Driver Doug works as a transit operator. He loves moving around town away from an office. He stayed that way for a while, but over time, something changed. Although Doug loved being on the road, he began to realize some passengers didn’t know where to stand or how to ride on a bus. People would …
Author Archives: driverdoug2002
Giving up the Car
If you look at the facts and figures of the quantity of precious metals and resources needed to go into producing all electric cars, it becomes obvious exploration, digging and drilling, must be increased. If inflation persists, and job shortages linger, we may be headed towards a future where fewer households can afford to purchase …
‘Summertime’ in the City
The inability to see or read the head sign of a bus, or to know where to stand based upon stalled traffic or double parked vehicles notwithstanding, one detail that usually does not escape notice in our fair city is when our air temperature is not fair. The afternoon fog moves in, the temperature drops …
Roll Out the Red Carpet
At long last, the Muni Rapid Lanes are complete on Van Ness! Although critics imply the time savings for riders is only a few minutes in comparison to the lane revisions and bus stop closures over years of delays, I’m here to point out the real advantages these twin rapid lanes present to the future. …
Puddin’ Pants
Having left the raucous Receiver’s office at Potrero Division for the quieter Presidio Division, I thought material for my next book would suffer a drought not unlike the one Northern California had been experiencing for the last several years. As I write this chapter, snowpack is 160 per cent of normal, and the folks …
Call the Police
A phrase or action you never use or make when on the bus in San Francisco; at least until respectful help is extinguished, or the threat of injury or death is dramatically demanded in most uncertain terms! Good luck substitutes include: Can you hold on for two more stops? The drama Queen and “victim” will …
Catch the Bus
Steve Jobs never intended the iPhone to be nothing more than a fast way to check and send a few emails without having to be at the desk. The social change in how we talk to each other has gone through a revolution of sorts, leading to massive gatherings on a large scale, and looking …
Building Better Worlds
Mr. President recently exclaimed that ‘we,’ the US, would now resume the title as world leader in all aspects implied with green energy, infrastructure, and social. But did any other country or leader ask ‘us’ to do this? More pertinent, have you had a Kennebunkport minute? Your social register score, vis a vis poll numbers, …
Aloha
I always thought having a great job doing what I loved was too good to be true. I’d just do a job to get out of debt on my credit card or to be left alone after work so I could drink. Any job where I could clock out and not take my work home …
Lost and Found
In my first book, I talk about the amazing synchronicity in returning items to riders on my bus: ranging from the five one hundred dollar bills used as a book mark in an old softcover–to the coin purse of nickels, dimes, and pennies from an overjoyed senior downtown. I have four different versions of pdfs …
The Dao of Doug: A Bus Driver's Perspective 