Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › Rave: RapidRide driver (E line)
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October 2, 2014 at 9:06 pm #612849
WSBKeymasterI was downtown yesterday for an all-day hearing followed by a time-sensitive commitment. Like so many people, I was downtown without a car. I needed to get between the two locations relatively quickly – walking was out of the question for reasons including a heavy briefcase and a painful foot blister. I had loaded up my ORCA card with $20 the night before. It didn’t take. No cash. Ran to the nearest ATM, blister and all … got a $20 … no way to break it, I boarded the next RapidRide E Line bus going down 3rd toward my next location and tried to put the $20 in the farebox, knowing there was no change.
The woman driving the bus put her hand up to stop me. No, she said, no. Sheepishly, I accepted her decision and moved on. Made the next location just in time.
The ORCA card still wasn’t working when I had to head home via the C Line a couple hours later. I broke the $20, but $5 was the lowest denomination, so I put that in on the bus and that meant my earlier “free” ride was covered.
It was very kind of the driver. In case she’s a West Seattleite, maybe just maybe she’ll see this and know I did repay the “advanced” fare. I hope the ORCA card $ has finally “taken” because I’m downtown again and now have to catch either a bus or Water Taxi to get home!
-TR
October 2, 2014 at 11:00 pm #814397
DianeParticipantwelcome to the wonderful world of riding the bus; we are always grateful for the kind bus drivers
October 3, 2014 at 4:48 am #814398
4th of EightParticipantI am an E-line driver, (and West Seattlite!), but I can say that wasn’t me.. I would remember a $20.00 bill! But whenever I see someone starting to put in a $5.00 or more I always stop them because of their honesty and genuine effort to pay and no line of b.s. lame excuses of ‘why they don’t wanna pay’…
It’s so refreshing to have someone concerned enough to do the right thing despite the overage. I always stop them and tell them their honesty makes up for it. Please do that driver a huge favor and call Metro’s commendation phone line(553-3000) to say what a pleasant experience you had in such a bad day for you. Commendations are gold in our files and don’t come in as much as the complaints, and they make our bosses nicer to us for a few minutes! As much detail of time, direction and description of the driver and they should track her down. Thankyou for your greatfulness!!!
October 3, 2014 at 4:56 am #814399
4th of EightParticipantForgot to add that it’s frustrating and DUMB that folks put $$$ on their Orca and it’s 24 hours to load and be legit. It’s so embarrassing for folks to try to pay, especially when they HAVE pre-paid, but can’t get their money’s worth on the same day. I had a rider today that had happened to. It’s not fair in this tech/digital world where we make a debit purchase and literally by the time you are out in the parking lot, it has already deducted, yet money you load to pre-pay, you can’t access!
(If the WSB was T.R., I would’ve recognized you! ; )
October 3, 2014 at 5:04 am #814400
WSBKeymasterThanks for the tip on the commendation. I’ll see what exactly I can rally from my memory. So she wouldn’t get in trouble for letting me on without paying? That would be my fear. Anyway, the card WAS finally working by the time I boarded the Water Taxi today. – TR
October 3, 2014 at 5:36 am #814401
4th of EightParticipantSaying it was a $20 bill the Metro gods would understand and be happy that she handled a customer in a positive way. With all the grief they give us when a non-paying customer harasses us AND has the audacity to call in and complain about us and threaten our job.. it would be too contradictory to get her into trouble! You wouldn’t believe what we get hauled in for! In Metro agency eyes, the customer is always right.. even if they are drunk or psycho!
October 3, 2014 at 5:44 am #814402
miwsParticipantI’m glad to hear that calling in a commendation on this, would get a thumbs up from management.
I always worry about that kind of thing too, whether Metro, or retail.
Whenever I send a commendation in, I make sure it’s for something that did not involve the driver bending the rules, or anything.
Mike
October 3, 2014 at 6:01 pm #814403
sacatoshParticipantHey 4th of Eight, if you know the African-American male driver who drives the downtown-bound 21 that stops at 35th and Cloverdale around 8:15am, will you tell him that my spouse and I both have ridden his bus at various times and we adore him because he’s kind, pleasant, says hello and goodbye, and even waits for the kids who are a block behind, running for the bus. So many drivers just take off, and he goes out of his way to be kind. I’ll send in a mention to Metro too, but if he happens to read this I just want him to know how above and beyond he goes. I had a day where the bus prior to him didn’t show, and he managed to catch up the time and get everyone downtown on time while still driving safely, being kind, and not skipping any stops. He’s like superman. :)
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