Where were we. That’s right. We’d just come all the way up from Rainier, and are now in the middle of the right turn onto Pike from 3rd. You activate the switch as detailed in the previous post, and are now ready to do the deed. (Click here for the first post in this series and more explanation.)

Turning onto Pike

• There are 2 deadspots in this turn; if you don’t hear the first one as the left corner of your coach crosses the north-south crosswalk on Pike, stop immediately, because you’re not on the turning wire. Check yourself in the right exterior mirror.
• The positioning of this first deadspot is tricky– you have to choose a moment without pedestrians crossing such that you can accelerate and then coast through this deadspot without hitting or near-hitting anyone. This is where we work for that paycheck!
• The 2nd deadspot is when your turning wire joins back up with Pike St wire, and it lines up with a particular window in the Ross building that’s either very near the doors are actually at the doors, if I recall correctly.
• Look at that big crowd waiting to get on. You’re loving this. Only someone like yourself could take this crew up the street with the professionalism, patience and easy touch you have. I believe in you.
• Questions you’ll get: 

1. “Do you go the college?” Yes. 
2. “Do you stop at Boren?” No. There's a 10 in a few minutes.
3. "Do you stop at Salvation Army?" No. That'll be the 10.
4. “Do you go straight?” Not really, this is your last stop on this street. There's a 10 coming (there really is; that has 15-minute service til midnight, daily).
5. “Can I just get a courtesy ride up the hill?” Sure, no problem. It’s like inbound Henderson; half of these guys are gonna be gone in ten minutes. 
6. “Where’s the 11? Have you seen the 11?” The 11 famously has one of the worst schedules in the system, and ever since Metro turned it into a live-loop route, has become torture to drive and woefully unreliable for passengers. It has no bathroom at the Madison layover, and no break on the downtown end, and a schedule that’s never heard of the 2nd Avenue turnaround. Meanwhile, they could be laying this thing over at Virginia between 2nd and 3rd (Planners! Help!), because no other service outside of peak lays there. Basically, passengers are always wringing their hands waiting for it because it’s always late. Tell them: “Yeah, it’s coming. The 11 is always late, but it’s coming.” You can even mention the 11 has a tight schedule. 

• Do you drive the 11? I feel your pain. I try to let you go first so you can get the heck out of here instead of sitting around watching my rear end slow down for special work. Feeling the call of nature? Know that there’s a comfort station inside Westlake Station, by the old customer service stop, and if you pull far enough forward at the 4th/Pine zone (pull all the way up to 3rd), you can park and run down there. This makes more sense after hours when things have quieted down downtown. Yes, you’ll become late. But wasn’t that going to happen anyway?
• Are you a passenger reading this? Now you know why those 11 drivers are so miserable. They want to stand. They want to urinate. Or even eat. You know, simple pleasures. Be extra nice to them. You might blow their minds.

5th

• This isn’t your zone, but it’s time to signal left to stay on the straight wire. It’s counter-intuitive. The wire splitting off to the right (for the 10) is the default wire, even though it’s breaking off from the main line at an angle. To remain on the main line, which eventually turns left on 8th and is what you want, you have to signal left. You should hear a click, but no deadspot beep. 
• Special work crossing 7th; once you clear the landscaped rocks on the far right sidewalk, you’re good.

8th

• You don’t need to split this, but you can if there’s a rideshare vehicle poorly parked on the left side (which seems more often the rule than otherwise), or a big charter bus parked on 8th, though in my experience the latter will pull just far enough forward to give you clearance.
• Sectional insulator after you’ve completely finished the turn. It’s in between two of the bike lane protectors on the left.

Pine

• You don’t need to split this. The curb is cut to give you a lot of trailing room. Remember not to signal left as you approach Pine, or you'll trip the left turn wire.
• Splits in the wire always have a default lane of wire that you stay on if you don't signal; here, the default is to turn right. Perfect. You signal right, but only because that's the thing to do as a nice person who turns right, not because it's doing anything up above.

9th

• Sectional insulator as you approach the zone– it’s just after the bushes and lines up with one of those black stumpy chair things. Forgive my lack of outdoor seating terminology.

Boren

• You’ve felt these; 2 sectional insulators between 9th and Boren. As with all sectional insulators, you don’t need to slow down for them, but you do need to coast through them.
• The first is as your front passes that mid-sized windowless grey standalone single-story concrete structure on the right;
• The second is between the bike lane “sharrow” painted on the roadway and the beginning of the 2-lane markings painted on the roadway, nearer to Boren. 
• What do you do nearside Boren, where the lane randomly splits into two unmarked lanes even though there's only one farside? I'm existentially confused. What am I looking at? Is this supposed to be a straight lane and a left-turn lane, or a straight lane on the left with a huge bike lane on the right? I guess they want us to embrace life's enigmatic side. If there's a bike on the right, I split these to give them space. Or you can sit in lane 1; never mind that a car in lane 2 will pass you. You're a bus, and you were never going to outpace them anyway. Just keepin' the stress down and taking our time out here... 

