Another class III bus foul

This one, like the first, took place on the 27, which, remarkably, still holds the top spot on my list of favorite routes.

He was elderly.

Dogs on buses? OK. Dogs on bus seats? Not OK.

Did I mention that he was licking the headrest?

Custom dictates that I close out this post with a basketball metaphor–one that doesn’t exactly apply but at least gives me an opportunity to squeeze in a shout to my favorite sport. (An example: “A foul of this magnitude might result in the whole dang team getting sold out from under its loyal [yet stadium-weary] fans.”) Unfortunately, I can’t do that today, as I am officially boycotting the NBA. Hmph!

Chicklet and the 27, part I

It seems that little Chicklet is a bit of an early talker. At eight months and some change, she said her first word (aside from “dada” and “mama,” that is): “kitty.” This is somewhat of a surprise, since we don’t have any pets, and she’s only seen a few living, breathing cats in her short life. (Our neighbors’ cat, Otis, is apparently pretty inspiring.)

My first word (at about the same age) was “more.” It is a concept that has defined my life ever since (you can never have too much chocolate ice cream or listen to “If I Was Your Girlfriend” too many times in a row), so it will be interesting to see how (or if) “kitty” comes to define Chicklet. Maybe she’ll grow up to be a cat lady. Or a veterinarian. Or a person who’s into leopard prints.

But I digress.

What I want to tell you about is Chicklet’s second word, which–I swear on The Book–was “bus.”

This morning, as she breakfasted on homemade applesauce and pseudo-Cheerios, the 27 stopped at a light outside our kitchen window.

Me (for the kajillionth time since her birth): “Rosa, see the bus?”
Chicklet (for the first time ever): “Bup.”
Me (incredulous): “Bus?”
Chicklet (emphatic): “Bup!”

She repeated it all morning. “Bup,” when she wanted more applesauce, “bup,” to get out of her high chair, and again (perhaps to restore my belief that she actually understands what the word means) when the 942 passed. Since then, she’s been saying it every time she sees or hears a bus, which, given the location of our home and our preferred mode of transportation, is pretty much constantly.

Such a smart girl. Before we know it, she’ll be memorizing schedules.

Speaking of the future…

Last week, Sound Transit released its new 15-year plan. The ST board is expected to decide whether to put it on the November ballot by July 24th.

Yes, please.

As you might have noticed, I’d much rather write about what’s happening on buses and (Lord willing!) trains than the nuts and bolts of transit planning. Fortunately, the folks at Seattle Transit Blog are doing an excellent job of covering this. They have all the detail, discussion, and analysis a transit geek (or concerned citizen) could ask for.

Some of my best friends drive cars

Another term for the glossary:

HBC, n: Honorary bus chick. A person who, usually because of circumstances beyond her control (living or working in an area not served by transit or physical limitations that preclude excessive walking), does not regularly ride the bus, but who otherwise supports the bus chick agenda. Some examples of this support:

• Advocating for more and better transit in her area
• Happily riding the bus when the opportunity presents itself
• Planning events and gatherings that are accessible by bus
• Possessing generally good feelings about the bus
• Purchasing a cool bus t-shirt for a bus-riding daughter-in-law

Like full-fledged bus chicks, HBCs often feel out of step with the car-dominated communities in which they live. They, too, look forward to a pollution-, traffic-, and sprawl-free future.

Your bus is pwned

A warning for bus wireless users: Bus Nerd suspects a hacker.

This morning I was on the 545 (coach 9549) that left Montlake around 9:30 (yes, thanks to the 48 I was running late). When I tried to connect my laptop to the coach’s wireless Internet connection, I saw an unsecured network, identified as “bus_pwnage,” in the wireless network list.

Translation of “pwn” from hacker-speak (leet-speak) is “own,” the concept of “owning” a victim’s laptop, web site, etc. by hacking it. The bus has likely been pwned by some hacker (h4x0r). [This means that] a connected user might try to visit seattlepi.com, but the compromised bus could redirect her to a hacker site that hands control of the machine to the attacker.

