Public Transportation

[Venus193]

Ditto to Emma's statement about children and transportation choices.

If you are traveling with a young child who gets bored, please don't encourage them to do anything that is annoying or potentially hazardous to others.  I'm referring to the woman who encouraged a little girl to sing "Old MacDonald" on an off-peak train in a car half full with adults attempting to read and the parents who allowed their kids to "pole dance" in the middle of the car.  I should not have to get up to go to another car to get some relative peace or safety.

[JonGirl]

Ditto to Emma's statement about children and transportation choices.

If you are traveling with a young child who gets bored, please don't encourage them to do anything that is annoying or potentially hazardous to others.  I'm referring to the woman who encouraged a little girl to sing "Old MacDonald" on an off-peak train in a car half full with adults attempting to read and the parents who allowed their kids to "pole dance" in the middle of the car.  I should not have to get up to go to another car to get some relative peace or safety.

Good grief. 

[Jolie_kitten]

There's something that happened to me a while ago that I have no idea how I could have handled. So, I'm in the bus, standing, and as someone gets up to leave the bus, a seat is freed. I'm tired and I could really use sitting down a little. There's an elderly man standing in front of me, a bit nearer to  seat (sort of between me and the seat). I wait for 3-4 seconds to see if he makes any move towards occupying the seat. He doesn't. I point to the seat and ask in a polite tone, with a smile: "Excuse me, do you wish to sit down?" He gives me a disgruntled look and says in a PA tone: "No, you can have it." I motion towards the seat a little and he continues "All of you young people act like you have bones growing in your belly." At that point, I lost patience a bit and asked again in a bleaker tone: "Do you or do you not wish to sit down?" He just turned away. Did I do something wrong? I just don't know what to make of this.

[Venus193]

You did nothing wrong.  P/A people are manipulators of guilt; don't let them win by letting that work.

[Jolie_kitten]

What strikes me the most is that I fail to see what he was intending to achieve trough that sort of behaviour. If it was the seat that he wanted, he could totally have had it.

[Mopsy428]

For trains: do not move in between train cars while the train is in motion. Not only is it against the rules, but when it's freezing cold outside, the people who are sitting near the doors get blasted with cold air.

[irish1]

"There's something that happened to me a while ago that I have no idea how I could have handled. So, I'm in the bus, standing, and as someone gets up to leave the bus, a seat is freed. I'm tired and I could really use sitting down a little. There's an elderly man standing in front of me, a bit nearer to  seat (sort of between me and the seat). I wait for 3-4 seconds to see if he makes any move towards occupying the seat. He doesn't. I point to the seat and ask in a polite tone, with a smile: "Excuse me, do you wish to sit down?" He gives me a disgruntled look and says in a PA tone: "No, you can have it." I motion towards the seat a little and he continues "All of you young people act like you have bones growing in your belly." At that point, I lost patience a bit and asked again in a bleaker tone: "Do you or do you not wish to sit down?" He just turned away. Did I do something wrong? I just don't know what to make of this."

Buses seem to bring out the crazies! I don't think you did anything wrong at all. You didn't even move towards the seat before offering it to him. He was just a grumpus - not your problem.

[Mopsy428]

Do not complain and pitch a fit because the person who bought a reserved ticket and got there after you gets to board the bus before you do. That's what reserved tickets are for.

Pay attention to the line you are in; if you don't know, ask. It's better to ask someone if you are in the general seating line than it is to be told by the bus driver as he (or she) is taking tickets that you are in the reserved seating line and have to go to the back of the general seating line because you don't have a reserved ticket.

If there are numerous seats available, and you choose to sit next to me, do not follow me if I move.

For print at home tickets, make sure you are actually printing a ticket. If the e-mail says, "THIS IS NOT A TICKET" that means you can't use it to board the plane/bus/train; if you can't get on because you don't have a ticket, don't blame the person in charge of boarding.

Speaking of printing, make sure your print-at-home tickets aren't so light that you can barely read them. If it doesn't look like you have an actual ticket, the person in charge doesn't have to let you board. (Yes, I've seen this happen more than once.)

[snowdragon]

Also on the subject of reserved seating. If my ticket says i get seat 1A and you want that seat, tough noogies, you don't get to tell me "go sit somewhere else my kid/bag/computer is here" or what not.

[Wonderflonium]

I know it's been mentioned, but seriously, if the signs say you are to give up certain seats for the elderly or disabled, for the love of little green apples, do it!

Yesterday, an elderly lady using a cane got on the bus. No one moved. (I was already standing.) The driver asked her if she needed a seat, and she said she'd be OK, but she was unsteady on her feet. People ignored her, so the driver called out, "Can this lady get a seat?" Nothing. He said it again, a bit louder. Nothing. The third time, he practically yelled, and I guess people finally figured out that we were not moving until this woman had a seat. I swear!

Also, I don't expect complete silence (although I'd love it), but keep it quiet. At the very least, use your "indoor voice." It's not necessary to scream.

