Over the years I have become much less anxious about riding Metro Access. I am prepared every day that my wait times and rides will likely be long, and sometimes I might ride with annoying passengers, or even drivers. Thanks to the invention of ride shares, I know that if something happens with my para-transit ride, I can get a fast. affordable ride to where I need to go. I'd rather not pay for a ride share when I have already paid for a Metro Access pass that allows me monthly unlimited rides. But in an emergency, such as getting no-showed when I have a doctor's appointment or need to get to work, a ride share will get the job done.
But the one time I do get a little nervous is when I am taking the Megabus to Houston. If Metro Access doesn't show, then I have a short window of time to get to the Megabus station. The good news now is that the Megabus stop is only two blocks from my work, and I usually leave from the library on a Friday afternoon to take the Megabus.
So yesterday I was doing just that. I had a ticket for the 2:40 bus to Houston. I asked for a 2:15 appointment time to arrive at the station, to give myself a buffer. Making a 2:30 reservation for a 2:40 departure time makes me too nervous. When I made the ride on Thursday, I was given a pick-up window of 1:32 to 2:02. Since the bus station is only two blocks from the library, I felt that was a reasonable time period.
Well, you can surmise what happened. My window ended, and my ride had not arrived. I called. I was put on hold more than once. My driver could not be located. Minutes ticked by. It was now 2:15. I'm a slow walker, but I can get to the bus stop in probably less than ten minutes. The key is that I need help to get there. I could walk it myself if I didn't have luggage with me.
Thank goodness my co-worker saved the day. She had seen me waiting while she was out for a walk on break, and told me to text her if my ride didn't arrive. She has helped me walk down there previously. We didn't plan to walk yesterday because rain was possibly threatening, and because my co-worker is recovering from an upper respiratory infection, and I didn't want to ask her to exert herself.
But I was desperate by this point. Ride shares are usually fast, but I was concerned they wouldn't be fast enough in this situation. Megabus isn't always on time, but they are usually more on time than Greyhound. And if you are not there for check-in, they can sell your seat to someone else. Megabus is a popular bus service, and there are usually stand-by passengers for the trips to Houston.
All's well that ends well. My co-worker saw my text, hurried right down, and we walked to the station. We arrived in time for me to get checked in and use the restroom before I boarded the bus. I think I did pretty well with staying calm in such a stressful situation. Unfortunately getting stuck on hold with Metro Access had run my phone battery down. I didn't think to grab my charger; it was in my suitcase. So I had a long, boring ride to Houston since I couldn't watch any shows or read or listen to music. I didn't want to run the risk of my phone dying. The ride was longer than usual because there was a bad accident on highway 290, about 45 minutes from my stop in Houston.
Still, I was just grateful to be on the bus. Dealing with a boring ride was worth it.
I did feel bad that I had to hang up on the Metro Access dispatcher. I hope that they didn't spend too long trying to find me. I didn't really have a choice. She had left me on hold and I had to go. I guess I could have stayed on hold and walked at the same time, but I chose not to do that. That would not have been easy from a physical standpoint. And it would have meant I was having to ignore my co-worker who was helping me. So I hung up and did what I had to do. I will be calling on Monday to complain about what happened, and make sure they didn't give me a no-show for this trip. What transpired was absolutely not my fault.
librarianintx
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