A friend of mine commutes on the skytrain in Vancouver and I hear some good stories. One that stands out, he is leaving downtown early on a weekday, maybe around 2 or 3. Some guy a few rows up is in rough shape (drunk) after what appeared to be a business lunch (based on his smart dressing and colleagues he got on with). Anyways, he is hanging his head between his knees, and just starts puking out what looks like pure red wine all over the floor. Of course, then the doors shut, the puke starts flowing under people's seats and everyone is screaming and losing their minds.

I don't miss public transit one bit :-).

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Long Chile was a silly place.

I abhor buses and yet I don't mind taking the train. I'd rather walk but I have to get between jobs post haste so I don't have much choice. Although, some days I wish I'd stayed outside in the wind and cold than face life inside those big boxes on wheels.

Speaking of public transportation...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnEXA37Szmk

My public transportation currently is actually quite nice. I take a park and ride to downtown, most people are professionals getting to work and I would say 90% of us work for the same massive employer. Most people don't talk to each other though, we are either on our phones or reading books. When you do talk to someone I have this alkward feeling everyone is listening in on your conversation since your the only two talking. My bus is generally at max capacity, 60+ people on the bus.

That being said, I used to take the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) and that was interesting, all walks of life on that train.

You don't work for 3M do you?

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Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

Luckily I drive to work. A few years back was on the subway in NYC. There was a guy with headphones on listening to some rap music. Singing along out loud, every other word was a swear. All of a sudden the subway stops. Lights go out. Sitting there for a couple of minutes in the dark, emergency lights are on. Train operator walks past, opens the door (we were in the last car) and hops out. About a minute later the guy singing out loud gets up and hops out the door. Train operator comes back, train starts up and we continue on. No idea what happened to the guy.

Nope

Drive to work right now, but took the subway for a decade. To name just a few that I ran into regularly:

• Those who eat and spill goopy, reeking food on themselves, the seats, and others
• The strident Christian proselytizers
• The audible farters
• The opioid addicts who drool on themselves before passing out and holding up the trains while EMTs are called, then get pissed when they are woken up
• The incredibly loud high school kids who make fun of elderly passengers
• People with headphones who rap at full voice profanity-filled lyrics next to mothers traveling with small children
• The Ivy League undergrad twats talking smugly about how "Immanuel Kant just fucking 'got it', you know, but nobody seems to see that anymore..."
• The able bodied riders in the handicapped/special needs seats who, when asked to move for a handicapped or pregnant person, say "nah, I don't think so, I waited 3 stops for this seat...."

No denizens of public transportation list would be complete without the inebriated/oblivious urinator.

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"The right to party is a battle we have fought, but we'll surrender and go Amish... NOT!" -Wayne Campbell

Yeah my MIL used to take the bus to work as the bus stop was right in front of her house and work was the next stop.

She sat next to a handicap person on the way home and realized he obliviously peed on the seat and she sat in it. Since then they changed the route and now she drives.

About to spend a week riding the subways around nyc. Im sure ill see a couple, ill report back!

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who's smarter than you're? i'm!

A week? I predict that you'll have ample subway experience to report back after a day.

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"The right to party is a battle we have fought, but we'll surrender and go Amish... NOT!" -Wayne Campbell

I really enjoyed the NYC subway experience. My not-so-inner rural Minnesotan was kind of nervous initially, but I was mostly worried about missing our stop rather than the people. I wouldn't want to do it every day, but it was certainly entertaining - mostly just "crazy guy talking to himself" type of stuff. I'm looking forward to your report.

As far as my denizen of public transportation story goes, around 1999, I was on a week-long business trip in Atlanta and took a cab back and forth from my hotel to the workplace each day. I had about a half hour ride each way and had the same cabbie every time. So, we got to chatting about all sorts of things. He struck me as being very intelligent and well-spoken.

