Transit Pet Peeves are now on the system!
Transit Pet Peeves are now on the system!
If you’ve been on a bus or SkyTrain car recently, you might have noticed that some peevish pets have made their way onto the system. As promised, our award winning Facebook campaign, Transit Pet Peeves, are now part of TransLink’s overall etiquette on transit program!
These first four characters, Funky Ferret, Hungry Hamster, Disco Dog and Chatty Chihuahua, will be up for six months. After that, Blocking Bunny, Birdy Big Bags, Crowding Kitty and Lounge Lizard will take their place.
And Transit Pet Peeves aren’t unique to just Metro Vancouver anymore. We just found out that our furry and scaly characters are such a hit that they’ll be using them on Calgary Transit as well!
Transit etiquette is always a popular topic and we’d love to know your thoughts on it. Let us know if you recognize these characters or perhaps know of some others!
While we should all do our best to be mindful of our fellow passenger, we also ought to do our best to make allowances for the variety of people who share our ride.
We all occasionally end up next to someone who could use a good bath, but I have noticed that it is typically socially disadvantaged people who end up this way. Perhaps they are homeless, or they perhaps have a brain injury, an illness, or other cognitive impairment. It is best not to judge. They are people too and somehow we are failing them.
That’s a great observation, Tone1point1.
My personal pet peeve are the riders that rest their feet on the seats, particularly in the buses that have the facing seats on the upper level. Too often I need to have my pants dry cleaned when I have sat on these seats from someone’s inconsiderate actions.
As a wheelchair user, one of my top pet peeves is how some people on the bus don’t realize that they have to move because their seats are home to the wheelchair belt-restraint system. Or, even worse, people who outright refuse to move (often not because of any physical impairment, but because they don’t want to — although there are some with legitimate physical reasons that would make moving difficult). This further delays the trip and annoys everyone, including me — I have to get to work to time, just like everyone else.
Another related pet peeve is people on SkyTrain who don’t realize that crowding a wheelchair user and preventing him/her from boarding during rush hour is a bad idea — wheelchairs can’t simply “squeeze on” like everyone else. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had people cut right in front of me to board first, even though I was there first. Being assertive helps sometimes but some people are just as assertive.
It’s a “dog-eat-dog world,” as the cliché goes.
Be glad we do not have this problem yet….
Yes, what Dirty Pants said! There have also been some yellow pamphlets in and around the system throughout the past few years that read “FEET ON THE SEAT AIN’T NEAT!” or something close to that.
Also, I think we should make the accessible seating areas on board trains and buses more visible (perhaps with different coloured upholstery or bigger stickers which mark such areas) so more people know that they may have to give up their seat at any time. :)
Nick: Accessible seating upholstery might help and has been used in some cities I’ve been to.
Sometimes it’s also the transit culture — I’ve actually been to a country (South Korea) where those seats are left empty even if it’s jam-packed during rush hour (and if you take the seat without appearing like you need it, you’ll get verbally scolded). I’m not a fan of verbally scolding people since not all disabilities are visible, but it was interesting to see how that was done.
Minor pet peeve of mine: riders paying with FareSavers/coins slowing the boarding process (not their fault though). Ideally, I’d like to see monthly/U-Pass holders boarding first, then FareSavers, and then finally coin. The bus cannot leave the stop until everybody is on the bus. You’ll get everybody on the bus and moving faster this way.
Guess this won’t be a problem once the Compass system though!
Tone1point1, April 12, 2013 @ 1:19 pm: I concur, while may I add, it’s kind of insulting. The cartoon is like saying people using busses have bad hygiene. The Evergreen has launched, so busses and sky train is still our primary transit commuting methods.
Dirty Pants, April 12, 2013 @ 2:31 pm: that’s Lounge Lizard
NextStopOrBust, April 12, 2013 @ 4:51 pm
Re: Bus – Hmm, I’m not entirely sure. Kindness vary by city.
Re: Sky train- I understand that too. The fact is no one can change (peoples’) character of Society. Some are understanding, respectful and kind, while others are self-centered. Everyone just deals with it – it’s life.
Nick, April 12, 2013 @ 9:44 pm: Everyone already knows how the accessible seating area works. (See above response)
NextStopOrBust, April 12, 2013 @ 10:49 pm
My observation on the big busses:
Burnaby on the 130 – leaves the accessible seating areas empty throughout the whole route for those who need it.
Coquitlam Bus Loop/Lougheed Stn (Tri-cities and transfers) – 1st priority – accessible seating areas to those who need it. If n/a, the bus loads faster by everyone choosing a seat based on the society seating plan. When the accessible seating area is needed people do move to allow space for wheelchair/strollers/elders. There’s no hesitation. They’re in the thinking process of which side will be chosen and how many seats are needed.
Allen, April 13, 2013 @ 5:43 pm
re: your pet peeve- I somewhat agree just for the reason of leaving everyone outside in a line on a rainy day getting drenched while waiting for those who pay by single coin admission or add fare.
re: Compass System
Translink already thought of bus loading with Compass. The Compass machines are probably linked to the updated GPS system.
