WA: Bus rider’s complete guide to riding the bus

How do you ride the bus? From someone who has ridden the bus every day for the last 15 years, here’s a friendly guide to your most enjoyable journey.

First, timing. Consider your place of departure and place of destination. Enter these places in a smart phone’s Google Maps app. Search and click the directions button then select the handy image of a bus. On this screen, view the different bus lines that run that closest route. Set your time to arrive and see those options, or catch the next available bus.

To get to the bus, walk. Walk out your door, turn onto the sidewalk. Keep your gaze on the block in front of you, not down at your feet or too far ahead. This lets the small beautiful sights of people’s gardens and homes come into view. It also keeps you alert of traffic nearby for safety.

Follow your childhood rules about looking both ways before crossing the street. At busy intersections, double-check for car’s turn signals blinking, especially cars turning left on red. Enter crosswalks with the white walking symbol and exit before the red hand stops.

Walking alone down a busy street can feel conspicuous as if drivers are watching. Focus on your own path, perhaps with headphones on to reduce traffic noise. The length of one chapter in an audiobook often times pairs well with a public transit journey.

When you reach your bus stop, clearly marked with the number of bus lines, double-check the time of arrival with an app and wait for that time. It’s amusing to watch cars speed by in a hurry, to enjoy the sunshine, or even the rain. It’s a nice opportunity to text a friend.

The bus approaches. Simply stay where you are sitting or standing by the sign. The bus driver will slow down to pull up to the sidewalk. Look at the driver who will signal you to wait by holding a hand up if other riders are departing from the bus.

In a more advanced move, when a bus approaches the stop but it is not yours, wave a finger back and forth like a window wiper to indicate to the driver that they need not stop for you. Don’t gesture if other people are at the stop waiting for their own route. Technically, a bus is always supposed to stop for someone there.

It’s extra nice to say hello or wave to the driver when entering, but remember safety is the first priority and you should focus on stepping up, taking the handrails and turning to the seats at your own best pace.

At the front of the bus, seating is on the sides, which is more accessible for people who don’t move as well or have handicap devices, including walkers and wheelchairs. Mothers with children and strollers also take priority seating. If the bus is empty, it may be tempting to sit in these first seats, but keep them clear for future passengers.

Make your way to an open seat as far back down the aisle as you are willing to go. It is best practice to take a window seat, that way if the bus fills up the aisle seat is open. On Link transit, there is almost always space for each person to have a pair of seats alone to themselves.

Most people who take the bus show courtesy by keeping quiet — stay off phone calls, don’t play audio out loud, keep conversations with friends minimal to none, don’t bother strangers. It’s interesting to see who else from your town takes the bus, but be polite and don’t stare. Let people find their seat without checking them out or making intense eye contact as they pass. Mind your manners.

Double-check that phone app to track your route by following the little blue dot that is your current location along the marked path. Small white dots indicate each bus stop. When approaching your stop, reach up by the window to pull the yellow cord, signalling the driver to let you off at the next stop.

Two doors will open at the stop, one at the front and one in the middle of the bus, so take your nearest exit. The bus will kneel down closer to the ground, but mind your step as you return to the sidewalk. Most friendly locals say ‘Thank you’ or ‘Goodbye’ to the bus driver when leaving.

Long-time transit riders might say that this communication with a working driver is unnecessary, disruptive or even hazardous; it disturbs the quiet for passengers, distracts the driver in their rearview mirror, and keeps attention on people instead of safety first.

But we can’t help but feel appreciative. After all, our local Link Transit bus system is free. Completely free. No money due to board and travel. All are welcome.

Plus, it’s more environmentally friendly. Reduce emissions by riding in cutting-edge electric vehicles, decrease road congestion, improve air quality, lower fuel consumption, avoid traffic, and conserve resources.

And all that walking? So good for your health. Isn’t the goal 10,000 steps a day? That’s hard to hit with a desk job. But one day’s commute by foot to a bus not only nears that goal, it brings overall wellbeing from the enjoyment of slowing down to smell the roses. Literally.

Next time you see someone waiting at the bus stop or walking down the sidewalk, imagine yourself free to move and enjoy your transportation without a car.