Stupid Little Buses on the 177

Friday, July 15, 2005, at 08:29PM

By Eric Richardson

If I'm not biking into work I have to take the 177 (PDF Schedule) from Pasadena to JPL and back. The buses that they use on the route are absolutely the worst I've ever ridden in. They're little, they ride horribly on the freeway, and oftentimes they seem to have other issues.

In the last week, for instance, there was one trip in which the bill collector on the fare machine was broken. The driver had to just let people on without making them pay, and probably passed up about $20 in fare just from JPL alone. Even worse, though, was the door. These little buses have a motor that operates the door, and apparently this one didn't want to quite work. It would get the door about 3/4 of the way closed, and that's it. So we rode down the 210 from JPL to Pasadena with the front door partially open. That doesn't seem too safe.

This morning I thought maybe things were going to get better. Up pulls a normal bus, with 177 written on a piece of paper and stuck in the window. The side of the bus was completely white, save for the "Travel Smart, Go Metro" sticker text. Obviously it had fresh paint over a Foothill Transit scheme, and inside the Foothill ads were still up. The ride was infinitely nicer and I didn't feel like the windows were going to rattle loose and fall off.

This afternoon, though, no luck. Back to the good old little buses. This time the air was out, so we had to ride down the freeway with all the windows open.

I hate those things.