AGAIN: MARTA driver parks bus on busy street, goes shopping
September 6, 2007 at 11:12 am by Andisheh Nouraee in Randomly NotedThis morning, for the umpteenth time, I saw a MARTA bus driver park an in-service bus in the middle of a busy street in Decatur to go shopping at a gas station convenience store.
According to the Route 123 bus schedule, this bus was supposed to be picking up passengers at the East Lake MARTA Station.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
How long was he there?
September 6th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Not sure this time. I didn’t stick around.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
I only ask because is this a case of a guy who has to go to the bathroom and wants to buy a bottle of water? Or is this a case of a guy going to a gas station, hanging out for 30 minutes, etc?
Not trying to make excuses, but sometimes things aren’t what they seem.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
The stops are typically quick and driver typically comes out with a beverage. It’s a pit stop, not a lunch break.
That said:
1. The bus was parked illegally on a main street at the tail-end of rush hour.
2. The bus behind schedule on its route, according to MARTA schedules.
3. Presumably, bathroom breaks are worked into the driver schedules. If this is a scheduled break, then the bus route schedule needs to be updated to reflect it.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
1) It would probably put the driver further behind to pull into the gas station, since it looks like a tight turn and he doesn’t want to block the entrance.
2) Certainly being behind is an inconvenience, but it’s not like the guy is miles from where he’s supposed to be. And, honestly, most of the time the buses are off schedule
3) Sometimes your bladder doesn’t work on the same schedule. Are you suggesting the guy should wet himself just to stay on schedule?
I’m really not trying to argue with you about it, but it seems like there might be a logical explaination for all of this. And this reeks of a TV News “investigative report” where someone follows a bus around with a camera to catch someone napping. CL can do better.
September 6th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
I am confrused, Mr. Sellout. How is it ever okay to park a MARTA bus in the middle of a busy street so you can do anything other than pick up or drop off passengers? After decades of service, MARTA must have a way to help its drivers find relief without having to leave a bus in the street.
Talk of being behind schedule, etc. isn’t important but blocking a heavily traveled street is not okay. Did you sellout to MARTA?
By the way, George Pepard would lever let me leave the van int he middle of the street.
September 6th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
If this is a scheduled break, then it needs to be on the schedule.
If this is not a scheduled break, the driver needs to pack a small bag with drinks.
The driver stops there regularly. It’s not an emergency if it happens at the same time, in the same location, nearly every day. It’s either bad planning or failure to abide by the published schedule.
The driver can park legally on the street from which I’m taking the picture.
Just to clarify, I’m not following the bus. I live on the bus route.
And this is not an investigative cover story.
September 6th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Easy folks: I’m not defending the guy — just trying to say there may actually be something to explain this. Do we KNOW if bathroom breaks are built in? If so, do we KNOW this ISN’T the driver’s scheduled break? Do we KNOW if it’s against policy to park his bus where he does?
All we KNOW is that Andisheh passes this guy every day at the same time (sounds scheduled to me) and it annoys him.
Mr. T — I did not sellout to MARTA (they can’t afford me)
And, Andi, I’m not suggesting this is an investigative cover story. But being on CL’s blog it gives it a sense of news credibility as opposed to something that just annoys somebody on his way to work. This isn’t a personal blog — it’s a newspaper blog. So you’d think that anything posted would at least meet a minimal standards of journalism. If not, give me access — I could post 100 things that annoy the crap out of me!
September 6th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
It doesn’t annoy or irk me personally. I don’t know where’d you’d get that idea.
It’s a tiny observation about the city that, last time I posted about it, struck a chord with some readers.
This blog is about things big and small related to either metro Atlanta or CL. This is for sure in the “small” category.
I’m not falsely accusing anyone of anything. The driver is parked illegally and running late.
September 6th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
I’d get the idea it irks you because you’ve posted about it at least twice –
That said, as a journalist, i think it’s incumbent upon you to get an answer to your question. Why don’t you pull over one day go into the store and ask the driver? Maybe there’s an explaination! Maybe there isn’t! Or call the MARTA PR person (Jocelyn somethingorother).
Just cuz this is a blog doesn’t free you from doing the journalistic basics. Ask a couple of questions.
September 6th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Okay Mr. they-can’t-afford-me-but-can-afford-Jocelyn-somethingorother-who-used-to-work-in-the-Governor’s-office-and-probably-makes-pretty-nice-dough, I am not concerned with MARTA sticking to a schedule, only that the driver seems to be leaving his or her bus in the middle of the damn street.
Please answer one question: is it or is it not illegal to simply park an automobile (or bus) in a lane designated for moving cars only? You know it is. So, if the driver is having a snack attack, shouldn’t he or she first park the bus legally?
That’s all I really care about. And I think you’re right that a journalist should ask questions, if he really wants to get to the bottom of this. But if you want a CL blog to post all of the things that annoy you, you’re going to have to give all that money back and get back into journalism.
September 6th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Some of what’s on this blog is reported throughly. Some of what’s on this blog is observation. Some of what’s on this blog is opinion. Some is entertainment.
September 6th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Sellout – you can always start your own blog for free or for a very low cost. Services like Blogger, Typepad, and others make it very easy. That way, you have unlimited room to complain about Andisheh and whatever else annoys you.
