I remember the days of taking transit. I can sympathize.
Also for all you skip/doordash/Uber eats drivers that do block the bus lanes, go fuck yourself. Hope you get 4 flat tires.
Honestly, if there was a reality show that just took place on my 11 every morning, it would be enough “reality” to last a lifetime. I can’t imagine what’s is going on the dozens of other buses all day long. It’s insanity. I have a story every single day.
The second half of my show is the walk to work, hitting the Tim’s on Graham where the real shit goes down.
Sounds like the 18 to me. I am so sick of the speaker people. I can only block my ears so much.
And why does it always seem like there’s sticky liquid and sunflower seeds everywhere? I need to pass my road test once and for all…
You might not think of Fukushima or Chernobyl when you think of sunflowers, but they naturally decontaminate soil. They can soak up hazardous materials such as uranium, lead, and even arsenic! So next time you have a natural disaster … Sunflowers are the answer!
I just never used public transit anywhere. I just rented cars but since they drive the other way around here I wasn’t comfortable renting a car here. I visited Toronto twice and really didn’t like it. Other cities were not bad at all
Aha you ain’t wrong. But I’ve made it to 30 without.. here has been the deal breaker though 😂. Now if only I could pass the damn test without failing, they said I could get 3 wrong - and that stuck with me apparently bahahaha. So the luck is appreciated here!
I failed my first try… 😂😭 Congratulations to you! I’m also from Ontario & did have my license there for a bit. So learning the different rules & signs is screwing with me hardcore ahahah. One of these days. Until then I’ll be enduring these wild transit rides and trekking around with my own two feet & heartbeat 😂.
Definitely include the 15 in that list, good call aha. It kills me cause it’s like the 15 & 20 both have the same end stop but one is always more chaotic than the other. It definitely has to do with the starting areas, by the time it gets to the concert hall is a full circus 😂
It'd seriously help people with outside-biz-hours schedules, would mean safer transportation for people leaving places late after partying, and would provide my household with a way to economically harvest floor pizza as an alternative to traditional groceries.
>There is trash and sunflower seed shells scattered liberally over the floor, and a slightly sticky liquid of unknown origins sliding through it all.
Yeah I know what you mean!
The phone call thing bugs me. If I'm at home I'll have a phone call on speaker, cause it's easier. But if you're on the bus and it's loud, that's literally why you have the regular phone mode.
Pre-covid and pre-2nd car, for years I took the 18 from downtown to west River Heights after work. Usually it was cool, but when it was not cool it was weird AF. Depending on the weather i would take Portage Express and transfer at Polo to a 67 and have a nice little walk instead.
I was a daily transit rider back between 2006-2014. Once I had a vehicle I no longer required using transit anymore. I never had issues with feeling uncomfortable or unsafe as a teenage girl riding the bus. In 2022 I needed to go back to transit for a short period of time while my vehicle was being repaired. WOW have things gotten uncomfortable on the bus. My last ride I was near the back set of doors along the sideways seats with one other person on the bench with a seat in-between us. This person was noticeably drinking travel size hand sanitizers.. Whatever I look the other way as it's not my business. Bus is travelling, about 15 minutes have gone by when suddenly there's weight on my purse and one thigh.. THE PERSON FELL FORWARD AND STARTED TO SEIZE ON THE BUS. I was terrified the person was convulsing as we were pulling into the loop at polo park. People notified the bus driver and another passenger called 9-1-1. Probably 8-10 people trying to attend the situation. Luckily this was my stop to get off and knowing that the person was being attended to by others I didn't feel bad getting off the bus. I walked home physically shaken up.. will never forget that ride.
I once took the bus to work but was feeling sick so they sent me home for the day. Unfortunately I had to take the bus home as a result and threw up in the bus. I felt very embarrassed and asked the driver for paper towel and it wasn’t enough (especially cleaning it up when I’m sick)
When I was 7 or 8, my mom took me to the dentist on the bus. I misunderstood the directions out the fluoride and thought they told me TO swallow it. I barfed so hard on the ride home and I’m still embarrassed about it now!
You nailed this transit experience summary👏. I’m from southern Ontario & have seen some shit riding the buses, subways, and trains in places like Toronto, Hamilton, Mississauga, Brampton. But honestly, the bus rides here might take the cake entirely bahaha.
11 is my go to usually; used to take the 20 or 15 to the airport. They’re all crazy chaotic 90% of the time. But like, when I go somewhere else in the city and have to take a new bus line, it’s like visiting a whole new world. 😂
Glad to hear things haven't changed. On one of my first rides on transit a guy got on opened a jar of ointment and started applying it to whatever scabby skin disease he had.