At one point, he opens up the glove box and says, "hey, check this out..." and hands me a book. It was a publisher's proof of a book he wrote about locksmithing. According to him, it was about to hit the stores within a month or so. I just thought that was just a really unique area of expertise from a person I didn't really expect. Pretty fascinating guy.

Oh, and there's also the time I was in the Marine Corps, on my way to Iwakuni, Japan, and had to stay overnight in LA. I hailed a cab and asked the driver to take me to a cheap motel in Compton, since NWA had made it sound like such a nice place. The cabbie looks at me with the most annoyed expression and says, "what in the fuck is wrong with you?" Nonetheless, he obliged and agreed to pick me up in the morning.

There was a shooting in the motel complex that night - police, sirens, police tape and all the hoopla. The driver picks me up, gives me that annoyed look one more time and says, "well, I certainly hope you got the fucking experience you were looking for."

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

Would say the same thing. I take NJ transit and then the subways every day (have for four years now). I'll definitely contribute to this thread... I see 4 or 5 winners everyday by 8:30 in the morning.

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I talk to myself because mine are the only answers I'll accept - George Carlin

 
Not much call for public transport where I am, but a few stories from traveling come to mind.

Went to Europe for a month or so during a summer off from college. Went with my older sister who is very quiet, religious, reserved, home schooler, etc. Sitting on the metro in Paris when a guy about our age gets on and sits next to her. After a few minutes he grabs her hand and slowly interlaces her fingers into his. Doesn't say a word, doesn't look at her, just sits there holding her hand. She is mortified but doesn't know what to do and is just staring at me, her eyes pleading for help. I was laughing too hard to be of any help. A few stops later he stands up and gets off the train. Still not a word to her.

Same sister complained about the smell on the metro in Paris during peak hours. There was definitely the standard underground public transport smell, but nothing I noticed to be unbearable. She told me to get down on her level to feel her pain as I am 6'0" and she is 5'1". Lets just say having your nose at armpit level during peak hours in France is not a great situation to be in!

god.....buses are the worst. I take local buses in suburban vancouver to work 3 days a week (usually run half way and bus the rest in order to get in some training).

over that last 5 years ive seen all the obvious ones like puking all over the floor, passed out druggies, music with no headphones, etc, etc.....

it seems like the drivers are getting stranger all the time too - like borderline rude/trashy/bad at their job/etc....

Bus Drivers are the reason I stopped taking the bus and bike year round in Calgary, it seemed at least once a week I would get on the bus with the driver who felt that he should wear shorts and a t-shirt even though it was -30c outside and so cranked the heat to the point that people are passing out because we are all stuck with winter wear on so we can wait for the bus and then step into a sauna.

I take the train (light rail)P everyday because traffic sucks. Mostly people are going from suburbia to work/school so not too bad. Mostly the seat hogs who put their backpack next to them or the occasional person who has their feet up on the seat across from them. They are the ones I typically target to sit next to or across from when I get on the train. I just do it to see if I get a reaction.

So you're the sweaty and stinky bus denizen people have to tolerate sharing a seat with?

sometimes - i'm not a big sweater though, and its only hot enough here to really perspire like 10-20 days a year tops

Just because I can...

To add to this (Chicago Red & Brown line..though Red takes the cake..and a few bus examples) over a 14 year run in Chicago.

• couple bangin at the end of the brown line in the every so slightly private seats
• Whoever the poopers are..
• Guy eating fastfood AND throwing his wrappers on the floor
• The smell..not who to attribute it to but there is a certain El train smell (see above examples)
• the crazy guy who started yelling "lord..the north koreans have infiltrated our country!!!" over and over when he spotted my wife on (Korean..of the southern variety) on a city bus...this was 8 years ago..would love to hear the modern version
• couple or individual working cart to cart announcing why they need money and sharing their story
• person(s) who refuse to give up ground standing in front of the exit because their stop is 3 away when masses of new riders are entering
• the really angry guy mumbling expletives to himself and immediate neighbors
• homeless/crazy guy who would see me at the brown line stop every morning for a few years and would make it a point to yell at me that he was going to bash my head in "until he saw the white meat"...still not sure what that means but he was always on the other side of the street...talk about staying vigilant in the morning!
• drunk guy(s) who look like they are about to vomit on the red line after a Cubs game..I never witnessed it but based on the smell it happened way too frequently.
• ..and the rest of us who make it a point to stare down and at their phones in an attempt to avoid eye contact with anyone should they match any of the profiles, or yet to be discovered ones, above