Bellevue

• Someone will ask you for a Night Stop at nearside Melrose. Remember, Night Stops are legal, and described in the Book, even if they’re no longer taught in class. You can do this starting at 8pm and know that you’ll be scot-free from any discipline. Just make sure you're stopping in a safe location. Barely anyone knows about the Night Stop program though, so this request will be intermittent at best.
• Crossing Bellevue– I take the whole thing at 9mph, due to the 3 pieces of special work, the last of which is a deadspot right as you meet the farside crosswalk. Yum. Don't you love that sensation of clearing a deadspot, and now you're good to go?

Summit

• The stop is actually at Belmont, despite OBS calling it out as “Summit.” Adorable. In any event, this is one of the few zones I don’t pull as far forward as possible on, because the layout seems designed for killing people. Which I don’t want to do. People get off and want to cross in front, and if you’re too far forward, you have very little time to react if they cross as you begin to roll forward.
• Also, cars may pass you on the left, accelerating to quickly get out of straddling the oncoming lane, and are thus primely positioned to run over pedestrians in the crosswalk (also something you don't like), because you’re blocking their view. So I stop a little bit back here.

Harvard

• I call this out as “Broadway.” OBS thinks it’s Harvard, which technically yes, it’s farside Harvard, but no one cares about Harvard. They care about Broadway. Tell ‘em to have a good night.
• Do not signal right as you enter the zone, or you’ll get on that straight wire. Use your 4-ways instead. (Where does that right lane of wire go? Just to satisfy your curiosity– it can turn you right onto SB Broadway (an extremely difficult turn requiring epic setup), or continue straight up Pine, like the old 10 used to, all the way to 15th and north on 15th to where the 10 runs now.)
• Check your time. Do you have to wait? Is the 11 behind you and wishing to service this very popular zone? You could consider pulling forward, past the alley, so (s)he can fit in behind you. But then you’re also technically blocking an alley, so I don’t blame you if you have second thoughts about it.
• Don’t pull too far forward– remember, you need to stay on the left-turn wire. 

Broadway

• I can't get enough of this turn. Go deep. Yeah. Take it out there. So deep it almost looks like you’re going to turn into that bike lane. Why?
• Because the wire above wasn’t built by Metro but by a company in connection with the Seattle Streetcar, and it’s flimsier. It’s structurally weaker, and it is also harder to visually decode; Metro builds its wire so the deadspots are visible and easy to comprehend the location of (the big “suitcase handle” over the wire, as you know), but whoever built these streetcar wire intersections didn’t have the first idea about that. You can’t see the deadspots at all. You can't see anything. It's a zoo up there. Plus, the breakability– this is why supervisors are so touchy about your speed crossing the streetcar on Virginia and Stewart. It’s just too fragile. 
• Anyways. You’re taking this turn deep because you want to keep your poles roughly above the back end of your coach, since staying under the wire is the best way to stay on the wire. 
• You have no deadspots until the very end, where you get a cute little “beep” right as your front doors pass the sign on the store window that’s just past Jimi Hendrix and says “Blick Art Materials.” 
• The next light usually turns red before you can get to it. No worries.

John

• When I was a teenage passenger, a driver announced this as, “This is John– or Olive, depending on how you roll...” which I’ve always remembered and found amusing, given the pansexual fluidity of the neighborhood. The robotic OBS lady calls the street John, and hopefully that makes her happy. 
• Note the 3 pieces of special work– another place to take the whole intersection at 9mph, majestically drifting across the intersection. Doesn't that feel great?
• If you’re coming from driving diesels, it may seem strange to slow down so much, and in such unexpected places. But the crowd is used to it. Buses have been slowing down for special work in Seattle for over a half-century. Just keep it smooth for the people. 
• ​This is a camera light.

