Vanessa Serrano

Professor Lewenstein

English 1A

30 April 2019

                                    Public Transportation: The Truth about the Ride

               When I was still in high school, I was nervous about entering college. It was my senior year, and I was going to College of the Desert. I had everything planned until it came to transportation. As I began my first day of class in college, my parents would take me to school, but later on, I had to take the bus. After getting used to taking the bus, I became friends with Mario, the bus driver. He was the primary driver that would take me to house and school. He would always wear his neon yellow vest and his sunglasses. Seeing Mario dressed like this made him look professional with his job as a Sunline bus driver. Mario would tell me not to worry if it was my first time riding the bus. He handed me the rider’s guide book. I was then confident enough to do everything myself, and I would see how Mario would help others the same way he did to me. Even though riders would feel lost or unsafe, Mario would help and make them feel welcomed. He would also help disabled passengers by keeping them locked in and save. Now that it's my second semester taking the bus I’ve gotten the hang of it, and every time I would see Mario we would wave at each other.

               Is public transportation a safe place? Many people may feel scared and lost when it's there first-time riding on a public bus with no seat belts. Bus drivers make everyone feel welcomed and safe no matter if there is no seat belt or if they ride standing up. Even though bus drivers may sometimes be intimidating to talk to and seem, they would not pay much attention to anything happening in the back of the bus and only focus on the driving. Although they understood that bus drivers “behaviours included making older people feel safe, courtesy, friendliness, helpfulness and being aware of invisible disabilities and specific professional behaviours included giving time, pulling in close to the curb, communication, and information.” (Broome)People should understand that public transportation takes people to their destination with the safest conditions and with the most excellent bus drivers. The riders should be alerted by downloading the app to track the bus ride to not feel unsafe but feel more confident of the trip.

                                                         

Figure 1: This picture shows the Sunline Transit Guidebook from 2018 when I first started to ride the bus.

             Furthermore, I can say that I had a great experience with my first semester riding the bus even though their might is not seat belts. Inside the bus, I can say that everything was decent to ride on nice comfortable chairs and fresh air inside the bus. During the hot days, the riders would feel comfortable when riding the bus in which made the whole ride safe and secure.

            Mario known as a public bus driver is a proud Mexican Sunline Transit bus driver who works in the Coachella Valley.  For him to be in his position, he struggled as a teen who had bad influences and choices. Having the privilege of education in the U.S and with hard-working parents, Mario was a rebellious teenager who drops out of high school. He joined gangs and started doing drugs which made him feel anger and a person who wouldn’t care. His parents would talk to him, but Mario would ignore their advice and continued his life. Later thought his life when he was 24 years old he started to realize that he had no job and lived with his parents. It was late to consider finishing high school and embarrassing and feeling hopeless and sorry for himself for wasting years of his life doing nothing but drugs and bad decisions.

                With the help of his parents, he was able to go to a drug rehabilitation program and be clean even though it took some time he managed to get a new start. Mario set his goals and knows that he wants a training job that doesn’t require college. He then started investigating positions online and came across with Sunline transit. Their recommendations for his surprise only needed training, license and having good oral and written communication skills. He applied for the job and was accepted. It was a life lesson in which he decided to talk to his friends about his experience and giving them the advice to leave bad habits. Mario was able to be an example and give his friend a job where he works as a Sunline Transit bus driver. He made his parents proud and in which makes him also happy. “I will never go back to do wrong only good and on,” his story impacted me and mainly this phrase that summarizes his life in general that Mario will not make bad decisions but correct from now on.

               As I was interviewing Mario who sometimes gets to take me to college, he seemed like a great person with patience and never did not mind answering my questions. He was also honest to tell me that sometimes he seems to have temptations of making bad decisions, but he knows his family is the key to his known success.

