, slowly thank heavens, and they continued beating him on the floor of the bus. The bus meanwhile had landed against the back of an SUV, parked on the side of the road. They activated the door of the bus and took off. A car passing by noticed something was wrong and slowly followed the guys to an apartment building where he took down the number then drove back to the bus where the driver was found out cold on the floor. An ambulance came and the police, to which the man gave them the address and description of the two men. One was arrested.
The driver spent a month in the hospital. Many drivers and the company sent flowers and cards. Any passengers that could possibly be witness had run off so there was only the word of the man in the car and the bus driver, who was beaten so badly he could not remember anything. Many drivers went to all the court dates and to our dismay, the man accused of beating the driver got off, for they felt there was not enough evidence to charge him, for sure, in the beating. That was a few years ago now and the driver has never worked another day and is in a state of a constant nervous disorder.
No driver, wether it be over 50cents etc, does not deserve to be brutally attacked and his life altered. That guy walked away laughing, and the only thing we could do as revenge was to never stop for him if he was at a bus stop. He did give up trying and we never saw him again.
What a sad situation when gutless fellow citizens sit and watch as these two scumbags pummelled the Bus driver! Then the cowards all scurried away, like rats leaving a sinking ship. I can understand the women being afraid, but there must have been a few men on the bus. They have to carry or have carried their cowardice for their lifetimes. A 'Cross to Bear!" sez Victah
Right on Victah. Very sad to read this story-Fresco
Hi Victah and Fresco,
Yes, awful story and it happens more often over the years. Ten years ago, we may have heard of a fellow bus driver being threatened, shoved or spit on but an attack as violent as that was rare. Now it's happening all too often. Sometimes I think we should be paid extra danger pay. Last Halloween we had a female driver attacked for throwing candy to a group of girls who were on the sidewalk. You may have heard about that one in the news. We recently had a female bus driver viciously attacked by a young man for asking him to please stop swearing. The good news is she was able to walk away after and is now back at work after only missing two weeks. We again will go to the court and sit through many sessions but this time there is no possibility of him getting off for he admitted to it and the driver can identify him. He tried to make excuses for himself by using the old "My mother was a drug addict, my life was so hard bla bla bla," with tears flowing. This works in the courts here a lot of the times. I hope BC is the only court system that falls prey to this plea.
Okay no more bad stories.
Smac
Hi Smac, I remember when I was a kid and a woman got on the streetcar and put in a Toronto Streetcar Ticket. The Conductor told her the ticket was no good. The lady argued that Toronto tickets were good in Montreal. Finally she gave up and paid her fare. Did you ever have this happen? Someone use another city ticket? Have tickets given way to the magnetic card? How much is the bus fare in Vancouver these days? Does the Vancouver transfer look like the Montreal transfer did? Fresco
Hi Fresco,
People will try anything to get a free ride. haha. I've had that happen a few times, but mostly from people who come from Victoria, from Vancouver Island. They always ask first if they can use their Vic. pass. I've never had anyone demanding to use it, but then again you could show me your credit card and I wouldn't know it. I'm a little on the blind side when it comes to passes presented right up to my eyes. There was a time a woman got on, took her seat, then came back up laughing, for she had shown her library card by accident which neither of us had noticed. Like a driver once said to me "they could show me a modicum of toilet paper and I'd let them on". Most of the time we just repeat "yup, yup, yup," and a motion of our hand to move them on.
We have bus tickets and magnetic passes, which make the most obnoxious sound when entering the fare box. I often put my hand over, to which they think it is broken, which they often are. So much for modern technology.
Our bus fare is so confusing I often forget. Will send that to you a little later.
Smac
Steve
So Sandy , does a Victoria pass work in Vancouver, I would think a BC Transit pass is just that , isn't it ? A BC Pass..... I've only ever paid cash when gettting on a bus ,which is very rarely. I took one a double decker last summer to take a photo of the intersection of Yates & Douglas ,which was to answer a questio & take a photo for JMH who had posted a photo of the same intersection from a BC Transit website.......... HF&RV
Ok , I'll bite , what's the relevance to the last post ? I'm guessing ( and going way out on a limb here) Just a Bus pic ? but from Where ? Vegas :? Doesn't that just 'stay' in Vegas...hahahahah No text to explain the relevance, so i thought I'd ask: My bet is the photo's all disapear later & then the continuity will also disapear...when there are three different blank spots with the dreaded red X in the top corner.........HF&RV
Hi from the NIGHT Bus lady at 4:27am.
