What is it about the raised back section of our Roosevelt Island Red Buses that scares residents from walking up those two little steps on a normal week day morning?
The front of the local bus is jammed tight by the time the bus leaves the Good Shepherd Church stop but the back aisle remains empty and clear. Sometimes a simple request by the driver or fellow passengers seems to wake commuters out of their fear but more often pleas to move back go unheard as if taking those steps is the equivalent of crossing the River Styx.
I just don't get it.
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I don't understand it at all. When I'm alone, I always go directly to the back of the bus, even if I have to nudge past people to get there. I am an able-bodied adult in a white collar job, so I usually don't care if I sit or stand, but given a choice, I'll sit (mainly because it's easier to read that way). It's strange to think of grabbing a seat on a bus as a selfless act, but in the case of the red bus, it really is, since people avoid these seats like the plague. Even on a full bus, when the back seats are all taken, I still go to the back (if I can) because it beats being crammed into the front.
ReplyDeleteMy theory is that a lot of people just love being as close to the door as possible at all times. Supporting evidence: those people who stand right in front of the subway doors for several stops, even though the car is half-empty.
I agree with poster above. Being away from the exit means that you have to find your way out of the crowd somehow that a) will take a valuable half minute of extra time and b) sometimes even talking to somebody to let you pass. I personally always walk all the way to the back. I even make my kids go all the way and not sit down right away.
ReplyDeleteThe steps could be the Berlin Wall. No way will most islanders climb the two steps.
ReplyDeleteAfter years of watching I have learned that most people are self centered and once they are on the bus, the others be damned.
Red bus and the elevators to the subway platform are probably the two places on RI that is used by the most self-centered people.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is if you have to get off at one of the first stops, people aren't very cooperative in giving you room to get out in a timely manner. On several occassions when I have been in the back and had to get out at the Church I heard "why did you come all the way to the back if you have to get out already?" Perhaps if people were more considerate of people who need to get off, more people would move to the back of the bus.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why so many people cram onto the bus at the good shepherd stop instead of walking for 5 minutes. Obviously some people have disabilities, or the weather may be bad, but on beautiful sunny days, so many able-bodied kids and adults wait 10 minutes to be packed into a bus, rather than walk for a few minutes.
ReplyDeleteI think raising the fare to $1 will contribute to RI residents' health and fitness in a positive way.
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