WMATA Bus Y9 on Georgia Avenue in Wheaton Not Stopping

Looking across Georgia Avenue

Today I decided to go to downtown Silver Spring for something that started at 11:30 AM.  Since I live off of Georgia Avenue in the Wheaton area, the buses that run south down it made the most sense.  They would be faster and cheaper than the Metro, and I wouldn't have to walk as far to catch it.

So I consulted the schedule and waited at the stop. I made sure to have two bus options that would get me there on time. The first bus was supposed to come at 10:45 AM so I got to the stop at 10:40 AM.  It never came.  The next bus flew past without stopping at 11:00 AM.  It at 11:00 AM .

I already submitted a WMATA customer comment form with my complaint and hopefully they will get back to me.  I wanted to share about it here too so this horrible customer service gets some attention.  Since I'm not doing the event I had planned to be doing now, I have time to write this blog post.

At 11:00 AM, I could see the Y9 bus stopped at the stop before mine on Georgia Avenue, so I made sure to stand directly under the bus stop sign to wait. As the bus approached my stop I waved my arms to alert the driver that I wanted to board.  I started waving both arms frantically as it got very near.  The driver waved and smiled at me as the bus went past without stopping.  The driver was a heavyset African American man wearing a hat.

I asked WMATA why he would do that and how I can be compensated for the waste of my time and the anger and humiliation of waiting for so long and then intentionally not being picked up.

Then I came back home instead of going to my destination because I was going to be late anyways, plus if I waited another 20 minutes and wasn't picked up again I would have started crying right there on the side of the street.

This has happened to me before at this bus stop and I think the drivers must often not stop there. I don't often take the bus, even though it would be very convenient, because I'm afraid of this sort of thing happening and how angry it makes me feel.

The drivers on the Y9 an Y8 bus lines should be reprimanded and sternly told to pick up EVERYONE who is waiting.  I don't know if he didn't like my looks or if he was in a hurry or if he was just being a jerk, but this sort of not picking people up is HORRIBLE customer service and needs to stop.

Van Ness and Wheaton -- Sister Communities

Van Ness is a neighborhood in northwest Washington, DC that has some similar issues to Wheaton, MD.  Both have a red line metro station and lots of people who get around by walking, but both are also split down the middle by some busy streets containing a lot of traffic. In Van Ness it is Connecticut Avenue and in Wheaton it is Georgia Avenue and University Blvd. 

Both have some great restaurants, grocery stores, access to lots of parkland, and a full public library nearby, however both are somewhat unknown to outsiders. I know this is off the topic of Wheaton, but I recently tried to find some nice photos of the Van Ness neighborhood and failed miserably.  So I went there and took my own photos. They are included here so hopefully they make it into the search results for Van Ness DC neighborhood pictures.

Acacia Bistro in Van Ness 4/18/14

Old growth tree, Subway and Calvert Woodley Wines & Spirits, Van Ness 4/18/14

Tesoro Italian Restaurant, Van Ness 4/18/14

Land under construction at site of old Pier One Imports, Van Ness 4/18/14

Italian Pizza Kitchen restaurant, cleaners, and nail salon, Van Ness 4/18/14

 

The Franklin Montessori School, Van Ness 4/18/14

 

Giant grocery store at the Van Ness metro station with Walgreens in the background 4/18/14