Never took the bus, hated them. I'd rather walk, whatever the weather or time. Night buses are the worst, like a mobile drunk tank with added bonus of intimidation from the local toughs.

Anyways, rail:
- people who had highly spiced dinner and are sweating it out at 6am the next day, esp if you're hung over;
- people and their fucking backpacks. Standing, sitting, I don't care. Put it on the floor by your feet you Eurotrash shit
- manspreaders. I love to sit next to them and bug the shit out of them by not giving ground
- Handbags are for carrying personal shit, not for ensuring you have a little more space on a shared seat
- bikes on trains at peak time. At least have the balls to be embarassed by it and don't be a dick by saying it's your right
- people standing and eating on a packed train
- people listening to buds, but still fucking singing (usually badly, and usually in the style of Mariah Carey)
- people listening to music, without buds. The carriage really wants to hear your sick beats. Honest.
- the courting couple. Whilst love may be in the air for you two, we don't need to be reminded of the youthful enthusiasm of kissing and cuddling in our drab and dull lives. If you want that kind of shit, go dogging. Or better yet, try the last seats in the last carriage on the circle line at about 10-10:30 (too late for office folk, too early for pub kicking out - wink, wink). Mind the gap etc.

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Swim. Overbike. Walk.

The Courting Couple... oh the traumatic memory that just dug up! Reminds me of being trapped on the train standing next to a young couple for 20 minutes as they loudly sucked face and whispered sweet nothings. The girl's hairdo was brushing on my arm, she was oblivious. It took everything in my power to not lean over and whisper to them a fair warning that they will hurt each other's feelings immeasurably in a few months anyway, and could they knock it the hell off until I reach my stop??

Me too. I'll be the one with the wife and three teenage girls.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Back when I was in school I took a late night train home in Toronto. Only me and another guy in the car. Sitting across from me he lights up a cigarette. Just a little scrawny guy so I challenge him on it pointing out it is not allowed. He says can't you cut a guy a break I just got out of the pen. So just before my stop I ask what he was in for. He says, "I killed my father" just before the doors open for my stop. I get out and leave.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Ill be the one with a 9 year old boy and his mom.

If you decide to go for a run, (shut up blep!) I highly recommend going to the run center and heading out for a central park run from there. Ive done it before and will be again.

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who's smarter than you're? i'm!

I gave up on the bus because of the random times they were turning up, the timetable was just for comic effect i believe. i started running from the C train to my home which was quicker and more reliable. The C train on the other hand, what a shit show. it would be nice if they at least restricted it to paying customers. I used to stand at one end of the carriage with my ipod on and dare anyone to speak to me, it usually worked.

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Spend some time at Grand Central and you will definitely have some stories.

In college I used to take the bus from NYC to Atlantic City because it was the cheapest way to get to south jersey. I think the ticket at the time was $20 and you got $10 in quarters when you got to AC. Also used to bus or train back to Phili from NYC. The denziens on the bus to AC were the best or worst depending on how you look at it. Back then I thought it was funny. I couldn't do it today.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

My parents got divorced when I was in 3rd grade. Sister was 2yrs younger. For years afterwards, every other weekend, we either took a 4hr bus or train ride from one parent's house to the other. The parents didn't even hang around to see that we got on the bus or train ok. Just bought our ticket, handed them to us, and they drove away. Was no big deal all.

Imagine today someone putting a 3rd and 1st grade kid on a train or a bus for a 4hr ride. You'd be arrested.