Nathan on Ubers and Lyfts

• Let’s talk about this. Talking it out is good, right?
• First we’ll admit the unvarnished truth: They "drive." They drive in a manner absurdly inconsistent with standard American driving behavior. They don’t follow rules. They follow Geoffrey Rush's dictum on rules from Pirates of the Caribbean 1: "They're more like... (wink wink) guidelines." 
• Taxi drivers get defensive driver training: they also drive like maniacs, but they know what they’re doing and know the city very well. The same can’t be said for U & L drivers. The training isn’t there, and it shows. 
• I don’t advocate for GPS driving, because, as you know from whenever you’ve ever been behind anyone who’s following their GPS, they don’t look far enough ahead. Increase your following distance so you have more time to react.
• Now, for the macro-level existential analysis:
• What do we really mean when we say “bad driving”? Do we have different ideas of what constitutes skilled maneuvering? Why do people think women can’t drive, when statistically they get into less accidents?
• I was once riding a bus with an operator from Kenya driving. In Kenya he also drove buses. Now he was driving through traffic in Seattle. As I sat there being thrown around and hanging on for dear life, I was convinced this was the worst bus driving I’d ever experienced. Then it dawned on me: this is probably how you have to drive to get through traffic in Kenya. If Kenyan traffic is anything like the traffic I’ve experienced in Mexico City, Napoli, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen, then I can attest that it is insane, and his methods wouldn’t just have been helpful, but essential. And old habits die hard. Most Uber and Lyft drivers hail from places where there’s a significant difference in driving style from what we’re used to. So there’s that. Plus, they’re driving around drunk frat boys in their personal vehicles, who might vomit on their own car seats at any moment. Also, they have a different incentive than us in that the faster they operate, the more rides (money) they can stand to make. We’re lucky; we don’t have to rush.
• Speaking of which: Metro colleagues, please don’t drive these things like they’re Ubers. They aren’t. A 4500-series trolley costs $1 million per unit. It’s worth more than your house. Don’t risk lives and your livelihood racing down 3rd Avenue with it. If you kill someone it isn’t just that you’ll be terminated from employment; wherever you go, you’ll be doomed to think about it every single day for the rest of your life, and you don’t want that on your hands.
• So we’ve covered the bigger picture of why Ubers and Lyfts think differently. What to do about it? They’re still blocking your zone here at northbound John (or Olive). 
• I recommend scanning the zone for wheelchairs. If there are no wheelchair-bound passengers, make an in-lane stop. “Guys, we’re gonna stay in the lane here, watch your step.” Passengers always, without fail, will take your side in the bus-Uber conversation. They get it. 
• As you’re approaching, preparing to stop in-lane, they may freak out a little thinking you’re passing; give them a wave to acknowledge their existence and they’ll put it together. Kneel the coach to show your goodwill. I don’t kneel at every zone, but doing so in this scenario just makes sense. 
• While stopping in-lane, make sure you are blocking the Uber from being able to leave the zone. Not out of spite– he has his job to do, and you have yours– it’s just business– not out of spite, but out of safety. You don’t want him peeling out while your doors are open. Angle in a little, or pull up enough that the next parked car prevents his moving.
• I do the above because it means I don’t have to honk, get stressed, or lose time trying to get them to move. An operator once told me they honked at a blocking Lyft by laying the horn on for 4 full minutes; do not do that. That is legally classifiable as road rage, and you can lose your CDL over it. Also, it’s like jaywalking in uniform except worse– it just looks bad. Take some pride in your work. 
• You may find yourself thinking you should honk to “educate” them, so there’s one less driver who stops in bus zones. Without telling you how to think, I can say that’s a pointless task to assign yourself. You’re never going to be able to educate enough car drivers about how to drive to make even the slightest difference in road conditions– except to stress yourself into oblivion. Just like you can't teach all the passengers, you may as well go with the flow. You want to have less ulcers as you age, not more. That’s the micro level. That’s us. The macro level is voting for someone who’s in a position of power to effect the change we don’t have the power to as individuals. The micro level is avoiding ulcers.

Mercer

• Check your time. 
• Where does that left wire go, which you’re careful not to accidentally activate, perhaps by using your 4-ways as you leave the zone? It swings over to Aloha St, allowing you to turn around onto the southbound wire back down Broadway. It’s helpful to know the wire network in case of accidents or closures or reroutes; things you can do while staying on the wire. 

Galer

• Maybe you’re doing the “lovely ladies” trip. You got them all at Pike, and now they’re getting off for the women’s night shelter across the street at St. Mark’s. More on the lovely ladies here.
• On a Breda, this was an experience, requiring cycling the lift 6 or 7 times and usually putting you a full 15 minutes down. I would encourage the rest of the crowd to get on through the back and “pay me tomorrow,” so we didn’t spend all night at 4th and Pike. I mean, I like it there, but...
• Yes, I also feel like I need dental work done after going through this section– the “paving” from Galer to Howe. Can you believe this is what the entirety of 10th Ave East and 15th Ave NE in the U District used to be like? At night I’ll try to situate myself somewhere where it’s infinitesimally less bumpy, and while that works on other stretches of 10th, this short stretch is Seattle’s equivalent of the winds of Gibraltar.

