Strangers In The Night...

Passengers don't think about this and really, why should they?
But driving a 33 ton tank in the dark is just a bit different than driving my car.

Driving my car, I check a miror now and again but for the most part - if I stay in my lane, a lane which is way wider than my car, if I stay in that lane I just need to make sure I'm not rear ending anybody or running any red lights and all is well.

But not in this bus.
This beast has more blind spots than not.
I have to check each mirror AT LEAST every 3-5 seconds.
That means I get 3-5 seconds to look in front of me and glance at the road blocks & blocks ahead, look for traffic signs, signals, pedestrians, other vehicles, traffic patterns, road hazzards, weather, and see if there are folks at the next stop waiting to be picked up.
And in that glance, everything I saw needs to be processed and reactions have to be made.
And I have to still check the side mirrors and react to the same information from those mirrors.
And I have to answer questions from passengers inside the bus.

All that, no problem - that's what I get paid for.

But add onto all of this - THE NIGHT.
(cue spooky music)
ha ha ha
But seriously, if I have all that to do during the day, it's compounded by the dark.
Speed goes way down and visibility is reduced to what the moon, street lamps and the wimpy headlights on the bus that only illuminate the bumper on the car in front of me.
Most of you have noticed, as has been my experience so far that most of our stops are dark.
No street lamps, no lights - nada.
The stops that have those ads in them are usually off at night which makes it even harder to see anybody sitting down inside.
And all the lights inside of the bus are reflecting off the windshield - the end product is that I can better see what somebody is doing in the back of the bus than I can see the road in front of me.
It's my number one pet peeve: to drive by a passenger, only to see him jump outta the shadows at exactly the moment I'm driving by.
At that time of morning or night, I'm usually the only bus for another hour and that means somebody is left in an unsafe situation and will probably be late for work.
That means I failed at my one and only job - to get the passenger where he needs to go, when he needs to get there; safely.

One trick I've seen some regulars do is the mini flashlight.
They know I can't see them so they start flashing when they see me.
Eventually I get used to picking them up at that spot but until they've become a "regular" I don't know they are there.

I know it's easy to see me, I'm the big beast all lighted up at night; markers, flashers, inside and outside lights.

Just stay safe, is my biggest advice.
If you're at a dark bus stop, stand out under the sign.
Stand on the curb until you see me turn towards you and hit my blinkers - an indicator that I've seen you and am coming for you.
Don't stand in the shadows, it's not safe for you and I can't see you.
I want to see you, I want to pick you up and get you to where you want to go.
That makes us both happy.


Welcome aboard, find your seats - Let's Roll!