            We must protect the rights of Disabled people who take public transit. The situation of this injustice against disabled people happens in many places occurring in all hours. Bus drivers have to be there to assist disabled people. Disability became a problem for bus drivers by being late to their next stop and safety concerns for other rider members. Bus drivers had the choice to decide to neglect the ride since it caused time and difficulties. A case where a disabled person needed help to be locked in, but they ignored and unattended the rider. “We are not hired on here as special needs drivers.” (McNairn 2). The quote explains that the bus driver did not like being in charge of disabled people. It also means to me that even though the disabled person is not locked yourself, the bus driver should help and treat everyone equally. In overall, it shows that in other places disabled riders suffer in public transportation, but after a complaint of a wheelchair rider, there has been helping in securing passengers like them. This quote connects to my thesis by explaining the harm of other people who don’t have the privilege of having friendly bus drivers like in the Coachella Valley Sunline transit.

              The article “Dangerous Ricks That Are Common in Public Transportation” reports the disadvantages and advantages of public transportation. The author Steve M. Lee indicates that bus transportation has delicate features in which can cause many collisions. Transporting many people can cause a distraction, bus drivers getting annoyed by the constant noise and buzzing of the riders causing hazards. Bus drivers are constantly driving the same route for hours in which causes stress, boredom, loss of focus and cause accidents or pedestrians getting run over. Also, bus drivers have to follow the strict schedule of arriving on time to their stops which can make them go faster than the posted limit causing dangerous maneuvers and collisions. The author suggests to “take steps to avoid a tragedy before it occurs by following these simple safety tips.” (Lee) passengers following the guidelines in case any traffic injury, like paying attention to the surroundings, avoiding hazards, being cautious, planning of where to stop and using the tracker app to see where the bus goes.

               I meet Mario at the bus station in Coachella. He works in the Sunline Transit as a public bus driver. He’s mainly in charge of taking people from Mecca to Coachella. At first, I would take the bus without even knowing anybody. It was my first time riding the bus in which I was nervous about where I was supposed to stop. After I arrived at Coachella, I had to take the next bus to Palm Desert in which I meet Mario, the bus driver. Outside the Coachella station, I was able to ask Mario if he could give me directions on which bus to take to Palm Desert since he gave me the confidence to ask him. I heard his accent and noticed he was Mexican. “I can totally help you, and hi I’m Mario” this was his words to start of our conversation. They are very polite words when I ask for directions. He also expressed that “Yeah its a hard job having to be patient to everyone and keeping everyone safe” it was good to know that he cared for everyone and would talk to anyone.

            When I was able to know him through time, I was able to interview him. I had to explain to Mario the purpose of why I needed to interview him, and he was fine, so we meet at the same area in the Coachella bus station, and during his 1-hour break, he told me his story.

            He was a rebellious child during high school who had dropped out and consumed drugs with his friend. During certain years he was able to enter a rehabilitation program and change his lifestyle. It was hard, but he was determined to change and be a better person for him and his parents. He remembered struggling during years making bad decisions and giving his parents a hard time in which he ignored and continued his bad choices. He did not care to arrive late at home or finishing high school. His parents loved him and gave him advice, but it was in vain he kept hanging out with his friends and doing drugs.

              Furthermore, as Mario answered my questions, I noticed he was an experienced person who passed through a lot and wanted to keep succeeding in life. I was able to see him glance at the riders in which showed his caring for the passengers by making sure they didn’t need anything while I was interviewing him. Mario talked professionally compared to his story. “I was wasting my life” he mentioned with regret as a rebellious teenager.

             ”I recommend children to obey their parents and listen to them since its for their good” Mario said, “The parents want the best for their children so teenagers and kids should stay in school and study to earn money” As Mario states this its right because parents want their children to be professionals and respected. Mario is a clear example that he was able to succeed and be a bus driver with plenty of responsibilities and with training that didn’t require college.

            Now that he has a job he sees everything different, and he is an excellent public bus driver who transports people from Mecca to Coachella. He expresses to me that no matter the situation a public bus driver always has a behind story in which makes them unique. Not a careless or rude driver because they do their job as professionals after their background.