Miller

• Remember the Book: never go down a hill faster than you would safely go up it. I look at that nice park beyond Roanoke and wonder, who will be the first bus to lose control on the bridge, perhaps due to ice, and go flying straight into that bucolic landscape? Who will be the first to make history, careening over bushes and mauling trees and dogs? Will it be me?
• Hot trivia: if you’re ever in a jam and for some reason need to use the wire on the opposite side of the street, it will work. Put one pole on each lane of wire just as you would normally. Ah, magic.

Roanoke

• Turning left off of 10th– you can do this entire turn in lane 1, but go slowly. Whipping it around will drop your poles (not to mention some of your passengers!).
• Turning right on Harvard– I split Roanoke to do this. When traffic is heavy I’ll stay in lane 1 but use my 4-ways for the turn– those cars in lane 2 will not be expecting you to go deep before turning right. Splitting is much safer.

Eastlake

• As Nathan the lane-splitting bus driver, by now it's no surprise to read: I split the turn from Harvard to Eastlake, sitting in lane 1 more than lane 2.
• Of course, there’s no right on red here.
• Slow down for the special work and deadspot that happens as your front crosses the midway point of the driveway on the right, after the turn.
• Crossing the bridge: in a diesel I split (like a broken record, sorry) and cruise over it, because there’s no slow order in a diesel.
• But you’re a trolley. Don’t go over 9mph– including the moments just before and just after the bridge.
• The wire is slack at these two locations, because the bridge is a historical object and it's hard for Metro to get permission from the city and others to build further support structures. When I drove the 70 in 2008 I was told they're "working on it." No hard feelings; we get by meanwhile. It's at these two points, before and after the bridge, that you have the greatest chance of losing poles.
• Keep it at 9mph through the whole thing, noting the sectional insulators as your front bumper approaches the grating, and after the bridge, around the moment your front clears the horizontal metal-tipped gap separating the bridge from the regular roadway. You don't want to lose your poles here and have to go reset your poles on a bridge with no right-side clearance you can walk down– not to mention a bridge that's made out of metal.
• There it is: a sectional insulator as you approach Campus Parkway, about two coach-lengths before the turn.
• You know you're supposed to turn onto Campus Parkway. There are two off-ramps in short succession. Which one is it? Follow the wire.

Campus Parkway

• During the turn– be mindful of how that left lane can receive traffic quickly from southbound Roosevelt; the curvature is awkward, but it always works out. A car may be parked in lane 1, forcing you to split into lane 2, and it's good to already have an idea of what's going on or about to happen in lane 2 because you scanned it and southbound Roosevelt's turn lane while making the turn onto Campus Parkway.
• After 10th between Galer and Howe, this is the bumpiest road this side of postwar Europe. We might thus run it a little slower, knowing we can't stop as quickly.
• The light at 12th has a counter on the pedestrian crossing on the other side of the street, which depending on foliage may be visible; however, the light will hold green for a short bit before turning red.
• The lane 1 cars blocking are often just quickie dropoffs that will evaporate by the time 12th turns green again, given how massively long this light is.
• Speaking of which– all the lights on Campus Parkway are downright interminable. No wonder people jaywalk like crazy here. As you're sitting nearside Brooklyn, pondering your college days and so glad that you don't have to study for exams anymore– is that a 65 or 372 coming up alongside? Or a 75 coming north on Brooklyn preparing to turn right? All of those routes want the zone in front of you, nearside University Way. You want the nearest zone on the block, farside Brooklyn, and maybe you'll let that 65 on your left go first so she can get in her zone.
• Is there a 70 or another 49 behind you? If there are no 65's (etc) about, please consider pulling forward enough so they can fit behind you in zone 2. This means pulling forward such that you're bleeding into the back of zone 1, allowing room for a 60-footer (maybe that's me back there!) to fit. It's just so nice to do!
• As you leave zone 2, try using your 4-ways rather than your regular left-turn signal, as there's a switch just after zone 2 that sets you up to do a U-turn.
• Incidentally, there's another U-turn on the inbound side, allowing you to drive in a full circle while remaining on the wire if you wish. Have I done this in the late hours when I had no passengers (or only sleepers) out of sheer giddy excitement? Out of the civic duty of keeping the switches alive by occasionally using them, and pleasure of seeing unused wire sparking up a show in my rear mirrors? Don't ask me. These are questions where we drivers nod silently at each other in understanding, confirming nothing, denying everything. Only the birds and trees know.
• Remain in lane 1. If you choose to use lane 2 (to pass a parked 75, say), be aware that the bumpy road plus the positioning of the wire between Brooklyn and 15th may result in you losing poles. Hug the right edge of lane 2 if you have to use it.

