Page 49 - June-July 2015 Magazine For Flipbook

Gyoeutttihnegre
By Robert Briseno

Most of us go to work everyday and for many of us that
means a commute. As we all know, a commute in the San
Francisco Bay Area often means a lengthy amount of time
on the road due to traffic, distance, parking and tolls. To
avoid these things, many of us turn to public transporta-
tion to get us to our jobs on a daily basis. For some, public
transportation means a boat or a train, but for many it means the bus. We wanted
to take a look at that major piece of the commuting puzzle to see how it is chang-
ing to meet the needs of the modern commuter. We sat down with the staff at
SolTrans, the transit operators for Vallejo and Benicia, to discover just what they
are doing to help their passengers enjoy their lives just a little bit more.

Now, I have to confess that I do not take the bus on a daily basis. Much of the com-
muting that I do is not very structured, making it difficult to for me to use public
transportation on a regular basis. Much of my previous experience on the bus was
from my younger days, which, like the song goes, was a long, long time ago. So, in
order to refresh my memories and see how things have changed I took a few rides
to experience it firsthand. One of the first things that struck me on the trips that I
took was how closely the bus was to its printed operating schedule and how clean
and well maintained the buses were. My first concern tends to be my schedule so the
fact that they were running so precisely brought a smile to my face; the fact that the
buses seemed so nice and well maintained helped to keep it there.

I was also able to take my wife and our three very young children for a little trip
as well, which they all enjoyed immensely. My children, who are 4, 6 and 9, really
enjoyed the ride and the opportunity to take a trip free from their normal child-re-
straining systems that they typically have to endure. It was nice to be able to sit and
talk with them during the journey as opposed to the occasional glance (and some-
times glare) to the back seat to make sure that they are not getting into any
shenanigans. It was a very welcome change for my wife and
I. Plus, since we could experience the ride as
they were we did not have to
engage them in a