I’ve been on buses before that have made similar, unscheduled stops. Given the reaction to Andy’s previous entries on the subject, I know I’m not the only one with this experience.
This story is actually quite newsworthy. Our tax dollars are going toward union wages, which pay for bus drivers, who drive service into the ground by making these unscheduled stops. It all gives MARTA the perception of being an even less viable option for transportation than it already is.
September 6th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Mr. T: I didn’t mean they couldn’t afford me based on what I make — I meant they couldn’t afford to give me enough to make me sellout to THEM! That’s one job I would not want.
Joe, you’re missing my point: If I started a personal blog it would be just that — a personal blog. I could say whatever I wanted and talk about whatever the hell annoyed me or pleased me. That’s not what this blog is….it’s a blog run by a newspaper.
A blog run by a newspaper of high regard like CL (didn’t even choke when I said that) has a different standard. I’m not saying that musings about life in CL-land aren’t worthy of the blog — but if you’re gonna blog about something twice at least ask a question or two.
That said…parking in the middle of the street is wrong
September 6th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Although … I want to check with MARTA to see if it is illegal for a bus to park at a stop for a scheduled break. But to do that, we’d have to ask a question….
September 6th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Sellout, you are a complete asshole. Are you sure you don’t still work at the AJC and not for some dying PR agency .You sound like a drunk copy editor. No offense. Also, Mr. T., I’m going to whip your ass at that Redneck Drive-In, just like that other guy was going to do. You know, Skippy.
September 6th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Honestly, Sellout, you never know what a personal blog can do for you :)
So.. by avoiding my point about the newsworthiness of the issue, are you agreeing that this is newsworthy?
September 6th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Joe: it MIGHT be newsworthy. This guy may be violating every transportation law in Georgia and 7 of the 10 commandments. But we’ll never know. Nobody has asked!
However, on a scale of newsworthiness, I’d still give it low marks unless the guy was running drugs from the convenience store while his bus idled in the middle of traffic. Otherwise, it’s just an annoyance of life in the big city.
September 6th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Lighten up on the Bus Driver. He is only paying homage to Citgo’s Hugo Chavez of Venezuala, who was made famous by Macon’s Mayor Hakim Mansour Ellis.
I hear rumors that Chavez is going maybe, kinda, iffy, pardoxically buy the Used to be Macon Telegraph and rename it the Venezualan Telegraph. This tip was furthered by The UTBMT’s censorship of about a gazillion comments following one of their 9/4/07 Bibb County Commission Meeting articles, where the first 90 minutes of the meeting dealt with GDOT issues and the appearance of Conflicts of Interest between the Bibb Commish and GDOT. If you can get your hands on the Bibb County Transcript, you’ll maybe understand why the bus drive stopped at Citgo..
Now that GDOT Chair Harold Linnenkohl is soon to be gone (Nov 30), will he go to work for former GDOT Chair Wayne Shackleford’s Engineering firm and will they also sell out to Venezuala or just continue to operate under the current, no penalty Ethics violation Laws” of that third world, isolated country in the making-Georgia?
Dadgummet Doug Monroe, you picked a fine time to leave us Bro!
September 6th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
I was waiting for someone to make a Citgo comment.
September 6th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Face facts: the driver probably stopped at the Citgo to get more beer. The driver was probably drunker than Sellout if that is even possible. It was probably Venezuelan beer, too.
September 6th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Sometimes it’s citgo to have the last word, other times it’s gitgo. I’m just trying to get Hugo Chavez to buy the Macon Telegraph, in a “ROUNDABOUT” way..
I want my starving, job threatened, reporter buddies to be able to realize a gain on their McClatchy MNI Stock Options!
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Roundabouts.htm
September 6th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Why does everyone want to kick my ass? Didn’t you guys see Rocky III or Wrestlemanias I & II or D.C Cab? I should be registered as a weapon.
September 7th, 2007 at 9:02 am
Gee Acworth….all this venom towards me and even after I said your redneck beach was nice!
For the record I am not drunk — now — nor was I when I wrote my posts. However, I cannot attest for the time in between.
Okay, I’m gonna go park my car in the middle of I-85 and wait for CL to do a story…
September 7th, 2007 at 9:55 am
“Okay, I’m gonna go park my car in the middle of I-85 and wait for CL to do a story…”
That’s funny.
September 7th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Sellout, you\\\’ve been lucky so far. Did you see that Andisheh had to apologize for making fun of Mongoloids! What an insensitive prick!
September 12th, 2007 at 12:07 am
I’ve seen this happen at least five times over the past year. MARTA has some good drivers. And it has drivers that go 25 mph over the speed limit in high pedestrian corridors. You’d think that MARTA would have GPS systems on every bus by now. But if you talk to any MARTA bigwigs, they constantly defend their drivers and never, never ever admit that any driver ever screws up. I like the MARTA train operators. But there are a ton of MARTA bus drivers that need to be f-ing fired. But it won’t happen.
November 5th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
So you decide to post things about that here?
Send a certified letter to MARTA requesting a response. Better yet go to the main headquarters to get an explanation.