Boyle McCauley News

Since 1979 • April-May 2024 • Circulation 5000

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Taking the Bus: Road Stories

I am an Edmonton Transit System user. If I’m not walking, I’m on the bus. I take it to work, I take it from work, and I take it to my various adventures around our city. Among other things, the bus is entertaining. It’s rare that I won’t have at least one story to tell at the end of the week about my travels on ETS.

One fine autumn day, I was taking the bus from the south side back downtown. There was a small crowd on the bus and the day was mild and bright. Construction had us detour as we went through the valley. Our driver had announced that and then waxed poetic about relaxing and enjoying the fine valley vista of fall colours before us. We all agreed and settled comfortably in our chairs and collectively sighed a breath of contentment. Those rare moments of peace are hard to come across and should be treasured when they do arise.

There are other moments of laughter. My husband and I were going downtown on the Number 5. Scattered throughout the bus was a group of seniors. Just a few stops down from where we had boarded, one of the seniors started talking above the fray to gather her group to debark at the next stop. There did seem to be some confusion among them, but they lined up and stepped out the back doors. We heard one man above the rest and the line slowly reformed and they re-boarded through the front doors. Chatters and laughter increased as they realized they were a stop short of their destination.

There are times when reaching a destination can be difficult. We were on the LRT heading south for an appointment. We boarded at Stadium Station and headed downtown. We could sense something was a little off – the trains were slow and the crowd seemed large for that time on a Saturday morning. Once we came to Churchill Station we had to de-board and cross the platform to jump on the next train as there were technical difficulties along the line. For anyone who rides the LRT, this would feel wrong as simply one does not expect to head south on the Clareview track. However, we and a very large crowd, got on the next train and waited and waited, shoulder to shoulder, for the journey south to begin. Fortunately, we did indeed head in a southern direction. Unfortunately, it was an agonizingly slow pace. I wondered aloud if we were caught in some hell-loop that would prove impossible to escape. We did escape and still made our appointment in a timely fashion.

Our transit system isn’t perfect. I don’t think I’ve encountered anything perfect though. It’s the imperfections that make things interesting and that will make for good stories. Enjoy the ride.

Keri lives and takes the bus in Boyle Street.

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