Rut-Cassie MacLennan

I am proud to say that this was my first public bus experience!

I have ridden the school bus a couple times for school fieldtrips and things but I have never rode a city bus!

I actually was not allowed to ride the bus growing up, if that says anything.

My mom always said scary people rode the bus and so I was not allowed.

My husband and I rode the bus from our apartment to the mall.  We got our laundry quarters and headed to the bus stop.  First off I have to say that they could really  make the stops and charts and their website more user friendly.  I don't know why they make it so hard to find out which bus you need to take and what stop you need to get off.  The bus came about ten minutes after we had been sitting there and I think we may have gotten on the wrong bus because they took a really long route to the mall, although maybe buses just do that to optimize thier stops and people.

I think my mom was wrong all these years, there were not scary people on the bus, that could be the whole Provo thing though too. There was only about 4 other people on the bus, they were all alone and all kept to themselves.  The buses were clean, had some ads, and were comfortable and warm enough. 

It looked like people had a lot of time to think while riding the bus, my husband rested his eyes and I just thought and played on my phone.  

On the way home from the mall the bus was much more crowded, some teeny bopper junior high girls who propbably caught the bus to the mall from school were having the time of their life.  I could not believe their conversation, I forgot that junior high girls talked like that, they talked all about boys and other girls and they were horribly mean to each other and snobby and I honestly just wanted to stop them and say BE NICE, YOU ARE SO UNATTRACTIVE SOUNDING BEING MEAN!  But i didn't. 

Needless to say I did not have a peaceful nice thoughtful experience on the way back.

Overall I think it much more convienent to drive your car anywhere, if you don't have the option then I think buses are a great way to travel.  The one advantage for me was that since someone else is driving you can kind of just sit back and think and relax and not worry about anything about driving, unless of course three girls are babbling n your ear about how skany their halloween costumes are going to be that they are going to change in at school so their parents don't see! HA

Transportation Rut- Dan Tygard

I ran out the door Saturday evening hoping that I could catch a bus at the stop down the street from my house.  A girl waited patiently.  I engaged in friendly conversation, and asked her when the next bus was coming since I did no research prior to leaving my house.  She had useful information.  She had been waiting for an hour and a half and still no bus.  We waited another 20 or so minutes, and finally the 811 showed up.  I boarded the bus not knowing where it was headed.  After striking up conversation with the bus driver,  who by the way started his career in the transportation industry back in Alaska as a tour bus driver where he just happened to meet Mr. Tom Green, anyway the driver told me that the 811 goes all the way up to Sandy.  I did not want to go all the way up to Sandy, so I got off at the UVU campus stop.  It was a good ride and I met some good people.  The experience made me grateful for my car, and even more grateful that I live close enough to just about everything that I can pedal power to any destination.

This is me.

It was a smooth ride, so I never had to use the barf bag.

Me with more people in the background on the good ol 811.

Rut #7 - The Bus

So the reason I'm posting this late is because the bus that was supposed to take me back to campus never showed up. I walked back from Center street. So despite this exercise failing to cure me of my dislike of the public transportation system in Utah, it was a good thing to get me out of my rut.

I've taken the bus many times before to Salt Lake and back so this was not a new experience for me. I wanted to go someplace new though so I decided to take the bus westward towards the lake. The bus was empty most of the way, but I got to talk to the driver for a bit and get a good look at an area of Utah Valley I hadn't seen before. There are some beautiful little parks on the west side of Provo by the way. I was surprised that on this route the bus didn't stick to main roads, we wound through some quiet residential neighborhoods.

The bus driver was a little confused why I didn't get off at the last stop. I told him I was riding the bus for the sake of riding the bus. I needed to do something different and get out of my rut. He nodded his head like he understood where I was coming from, but gave me a look like I was completely nuts at the same time.

One of the stops on the way back was at an elderly persons home and a bunch of old people got on. That was a lot of fun, I got to talk to a guy who was catching a ride to downtown Provo to sell music. There was also a very funny guy in a wheelchair who was good friends with the bus driver.