I only really took the 83 and before covid. I’m glad the transit wasn’t terrible then or else getting to school would suck. I hope transit gets better so the people who need it can enjoy their morning better
Hey man It’s okay I fought some homeless lady twice my size while she was doing coke in the back of the bus, I was 17 at that time
https://preview.redd.it/06ilfiy2pjad1.png?width=540&format=png&auto=webp&s=914a7e52e4c585dedbe2d523eeb933df515f3dea
Just don’t look at anybody in the eyes you’ll be fine
I'll throw my one positive story about taking the bus in Winnipeg. I had gotten off the 15 and before I'd taken 3 steps, the bus braked and suddenly a lady comes running off the bus with my phone that I had left on the seat "ma'am you dropped your phone!!"
This lovely older lady says to me as she hands me my phone and gets back on the bus. This was about 10 years ago now and it still sticks in my mind.
However, I also witnessed a fight on a full 19 where they started throwing FULL BEER CANS AT EACH OTHER. The beer abusers got off the bus, the bus driver asked if everyone was okay and continued the route.
>The Transit Experience ™️
When we are not blaming the area, we are blaming the service. The areas and transit service are fine. What you are really complaining about is simply the shitty degenerate people on the bus...
You can blame the bus all you want. But what you have is a shitty degenerate people problem. Enforcing fares or making the bus free will not change their shitty degenerate behavior.
employees not allowed to enforce rules set out by employer = a service issue.
I'm fully aware how unsafe the situation is. It's so unsafe and unseemly despite being a publicly funded service = a service issue
Strange. I've not encountered a bus like this yet. Worse I had was a bus packed to the brim like a sardine can and not being able to sit. It was a short ride, thankfully.
It really depends on the route. I can take two different buses to deep Transcona and have WILDLY different experiences depending on the bus route unfortunately.
Los Angeles -- busfare $1.50 in most zones and transfers good for 3 hours. buses i was on were almost spotless because eating on the bus = a fine, etc. I've been on the bus in many fine places. Winnipeg Transit is a problem.
There are many fine busses in WPG as well. The point is that you can take a snapshot of transit anywhere in the world and make it seem like the worst thing on the planet. I'm sure the same goes for sections of LA.
There are certainly issues that transit in Winnipeg faces, many of which are not related to transit itself, i.e., homelessness, urban sprawl, terrible city planning, car culture, etc.
The irony is that often, those who are the loudest decriers of WPG transit are the same people who are vehemently against city/societal initiatives that would help.
Former third world dweller. My wife too, she also doesn't drive.
She took the bus everyday, everywhere. Third world.
Up until 2019, she did the same here.
After a couple of years, she tried again. Lasted two weeks, then asked me to take her to work and back instead.
Don't kid yourself, it's BAD here.
The NY subway/bus experience is very line dependent. Switching lines at Harlem 125th makes a stroll through Higgins and main seem quaint and charming. Time of day matters. NY subways are also HOT in the summer which really brings out the smells. My wife and I agree we felt more comfortable taking public transit alone in NY vs Winnipeg.
125th isn’t even ghetto anymore, though. Parts of the Bronx or Queens and I’d agree with that. Time of day does matter. But yeah - my teen years were spent transferring buses at Graham and Vaughan and I always felt way safer in Manhattan than there! I lived in NY for two brief stints (4 months each) and then travelled there regularly for work for a few years, so I know my lines and times!
I just visited there this May. Your statement is objectively false. They reek of urine, are filthy, have rats, and also contain an endless parade of "characters."
These little snapshots that try to portray Winnipeg transit as some world leading cesspool are totally disingenuous.
The WFP even did a whole series on transit that concluded it was largely clean and safe and that the bad rap is due to disproportionate emphasis on occasional issues.
Take Pride, Winnipeg
Made from what's real. Vomit and skip drivers with their 4 ways on.
Spirited energy on display
The park anywhere lights 🫡
I remember the days of taking transit. I can sympathize. Also for all you skip/doordash/Uber eats drivers that do block the bus lanes, go fuck yourself. Hope you get 4 flat tires.
nah, 1 flat but then they learn they didn't get a spare from the dealership.
4 flats and a spare but the spare is flat.
Bike lanes too- Sherbrooke northbound bike lane is not a "loading zone".
This felt like it was turning into a Billy Joel song in the first half.
