This week's installment: Bus comfort, back door hard-ons, and -- surprise! -- no official MUNI policy.

When do you decide to make an effort to try and affect things on the bus (telling people to move back or making a fuss if people try and enter through the back door). And if you don't do one of those things, why not?

This sort of thing lives in the Land of Personal Preference; there's no official MUNI policy that comes into play on either of these topics.

Drivers who are sour or who hate their jobs (everybody knows who they are) will pass by bus stops, ignore the sickening and dangerous crowding that can happen up front where their mirrors are, etc. etc. But this is bullshit from a safety and public service perspective. Personally, I'm on the microphone as soon as it starts getting crowded asking people to move to the back and make room for passengers trying to get on the bus, as well as asking for those to give up front seats for those who need them more -- elderly or disabled passengers.

But I must say that I've been a passenger on plenty of buses where drivers ignored both the pile-up at the front of the bus and the obvious flouting of signage and common decency. (e.g., 16-year-olds remaining seated in the front and chatting loudly on their cells while Grampa teeters precariously, feebly clutching the nearest pole.) It's inexcusable for the driver to remain silent in such situations.

I have a major hard-on for the back door. Under most circumstances I can't stand it when people come through the back door and will try my best to put a stop to it. Caveat is that if the bus is very crowded I will open the back door to make loading easier. But the truth is that a
LOT of the time there may be only 10-15 passengers on the bus and there're people who insist on trying to board through the back doors. In my experience, this is almost always because they're trying to evade paying the fare. You all know how I feel about that.