The Advantage of Busses

Greetings. This afternoon I realized the true advantage of busses over ride share programs, like DART Paratransit in Dallas and Special Transit Services here in Austin.

I was getting ready to leave work. I've been having some trouble with my work voice mail, mainly not knowing how to use it. I finally got a gentleman from another department on the line who offered to come over right away and show me how to use the phone and setup my voice mail. He asked if I was going to be there, and I replied with, "Sure man; the busses run quite frequently." The man came over and showed me the phone system, and I educated him about the software that blind people use. It occurred to me when I was waiting for the route 5 bus I take, that I probably couldn't have done that if I was using ride share services. Meaning, I would have had to run out the door instead of been flexible. This is the true advantage of busses over ride share services, especially during rush hour when the busses run once every 20 or so minutes. The route 5 bus that comes at 5:15 goes the same direction as the one at 5:35. Besides, if I had caught a ride share ride, then I would have had to take a no show and try to get another ride, which could have come anywhere from a few minutes to as much as an hour later. That's not as convenient as taking a bus.

I've always known the value of busses, but its at times like this where they take on new menaings for me.