DART-pick up your customers, please!

Today I walked from my place to catch the Des Moines Area Regional Transit flex-route bus which connects Valley Junction with Valley West Mall and Jordan Creek Town Center. I went to the correct bus stop-Valley West Drive and Woodland Avenue and waited for the bus to arrive. I even called up the DART offices to see if I had missed my bus. They told me that it was still in Valley Junction.

A few minutes later, I saw the flex-route bus come north on Valley West Drive--and go right by me without stopping or even slowing down. Ironically, I was intending to go to Jordan Creek Town Center to write a story for Patch about the Try Transit Week event in West Des Moines. But when the bus passed by, those plans had to be scuttled.

DART, I use the bus often. Why do you ignore your customers? Is this any way for your organization to build good will among your existing customers and potential new customers--by passing them by?

It is just common sense that any transit service which desires to increase ridership should never ignore its riders. There is no excuse for doing so.

Perhaps in this case, I was partially to blame. I was wearing red and not waving a flashlight. But is that required for bus riders at night? Should I have been wearing yellow or white? I believe I was standing behind the DART sign. But that never caused me trouble before. Why would things be different nowadays?

As riders we want to know the rules for using the transit service during nighttime hours or in bad weather. We will do our part to support local transit if your organization will do your part to pick us up and educate us on using the bus right.