So it was a fun little adventure for sure. I'm not a big fan of public transportation when I'm trying to go somewhere, but its not half bad if you're just looking for an adventure.

Trax Ride

Saturday Night I took advantage of having to ridepublic transportation and insisted that me and my boyfriend go to Sandy and ride the trax from Sandy to SLC to have dinner. I thought this would be easier then riding the bus ( to be honest but, it sounds like I had just as much of an Experience as anyone else)

First, we struggled to find the station and place to park. Once we found it we had to figure out

how to purchase tickets. Even though we thought we were prepared becuase we watched a video on the UTA website. It didn't end up being the same.

Not to worry we finally figured it out. Then we learned a hard lesson on knowing when the trains come and go, because we waited in the cold for about 15 min! In the mean time we witnessed a lady asking around if anyone had seen her phone and this teenage kid was like yea i got it. I couldn't tell what he was planning on doing with the phone, but I was impressed that he gave it back to her, because he could have totally ignored her.

Once we got on the train, I was impressed on how nice the train was. I spent the time people watching and on my phone trying to figure out where we were going to get off. My boyfriend and I talked about how by the time we got on

the train we probably could have already been in SLC if we had continued driving on the interstate. ( He wasn't really feeling this whole experience, I was trying to embrace it) After a 20

min ride we made it to downtown.

After dinner we decided to hear back to the station, because it was about 10:30 and we knew the last train was at 11 and wanted to be safe.

A train came within 3 min, but it wasn't the right one and we were shocked to she it PACKED with Asians. We started talking to this man who said the last train was like that too. But he was an experienced Trax rider and said the next train would be the next one to Sandy. While we

waited for this train ( another 20 min wait) we had a some entertainment.)

The train came and again is was PACKED but we just had to squish on. Luckily all of these people got off on the next stop and we could sit down.

One the way back it was a little more relaxing because I already knew where we needed to get off. I had the time to realize how handicap accessible the train was. Every door was able to have a wheel chair to go on and off. ( I saw it twice)

I felt like for the price and the time I spent waiting it wasn't worth. But I could see how for commuters it might be, because you could sit there and get whatever you need to get done done. ANd wouldn't have to worry about parking.

UTA Bus ride

The first thing that impressed me was how clean the buses actually were. I always pictured them having nasty seats like the ones from a bus I rode in New York.  The only people talking on my bus were two girls and they were speaking an Asian language so I couldn't understand anything. Everybody else was dead silent.

The only negative experience I had was that I had a hard time figuring out the schedule and ended up waiting for more than ten minutes outside in the cold. That was probably the only real negative thing and I wouldn't mind riding the bus once it starts snowing so that I don't have to walk in the crazy cold.

UTA Anit-Rut James Taylor

Work comes early on Monday morning. I need to be at the MTC at 7 am, which meant catching a bus around 6:09 am in Springville. Getting on the bus was easy enough, just tap my debit card and take a seat. As I looked around the bus most everyone was drifting in and out  of sleep with the rocking of the bus. One guy was talking to the bus driver and as he got off at a stop told her it was a pleasure and asked her to not get in a crash.

Another guy started talking to a man about going to the VA. He mentioned a story about a vet who lost his leg after 18 years of service in the military and didn't get retirement (you get it after 20 years of service). I mentioned how sad that was and then the man started talking to me. He had spent 16 years in the military, from Vietnam to Desert Storm. Apparently his pension has been cut over the past few years from $1600 to about $600. His daughter had asked him for a hefty amount of money to bail her son out of jail and he wouldn't do it. His grandson had stolen a car and gone for a joy ride. Then he told me most new cars have gps trackers in them, like the one his grandson broke into.

I talked to the bus driver after and found out that I missed a stop because I was talking away. To my credit though, the stop wasn't listed on the UTA website. Overall, this experience was a great one. I would ride the bus more frequently if I could still get a greatly subsidized bus pass. It was fun to meet someone new and get a new perspective on life.

