A missing engagement ring, reunited loved ones, an outpouring of transit love and the generosity of people to a fellow passenger are among our favourite tales that made us smile this year.

Woman reunited with lost diamond ring

How would you feel if you looked down at your hand and realized that your one karat yellow pear-shaped diamond engagement ring was missing? That’s what happened a few months ago to a Canada Line passenger who lost her ring when she put her hand between the seat and the wall of the train.  Not surprisingly, the woman was desperate to get her ring back. It took a few frantic days but, lo and behold, her ring was returned and delivered to the Lost Property office. To say the woman was happy is an extreme understatement!

Front-line employees who look out for people who need help

Our staff who work on the front lines of our system, such as SkyTrain Attendants (STAs) and bus operators, are always on the lookout for people who might need help. For example, STAs helped find a boy with autism who was reported missing on SkyTrain this August. And a few months ago one of our STAs came across an elderly man at one of the stations who she thought might be intoxicated. It was clear after a few minutes of conversation that he was confused and disoriented, and probably needed medical attention. She encouraged him to stay with her while another STA contacted Transit Police. It turned out that the man had dementia and had been missing for the last two days; his family was relieved and happy he had been found safe and sound.

Feeling the transit love

We’ve all had a day when our bus has been late or we’ve been passed up on a busy route but, by and large, transit gets people in this region where they need to go. Judging by the success of our I Love Transit event in July, there are lots of you out there who agree. We had our biggest “I Love Transit” event ever, and we were overwhelmed by the outpouring of transit love. Check it out in this #ilovetransit compilation on Storify. It truly warms the cockles of my heart reading these again!

People helping out a fellow passenger

In May, Peter Cockroft, an operator on a West Vancouver Blue Bus heading to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal, had to detour his bus to the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge because of an incident on the Lions’ Gate Bridge. He told the passengers on board that this would mean they would miss the ferry sailing. One woman on board burst into tears, explaining that her mother was in hospital in Nanaimo, with only a few hours left to live.  The passengers on the bus suggested she take a float plane instead, but the woman didn’t have enough money to fly. Everyone on board decided to help by throwing in what money they could spare, managing to get together enough for her airfare (one woman even threw in a bunch of tissues because she didn’t have any money to contribute). Peter got the woman as close as he could to the float plane terminal so she could get a flight, going above and beyond for a customer in need.

Truly an amazing story. You can read more about it on this Nanaimo News Bulletin article.

Share your story

Do you have a nice transit story from 2012? Maybe something like this one from the storm that hit our city last week? Share with us in the comments.

Author: Tina Robinson