I always hear about the nice theory that insignificant things can be done to make positive impacts proportionally larger than the effort you put in.

Well, that occurred to me, at least it’s what I want to believe.

In a morning about 2 months ago, among some 40 other people, we were at the Langstaff GO station waiting for the Southbound bus to Union station, that shares this bus stop with a significantly less popular line, let’s call it the Eastbound line.

That morning, the Eastbound bus arrived at the bus stop first to pick up its petty 6 or 7 passengers, with our Southbound bus following immediately behind. Normally, you’d think the Southbound bus would wait for a few seconds before the bus in front has left, then creeps up and opens its door at the front of the line-up.

Well, by now you may have guessed it. For some funny reason the bus driver, in his infinite wisdom, decided that 10 seconds was too long to wait and proceeded to open the bus door right then, right there at the end of the line-up.

The result? People who arrived at the bus stop first got to board the bus last – the line-up was effectively reversed. The driver? Acted as if nothing had happened while all passengers were sent onto mental whirls, and for the elders and children who arrived first, physical torments, too.

I noted the bus number and spent my first minute at work looking on the GO Transit web site for some mean to spend the next 5 lambasting submitting my comments. I arrived at this form with precisely 3 clicks from GO Transit’s home page.

I specifically asked them to respond with specific measures to prevent future incidences.

Honestly I did not expect them to reply at all but something amazing happened after 3 weeks.

August 8, 2008
Fax: (416) 869-1662

Reference No: 2008007058
Dear Michael:
Thank you for your e-mail regarding the Richmond Hill GO Bus service on July 15, 2008.
We apologize for the delay in responding. Please be assured that every attempt is made to board from the front of the line.

Orderly boarding is sometimes challenging due to other buses sharing the same stops, vehicular traffic and passengers boarding with special needs, etc.
Unfortunately our bus drivers are also under time constraints and attempt to move people as quickly and safely as possible. We can assure you that every effort is made to accommodate our passengers’ needs and improve the level of convenience and comfort on our system.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to enforce common courtesy, and we must rely on our customers to show their fellow commuters respect and consideration.
We have taken steps towards increasing passenger awareness via “GO News” (the GO Transit newsletter publication), commuter etiquette posters, and periodic advertisements in the Metro and 24 Hours newspapers.

Our Bus Operations department has reviewed your concerns about lack of seating on this service and has instructed the driver to use a larger bus, seating 57 passengers as opposed to a 49.
Hopefully this will alleviate some of the capacity concerns until a permanent increase in the service is scheduled.
Your comments regarding this issue have been forwarded to supervisory personnel in our Bus Operations department for their review.

We appreciate you taking the time to bring your concerns to our attention.

Sincerely,Andrea Corken
Customer Service Representative
Please direct all e-mail enquiries to publicrelations@gotransit.com

Indeed, around the same time I notice the bus has become larger and the Southbound bus now somehow always arrives first. Kudos!!

That made my day, and my 6 minutes’ loss of productivity at work totally worth it. GO Transit’s customer service probably has restored some of my long lost faith in public transits – well, at least it’s what I want to believe.