For our project, Mackenzie and I decided to have an adventure on the CARTS city bus. We got on at the Commons bus stop on campus. We found out by looking online that the bus runs by campus and back to its station many times during the day, but stops after about 6 PM every day. When we got on we thought we'd have to give the bus driver 50 cents. The CARTS website said that was the normal fee for riding, but when I put my five pennies in the coin slot, the bus driver politely told me I didn't have to because it is free for students.
The CARTS buses are tiny white buses, with grey interior and red seats. The only signs or ads in the bus we got onto was a small 8 by 11 inch white paper stating that CARTS would not be running on labor day taped to the window behind the bus driver's seat.
The bus driver opened up about his life easily, telling us how long he's been driving the CARTS bus and how he likes his job. He told us he has been born and raised in San Marcos, worked for the school district for 27 years, and is now retired but drives the CARTS bus part time.
I was nearly taken aback by his friendliness in comparison with the Texas State bus drivers, who seem to say as little as possible while on the job driving the bus.
The bus driver, Mike Andrada, 67, explained to us that if we wanted to go to specific locations we could go to the station and transfer to other buses that go all over San Marcos several times a day. The CARTS buses he said, also pick people up from their homes and give them rides to any location if they call them a day or so ahead of time. This is especially used by the elderly and disabled who need rides to the doctor.
The CARTS bus drivers seem to be treated well and enjoy their jobs, which may attest to why they are so friendly and helpful. Andrada said, "it's a good company to work for."
We took the longest route possible and just like Andrada had told us to, got onto a route 7 bus to the outlet malls.
On the next bus, the bus driver was just as friendly and instead of being the only passengers we were able to meet another, Rosa Burrtia. Burrtia is also a San Marcos native. She said for her the bus is always very convenient for her, and also adds a little bit of fun to her life. She said when her boys take the car she just like to get on the bus and "just take off".
Burrtia said more and more people are riding every day, but judging from the scarce number of people we encountered, the bus is in desperate need of advertising.
When asked if a lot of people without cars in San Marcos take advantage of using the CARTS buses, she said the ones who know probably do. I think if I were going to write a very helpful story, I would love to tell people about the CARTS buses, how convenient they are, and how nice everyone you meet on them are!
The people on the CARTS buses are not the people you normally encounter on our campus or even at our college hang outs. They are the hard-working Americans, the high school kids, and the international students. We met all three of these on the bus ride, and I can't imagine who else we would have been able to meet if we had stayed on longer.
Community bus riders are the people that get to see the San Marcos countryside, who know what San Marcos needs, and know what the working-class or lower-class society needs.
I had a ton of ideas for stories on the bus, I could talk about their need for more advertisement to really reach the people who need rides places and have lost hope to get places on their own. I could do a story about how much scenery I saw of San Marcos from getting a chance to step out of the city and apartments and be on the roads less traveled. It would be cool to talk about how waiting on the bus, and being a little more dependent on other people would help to make us a more patient society, willing to slow down and talk to strangers, and how much nicer the bus drivers are.
If the media got information people from city buses, who have more time to talk and think I think they would hear a better side of what normal every day people think about lots of issues, from the economy, to gas prices, to religion, the speed of life, and what is really important.
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