Note that a suggestive network identifier is not definitive proof of breached security, but a hack is the simplest explanation for what I observed. Other supporting evidence: The signal strength for “bus_pwnage” was a constant 100% the entire ride, meaning the originator was travelling with the coach, consistent with the normal bus wireless scenario.

Bus Nerd’s visual aid

How could this happen? Presumably some bus rider with a laptop + skills + nothing better to do exploited a vulnerability in the access point that ST uses to provide wireless Internet access on the bus. The attacker gains control of the access point and, among many resulting powers, she could change the name of the network from something like “Sound Transit” to “bus_pwnage” to announce to the world (well, maybe just the passengers) her defeat of the oppressive regime of Sound Transit. Such a feat isn’t that hard since IT security professionals consider unsecure wireless networks (the kinds found in cafés and yes, public busses) to be as safe as Clay Bennett at Seattle Center. [You had to go there?]

If this was indeed a hack, is the vulnerability limited to just this vehicle? That’s better than a fleet of vulnerable coaches. I let the driver know what I saw, and he seemed hep to the danger and indicated he’d take some (unspecified) action.

As for the alleged bus hacker, will she / he be satisfied with coach 9549, or will she tag every bus ST wireless-enabled bus? Is this a vanity vandalism ploy, or a real threat to bus riders’ computer security? And think of the pandemonium that would ensue if hacked wireless were the jumping-off point to taking over a coach’s external route display – 43’s that advertised themselves as 48’s and other such tricks would be the bus apocalypse.

My guess is it’s just vandalism (for now). I like bus wireless, so I hope ST can demonstrate that my incident was actually benign or let us know they’ve taken steps to prevent intrusions. Until then, bus web-surfers must watch for sharks…

I don’t know, I’m kind of digging the idea of changing (and not just the numbers on the front) some of those ubiquitous 43s to 48s.

Good lookin’ out, Bus Nerd.

Speaking of trickling…

This was the scene when a young BCiT lost her lunch (actually, it was probably more like a between-meal snack, judging from the bags of popcorn I saw the other kids holding) on the 554:

I can sympathize with the poor dear–and not just because of those enjoyable months I spent busing while pregnant. I experienced a similar episode back in my early bus chick days–except that I lost my breakfast (I was on the 2, on my way to school) and, because buses had windows that opened sideways back then, there was no caution tape involved. But I digress.

The driver warned us to stay in the front half of the bus until he switched coaches at Eastgate. He didn’t have to tell us twice. We passengers stayed bunched together in the front with the windows open, practicing one of the most essential bus riding skills: breathing through our mouths.

Trickle down

High fuel prices + lots more riders = a major budget shortfall, and hence, Ron Sims is proposing another 25-cent fare increase.

With Metro Transit ridership and diesel fuel prices at record levels, King County Executive Ron Sims on July 3, 2008 announced he will preserve current service and continue delivering new service by proposing a 25-cent fare increase. Sims opted for the proposed increase rather than cut service to pay for fuel costs that have skyrocketed over 60 percent this year alone.

“This worldwide fuel crisis comes at a time of historic ridership growth for Metro Transit–and is the reason why residents are turning to transit in record numbers as their own budgets are squeezed,” Sims said. “But the same rising fuel costs contributing to Metro’s popularity are making it more expensive to deliver service and maintain aggressive transit-growth plans.

If the Council approves the proposal, it will take effect on October 1st.

I don’t have much to say about this, except–yet again–that it’s time to get serious about finding creative, progressive ways (other than fares and sales taxes, please) to increase funding for transit. We said we wanted folks to ride, right?

Performance anxiety

Overheard on a Sunday trip to Fremont:

Westbound 14 stop, 23rd & Jackson, 2:30 PM

A dad and his two elementary-aged daughters are preparing to head downtown for some summer fun. As the bus pulls up, the dad turns to the younger of the two girls.

“Remember Hannah, you’re in charge of putting the money in.”

The little girl nods but looks slightly apprehensive as she steps into line. Just before boarding, she grabs her father’s hand and thrusts her fistful of bills at him.

“Daddy, I want you to do it!”

Eastbound 26 stop, 4th & Battery, 3:00 PM

Four women carrying folding chairs block the bus doors as they talk among themselves.