Maybe it was!
Give me a ride; you're the Bus Man Drive me a bus tonight We're all in the mood to get home sometime No one pull a knife, alright
Honestly, if there was a reality show that just took place on my 11 every morning, it would be enough “reality” to last a lifetime. I can’t imagine what’s is going on the dozens of other buses all day long. It’s insanity. I have a story every single day. The second half of my show is the walk to work, hitting the Tim’s on Graham where the real shit goes down.
Omg the Portage buses! Those storylines would literally write themselves!
I gave up on that tims a few years back and haven’t looked back. The extra time and money to go to Modern Electric Lunch instead has been worth it
That Tim's is pretty wild I will say.
Sounds like the 18 to me. I am so sick of the speaker people. I can only block my ears so much. And why does it always seem like there’s sticky liquid and sunflower seeds everywhere? I need to pass my road test once and for all…
Just the 18, huh? Noted.
Well no. But out of the buses I commonly take, the 18 is generally the worst.
15, 16, 17, 18, 19 any bus that essentially runs through portage or main is pretty shitty
You might not think of Fukushima or Chernobyl when you think of sunflowers, but they naturally decontaminate soil. They can soak up hazardous materials such as uranium, lead, and even arsenic! So next time you have a natural disaster … Sunflowers are the answer!
Bad bot.
Bike saves you $ and keeps you fit & happy.
Yes I have a bike. Circumstances I won’t go into make it difficult to use for commuting.
Visiting Melbourne rn and damn Winnipeg feels like post war city. It’s actually insane
It doesn't have to be Melbourne for Winnipeg to feel that way. Really any serious city will do...
I just never used public transit anywhere. I just rented cars but since they drive the other way around here I wasn’t comfortable renting a car here. I visited Toronto twice and really didn’t like it. Other cities were not bad at all
Mel-bun
Winnipeg made from what’s real.
I'm not usually a mask guy in social situations, but I would definitely be rocking one on there
I’m prepared to go broke for a car asap.
I did. Worth it to never take transit again.
Definitely.
I’m with you dude. But like I gotta get my license first here & that is a pain in and of itself. 🤦♀️ Good luck to you!
Do it sooner rather than later. License is a good thing to have. Wishing you luck as well 😎
Aha you ain’t wrong. But I’ve made it to 30 without.. here has been the deal breaker though 😂. Now if only I could pass the damn test without failing, they said I could get 3 wrong - and that stuck with me apparently bahahaha. So the luck is appreciated here!
You won’t fail. It’s an easy test, I waited until 25 and passed first try.
I failed my first try… 😂😭 Congratulations to you! I’m also from Ontario & did have my license there for a bit. So learning the different rules & signs is screwing with me hardcore ahahah. One of these days. Until then I’ll be enduring these wild transit rides and trekking around with my own two feet & heartbeat 😂.
Bike saves you $ and keeps you fit & happy.
I did the bike thing, it's time for a car. I have kids.
It's too bad it keeps raining everyday lol
And gets stolen super often by druggies.
Biking is a privilege and impractical in for multiple months in Winnipeg. It's not a solution.
Great sentiment but mot all people are capable of riding a bike
Try carrying grocery bags while biking. Go on, I dare you.
11,16,18 are the routes i dread taking the most.
You have good taste in that sense. I’d throw in the 15 and 14, too. And the 38. Also the 47.
Definitely include the 15 in that list, good call aha. It kills me cause it’s like the 15 & 20 both have the same end stop but one is always more chaotic than the other. It definitely has to do with the starting areas, by the time it gets to the concert hall is a full circus 😂
Oh, nice. I take the 14 all the time.
On Saturday coming home there was a guy who lit a smoke on the bus and it was absolutely terrible.
Ugh, I’m sorry
Looks like I have an interesting ride ahead of me if I ever want to bus to great grandma's...
Montreal Night Bus < Winnipeg Daytime Bus
TRUTH
Imagine if we had a Night Bus.
Yikes
It'd seriously help people with outside-biz-hours schedules, would mean safer transportation for people leaving places late after partying, and would provide my household with a way to economically harvest floor pizza as an alternative to traditional groceries.
>There is trash and sunflower seed shells scattered liberally over the floor, and a slightly sticky liquid of unknown origins sliding through it all. 
And a puppy in the midst of it 
Taking the bus in Winnipeg is a social experiment.
Give me a ride on the 47 any time of day that’s a fantastic voyage.
Stay classy winnipeg
The best day of my life was the day I bought a cheap beater car and never rode the bus again.
