Seattle bus rules for bikers

If you bike commute to your bus in King County, then you better pay attention.

Beginning February 6, King County Metro Transit will allow bicyclists to load and unload bicycles at any regular bus stop in downtown Seattle’s Ride Free Area at any time of the day.

This will be a one year trial period. Before this, riders were only allowed to load bicycles at certain times of the day. Mainly they weren't allowed to load them during rush hour commutes.

The Cascade Bicycle Club gave these tips for riders to help ensure the success of the program:

• Always alert the bus driver prior to loading or unloading a bike;
• Make sure the driver acknowledges you before stepping in front of a bus;
• Be aware of traffic around you when loading and unloading your bike; and
• Use caution in stepping up and down from high curbs.

With the huge increase of bikers that ride to a certain location, then catch the bus the rest of the way into work, I think this is a great program. We'll see in a year how effective it was.

(This is from Just Northwest)

How to get away from "that bus talking guy"

We at JustSON have had our share of riding the bus. And there is always that person that gets on just to chat with you, a complete stranger.

In many cases that person is Brandon. He has a knack for being "that talker guy on the bus to Spokane."

So, here are our Top 10 ways to lessen your chance the talker guy sits next to you.

10. Stop showering for a few days. Nobody likes stinky people.

9. Wear an iPod. Hopefully he'll get the hint.

8. Don't wear pants. That's just awkward for everyone.
7. Stare at him as he gets on the bus. Oh, don't forget to mouth, "I love you," over and over.

6. Eat a lot of beans before the bus. Gas smells. See number 10.
5. Lay across the seat. Then he won't have a place to sit.

4. Stare out the window. Never, I repeat NEVER make eye contact.

3. Pick your nose the whole ride. Nose picker!

2. Carry a purple umbrella onto the bus. The whole ride open and close it above you.

1. Scream your day story in detail with lots of obscenities. Today I went to the %^$&#* store! While I was in the (*#&!@ store I found a #$%##@ penny on the ground! It was so ^%$#@!@# shiny! I *&^%$# picked it up of the *&$#% ground!

The kind of people you meet on the bus...

So as Casey said earlier, I took the Greyhound bus to Seattle this weekend for the Sounders game. Thinking that it would be a cheap, stress-free way to get across the state, I soon discovered that only a special "kind of people" ride the bus.

1. Smelly People. Apparently when these people buy tickets they decide that "hmm, I will be in an enclosed space with lots of people for an extended period of time. Hmm I shouldn't bathe for five days before my bus trip."

2. Job Corps People. You know the kids that drop of high school. Well they join the Job Corps to work and get their GED or something like that, I'm not really sure because I was too busy listening to their broken-down Eminem stories of being gansters and breaking the rules in Job Corp. Keep in mind that these are 17-year old kids are from Curlew and Ephrata, so they have no idea what gansters are, nor do they have any right to pose as one.

3. Cougars. Fourty-year old dressed like a 23-year old girl, going after a 23-year old guy. Check. Okay now don't touch me.

4. I'm pretty sure this guy was a wizard. Had a beard, a large gut, and a magical bag full of Dungeon and Dragons stuff. Wow.

5. Smokers. Everytime the bus would stop, roughly half the people would rush out to sneak a smoke in during these five minute downtime periods. Quite comical.

6. People that were "left in Spokane." And apparently get a bus ticket back to Seattle and call up whoever they were left by and leave a curse-word filled voice message in their mail box.

7. Girls who apparently sleep with a lot of guys the night before and talk to their friends over the phone about it in very specific detail. "Oh my gosh, like, what was I thinking last night."

Oh and apparently Greyhound Buses go through every small town in the state, and I was quite amused by the freeway that leads into Everett that goes over an expanse of farmland. You've got the raised thruway overlooking pig and chicken pens. WELCOME TO WASHINGTON!!! YEEHAW!

Alright enough with that... Go Sounders!