“Passenger Pick-up Only”

Alright, here is the magnificent story of me trying to get to the mall on time. Quite an adventure.

Yesterday I had plans to go shopping at the mall with my friend, at 1. My plans were to take the 12:30 bus, get to the terminal by 12:50, and wait around for a bit. But I forgot that I have a knack for missing buses by less than 10 seconds. I saw the bus (which came early) whiz by me as I was waiting to cross the street. In non-peak times, buses come every half hour. AKA, I would not only be late, but I would be waiting half an hour in the cold.

I did not want to do this. So I hopped on the VIVA express bus that came 10 minutes later, headed towards York University, in which I figured I’d just transfer there to VIVA express bus towards the mall. VIVA express buses come every 10 minutes. This plan, however, did not follow through as planned.

York U is still on strike, even after 11 weeks, and the buses only pass it - they don’t stop at the terminal. I found myself headed towards, and later stranded at, Downsview Station. And so I continue on my journey to get to the mall as soon as possible - it was 1:06 already! From the bus terminal there, I got on a bus that could take me to Keele and Finch, where my dad works, and he could drive me…? (He’s got job hour flexibility, that’s an upside)

This bus was waiting for an abnormally long time to leave the terminal. I asked the driver real nicely when we were leaving, and he just told me, “When the time comes, you’ll know.” Ahh… helpful. Then he continued reading the paper. After a long time, he started driving. This is where I’ll add in that this was the squeakiest bus ever. It just kept on going SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK. I couldn’t even hear my iPod over it.

I ring the bell to get off at Keele and Finch, but then I hear the woman in the automated-bus-stop-announcement-system say, “Next Stop: Keele and Finch. Passenger Pickup only.” Now what the hell is this? So I ask the driver if I can get off at Keele and Finch and he says, “It depends.” Helpful. “Excuse me?” I say. “Pick up only. If someone gets on, you can get off. If no one wants to get on, you can’t get off. The next stop will be York University.” York U is quite a bit down the sidewalk-less road.

Passenger pick-up only? Whose genius idea was that? So if I’m traveling from Point A to Point B, and Point B happens to be this stop, I might not be able to get off? In other words, there is no reliability in taking this route. What kind of idea is that? It’s not like this is a little pit stop in the middle of nowhere. This is Keele St. and Finch St., the major intersection, adjacent to Toronto’s infamous Jane and Finch neighborhood.

I’m sure that the transit system would love to get more regular riders, the ones that commute to and from work/school in the morning and afternoon. Daily commuters get on and off at the same stop in the morning and afternoon. It’d sure be unlucky if for someone, that stop is one of these “passenger pick-up only” stops. You’ll be able to get on in the morning for sure, but you might not be able to get off at the same intersection when you’re coming home from work/school. Cross your fingers and hope someone will be getting on.

(I did, and it worked! Someone got on. I went to my dad’s and he drove me. I was only forty minutes late.)

Transit is usually great, but this “Passenger Pick-up Only” thing should be eliminated, at least for stops at major intersections. The idea doesn’t make much sense. Just my two cents.