            The safety ride on a public bus Sunline Transit Agency. People need to understand that they should feel secured inside the bus and with the bus driver. The bus gets frustrating with a lot of people. They are dealing with traffic. There are people with mental problems. People left behind.  It may sometimes feel stressing especially when taking bus 111 and 91 in which gets crowded during the noon, where riders may be standing up the whole ride which can be uncomfortable.

             Another thing is that on the bus you have to deal with people who have mental problems that may get annoying since they are riding everywhere not being aware and sleeping on the bus. They can also scare people to do to their aggressive talk and behaviors. Although this is all true people shouldn’t worry if they only go for the ride and ignore the rest, the important thing is to arrive at the destination safely and on time.

          For many year’s students couldn’t afford to go to college with issues about transportation or money. Students from COD would put excuses on not wanting to attend class or have the motivation. “The SunLine Transit Agency will launch its Haul Pass Program on Monday — the first day of classes at the Palm Desert-based college. Anyone enrolled at COD will be able to get onto a SunLine bus by simply swiping their student identification.” (The Desert Sun) With this stated I was able to take the sunbus free, valuable for three years without having to pay and making students feel valued. This will also provide better success for College of the Desert students and help the community by creating less air pollution and students wanting to ride the bus more often. 

                                      

Figure 2: The Picture shows “Happy Transit Driver Appreciation Day” this picture was found in there facebook page Sunline Transit Agency.

           I also watched “Bus Operator Safety Training” youtube video which interested me on how important it is for drivers to keep a safe atmosphere. Having to train in a bus with an instructor that teaches New York bus drivers to be careful of all hazards around the bus. Furthermore, the vice president of transportation of New York City Transit states that they are in the simulator room and wants to point out what’s in everybody’s mind and vision on “zero mayor’s new initiative to eliminate pedestrian fatalities and Endor”. To have a goal on the entire city “Those who wish to become MTA Bus Operators must survive a rigorous training and probationary process”. Which means that about 23% fail the training, but they also have programs to higher standards where the driver is monitored on all the activities and in overall doing what they are supposed to be doing. In the video it mentions a bus driver with a 12year experience driving an m79, showing him the real-life situations and showing traffic situations the simulator gives the testers a glance on how bus driving looks like. With this video it surely does explain why a bus driver is a person to trust, they are first trained until they pass their highly required test. The most important and priority of the bus drivers is the safety of their surroundings and keeping the passengers save and making them feel welcomed and treat them as a family that wants to keep protected from any hazards.

            For my community profile what caught my interest in this topic was the fact that I always ride on the bus. I usually take the bus only when I’m going to Palm Desert since I still need the practice my driving skills. I actively wanted to this research since there is always something new happening on the bus and it’s a unique experience compared to the car. I believe my paper is interesting because I get to talk about a lot of things related to public bus transportation. My experience is taking the bus for the first time. Who is the bus driver: The safety concerns, and special need’s.

               

                                                            Work Cited

Broome, K., Worrall, L. E., Fleming, J. M., & Boldy, D. P. (2011). Identifying age-friendly

behaviours for bus driver age-awareness training. The Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 78(2), 118-26. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.collegeofthedesert.edu/docview/863345289?accountid=42321 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 

COD students get to ride the SunLine buses for free. (2018, Aug 27). The Desert Sun Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.collegeofthedesert.edu/docview/2093139291?accountid=42321 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 

Kim McNairn of, T. S. (1999, Jul 14). Bus drivers grieve disability ruling. Star – Phoenix Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.collegeofthedesert.edu/docview/348510200?accountid=42321 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 

Lee, S. M. (n.d.). Bus-ted: Dangerous Risks That Are Common in Public Transportation. Retrieved March 22, 2019, from http://www.attorneystevelee.com/library/the-benefits-and-hazards-of-public-transportation.cfm (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

 

Rodriguez, Mario. Personal interview. 20 March 2019.

 

Sunline Transit Agency. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2019, from https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Sunline-Transit-Agency/reviews

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nCD0g0-Rj8