For Community busses, only one device is needed – clock in and clock out one door
For the big busses, there’s three devices: one at the front, two at the back. (Extended busses- 1 at the front, 2 in the middle section 1, 2 at the rear door, section 2)
Front loaders can clock in and out with the front device
Back loaders will probably need to clock in on the right side, sign out on the left side – both being the right hand because 80% (estimated) of the human population are right handed.
My guess to the other ads are the following:
Blocking Bunny – those who stand beside the exit door when people need to exit
Birdy Big Bags – Back packs and duffle bags blocking pathway isle
Crowding Kitty (excludes Community busses & Skytrains)- people who stand at the front of a fully loaded bus who are slow to realize there’s space in the middle that the bus driver has to remind over the PA? Some bus drivers yell into the PA assuming there’s space on the bus when the bus is already full, packing us like sardines still taking in people….. But Kittens are gracious. If this one’s put on the sky train, it doesn’t make a difference. i.e. a night after Celebration of Light, Pack is good, everyone wants to get home asap- then I hear the sky train rails travelling twice as loud & less stable…. not good to pack the sky train.
Lounge Lizard – those who put their legs up on another seat or occupy more than one seat
@ Translink: 6 months each for two phases of ads… that’s rather too long just to get the point and concept across to commuters. Attitude and respect varies by society’s view and character….. not bus etiquette – which everyone is already aware of.
The biggest annoyance are the drivers that allow any drunk bum or junkie on the bus for free. Or the huge garbage bags full of cans that REAK
fyi…. Global has a segment on Tuesday morning….
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151579748352808&set=a.108041112807.92198.8475622807&type=1
Keep in mind the drunks on bored as well as the men and women who swear and have lack of clothing covering their bodies. Also the women who think the transit is their washroom to put on makeup. It would be nice if ladies were ladies when wearing dresses or shirts.
Riders when boring the bus, line up and please don’t bud in.
@ Cheers
I defend the women on this issue. If they want to put on makeup, while on transit, then I encourage them to feel free to do it. In fact, I encourage them to do it. An average trip is probably an hour, so it makes sense to use that time productively.
They are no more intrusive than a person reading a book. Transit isn’t a washroom, or a library, but people read on transit.
Gentlemen should stand and let the ladies sit.
For all those people who enjoy talking loud or a group of people conversing loudly, don’t worry you are heard by everyone on the transit; you are especially heard by the people who are resting, reading, or trying to enjoy the ride.
In regards to Tone1point1, I agree with you to a certain extent. But one thing to consider is pot smoke. What about the stinky pot smokers? Pot fills up the whole train. I don’t care who you are, pot smoke is awful. Even cigarette smoke is bad but pot smoke is worse.
Pole hoggers are extremely annoying as well. Their koala like traits must make them feel that it is okay to use the entire length and width of their body to cover every inch of a pole, or often even the double poles in skytrains. Most of the time, these pole hoggers lean against the entire pole with their backs. Good for them as they are hands free, free to surf their phone. Bad for the rest of the population.
On a crowded bus or train, this leaves the rest of the population struggling to find a spot to stand securely or just plain dig our knuckles into their back as they pole-hog.
@ Elaine
I never thought about that. I’m glad that you suggested it. I agree.
I came here to voice support and to thumb up, but it seems that we can’t thumb up here.
I am a senior and have asthma and copd. The fragences are so strong they take the oxygen out of the air I am trying to breath. To us who have this unseen problem it is life and breath please watch how much aftershave, shampoo, underarm deoderant, soap or perfum you use, as none of them are the same fragrance and mixed with the body heat they have terrible results. There are times I have had to get off transit or change my seat to get a breath.
Due to the fact I am severely allergic to cigarette smoke, it requires me to be very vigilant in avoiding it at all costs. When I am waiting to board a bus, I am constantly forced to abandon my place in the line up whenever a smoker decides to light up. What this requires me to do is stand in distance to the line up of commuters waiting to board the bus. When the bus arrives and people begin boarding, I have found myself approached by others telling me to go to the back of the line. When I respond, I was standing in the non-smoking line up…………..I am told there is no such thing. I respond by saying, if there is a smoking lineup, then there is surely a non-smoking line up. I have also observed others do the same as I am forced to do, on many occasions. If someone appears to be butting their way into a bus line up, in actuality it may very well be a “smoker” has violated their personal space and forced them to move. Lining up for a bus before it has even made it to the stop is a BC thing. No one ever lines up to board a bus in Alberta. Once a bus arrives at the stop, people begin boarding, no issues exist. I would love to see BC abandon forming line ups to board buses, it`s time to get with the times British Columbia!!
@ Lady Grace
No, Alberta needs to line up. We’ve got it right. Lineups ensure that the person, who got there first, gets to ride first.
Regarding smoking, smokers should goto the smokers lineup. People should stop complaining about nonsmokers.
Dear Lady Grace, Smoke isn’t an allergen. So you can’t be “allergic” to it. Science!