The pictures les are BC buses. The top two are from the Burnaby depot and the lower one is from the Vancouver depot. Some of the art work on the buses is pretty interesting.
I just finished a friday night, three hour stint on the Night bus from downtown van., to the suburb or Coquitlam. There wasn't even standing room left, as I departed from the Vancouver area. The only sober folks on the bus were three regulars, just trying to get home from work, a transit security cop, and an old chinese bag lady who gets on and off at the same place every night , who can only say Hi, sorry and thank you, which she says many times before she gets off.
It was a fairly passive venture, if you could block the sound of hooting and hollering through out the bus. Everything went smoothly up until the last couple of miles, when a silently ailing passenger, could no longer keep it to himself and submitted a rather massive splattering of his evening on the floor, narrowly missing the pack of swaying standees. Surprising how a pack of drunks squeezed in like a can of sardines, could actually move that quickly. No one was splattered and the oblivious young man was comely guided off the bus by the security, apparently unaware of the circumstances that led him to the bus stop bench. A thick coat of something resembling "Clusters of Oats" (passengers words) was thrown down on the offensive area, a little air spray so we could survive the remainder of the trip, and off we went, leaving the pour bewildered one behind to wait for the next Night bus.
"It could be worse"
wow Steve,
where did you get all the old transfers? I have a couple of old ones but that's all.
Now speaking of transfers, I was asked what it cost here in Bc.
Student or over 65...... $1.75 one zone
everyone else..............$2.50 one zone
children free under 5 years.
We have a three zone system. Vancouver is one zone and you can travel any direction until your 90 minutes is up. Just outside of Vancouver, Burnaby etc., is a two zone area which cost you $3.25 and again it last 90 minutes and you can travel between zone one and two in any direction. Any area beyond that is zone three which cost $4.00, which for some ridiculous reason is also only 90 minutes and you can travel from zone one to zone three if the transfer makes it or the bus doesn't break down. A person can buy a monthly pass for the different zones at a substantial savings.
Okay that did me in....goodnight.
Smac
Hi Les,
I've never asked to find out, but just tonight a young man asked if he could use his Victoria student pass. I just tell him you sure can on my bus. I have no idea. Sad ay? Going on 18 years and I don't know such a simple question. lol. I'm sure we all let them ride. When I was in Victoria, I used my bus pass a few times.
Smac
Vancouver street with two trolleys I'm looking for those transfers Steve
Sandy do you ever drive the double deckers or any of the Hybrids,...& do you like these bus's ? I don't envy the driving that late at night with all the drunks,.....but I'm sure you hear some interesting viewpoints........I would imagine most people are friendly, You do have some funny recounts,of trips.... I believe in Victoria the cost to ride is $2.25 , and they advertised a couple of months ago , about eliminating the 2 zone thing ,to encourage ridership. I know there is a Bus that comes from the ferry terminal all the way into Downtown........that's quite a trip for a cheap price really...( I don't know of that is considered 1 zone ??? but I think it is. HF&RV
How would you like to drive this baby? ..................Looks like a heavy old beast............ HF&RV
Here's a neat shot ,showing the 'older type bus' in the background & the 'new modern style' in front........ HF&RV
onesmac0 Got an idea...we all should see if your adventures on the "Night Bus" could be put into a tv show....you do have some good stories and characters readly available. Already have the name...we got the driver too..and thinking you could use some of the folks on here who are close to make a cameo appearance... Lad
Hi Les,
We don't have any double decker buses in Vancouver. Most of our buses are "New Flyers" and the Cng buses which I hate. They are like driving an army tank. They sound like an army vehicle and drive about as fast. Love those Natural gas buses. The new ones we have made (of all places) in Winterpeg, can barely get up our hills. It's flat there. What do they know about steep hills.
Burnaby depot have the new Nova buses made I think in Quebec, and they kick a__ and pass us like we're completely motionless.