15th

• It's easy to lose poles turning left here, but it's also easy to avoid doing so. Go from lane 1 to lane 1 and go deep, and remember to not accelerate until your poles have gotten onto the straight northbound wire– that is, after your entire coach has completed the turn. 
• You can see that there's a lane of wire from northbound 15th to westbound Campus. Are you going to accidentally get on it, since your left turn signal is on as you turn left onto 15th? No, as that turning wire is only accessible from an activation switch earlier on northbound 15th. You can't trip that wire from the wire you're on. 

42nd

• Pull far enough forward that a 2nd coach can fit behind you and clear the crosswalk. This means going well past the zone flag, by at least fifteen feet.
• I don't do this here, because this isn't steep enough for it (nor is anywhere else on the 7/49), but we may as well talk about hills, in case you have to drive up the Counterbalance or James. How do you stop on a steep uphill? What if you're going slowly and have a full load? Using the service brake would be a jerky and dangerous experience, potentially throwing passengers around. Instead, I recommend applying the power pedal as you slow down, gradually less and less power but still going forward, until the moment the bus it as a complete the bus is at a complete standstill. The microsecond the bus is completely still– boom, pop in the hill holder. This takes practice. I observe the coach's movement by looking at the pavement vs. the windshield edge. Once both are still– there we go. Hill holder to the rescue, and you've made an impossibly smooth stop. Again, this isn't necessary anywhere on this route, but it's very helpful elsewhere in the network.
• Pulling out of the zone you get in lane 2, slowing down for the work (which lines up with that tree on the left), remembering not to signal right for the 70 wire. You're the default. 

45th

• I wait a little further back, maybe six feet shy of the stop bar. You know why; to be nice to all those inbound 44s and 49s coming around the corner, who will appreciate the extra space. You wouldn't think they'd be there in the brief minute you're waiting for the green, but, incredibly, they always are. The 44 is 10-minute service during the day, while the 49 is every 12; that's 11 trips an hour, plus 542s and deadheads. Someone is always making that turn and needing that space.
• Maybe your first trip is during peak, and it's busy. Look at what traffic's doing after the turn on farside 45th. Do you have room? You may not have room. Hold, and let the light cycle out. Maybe everything will be hunky dory in 90 seconds. Is everything exactly the same all over again, after you've given up one full light cycle? If the cars from the previous cycle are completely gone, I would go for it, because that sounds like traffic's moving, even if you have to embarrassingly block for a little bit. If traffic isn't moving, I'd hold for a bit more to see what's going on... but you probably don't have this issue, because it's 9 o'clock in the evening and the living is easy.

12th

• Slow down for the special work crossing this intersection, which lines with, I believe, the second tree in the sidewalk landscaping on the right.

11th

• With 3 lanes to use on northbound 11th, you don't need to split this turn, but you can. Either way, stay hard to the right as you finish the turn; the wire is further to the right than you think.

47th

• Use the side wire. There are a few trips throughout the day that will need the straight wire to go around you; it's unusual, but not a bad idea to stay on the siding just in case. 

​Phenomenal. You did it. you just drove the 7 all the way from Rainier Beach to the U District in one piece. You can do anything in life. See you on the trip back.

Part I (7 southbound) here.
Part II (7 northbound) here.

Stand by for Part IV!

Okay, let’s get out of here. You got down here okay. Now let’s go back up. (this is the second in a series of posts detailing driving maneuvers on the 7/49. Click here for Part I: the southbound 7 and explanation of terms and assumptions).

Henderson

• You leave the terminal slowly, getting back on the wire smoothly– your side wire rejoins the main line as the front of your coach passes the cute green garbage can to the right– just past “the Circle,” where all the guys and gals hang out in summer. Give them a wave if you like. 
• Preparing for the turn onto southbound Seward Park Ave– dip to the right and swing toward the left of your lane, hugging the double yellow on Henderson. As with all right turns, go forward until the middle of your front doors is parallel to the curb of the street you’re turning onto. 

Rainier & Seward Park Ave

• Do not accelerate until the back of your bus (where the poles are!) has completed the turn– otherwise, you’ll lose your poles. 

52nd

• After this zone, either go slowly or split the lanes to remain on the wire. There’s also a sectional insulator that lines up with a pedestrian crossing sign on the right.