I know the train is loud. I know you like loud music. That still doesn't mean that you should have your iPod so loud that I can identify the song (by an artist I don't like and therefore don't listen to much) bleeding out of your earbuds from 3 rows away.

No, you cannot touch my hair.

I understand that you are going downtown for a fun day/coming home from a fun day/baseball game. That's great. I'm not, so again, please, keep the conversations low and the kiddos in the seats.

If you are traveling with a friend and you plan to speak to them, sit next to them. Don't sit in separate rows and make us all listen to you yelling your conversation. Even worse when 3 people are chatting separated by several rows. Common sense, people!

[Íkorna]

My beef?  There have been a couple of mentions about when someone is in the inside-seat and has to exit. Sometimes I politely say "excuse me, I get off here" - and the outside-person wordlessly manages to shift-her-knees to the outside about 20 degrees.  Uh - that's not going to do it.  While I wouldn't call myself a large person, I'm not small either.  Honestly - can't you stand up for a few seconds, if necessary?

Even worse when accompanied by an annoyed look.

If I said I need to get out and they moved their knees a bit, but not their person, then they get my butt in their face when I push past them. I'm not huge, but I can't make myself any smaller than I am (I'm not Harry Potter!), so increasing the space from 2" to 5" inches doesn't actually help me get my 12" cross section past you. Sigh and roll your eyes all you want, I'll be off the bus in a minute, and you'll still be there and as unhappy as you want to to be.

6.  It is never incorrect to greet the driver when entering the bus, or thank him when exiting.  In fact, some skills-development classes for the developmentally disabled teach them to always thank the bus driver when exiting.

It always amazes me when people don't treat their driver with the minimum of courtesy. S/he's not an automaton, it's real person who generally appreciates being treated as such. Even when exiting out the back door, I generally call out a "thank you!" (well, not in NYC on a crowded bus, but certainly in CT, when often I'm the only one getting off at my stop.)

In my not inconsiderable experience with public transit, bus drivers are unfailingly polite and courteous.

I use NYC buses frequently, and while I wouldn't call out 'Thank you' from the back door I certainly would from the front. It's depressing how few people do. I absolutely get what you mean about people treating bus drivers like they're automatons-- When I was in high school just before the Thanksgiving break, the bus driver gave a very brief version of the history of Thanksgiving as we pulled into the school bus stop as a joke. He was clearly tired and trying to make us smile, and maybe two or three out of a packed bus even glanced at him at any point.

Another bit of etiquette regarding bus drivers-- Yes, it's incredibly annoying when you've been waiting a long time to see that the bus approaching isn't in service. However, the person driving that bus is probably taking it from one depot to another, as is part of their job. Screaming obscenities at them and displaying certain hand gestures is not acceptable. ...Yes, I do know someone who has this job, how could you tell?

[Bill_P]

Been a long time since I used public transportation regularly, but I would only put my stuff on the seat next to me if the bus/train was virtually empty, and as it started to fill up with passengers I would remove my stuff & put it on my lap or the floor to indicate that the seat was vacant & I didn't mind if someone sat next to me.

Here's another rule to add to the list:  If it's raining and you have an empty seat next to you, don't put your wet umbrella on the seat!  I can't believe there are people who have to be told this, but believe it or not people don't like to have to sit in a puddle & have a soggy butt  on their commute to work.

[Fleur-de-Lis]

Please, just move to your selected seat. I can't push you out of my way to get the one I want, but I don't want to wait while you amble ahead of me, focused on your iPod. Put your toy away and show some courtesy and respect for the person behind you.

[PurpleFrog]

If you think you may fall asleep do not put your bags on the seat regardless of how full the bus/train is when you get on.

It is incredibly rude to have your bags next to you on a full bus/train and miraculously fall asleep every time you pull in to a stop, only to 'wake' as soon as every has squashed into a seat.

Try to avoid pungent foods in enclosed areas.

Likewise do nor paint your nails the smell is awful.

No, strange man the female sitting next to you does not want to see pictures of your (frankly unimpressive) scrabble equipment.

[AmyBird85]

One for the gentlemen: We know you are built differently, but do you really need to sit with your knees that far apart? If you are storing prickly pineapples, please consider placing them in a carrier bag instead. And you are allowed to fold your newspaper and not hold it at arm's length.

And while I'm at it, if you (general) are going to have a 42 minute top-of-your-voice cellphone conversation, can you try to make it more interesting? I'm sure your flower arrangement was delightful, but I didn't need to know about it in that much detail.

I think I had a bad day on the train today 

That happened to me a few weeks ago on the bus. A man sat next to me with his legs spread so far apart that even with my legs crossed and facing towards the window they were touching me. And he sat in such a way that his elbow dug into my ribs as well. I was on the top deck and there were no other seats and I felt so uncomfortable.

A colleague of mine had a similar story too, where she sat down next to man also with his legs akimbo. He then proceeded to leer at her and started rubbing his leg, and started trying to chat her up!!! (Think creepy stuff like "Hey pretty girl, how you doing?" in very broken English). It really freaked her out.