As far as the three zone thingy goes, I wish they would rid all of us of the problem. It's an onerous transit system. That bus that goes all the way from the ferry to downtown Vic., is fabulous. It's a bit long but hey for 2.25.....what a DEAL.
SMAC
Poem in Transit....by Smac
HEY DUDE YOU GOT ATTITUDE!!!
allow me to mention
the mangled condition
of the last back seater
who tried to relay
how he was feeling
that day
on the 160
First let me warn
Don't bug the driver
who looks on with scorn
at the
back seat
you sit there so smug
why I ottttttaaaa
take a piece of your
mug..thug
Does the driver sound
bitter
It's not bucks
not glitter
Take it from me
be glad to pay
You never need
to experience
the wrath...the glare
a look that could
kill is rare
until you meet
the driver on
the 160
beware
just pay the fare
and watch the rain
out your window
OMG!
I can just imagine the braking system on that bus. Probably worse than the old Brills.
Smac
Bus Ride in the Rain By Smac
slop slap bang hiss
so goes the sounds
most frequently heard
as I squint my way
down the dark sloppy
ill lit road
swimming pools form
on the road throwing
five meter waves
our one enjoyment
a rainy game
stops
as we become airborne
for a second
heart in my throat
as forty feet
grab the pavement
shimmy then advance
gotta love the rain
love the rain
It's raining blobs
thousands of blobs
slapping and splooching
invading my vision
causing me to slow
to a crawl
Huge wipers bang
slap and hiss
headache causing
sounds
then comes the
sound of
some jerk
from the back
Hey driver
Ya think we'll get
there today or what?
Hi Lad,
I love it. hahaha. You design it. I'll send in the stories.
Wouldn't that be fun. A tv reality show about driving the NIGHT Bus.
I could get so many contributions. lol.
It would be called The Night Bus, and if you could find an ol hag to play the bus driver....oh I am an ol hag who could play the bus driver, you could all be the obnoxious passengers. Ha could be a hit!
Smac
The good old GM buses 1960 Continental Trailways Articulated Golden Eagle Have a good sleep Smac. Steve
Les, How did you dig up that monster (message no. 20). The first time I see that photo and I wonder if JM saw it before. How did the Montreal Tramway Co. ever buy such a beast is beyond me. Les, do you have the make, date and specifications of this dinosaur ? Imagine, 4 wheels in the front and back ! How did it ever turn the corners of Montreal's narrow streets ? It must of weighed several tons and not to mention the damage to the streets. The 4 front wheels must have turned and imagine the complexity of such a mechanism. Guy
Steve, I totally agree, those old GM buses were great, the ride was smooth due to the suspension wich was the best. Thanks for the memory wich goes back to the 50s for me. Guy
Guy if you google Montreal old buses and streetcars you'll find it. Steve
Smac, Loved the poem. That wasn't me yelling from the back of the bus. I always loved bus rides in the rain and snow. Just enjoying the sights while staying inside the nice warm bus, that was me-Fresco
Smac, Lad, I'll be the number one viewer if Night Bus becomes a TV show-Fresco
Guy, Steve, I loved these GM busses and also the Mack busses of the same era. The Provincial Transport GM bus ride is the best bus ride I've ever had. Provincial Transport had those really comfy soft seats-Fresco
Guy disregard message 31 go to this site. http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~wyatt/alltime/montreal-qc.html Steve
Steve, They don't give any specifications on that monster I referred to in my message no. 29. Maybe JM has further information. Guy
Hello Guy , that monster bus was in operation on Atwater. We have posted the photo years ago, but I came across it again yesterday & thought it worth looking at again. If you ever need to know ,where a photo came from or can be found the information is generally available ,by right clicking your mouse while on the photo, then click properties, this will in most cases show the route or url leading you to the photo, But this Monster bus appears on a few websites, Here's some info on that Atwater Monster: The new vehicles trials did not always have happy endings; for instance, the bad experience of the "Atwater Street Monster". Bus number 800 made by the Versare Company was a huge machine powered by a compound gas-electric motor. Because of its size it could hardly turn on the then narrow streets; it could only be used on Atwater Street. The monster would be eligible for early retirement seven years later, when it split in two pieces in the middle of the road! The Atwater Street Monster in 1927 ........Yes , this thing is not exactly a 'Smart car' is it...........haha HF&RV ps: Guy I beleive JMH has seen this shot before,as I think we posted every Bus photo you could think of, in the early years of the site.....but there always neat to see again........ hf&rv