Henderson NB

• Let’s do this. Half of these guys are only going to Rose anyway, or maybe Othello. Creep up to the light. This red takes forever and a day; let stragglers on, or you’re in for an awkward 90 seconds. 
• Do not signal right as you cross this intersection, because that will trip the right-turn wire. 
• Keep it at 9mph through the intersection from the moment the back of your coach clears the nearside crosswalk until the front of your coach clears the yellow fire hydrant on the right, by the driveway.
• Personally I like to split up until Cloverdale, because the right edge of lane 1 is bumpy and you’re a night operator. There’s no one out here and you have the luxury of such options.

Rose

• Everyone forgets there’s special work here. Try not to. 

Holden

• If you read the previous post about driving southbound, you know I love splitting lanes. We’re about to get crazy with splitting here. Why are we splitting? A couple of reasons:

1. I don’t like those parked car doors on the right. And–
2. On this stretch of Rainier, the road often tilts to the right, causing the top of your coach to be at an angle farther away from the wire; the bus thinks something’s going wrong, even though nothing is, and will drop your poles in a fit of excessive caution. And by “this stretch” I mean from where we are now all the way to Graham. We’re about to get serious. Because…

Othello

• Did you just lose your poles at Fontanelle, approaching the light at Othello? These new buses are awful sensitive. They pop off the wire like breeze-blown laundry. But there’s a way around it. Try the below, safely:

Staying on the wire on Rainier

1. Get directly beneath the wire, even if it involves splitting lanes. 
2. Throw on your 4-ways to alert cars you’re being weird. 
3. Floor it. 

You’re invincible. Just stay directly beneath the wire. 

• Where do you really need to do this, or slow down, or at least be mindful that you might pop off? At these locations southbound:

1. Forest (hot weather only)
2. After Walden, approaching the Letitia S-curves (hot weather only)
3. Alaska (usually not necessary, but maybe)
4. After Graham
5. After Holly

 

• And at these locations northbound:

1. After 52nd
2. Approaching Othello
3. After Othello, approaching Frontenac
4. After Edmunds
5. After Alaska
6. Before Oregon (hot weather only)
7. After Genesee
8. Before Grand (hot weather only)

• The wire placement was designed for an earlier iteration of lane striping on Rainier; in most of these spots, if you simply drive as if the old lane striping (still dimly visible) was the norm, you won’t lose your poles.

Frontenac

• There’s a sectional insulator well before the zone, across the street from the Shell gas station. 

Graham

• There’s a deadspot at the wooden telephone pole. You need to pull all the way to the head of the zone to clear it. I’ll wait until there are no cars blocking. Another incentive to pull all the way forward– and I do mean all the way forward, until you’re clipping the stop bar– is because otherwise the back door opens into bushes.
• Crossing Graham, there’s special work as your rear right tire drops into that big dip farside, which you’ll notice significantly rocks the coach; you can choose to avoid it, or use it as a convenient added excuse to slow down for the switch.
• Merge left. For some reason cars are usually pretty generous about yielding for you here.

Kenny

• It’s almost comical how poorly lit this zone is. Double check for intending passengers.

Orcas

• As with the southbound direction, this is a camera light. As ever, try to stop for yellow lights unless it is unsafe to do so. If you must, know that your front bumper must clear the nearside stop bar before the light turns red, or you’ll get dinged. But try not to be that guy…

Brandon St S-Curves

• Yes, there’s a lot of support wire, but you still want to be at or under 20mph through this. You may hear a “mythical deadspot”– a little beep where there is no deadspot. That’s the pole almost coming off. Wow! Not worth the risk! 

39th

• The light may turn without warning; look for pedestrians who’ve hit the crossing signal.
• The brick roadway beginning at Hudson has become really bumpy.

Edmunds

• If I’m early, I’ll wait here instead of the Genesee timepoint, because you’re more helpful this way. This is a popular zone.
• Upon pulling out, consider either splitting or going slowly to avoid losing poles during that great big dip in the roadway’s right edge. If you remain in lane 1, you won’t hit the white street sign. 

Alaska

• The curve following this zone, if taken too quickly, will result in dropped poles. Keep it under 20mph, or else split the lanes.

Genesee

• Check your time. 
• On pulling out, you may need to split the lanes to stay on the wire, although I haven’t had to do this in a while. 
• I’ll sometimes split all the way up to Andover from here, as the dip in the road at Dakota can invite pole-droppage.

