For the past two or three years I have opted to utilize public transportation for a variety of reasons. It is comparatively economical in light of the increased prices of gasoline, and I don’t have to fight the traffic behind the wheel and find parking once I get to my destination.
As a matter of necessity and convenience, I board the Big Blue Bus, owned and operated by the city of Santa Monica. The bus stops within feet of my front door in Brentwood.
My experiences with the Big Blue Bus have not been ideal.
On more than one occasion I have been thrown off my feet before taking my seat on a bus that is driven recklessly by a driver in a hurry to make up for lost time.
This has happened more than once. Not once have I been offered assistance by a driver who has caused me to fall.
On another occasion I was hurt getting off the bus when the driver stopped in the middle of the street instead of pulling to the curb as required by law.
The driver refused to lower the bus so I could step safely down to the pavement, and when I literally had to leap to the ground, I lost my balance and was injured when I fell into the curbing. The driver smiled.
Another driver once referred to a couple of female riders as “two white bitches” when they asked that he lower the bus so they could dismount the bus.
Racism seems to be at the root of at least some of the elder abuse aboard the Big Blue. Some sensitivity training may be needed. That is not to infer that all bus drivers for the Big Blue are racists, of course.
I attempted to report my own injury incident, first to the LAPD since the injury occurred in Los Angeles — technically.
“We don’t investigate bus complaints,” the LAPD dispatcher said. “Call the sheriff.”
I called the number she provided for the sheriff’s dispatcher and was placed on hold for several long minutes.
“Don’t go anywhere,” the dispatcher said at intervals. She never did take my complaint. I then called Santa Monica PD.
“We don’t handle bus complaints,” the dispatcher at SMPD said. “You’ll have to speak to the bus dispatcher.
“I don’t handle complaints,” the bus dispatcher said.“You’ll have to call public relations.”
When I protested, she gave me the option of calling public relations or getting off her line. Reluctantly, I took down the number she provided for public relations.
“You have reached a number that is no longer working,” a recording informed me when I dialed the number I had been provided for public relations. I hung up in disgust. I know when I have been beaten.
I know a personal injury lawyer who wants me to sue the Big Blue Bus company back to the stone age. I have hesitated. I’m not sure why.
I did fall onto another passenger once when a Big Blue Bus driver hit a speed bump driving full-tilt. She was not in the least interested in the extent of either of our injuries and ignored me when I asked her to provide me with an incident report form.
Two weeks ago as I was riding the Big Blue to Santa Monica an elderly couple in their late 70s or early 80s boarded the bus at Fourth Street and Arizona Avenue. The driver, in a hurry to make a traffic light I suppose, jerked suddenly forward before the old man had been seated. I watched helplessly as he tottered, lost his balance and fell to the floor, striking his shoulder on a metal railing on his way to the floor.
This driver had the decency to call for paramedics as his wife or companion hovered over her injured spouse.
“Oh, honey. Oh, honey,” she kept repeating. It was a heart-wrenching experience. I had my camera with me. I took the photo that illustrates this piece. This inconsideration of the elderly in this circumstance occurs all too frequently aboard Big Blue buses. I really don’t understand the contempt some people in the society seem to have for the elderly.
One solution to the problem of elder abuse aboard the Big Blue Bus would be the creation of a second public transportation system — call it the Big Gray Bus — for older and handicapped patrons exclusively. There may even be some DOT money available on state and federal levels for the creation and operation of such a system.
If anyone has been injured as a passenger of the Big Blue Bus and has been overwhelmed in attempting to report the incident, I suggest that a personal injury attorney be contacted immediately.
Class-action lawsuit is a term politicians understand. (Bob Bates lives in Los Angeles.)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 19, 2006. Read the original PDF.