Woman 1: “Let’s see, if you can break a five, I can pay for her, and then she can buy me a coffee…”

The driver, who is far behind schedule and has already dealt with lift drama, downtown traffic, and a malfunctioning back door: “Ladies?”

Woman 2: “Sorry–we’re just trying to get our money together.”

Driver, exasperated: “It’s pay as you leave, so you’ll have plenty of time to get your money together.”

Woman 3, to the others: “See? I told you! It’s traumatic to ride the bus sometimes.”

Speaking of bus drivers…

Remember Rene, the car-free bus driver from the class I took in February of ’07? Just in case you don’t:

Irony of the day: The class instructor, Jeffrey…included an article about the high cost of car ownership in the class materials. One of the students, Rene, who has been car-free for 15 years, said that his job as a bus driver makes this choice extremely difficult. After all, someone has to get to (or from) the base when the buses aren’t running.

Rene went on to say that, according to his calculations, if he took a $10 cab ride to work every day and rented a car for two months out of the year, the total cost would be less than half the cost of a year of owning the two-year old vehicle he was considering purchasing. “I’m going to try that,” he said. “I’d really like to avoid buying a car if I can.”

Now that’s my kind of driver.

I ran into Rene at Busfather’s retirement party, and I am happy to report that he is still car-free. His solution was to move downtown, where he has easy access to almost unlimited buses, and the base is a straight shot from his place. The increased rent doesn’t come close to matching what it would have cost him to own a car (even before gas cost a grip)–or even the cab-and-rental solution he was considering.

All that and he likes driving the 48? Too bad I don’t get to vote for Operator of the Year.

June Golden Transfer

This month’s Golden Transfer goes to a man who’s been getting folks there for 38 years, the driver of all drivers, Mr. John “Busfather” Fabre. Some of you might remember Busfather from his Operator of the Year award ceremony back in May of 2006. Here’s a little bit from Metro about why he won:

“John has received multiple commendations from passengers, always the sign of an exceptional bus driver,” said Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond. “In this case, the commendations have a common theme – that John is extraordinarily kind, courteous and helpful towards his passengers.”

After a long career driving every vehicle (and darn near every route*) that Metro operates, John has decided to hang up his uniform. Last Friday was his last day driving. Here are some photos from his retirement celebration, held at Ryerson Base this afternoon:

Busfather got his name from his Operator of the Year “championship” ring (which folks were actually kissing at his award ceremony), and from his I’m-cool-but-don’t-cross-me vibe.**(This is a very good quality in a person responsible for maintaining order and for keeping things running on time.)

Our hero (third from left) showing off his ring with some fellow OOYs:

John drove the 2 waay back when I rode it to school in the 80s (yes, I’m pretty sure he was my driver a few times), but in recent years, he’s driven routes I don’t ride very often. Lucky for me, he lives down the street from our little bus family, so I see him around the neighborhood once in a while. He’s always cool and friendly, taking the time to shoot the breeze and share a few tidbits of Metro news.

Thank you, John, for your kindness, your commitment to excellence, and, especially, for spending 38 years of your life getting folks like me where they were going. Enjoy your well-earned rest.

* * * * * * *

*John has promised to e-mail me a list of all the routes he has driven in his career. As soon as I receive it, I’ll post it here.
UPDATE (6/3)
Here is John’s list:

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,
26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,36,37,38,39,41,42,43,44,48,60,71,72,73,
74,99,ST570, monorail. [Metro used to operate it.]

…these routes have changed over the years. Just a few that I remember:
The #8 was the old Ravenna
The #6 was the Stoneway.
The #12 was the 12 E cherry and 12 26th Ave. So.
The #22 was the Roosevelt
The #48 went from Rainier and Martin L. King Jr. Way to 45th and Brooklyn. It was a short route compared to now.

He also sent some great photos–much better than my bus-chick-come-lately pics. I’ll post a few of them if I ever get a moment.

**Then again, a fair number of people at his OOY ceremony and at today’s party asked if I was his daughter (even I admit that we do kind of favor), so it seems that one could interpret it in another way.