I’ve basically been working on the same corner for the last six months. I’ve had some good times. Some bad times. One thing still perplexes me completely, though.
The corner in question is the location of the last bus stop before Spadina Station. The walk between the stop and the station is essentially incapable of lasting beyond three minutes. I don’t even really know why there is a stop on that corner, but I don’t question the TTC anymore. It’s a bad road to go down, you guys.
The route was used by a streetcar until the spring, but that service has been temporarily replaced by buses because the street was in dire need of significant construction. Dire. Need.
Apparently.
I’m assuming that the drivers who work on Spadina are wholly unfamiliar with the operation of street vehicles that have actual wheels. I make this assumption because the bus service is frequently atrocious to hilarious degrees. This is true even when it isn’t forced to make detours during periods of extra construction.
Like. Alright.
I live near Bathurst Station. I like to run down to the lake on most mornings. I usually ran down Bathurst to the lake and thence to the bottom of Spadina in 20 minutes. Then I’d take the bus to work on the aforementioned corner. That ride managed to take a minimum of 20 minutes. It’s a shorter distance on a vehicle that is ostensibly capable of speeds that exceed the limits of a humanoid runner.
Toss it. Anyway!
Hilarious degrees . . . Right. I’ve seen five buses arrive simultaneously after an inordinately long wait.
But this is what gets to me.
I see people wait at that stop for significant periods of time. Many of them do it frequently enough to know that the service is seriously flawed. Some even try to sprint to the stop in the vain hope of catching a bus that isn’t even in sight.
But the station is right there!
It’s not my place to speak out against laziness. This isn’t about that. I don’t care about that. People can do what they want. On a related note, I’ve been known to take excessive measures to avoid walking in the winter. That’s really due to my inability to process cold temperatures, but it’s the same basic concept. I’m therefore able to sympathise with people who get off a bus after one stop. Usually.
But this really goes beyond laziness. If one is going to put in the effort to actually keep one’s own legs, one can walk for a single minute to get to that station. It’s usually possible for a relaxed pedestrian to arrive at the station before the bus because there are two sets of traffic lights after the stop. Beyond that, the buses are often filled to capacity by the time of their arrival at this final stop. But these people still struggle into the hot, sweaty midst of the throngs aboard the vehicles to avoid a walk that takes less time and effort than the one between the station’s bus loop and its train platform.
I can understand a fair amount of human behaviour. I don’t necessarily agree with all of it, but I can generally see why people do the things they do. Some things just confuse me, though. I don’t know why people lie in situations that attach no disadvantages to the truth, and I don’t know why these individuals get on that damned bus at Sussex. Believe me. I have thought about it. I have plenty of time for that when I’m standing at that corner. It just doesn’t work.
Bonus Question!
Best bus stop? London.
Jaymes Buckman
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