I have the very strong impression that a lot more was expected from little kids, 4-5 decades ago, then today. We were used to a lot more autonomy. Mrs RG doesn't agree tho.

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Books @ Amazon
"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart

I commute by train probably 33% of the time. I don't have many stories.

1. Unruly passenger. Dude got on in the city and was fine for a while. Somewhere in the suburbs he got on his phone. He was the stereotype for racist Boston sports fan. Every other word was fuck. Delayed at a station for 30 minutes as the local PD came by and took him away.
2. Just in general - the line I take is the only one that stops at Yawkey. Opening day is the worst, my commute usually coincides with when the Sox game ends at Fenway. Tons of loud fans and drunks.

Homeless and mentally ill people don't take the heavy rail commuter trains, especially at 5 in the morning. Not any great stories...

The Metrolink going into Los Angeles is relatively nice. Decent seats, where you can usually get by without someone sitting next to you, and each train as a quite car where talking on a cell phone is prohibited.

Sounds like public transport heaven especially the quite car, it might almost make me go back to it.

Metrolink is nice to ride especially since the cost is a deterrent for the lowlifes of Southern California. I enjoy using public transportation because driving is not my favorite thing to do. Taking the bus and train always brings a host of bottom feeders on the phone yelling to someone about having a lack of money or how much weed was smokes the day before. The loud crap music boarding from the government phones is a must. No ride is complete without an assclown leaving behind his junk food remains as if he was asked to do so.
Europe has its share of bad riders but most are drunk and either barf all over the floors or cannot seem to stay awake long enough to get off at the right stop.
Asia has a variety of rudeness stemming from people p!anted into their phones. Most trains have areas for handicap, pregnant, seniors and women with children. The young folks get in the carriage faced down, park it in one of the listed seats and won't look up long enough to offer their seats or to even check the stops.
Here in Korea I have seen a few people do it but nearly all women seats are left empty.

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_____________________________________
DISH is how we do it.

I survived for several decades in Vancouver without a car, but it became a pain when my parents move to the outer burbs. The only way to get the 100km from my house to theirs was to rent a car or take Greyhound, the latter was my usual pick due to cost. I got pretty good at avoiding conversation and strategically having coughing fits when the bus was loading so folks wouldn't want to sit next to me.

On one trip I got stuck at the very back of bus next to an older lady. Before I could pop my earbuds in she started talking to me. Crap! Lucky for me she turned out to be super interesting, she lived in the Northwest Territories and had had a really neat life. She was an odd denizen, but worth speaking to.

I finally caved and got a car, so my trips to my parents are far less interesting.

Thanks for the run centre tip. Usually I stay in manhattan but this time staying in queens so that will be helpful

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

At least sweat is somewhat uncontrollable, too much scent is just rude. A couple of my coworkers wear so much perfume or cologne the elevator is unbearable after they've been in it. So much for our scent-free workplace.

Back in the day (1980's), Ms Tostig and I used public transport all the time in Europe (mainly England, Germany, and France). Thought it was great not having to drive to get somewhere, but I think everyone there was a smoker. You couldn't get away from people smoking and/or the smell of left over cigarettes.

We did have one "fun" experience on a Munich trolley. We were riding it one night and some teenagers got on at a stop, but just as the doors were closing they all jumped off, the doors closed, and the trolley started moving. Next thing, the German passengers were yelling something like, "Der stink bomb!" The kids had dropped a hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell) bomb on the floor as they left, and we were all trapped inside the trolley with no way to get out. Sort of a fun time!

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

Of course, some of the denizens are the drivers themselves. Request a stop shortly before the marked bus stop, the driver slows, then proceeds for 2 more blocks. "Um, hey I requested a stop 2 blocks ago!" "Oh well I asked if it was that one and no one said anything so I kept going." I prefer to stay seated as long as possible to avoid the inevitable scramble for an anchor against the heavy braking most drivers employ, but I guess I need to risk it so it's obvious to the driver that yes indeed I really, really, want to disembark.