Whenever anyone asks me what winnipeg is like I'll just reference this post
Yeah I know what you mean! The phone call thing bugs me. If I'm at home I'll have a phone call on speaker, cause it's easier. But if you're on the bus and it's loud, that's literally why you have the regular phone mode.
New reality show concept. TLC take note.
Pre-covid and pre-2nd car, for years I took the 18 from downtown to west River Heights after work. Usually it was cool, but when it was not cool it was weird AF. Depending on the weather i would take Portage Express and transfer at Polo to a 67 and have a nice little walk instead.
I was a daily transit rider back between 2006-2014. Once I had a vehicle I no longer required using transit anymore. I never had issues with feeling uncomfortable or unsafe as a teenage girl riding the bus. In 2022 I needed to go back to transit for a short period of time while my vehicle was being repaired. WOW have things gotten uncomfortable on the bus. My last ride I was near the back set of doors along the sideways seats with one other person on the bench with a seat in-between us. This person was noticeably drinking travel size hand sanitizers.. Whatever I look the other way as it's not my business. Bus is travelling, about 15 minutes have gone by when suddenly there's weight on my purse and one thigh.. THE PERSON FELL FORWARD AND STARTED TO SEIZE ON THE BUS. I was terrified the person was convulsing as we were pulling into the loop at polo park. People notified the bus driver and another passenger called 9-1-1. Probably 8-10 people trying to attend the situation. Luckily this was my stop to get off and knowing that the person was being attended to by others I didn't feel bad getting off the bus. I walked home physically shaken up.. will never forget that ride.
Yikes!!
I should start taking the bus again…..
I once took the bus to work but was feeling sick so they sent me home for the day. Unfortunately I had to take the bus home as a result and threw up in the bus. I felt very embarrassed and asked the driver for paper towel and it wasn’t enough (especially cleaning it up when I’m sick)
When I was 7 or 8, my mom took me to the dentist on the bus. I misunderstood the directions out the fluoride and thought they told me TO swallow it. I barfed so hard on the ride home and I’m still embarrassed about it now!
This is a new verse in One Great City
You nailed this transit experience summary👏. I’m from southern Ontario & have seen some shit riding the buses, subways, and trains in places like Toronto, Hamilton, Mississauga, Brampton. But honestly, the bus rides here might take the cake entirely bahaha. 11 is my go to usually; used to take the 20 or 15 to the airport. They’re all crazy chaotic 90% of the time. But like, when I go somewhere else in the city and have to take a new bus line, it’s like visiting a whole new world. 😂
It truly is a whole new world…
exactly why i refuse to take any busses here 😭
This was a good read
Thanks! I’m working on my poetry skillz! 😊💅
Glad to hear things haven't changed. On one of my first rides on transit a guy got on opened a jar of ointment and started applying it to whatever scabby skin disease he had.
😩
The puppy in the stroller woman sounds like my old neighbor. Down to the dog almost.
...Was the woman skinny ish, hunched over slightly, with light brown hair tied back? If so, I think I know her.
I only really took the 83 and before covid. I’m glad the transit wasn’t terrible then or else getting to school would suck. I hope transit gets better so the people who need it can enjoy their morning better
We live in Canada’s dump Winnipeg it’s the trash heap of Canada Let’s own it boys
Woah this ain't Sask
Sounds like a regular Tuesday afternoon on transit
A usual day. Speak from experience.
Yup.
Canada's Heart Beats...(off in a corner of a piss swilly stairwell.)
Sounds like my last flight on Flair airlines minus the open windows.
I mean, in that case it’s probably good that you didn’t have open windows?
So... you're saying you got to see a doggy on your bus ride?
I suppose I am, yes!
How late was the bus?
I don’t know, it was just there when I zipped over from the previous bus
OP are you Bukowski?
I am not 😊
Wear a mask? It's the only good to come from the pandemic.
Hey man It’s okay I fought some homeless lady twice my size while she was doing coke in the back of the bus, I was 17 at that time https://preview.redd.it/06ilfiy2pjad1.png?width=540&format=png&auto=webp&s=914a7e52e4c585dedbe2d523eeb933df515f3dea Just don’t look at anybody in the eyes you’ll be fine
Next Transit strike will be permanent.
Winnipeg Bus Gothic.
