A letter to Soundtransit

(CC'ed to main@soundtransit.org)

I would like to drop you a line on the quality of your service, and in particular, your operators. I've never had reason before to complain about Pierce Transit operators or the Soundtransit routes they operate. But let's talk about the King County Metro operators. My first ride today was on the route 550 from Seattle to the Bellevue Transit Center. I assumed that all buses when they make stops at Transit Centers, they actually go into the transit center to make passenger drop offs (as previous experience on 564 has shown me). The route 550 (which I had never ridden before) didn't actually stop at the transit center, and since I don't know the 'lay of the land' in Bellevue, I wasn't aware where I was initially, and so I got off the bus right before it pulled out. Please tell the driver that I can do without the dressing down and the rude comments. That is inappropriate, unprofessional, and in most other occuptations, grounds for on-the-spot termination (not to mention that agencies, government and otherwise, do get sued on quite a regular basis for crap like this).

After concluding my business at Bellevue, had to take the 564 to Puyallup. The coach I got on was #9024, boarding at the Bellevue Transit Center. As we pulled out, I heard him mutter something about Friday afternoon traffic, which is understandable. The commute during rush hour is never a walk in the park. As we went through the transit centers en route to Puyallup, I noticed that nobody could hear what the dirver was saying over the intercom. That wasn't an issue until we got to the Sumner Train Station, when the driver apparently asked if there was anybody on the bus who wanted to get off at Sumner. There where two passengers sitting behind me who wanted to get off, but didn't hear the driver's question over the intercom (note: muttering is not an acceptable form of communication). They were not amused when the bus drove by he sumner train station without stopping. The driver did stop the bus a couple of blocks away form the train station, but i doubt my fellow passengers were able to make their connections. I then proceeded to the front of the bus, as the driver appeared to be havin navigation issues. In between his profanity laced tirade about the route (and how he should've already been home), his job, and how he's never going to drive a 564 route, he was able to get back on the freeway and get to South Hill. In my profession, I'm in a position of management, and if I see any of my employees as 'lost' as this driver, I would make see to it that they knew the task at hand, and how to perform it. That's basic management. If I heard my employees complaining to customers about how they don't like their job, I would see to it that would be their last day on the job. I've heard the rumors that Metro drivers on Soundtransit routes can be jackasses. These two drivers today only reinforce that opinion.