Artkansas 

I suspect it is staged, it was part of the "Ditch the Keys" week events, but it's not a stock image and the behaviors are typical. My financial sector acquaintance who rides usually reads his paper. There are often several conversations going on. The biggest error I notice is that there are more white people than is typical. But I think that that is the market they are trying to target. I know the cyclist. She's a 70 year old grandma who rode solo across the country last summer.

I-Like-To-Bike

Who currently are the typical people on your bus service?

Grillparzer

I missed this by one train.

Man arrested in July 4 slaying on Metro train - The Washington Post

That aside, most of my experiences have been benign.

Of course, I missed riding through this by about two hours.

https://missoulian.com/news/national/...0b1e55834.html

Roody

Probably a lot of the passengers looking at mobile devices are also reading books.

Machka 

Possibly ... although I'd say Facebook is more likely. Does that count as a book?

Roody

No.

rockmom

A couple of the buses I ride go past a high school. When I ride with the teens, it is very quiet int he morning. They are barely conscious, staring blankly into the middle distance. If I ride that bus in the afternoon, it is LOUD. Once, one of the teens hushed the others, "Hey! Hey! We're getting too loud." They whispered for about 2 minutes, then it was just as loud again.

Roody

My local bus serves a big high school. I try to avoid the 2:30 and 3:00 runs because they're so noisy.

rhm

I don't regularly ride a bus these days; to my usual destination, the train station, the bike is cheaper, faster, and the route is more scenic.

Whether in New Jersey or Long Island, the people on the morning train are mostly blue collar with some wall street guys mixed in, more diverse in the afternoon with some families and tourists added to the mix. When I can (i.e. in NJ) I always sit in the"quiet car" and usually sleep for most of my hour-long ride.

I summer on Long Island, and my Friday afternoon train is overcrowded with weekenders, often getting a jump on their partying. They are boisterous and sometimes rude, but it's hard to get annoyed at people who are so blatantly happy.

Artkansas 

It varies, but usually the majority of passengers are black. On my bus ride home from work today, at first it was half and half white and black, then 2/3 of the people were white, then there were equal numbers of white and black, then there was a 2/3 majority of black people.

Walter S

Probably 90% black here. The population of Atlanta is heavily black anyway but not as much as the bus. It's that way because the negros are usually lower income, and the bus riders are usually lower income.

wolfchild

Majority of bus riders in my city are people of colour(non-white). I would say a 70%-30% ratio of coloured to white.... Driving is 50/50.. Cycling it seems is mostly a white mens activity with orientals coming in 2nd. I very rarely see coloured or black people on bicycles.

Walter S

Lots of people are texting on the bus and playing solitaire. And for many people the device is in their hands, ready to rescue them from the sudden pressure to interact with another human.

cooker

So many people die in or by cars every day that we've stopped noticing.
Toronto's killing streets as deadly as ever: Hume | Toronto Star

Roody

Most of our bus drivers are alright. the younger ones are less friendly--always polite and professinal but a little more "distant". One of the older ones is a social worker in disguise. He's always getting on young passengers about their grades and older people to see if they're getting along OK. A lot of people really seem to appreciate his concern.

Drivers need good training in how to handle some of the more difficult passengers. Hopefully they have quick radio contact and good backup from supervisors, police...and the passengers. All this can lessen potential problems that the OP was referring to.

Roody

Statistically, the bus is much safer than car travel--both in terms of accidents and crime. Bad incidents in buses tend to get a lot of news coverage, but bad incidents in cars are so common that they're not really news.

Walter S

It's the by vs in that makes me saddest. Many of those don't drive at least in part because it's dangerous - sometimes people don't trust their personal ability to drive safely. It's tragic when a car death is their fate anyway.

Artkansas 

Every time I read the title of this thread, I hear the tune of the "Wheels on the Bus", go round and round.

Machka 

So do I!

gerv 

I only notice women on bikes here. I think they're 90% of the riders

enigmaT120

The people on my bus are mostly state employees who live in Dallas and work in down-town Salem, where the bus depot is. It's perfect for them or anybody else who works in downtown Salem.

jfowler85

Bikeforumuser0019

What about "Hail to the Bus Driver?"

Dahon.Steve

1. Do you encounter people with mental illnesses, or just general inability to play nice with others? Are they short on social graces, or hygiene, or...? Is it just the passengers, or do the drivers cause some of the unpleasantness?

Mental illness is to be found everywhere even on the roads. I saw one man who on the train was mentally ill but he was harmless. You just get up from your seat and walk to the end of the train or go to the next car. I survived to live another day.

2. Do these encounters discourage you from using public transportation?
Never. I enjoy taking the bus and would do that any day than be a driver. I watch what our poor bus driver goes through each day fighting to get into New York City. I would never change jobs to do his. Quite frankly, I think driving 70 mph on a highway to head off for work each day to be insane.


3. Do you think such encounters (or the perception that they may occur) would discourage others from using or trying public transportation?

No. In 2014, there were 10.8 billing trips, the highest in 58 years!

https://www.apta.com/mediacenter/pres...Ridership.aspx

4. Is there anything that could or should be done to make it a better experience for current users, or to attract new users?

Sure. We should start doing the following.

a. Build more lightrail or BRT (bus rapid transit)
b. Allow the Mexican Jitney Vans to provide transit if cities don’t want to invest. Include URBER too!
c. Create bus only lanes
d. Provide real time transit information via APS

I could go on but this is just a start.

5. What other issues do you have with the system in your area? Pricing, routes, schedules, other?

This question is local since everyone has issues. For example, I don’t think pricing is an issue because we have unlimited bus and rail cards so my transit is free during the weekends. I can travel 100 miles on multiple bus routes and not pay a dime.

Schedules become a factor during the weekend when service is cut. I get around this by brining along my bike but others may not be so fortunate.

Astrozombie

Baahhh call me a weirdo, but I look forward to the weird situations on the bus/train! Free entertainment in an otherwise ordinary day