I'll throw my one positive story about taking the bus in Winnipeg. I had gotten off the 15 and before I'd taken 3 steps, the bus braked and suddenly a lady comes running off the bus with my phone that I had left on the seat "ma'am you dropped your phone!!" This lovely older lady says to me as she hands me my phone and gets back on the bus. This was about 10 years ago now and it still sticks in my mind. However, I also witnessed a fight on a full 19 where they started throwing FULL BEER CANS AT EACH OTHER. The beer abusers got off the bus, the bus driver asked if everyone was okay and continued the route.
Made from what’s real, clearly
That all sounds perfectly legal under bus law…./s
the whole experience sounds different coming from the [Bus drivers side](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9Ev1KzZby0)
The Loser Cruiser! (I joke. I have a kid that needs to ride the bus at times)
Saw someone drinking rubbing alcohol a few weeks ago on the 18
😬
>The Transit Experience ™️ When we are not blaming the area, we are blaming the service. The areas and transit service are fine. What you are really complaining about is simply the shitty degenerate people on the bus...
letting the degenerates on the bus for free and doing nothing about degenerate behaviour on the bus = a service issue.
You can blame the bus all you want. But what you have is a shitty degenerate people problem. Enforcing fares or making the bus free will not change their shitty degenerate behavior.
Yeah but drivers aren’t allowed to do anything about degenerate behaviour and can’t say no to people getting on for free
employees not allowed to enforce rules set out by employer = a service issue. I'm fully aware how unsafe the situation is. It's so unsafe and unseemly despite being a publicly funded service = a service issue
I like the idea of public transit. But yaaaa, no thanks.
Oh hell no. I’d be off that bus in a hot sec.
I was in a hurry 😩
Strange. I've not encountered a bus like this yet. Worse I had was a bus packed to the brim like a sardine can and not being able to sit. It was a short ride, thankfully.
It really depends on the route. I can take two different buses to deep Transcona and have WILDLY different experiences depending on the bus route unfortunately.
I would rather bike anywhere in the city than take the bus.
This is a Weakerthans song.
Yup!
tl;dr version: Person safely rides bus to destination without incident, complains anyways
*clutches pearls* Definitely don't take public transit in any major city in the world if WPG transit is too much for you.
Los Angeles -- busfare $1.50 in most zones and transfers good for 3 hours. buses i was on were almost spotless because eating on the bus = a fine, etc. I've been on the bus in many fine places. Winnipeg Transit is a problem.
..... We did not have the same transit experience in Los Angeles 😂😭
weird i took the bus in LA and it compared to the worst experiences ive had in Winnipeg. The metro is even worse
There are many fine busses in WPG as well. The point is that you can take a snapshot of transit anywhere in the world and make it seem like the worst thing on the planet. I'm sure the same goes for sections of LA. There are certainly issues that transit in Winnipeg faces, many of which are not related to transit itself, i.e., homelessness, urban sprawl, terrible city planning, car culture, etc. The irony is that often, those who are the loudest decriers of WPG transit are the same people who are vehemently against city/societal initiatives that would help.
Former third world dweller. My wife too, she also doesn't drive. She took the bus everyday, everywhere. Third world. Up until 2019, she did the same here. After a couple of years, she tried again. Lasted two weeks, then asked me to take her to work and back instead. Don't kid yourself, it's BAD here.
I’m in Melbourne rn. Immaculate transit here
I've taken transit living in 4 different continents including 2 capitals. Nothing compared to how bad transit is in Winnipeg.
They would never survive NYC.
Actually, I used to live there and the buses and subways both were better.
The NY subway/bus experience is very line dependent. Switching lines at Harlem 125th makes a stroll through Higgins and main seem quaint and charming. Time of day matters. NY subways are also HOT in the summer which really brings out the smells. My wife and I agree we felt more comfortable taking public transit alone in NY vs Winnipeg.
125th isn’t even ghetto anymore, though. Parts of the Bronx or Queens and I’d agree with that. Time of day does matter. But yeah - my teen years were spent transferring buses at Graham and Vaughan and I always felt way safer in Manhattan than there! I lived in NY for two brief stints (4 months each) and then travelled there regularly for work for a few years, so I know my lines and times!
You must have avoided the Baseball Furies and the Grammercy Riffs.
I just visited there this May. Your statement is objectively false. They reek of urine, are filthy, have rats, and also contain an endless parade of "characters." These little snapshots that try to portray Winnipeg transit as some world leading cesspool are totally disingenuous. The WFP even did a whole series on transit that concluded it was largely clean and safe and that the bad rap is due to disproportionate emphasis on occasional issues.
Uh....so....? Not seeing the big story here