I'm waiting at an S44 bus stop, one of my usual stops. All commuters have a handful of stops they spend more time waiting at than they do on the bus they're waiting for. A well built man in an MTA coat comes to the stop, looks at the schedule, and groans. We talk for the duration of our wait.
Apparently this man works for a main dispatch in Queens or Bronx, despite living on Staten Island. He used to work locally, but the money moved and he was willing to tack on a few hours in travel time. He tells me that the bus run we were waiting for was probably removed in secrecy, as the MTA has been looking for ways to cut corners. Any schedule run that does not have a minimum average capacity is slowly being phased out, despite the schedule's statements otherwise.
This is distressing to me. It means that certain hours immediately after the morning rush and late at night will have little to no service, unless there's an exception to this for late night buses by way of compassion. Two months from now I will understand that compassion is absent from this corporation.
After 40 minutes of waiting, we finally get on the bus and go our own ways. Our communal misery binds us in the time it's there, building a community around our hate for the very company that we each have our own individual stakes in. While mine was only to get to work (now nearly an hour late) and the $20 I put down on the MetroCard that sits in my pocket like a lead weight, his was actually his livelyhood. Much in the same way that one does not become an IRS agent because they love money or the government or chasing after people, he's in it because he has no choice.
In the most simple way possible, the MTA of New York is monopolizing my city. It isn't just about transit anymore, it's about time. I can't walk to work in the hour it sometimes takes to wait for a bus, but that hour of my pay is still gone none the less. It eats and eats but is never full, and becomes a bloated mess of fat and waste. It becomes something that no one ever wants to get involved with, but they have no choice.
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The problem is the lack of caring the people who are in charge have. No matter what we say or do, they will always have the upper hand because they just don't give a shit about people. They only see us as money. Which is hilarious if you ask me. I know and understand times are tough right now...but if they had someone who at least cared, just a little I think there would be some major changes with the MTA. Instead of staring at us like a bunch of assholes on a panel, completely ignoring everything the people say maybe they wouldn't get as many complaints as they do. Oh wait, they ignore those too. It's just inevitable cycle. People care about money but they don't care about what is right anymore. Secretly cutting hours doesn't help either. In fact, that only angers the people you rely on because it makes us feel like we're being ripped off. $2.25 is OUTRAGEOUS for the service Staten Island gets. I don't think there is anything we can do at this point but accept the shit that is given to us and be grateful that it's not $3.00. Which I see happening in the not to distant future. Let's move to Kentucky.
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