Andover

• This zone doesn’t reeeeaally hold two coaches. It looks like it should, but your back wheel will be on the crosswalk. May as well give it a second for your leader to get out of the way. Speaking of which:

Skip-stopping recap: northbound version

• We went over this on the southbound trip, but let’s recap because they’re not teaching this and it’s important.
• Let’s say you’re a “7 to S Jackson” (meaning, you’re going only as far as 5th and Jackson before then going to Base). Somebody is at the zone, but your follower, a 7 to Downtown, is behind you. If you don’t have dropoffs and your follower is visible to the intending passenger, I say skip the zone, and your follower will pick them up. This speeds up both buses.
• Let’s say that you’re instead a 7 to Downtown, and there’s a 7 to S Jackson behind you. You’ll have peeked in your mirror to see his signage, which is how you know he’s just a Chinatown bus. There’s an intending passenger at the zone, and you have no dropoffs. You need to pick them up. Why? Because he might want Downtown, and the bus behind you doesn’t go there. In order to skip people, the bus behind needs to go everywhere you’re going, and ideally, it should be visible to the intending passenger. I’ll signal with my hand, gesturing behind me with my thumb, as in, “Look behind me! Your savior awaits! I don’t actually hate you!” They may not understand now, but they will in a second.
• Are you a 7 to S Jackson only, with a 106 behind you? You can skip. The northbound 106 routing is identical to you. 

Letitia St S-Curves

• Run these at 20mph or under. The slow order is 25mph, but that’s redundant now that all of Rainier is 25mph anyway. 
• There’s deadspot just after the bus stop bench. Pull all the way to the zone flag, and you’ll clear it.
• Watch the blind driveway in the middle of the curve after the zone.

Walden

• Let’s slow down a touch to see if there’s anyone hidden by those trees. Don’t worry about missing the light; it's a short one.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Way

• You probably know that I call out most or all of my stops. I’m not saying you have to, but you might do so for this one. OBS calls this stop “Mount Baker Blvd,” which is technically true, but misleading: “Mount Baker” in neighborhood parlance refers to the transit center and rail station  after this zone. For all intents and purposes, this zone is called MLK. 
• Try not to kill people. Careful here in the dark, as jaywalkers have died here (read a story of mine about one such fellow here).
• As with the opposite side, the folks waiting here may not appear enticing on first suspicion. But they almost always have destinations.
• Are you late? No need to rush, but using the far right lane here will give you a bus green light and skip you out ahead of the rest of the cars.

Mt Baker

• Check your time. Is that a supervisor van off to your right?
• Yes, people can transfer to rail here, but it’s useful to know that if they’re trying to get downtown, the act of them deboarding, crossing the street, walking to the train station staircase, going up the stairs to the train platform, probably missing a train while doing all of that, waiting for the next one, and then riding into town… at night, your 7 is faster. Just in case they ask.
• Note the special work above, crossing Forest, just past Forest, approaching McClellan, and while crossing McClellan. Slow to 9mph for each of these, or just drift at 9mph through the whole thing until your front end clears the farside crosswalk. Yours truly has gotten dinged here for going over 9mph.
• At night sometimes I split between McClellan and Bayview. Why do I do this? I don’t know. Lane 1 just feels narrow to me. You won’t lose poles here.

Bayview

• This is another zone that looks like it can hold 2 coaches but only has room for 1. 
• If traffic is amenable, I also split from here to Walker, and I know why: the right edge of lane 1 is bumpier than the Pacific Crest Trail. 

Walker

• You’re approaching. Is a 4 creeping out on Walker, trying to turn onto NB Rainier? Consider blocking for him, or holding for him so he can do that turn. It isn’t an easy one.
• Slow down for the crossing with the 4 wire; also, there’s a sectional insulator before the special work that lines up with one of those short pillars of the building to the right.
• The light crossing 23rd is a long light. Sadly there’s no counter, but you’ll probably make this. Don’t forget to slow down for that crossing wire in the middle of the intersection, as well as again at Plum, where the special work lines up with the zone.

Grand

• Maybe you’re behind me and you see me splitting as I approach Grand. Why is he doing that? Because I lost poles here once, and although it’s never happened again, it’s like my body never forgets!

Charles

• This is a short light. Somebody wanted the 554 to Issaquah; they can jump off here and grab it across the street.
• Why are college-looking twenty-somethings getting on here who obviously don’t live on this line? They’re coming from the climbing place across the street, heading back to their homes on the Hill. 

Dearborn

• Don’t block the intersection on the wishful thinking that this zone might actually, in some other universe, be able to hold two coaches. It can’t.

Jackson

• This light is a great place to sit around relaxing, because it’s at least a minute long. Pack a lunch. Throw on your hill holder to take the pressure off your right knee (as I do at all stops). Take your time finishing the left turn onto Jackson; too much speed and the poles want to come off here, because of the angle at which the turning wire trails into the straight Jackson wire. 

