Bus Ride -- Part 1
Last 30 March, I had the most awesome experience in the bus going home.
We were in the middle of M2. There are two bus stops in the middle of this motorway (highway). The first is at Oakes Road and the second is at Barclays Road. (I assume that these roads are perpendicular to the highway and accessible underground or through the bridge because as I said, these bus stops are LITERALLY in the middle of the motorway.) As we approached the first stop, someone pressed the button to indicate that he/she wanted to get off at Oakes Road.
There was a long queue of buses, some were already in the bus stop while others were waiting to enter the bus stop. From where I was seated, I could see that there were about four or five buses in front of us. (The bus stop can usually accommodate about three buses along its length. It is essentially an island in the middle of the highway where traffic from both sides can enter. When entering the island, the bus would cross over to the right lane so that passengers can alight from the left side of the bus. When leaving the island, the bus would cross over to return to the left side of the motorway since it is all right hand drive over here.)
We waited for about five minutes. There was no movement whatsoever.
Eventually, our bus driver decided to move away from the queue and drove past the bus stop. As I said, someone had pressed the button so he knew that someone wanted to get off. He stopped several metres after the bus stop, then proceeded to back up.
He maneuvered the bus from the highway into the bus stop and parked the bus in front of the first bus in the long queue. I was on the left side of the bus so I could see the bus stop coming into view as he was driving in reverse.
On a normal basis, this bus stop would be empty and you would only see a handful of people walking on the island. Those would be the ones who had gotten of at this stop. However on that day, there were a LOT of people standing on the bus stop. Apparently, their bus had stalled at the bus stop so everyone had gotten off. And since other buses had followed that bus into the stop, all the other buses were likewise stuck until the first bus was moved out of the way. (It was a bumper to bumper bus nightmare.)
Well, our bus driver got off and checked on the situation. He let as many passengers as our bus would take into the bus. Then got back on the bus saying, "There is only one reserved seat on this bus. And that is for me, the driver."
Off we went.
I was happy to be on that particular bus because we were on our way home after a couple of minutes wait. I overheard one of the passengers who transferred from the stalled bus saying that they had been told it would take 30 minutes for help to arrive. And I can just imagine how helpless (and anxious) the people on the buses stuck behind the stalled bus were feeling. (Imagine if they didn't pass by the bathroom before heading home!)
Anyway, I got home a little later than usual that evening but surely earlier than some other folk stranded in the highway.
When I got off the bus, I made sure to thank the driver and call out that he had done some awesome driving.
Bus Ride -- Part 2
I wish that I could say all my bus experiences were as enjoyable as that one. The truth is most of the time my bus rides are ordinary ho-hum everyday journeys.
Well, yesterday on my way to work, as we approached the city, I should have known something was amiss when passengers started looking out the window and towards the bus driver. Nobody said a word until the bus stopped in the middle of the road.
I tried to figure out what was wrong. I was sure I was on the right bus because I could see the Harbour Bridge from a distance. Problem was, I could also see other 610 buses on a farther lane moving forward. Apparently, our bus driver had taken the lane going UNDER the Harbour Bridge through the Harbour Bridge Tunnel, instead of OVER the Harbour Bridge towards the City. (I have a feeling he was driving on auto-pilot earlier and hadn't realised that he was trailing someone headed for a different direction.)
What a disaster!
We had not yet entered the tunnel but we were well inside the lane leading into the tunnel.
The driver tried to back-up.
Backing up in the middle of traffic. What was he thinking?
Everyone knew that it was dangerous, not to mention impossible, to reverse the bus and shift lanes at that point. Yet the driver seemed determined. He put the bus on reverse.
He was able to get the bus to move back a metre or twp (at the most) but stopped when he saw that the oncoming traffic was not about to let a bus get in their way.
He didn't seem to know what to do next. He couldn't go back because the cars wouldn't let him but he couldn't go forward because he knew that wasn't his route.
What a way to start the morning.
Eventually, one of the passengers walked up to the driver and told him to just go ahead and enter the tunnel.
I guess everyone let out a sigh of relief at that point because surely going forward was a better alternative than going against the morning rush hour traffic.
I sent a text message to my boss saying that I might be late since our bus driver had taken us through the Harbour Bridge Tunnel instead of over the Harbour Bridge. I also mentioned that the driver didn't seem to know where he was going. She texted back to tell me to enjoy the scenic route.
Through the tunnel we went and into another side of the city.
We could tell that the bus driver didn't know which way to go. As we approached a corner, one passenger told him to turn left, another told him to turn right. He decided to turn right.
Short of having a GPS, he followed a wise passenger who said, "Follow the signs that say 'TO THE CITY'."
After a short drive along roads I had never passed before, someone hit the button to signal the bus driver to stop at the next stop. When the bus stopped, we found ourselves in front of St. Mary's Cathedral across Hyde Park.
Thank goodness I knew where I was at that point. We were on the opposite side of the city from the usual bus route. Just a hop, skip and jump away from the office.
Many passengers got off the bus. I decided to get off as well. I figured I could get to the work faster on foot than on a bus that didn't quite know where it was going.
I overheard one of the passengers ask the bus driver, "Will you be OK from here?" I heard the driver shout, "Yeah."
I sure hope so (for the sake of the ones left on the bus).
Talk about a bad day at work for that poor bus driver.
As for me, since I had left the house earlier than usual yesterday, I was still able to get to the office on time.
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