Illegal Bus Transfer

This illegal transfer was issued to me today:



It was double punched by the person who gave it to me.  That person was the bus operator of the Metro line I take each morning.

He didn't have the transfer ready, so he punched it while we were rolling, something I find to be rather dangerous.

If I am restricted from operating a mobile phone while driving, surly a bus operator is restricted from punching transfers while driving.

I have seen riders stopped for passing old transfers.  The Torrance bus operator did a double take at the transfer but didn't say anything.  I guess he's used to double punched transfers.

They also use an official "jagged hole" punch to make it difficult for people to punch them on their own.  But that is to prevent books of transfers from being stolen and punched by thieves.

The bus lines are quasi government operation.  They have the force of government backing their actions and guidelines as well as huge financial backing (subsidy).  The fare is kept artificially low by this backing.

They have no incentive to provide good service.  They don't care if they expose "customers" to problems by their mishandling their fare media.

This is not the first time I've seen double punched transfers.  One time, I almost didn't get a transfer at all because the operator couldn't find a single transfer to give me.  Lucky for me, she found a book of current transfers in her personal bag.

Posted via email from Anthony Martin's Weblog