Compassion vs Schedules
When I woke up this morning, I checked GO's website and found that there were 60 minute general delays on all GO bus routes. I decided that I couldn't count on the bus connection from Brampton to Bramalea, so I decided to brave the roads and drive all the way to Bramalea for the 10:15 departure. This would make getting home harder, but it meant that I would get downtown on time (I have now found out that Ryerson is closing at noon, so I'll be heading home before the rush anyway).The train was scheduled to leave at 10:15, and at 10:14, the bus connection arrived. Knowing they only had a minute to make the transfer, the first 20 people ran to the train and boarded. I noticed a small gap, but from my vantage point saw another group of 20 people also running from the bus. Then something happened that I did not expect:
The conductor closed the doors.
I thought to myself that he would see them running and wait.
He didn't.
The train departed and left a group of 20 people on the platform to wait the two hours for the next train.
I know that waiting would have made us late, but only by a few minutes - and what's a few minutes of my inconvenience when it will save almost two dozen people two hours of my inconvenience?
When there's a storm outside and an entire bus of people are only a few minutes away from making the connection, isn't it right to let the schedules give way to compassion?
Labels: daily travels, GO Transit
posted by Andrae Griffith @ 11:46 a.m.
2 Comments:
That's terrible, you expect that with the subway and people always have that fear the doors will close on them but I never experienced that with the GO train.
These are the things that turn people off mass transit.
Karem
I'm glad my class was in the afternoon, after they announced classes were cancelled.
Risking waiting for a late GO bus and potentially missing a train because of it, only to turn back home and find out that your institution decides to cancel classes an hour after you left would not go over well with most people!
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