Hi onesmac0 Lets see Verduners and obnoxious passengers on a bus...now thats a s t r e t c h..... no-one would believe that.....talk about method acting...hahahahahaha Lad
Steve Great photos man...I can almost hear and smell the diesel now... inside the bus too. Got anymore keep em coming.. Brings it all back. Now if you could find ones on Canadian Car..they had 3 different sizes they used in Verdun..25 was a small one because Church was two way at one time. 107 and 108 were like a medium and larger model if memory serves. Lad
Fresco here's a Bus stuck in the snow, didn't happen to often ,but occasional one would get caught up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iVMMcgKSZ4 HF&RV
When watching any of these YouTube vids,.look to the side of the screen & you will have a whole bunch of other 'related' clips to watch as well........... Seems there's a few of Bus's getting stuck in snow,etc etc.................Winter on it's way, but should be at least month to 6 weeks away from getting colder....?? The leaves must be doing there thing back east by now? hf&rv
If you look closely that Bus was travelling through Verdun,.I believe it was an organised trip on a restored old bus,We had a couple of You Tube vids including this one,the sound of the engine ,can sure place you right at the scene doesn't it,......and not hard to imagine that 'diesel fume smell' at all........ Good recall Lad: and how about looing out the back window & seeing the smiling face of one of your achoolmates riding on the bumber hanging on to the open fuel lid door,..... then of course in the winter the sliding / surfing by hanging onto the bumper......................hahahahah HF&RV
how's that for spelling in my previous post....YIKES hahahahahah schoolmates , / bumper ,/ 98/100 not bad I would've passed.............................hahahahaha HF&RV
Years ago I was having a nice long break at one of our vancouver bus loups. Pulled out my book, feet on the dash, and a nice hot coffee sitting in the cup holder beside me. It was around 7:30pm and being down in a isolated, semi industrial area, it was fairly dark and exremely quiet. I was alone in the loup. I was pulled up to my bay with my door open in case for some odd reason a person would appear and get on. Deep in my book I was suddenly startled by the bang of something dropping on the floor beside me. I sat up and looked.
It was a large green, bottle of Scope. Realizing it didn’t just materialize out of nowhere I looked down the stairway of the bus. A young man extremely drunk, on crutches, was attempting to get his foot on the bottom step while balancing on his crutches and hanging on to his pants, which were being held up by what appeared to be a rope.
At that point I really wasn’t sure what to do and remained in my seat. I felt a lttle creeped out to be in a dark bus loup alone with a disabled drunk with a bottle of Scope. At the time I was unaware, was his drink of the night.
This man was absolutely sozzled, sloshed, completely inebriated and took two minutes per step to get on the bus. He’d get the crutches one at a time onto the next step, and with wavering motion and deep consentration managed to succeed in getting his one good leg on the next stair, to which he would struggle and pull himself up. This was repeated three times. Three steps!
As he finally reached the top, he staggered backwards, grabbed onto the pole, dropped the crutches and his pants at the same time. Not two feet away from me stood a young man stark naked, except for his cut off, short muscle shirt. That’s right, No underware!
Absolutely naked. Did the young man reach to pull up his pants first? No way! He felt it necessary to retrieve his bottle of Scope first, by holding on to the pole and swinging down to scoop up the bottle, missing many times and almost landing in my lap. I can just imagine how it would have read in the paper “ Twenty year old naked, drunken male, found out cold, sprawled across female transit drivers knee. Securtiy had to come and free her”.
He did finally manage to get his bottle, pull his pants up, hobble over to the first seat across from me and fall asleep after a deep swig from his bottle.
I’ll finish the story later.
