Transit...Why?

I am all for environmentally, public funded types of transportation. Taking the bus doesn't really bother me. In fact, I support it 100%. And when I get to go to the large urban centres, I can fully appreciate how the public transit system operates and services the needs of large quantities of ungreatful, grumbly, pisswads, in the hopes there will be at one smiley person a day who says "thankyou".
However, I am in my mid-sized urban centre, where the bus runs more frequently than busses run in my previous city I lived in. Although, it isn't much of a consolation, when one doesn't know if they will be early, on-time, or late...without much of an apology...or the possible chance of a grumble, because everyone knows it is the passengers fault.
Okay, so the job of bus-driver...not glamorous...although well-paid, and at regular hours. Why is it that the city always manages to hire more unfriendly people to drive their busses then the friendly compassionate drivers??
I don't know how many times I have seen elderly rushed onto or off the bus, stops missed and the poor elderly person with their walker or wheel chair forced to hoof it further than their hip replacement was ever meant to go...no apology.
I don't know how many times I have seen a troupe of disabled and mentally dysfunctional people suffer abuse from bus drivers who don't have the patience for buckling in those with wheelchairs or helping the aids assist the handicapped into a safe passenger position.
How many times I have seen a bus pull away from a main stop three minutes before it is scheduled to leave and the driver won't stop for those people who are RUNNING to catch the bus that is leaving EARLY!
Okay, so there are the occasional gems who warm my heart and assure me that not all is lost...the dark side hasn't completely consumed the public service.
Although, the U-Pass may or may not assist in some very important changes. For one, it will save me 77 dollars...that I spent this month on a mother flipping bus pass.
Hmm, so student union office isn't open everyday...only select days, and it is more of a guessing games as to when it is open or not...and well students are suppose to get their passes from there. So I missed the day it is open and I figured I would toddle off to Shopper's Drug Mart to get my beloved month pass. I said I was a student showed my "graduate" UBC student ID. And the teller sold me a student bus pass. Yes it looked different than the ones I usually sport, however, I figured the teller would know better than me and sold me the appropriate pass considering my identification and all. So, July 1st rolls around, and I want to have a leisurely day down at the farmers market checking out fresh produce...I get my spanky new bus pass and hop the bus. I got lucky, I got the asshole driver, he is a consumate jerk, who drives erractically and the only rush he is concerned about is the one that gets him closer to a Tim Horton's, for which he makes no apology if the lines up are long and his passengers miss connections because of his need for Timmys! Oh I sink when I see him. And I sunk when I saw him July 1st, but wow did he come to life with the prospect of kicking me off the bus, when he saw my student bus pass. Turns out my student bus pass is only if you are in highschool...not university. Slowly but surely I talked my way through it and he let me stay on. I went straight to Shoppers to exchange the pass and pay the difference.
Well...ya...no you can't do that....Shoppers can't do that, I have to go to City Hall and do that...Shoppers doesn't do refunds or exchanges. I complained full heartedly and ended up needing a regular pass since well the bus is my life line currently in this urban sprawl HELL...OH MY GOD, did I end up hating my mid sized urban centre July 1st? YES!!!
So, I tried in my best imitation of calm and collected to point out to the manager that if an establishment is selling an item to a consumer they need to be clear on what they are selling and policy around the item sold. They need to relay that to ALL their staff, so the staff can relay that too the consumer. That way 77dollars can be saved in trying to find fucking transportation!
However, the reply was, that I should have known...that it isn't there fault and it is my responsibility...grrr...
Lesson learned? On many levels yes. So, saving up for a car now!