Thank You, TriMet

I was riding a bus a little over a month ago, talking to the driver. He remarked that his job was more than just driving the bus, it was making sure everyone got where they were going in a timely manner. When the bike rack was full and another cyclist wanted on (this was the last of the night) he found out where the other bikes would be getting off and told the cyclist to follow the bus as closely as possible. Within a mile he was able to get on and ride to St. Johns.

I think buses get a bum wrap. I know there are a few bad eggs out there, but I am inclined to say that overall the bus drivers are really respectful. And I'm not saying this as a weekend rider only, I ride every day to work and I also leave the office every day a couple times for meetings and errands. I'm out there a lot.

J!

Agreed, Jennifer. I'm on a bike around busses every day. I've been nervous a few times and seen some sketchy driving. But the vast majority of the time Tri-Met drivers are courteous and attentive. They've given me a lot more slack on the road than I've given them.

And even though busses aren't fun to cycle around, it's much, much better than having all those passengers driving cars! An effective transit system is a benefit to us all.

I had a TERRIBLE, really terrible experience with a Tri Met bus once. It was one of those times that scared me so much that I was riding nervously on the road for weeks afterwards, even months. It made me absolutely hate Tri Met and I had nothing good to say about the drivers after that.

But my anger got me no where. My friends encouraged me to analyze the situation a little bit more reasonably. The incident was two years ago. I have since taken close note of the bus drivers around me and have concluded that the bad driver who almost hit me two years ago was the exception.

On top of that, I've heard that Tri Met is doing special training for their drivers.

So I won't give them an A+ yet, but when I took a broader view I saw better drivers.

I have rarely ever had serious problem with bus drivers. More often than not I have found them to be the most trustworthy people on the road. (that's of course compared to commuters)

Occasionally a driver will truly go the extra mile. Such as one driver who realized that a passenger had left their monthly pass on the bus. The driver got off at the next stop and went back to return the pass to the lady.
I find that as long as I show awareness of buses and respect them (for example it's illegal to pass a bus which is signaling to pull out into the lane) than we have a great relationship.