Les, Do we know what route the no. 800, 1927 Monster used besides Atwater. I am wondering if it ever came to Verdun on Verdun ave. ? Guy
I really don't know Guy , But I will try & find out, but according to that little bit of info that was with the photo, this Atwater Monster as it was called,was in their words 'too big' for most other routes & therefore was designated to the Atwater run...I imagine it couldn't turn around to well. but if you think of the Verdun Av or Bannatyne ave bus routes the #7 & #8 respectively, it could have made a turn at the end of Verdun Avenue & the end of Bannantyne ,by using Lasalle Blvd...However it may not have been able to make that turn along Joseph onto Bannatyne ?? Just a thought. JMH may have access to the actual route this Monster did take...... hf&rv
Of course the #7 & #8 referred to in my previous post were to later be designated the #107 & the #108.................. HF&RV
Sandy does this mean drivers accept 'tips'........hahahahah At least if this guy throws up, he's already prepared with minty fresh breath..................hahahahaha Some strange things happen in the city, Mind you I would bet the drivers here ,have some similar tales....... Drive Safe & stay off the scope...........HF&RV
Smac, Great story. At least be happy he had clean breath-Fresco
onesmac0 Don't leave us hanging......... Lad P.S. This could be the first show...
Les Always saw a few guys sliding down Verdun and trying to turn one of the corners.. not much success but great to watch..watch out for the guy parked on the corner.. Lad
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I didn’t wait to give you the end of the story because of it’s great ending but more for the fact that I couldn’t keep my eyes open long enough to finish.....lol Smac
Last episode of “Scope”
At first the young man was sitting upright in the seat, but after a few minutes of deep sleep he gradually slid down and at times I was sure he would slink completely off, totally unaware. At the same time his pants would work it’s way down and just as I became concerned at the slow descend, he would groan push himself back up into the seat while holding on to his pants.
I should mention that this was on the Cambie line in Vancouver, which was a semi well off area, dominated by elderly people.
This lovely little lady around 80, the size of a peanut, got on my bus and sat up in the front, not far from our young fellow. If I turned my head to the right I could see him first and the sweet little lady in the first seat facing front. I noticed a look of concern on her face as she watched him grunt and growl, Scope bottle clutched in hand.
This bus travels down Cambie, crosses Broadway over the bridge to downtown and back again.
We passed Broadway, went downtown and turned around to come back the same way. My concern was this drunk on my bus who was by now sitting on the floor with his head on the seat. Thankfully his pants rested just covering his private parts, as he had long let go. The bottle of Scope still clinging to his hand.
I had called “Control” to request a supervisor meet me downtown to remove the offending article, to which they informed me that all supervisors were busy at the time but they would get one to meet me somewhere along the route. Well I turned around downtown. Many people got on. I actually stopped concentrating on the man and just did my job knowing a super was on his way, sometime.
I drove back over the bridge and stopped at the first bus stop at Broadway. I was so surprised when the sweet little ol lady came up to get off at the front door. With a warm smile on my face I asked her why she did a round trip, to which she added with an extremely concerned look on her face, “Oh dear, I just couldn’t leave you alone with that on your bus. I feel really bad leaving you now with no one to help you if he becomes a problem.”
Well I thanked her very much for her concern and told her not to worry as there would be a supervisor at the next stop to remove him. As she got down the stairs she remarked that she hated to see a woman drive a bus with all that danger. So sweet!
The supervisor never did meet me but the drunk woke up back in the bus loop where he got on. He just got up, struggled to get off, actually appearing to be a itsy bit sobbered up, for he did up his pants, bottle still clutched in hand, and decended the stairs a little better than when he got on. I believe he was oblivious to the whole trip.
He turned at the bottom and said “Thanks for the ride, driver. Keep safe”.
Hi Smac, Love your stories. My good friend Bob Buck has passed away so I guess I can tell this story. Bob drove a Cleveland Rapid Transit car in the sixties. On most of the route there are center platforms and the doors on the Motorman side of the car open. From The Downtown Cleveland Terminal Tower to East 55th Street the Cleveland Rapid Transit and The Shaker Rapid Transit run side by side. The platforms are between The Shaker Rapid Transit (on the outside track) and The Cleveland Rapid Transit (on the inside track). Thus in this section The Motormen open the doors on the opposite side from where they sit. One time my friend Bob was in this section of track and mistakenly opened the doors on his side. Bob realized his mistake immediately and prayed that no one was leaning on the doors. He was about to close the doors when he saw a pair of hands come up to the floor by the open doors. A guy had been leaning on the doors and had fallen out. Fortunately he was not hurt and he was a good guy and did not turn Bob in. Bob was a great guy and he got a well deserved break on this situation-Fresco
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