Twin Cities vs. Chicago
I moved to mpls/st. paul almost a year ago from chicago. Always took public trans in chicago and planned on doing the same here. We live in st. paul and i take the 134 to downtown mpls. I’m writing to share my amazement over the level of service vs chicago.
9 times out of 10, if i am running towards the stop (sometimes i’m just a tad behind getting to work in the a.m.), the bus driver will actually stop mid-block to let me on! Had that been chicago, i would have wound up waiting for the next bus.
Coming back home from downtown, i was still trying to figure out when to pay (getting ON the bus or when i get OFF the bus) how much (when DID the rush hour fare stop and the regular fare kick in?), etc. I got off my stop and realized that i had been charged rush hour fare even though it was well after. “ah well” i thought. “public trans is public trans no matter where you are.” The next evening i was on the same bus and as i went to slide my payment card into the pay box, the driver put his hand over it and said “i remember you from last night and i accidentally didn’t change the rush hour fare reading, so this ride is on us.”
I walked home in a minor stupor, called friends back in chicago with a “nyah nyah nyah” attitude and regaled them with these stories. while some of the tales i’ve read here remind me of chi-town, i’m still in pleasant amazement over the level of service and decency when using MT.
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