UTA Public Transit

Because the syllabus didn't say when this was due I did it about two weeks ago fearing I had just missed the memo or something. My family lives in Tooele, UT and because I don't have a car, I take public transit to Salt Lake, my dad brings me home after work, and then I ride UTA back to Provo. I usually insert my ear buds and listen to blaring music but this time I listened to everything. I left on a Friday and returned on a Saturday:

I took bus 811 which travels between Provo and the TRAX at Sego Lily in Sandy. I got on at the University Avenue/1060 bus stop which is right in front of the IPF. Waiting for the bus was pretty uneventful. Once I got on the bus, I sat near the back.

The bus was filled with mostly older people. No one spoke until we got to the UVU stop. College students are LOUD! One guy was on his phone when he got on and was talking intensely about some business assignment (or actual transaction, I couldn't tell). He didn't seem to think about everyone else that was around him because he was practically yelling into the phone and everyone was looking at him a little annoyed.

On the TRAX, this kid got on with short dreadlocks; several piercings and tattoos; a black, over-sized hoodie; and baggy black jeans. I am pretty sure he was high. He kept staring at me. Then he asked me what I did for business. I forgot I was in business clothes from work. I told him I was a student and he wouldn't believe me. Around Murray, sister missionaries got on. He got all excited and started talking to one of them. It was fun watching the super awkward missionary approach. I knew she was trying to fit the gospel into everything he was saying but he kept changing subjects and not following any of the conversations she was trying to start. I felt kind of guilty not jumping in and being the "member present" but I wanted to watch the interaction. Their attempts didn't get anywhere.

The best moment was when I was going home on Saturday. There was this bald, plump man wearing a button-up shirt, fisherman hat (the kind with the full brim and the string that goes under the chin to hold it on), and slacks. He was going from seat to seat just chatting it up with everyone. When one person would get off, he'd jump to the next seat and talk, talk, talk. I crossed my fingers he wouldn't come talk with me because the guy just rubbed me wrong. He spoke pretty crass and had one of those grating voices. I got away with not talking to him on the TRAX but when I went to wait at the bus stop - he got me!

He introduced himself as Steven and then starting asking me question after question. I told him I was a BYU student and he started ripping BYU, the Honor Code, and the Mormon church. His wife was a member but he hated those F-ing Mormons. "We should all be able to believe however we want. No one should tell us there's only one way to get to heaven". I tried to teach him a bit but he was DEFINITELY not interested.

He then told me about how he was an architect but then switched over to carpentry. He taught me how you cut all the pieces for furniture, explaining that you can't cut it while it's wet or it will warp when it dries. Then he talked about his schooling. After an hour, I was thinking I was going to go crazy! I was also wondering where the heck the bus was. Come to find out, I had gotten to the bus stop a little after 8:30 pm which is after the second to last bus leaves. The next one wouldn't come until 9:50!

Then the guy asked me if he could borrow my phone! I wasn't sure what to say. I ended up letting him. He called his wife and told her that the bus wasn't going to come for another long while and that she should come pick him AND HIS NEW FRIEND up!? I was kind of freaking out at that point, thinking he was a creeper. He got a lot more friendly after I let him use my phone and even gave some money to this skater who came over and asked us for money. Then his wife arrived.

I was sick of waiting at that point and a bit afraid the last bus would never come meaning I'd be stranded in Sandy. She seemed pretty normal and they didn't throw me into a bag or gag me so I figured it was safe. His wife's name was Jill. She was a VERY patient woman. He was loud and obnoxious to her, and she put him in his place. Their relationship was interesting. It was disfunctional but endearing.

It was kind of weird riding back to Provo with them but I was grateful at the same time. I actually got to a point where I liked the guy even though he was so obnoxious and crass. He gave me his e-mail when I got to Provo. After I got out, I asked where they lived and they told me they lived back in Draper! I was then really humbled by their generosity.