Boren

• Who’s this big crowd of hulking men? Not to fear. It’s the NightWatch contingent. NightWatch is a placement program that assigns people shelter spots throughout the city. It’s complicated in a way that requires those use it to be a lil’ more mentally put together; they have to have acquired a ticket earlier in the day from DESC, allowing them entry to NightWatch for a meal starting at 21h00, after which they get a ticket to a shelter, usually in the U District (called Seattle Friends, at 40th and 9th, which they have to get to before 24h00). I used to drive these guys every night, and they were among my favorite passengers. 
• There’s a sectional insulator that will kill you as you leave the zone. It lines up with a difference in pavement featuring a driveway (it’ll make sense when you’re there) on the right, right around the edge of the new pho restaurant.

12th

• Take it at 9mph through the whole intersection, checking to see if there’s space for you at the zone. Pull all the way forward, as with any zone, to make room for a 2nd coach behind you.
• Watch the driveway as you leave the zone, and of course, check your mirrors all the time.
• Your signage has changed– you are now the 49. Glorious.

Maynard

• Are you going home? Getting on that left turn wire without losing poles and making the light probably isn’t going to happen. I think we’ve all experienced this. Lose the light, make the wire.

5th

• Use the side wire. Who knows what might happen here. 
• Check your time. 
• Problems on your bus? The CBD is a good place to call for help at night. Help will arrive sooner.
• Getting on the right-turn wire to 4th. Okay. This is the only place I use the override switch as well as the right turn signal (I usually only use turn signals for switches). I position myself a foot away from the curb and creep, waiting to hear that satisfying metallic click, checking my left mirror to see if I got it. (I don’t set my blind spot mirror vertically; that’s for amateurs. You can see enough with the horizontal orientation.) 
• Did I not get it? I creep forward until I’m far enough forward to be able to switch the poles from the straight wire to the right wire. Wear your vest; eyes are watching. Afterwards, enjoy the act of legally turning into lane 3.

Washington

• There’s a sectional insulator here, a bit before the light.

Prefontaine

• I’ll go for the side wire here, in case a 36 or someone wants to barrel around me.
• Keep the wire over the right edge of your coach while crossing Yesler. Keep it around 10mph in lane 2 as you approach James, and mind that sectional insulator just past the crosswalk at Jefferson. 

James

• If it’s late night, the signal timing is for southbound traffic, and you’re going to get a red at every single intersection all the way up 3rd. We’ll roll our eyes at it together and find something to enjoy about the experience, such as the fact that we’re definitely not going to run early now…
• Crossing James– 2 big deadspots, before and after the elevator on the right. Cherry and Columbia are your only northbound intersections without special work. 

Skip-Stopping on Third

• Let’s go over where your coach should be positioned between here and Pike. As we know, the rule of thumb for Third Ave operations is:

1. Is there a bus zone that isn’t yours? Get in the left lane so you don't block other coaches from using it;
2. Don’t pass buses that use the same stops as you (unless they have their 4-ways on);
3. The bus in lane 1 (the right lane!) has the right of way.

In practice, what that looks like for you, a 7/49 going north, we can explore in this handy lil’ cheat sheet:

• Leaving Prefontaine, get into lane 2 before Jefferson, and sit in lane 2 up until the light at James. 
• Crossing James, you have a block to merge right. Be in lane 1 by the time you reach nearside Cherry. Service the zone at Columbia.
• Upon crossing Columbia, get in lane 2 and stay in it through nearside Madison. 
• As you cross Marion, the 2 big deadspots are just past the farside crosswalk. Keep it at 9mph. Sweet– you made it!
• After crossing Madison, you have 1 block to get into lane 1 before reaching nearside Spring. Service the zone at Seneca.
• Just after Seneca, jump into lane 2, so you’re in lane 2 before reaching nearside University.
• Roll past Union in lane 2. 
• Immediately as you cross Union, hit your right turn signal to get on the side wire for the Pike St zone. The back of your coach needs to be closer to lane 1 to get on the side wire. This means merging immediately into lane 1, the second you’re finishing up crossing Union. Take your time with this special work; you want to hear 2 deadspots. One deadspot means you didn’t get onto the side wire, which is also the right-turn wire. You’ll need to turn right at Pike to start your 49.
• I think it’s always a good idea to get on the side wire here, even if you’re not a 49 and are going up to Virginia. Because coaches behind you might want to go around, and you might take longer than you think with deboarding passengers. 
• Now it’s time to turn right on Pike. The side wire defaults to returning you to northbound 3rd, which you don’t want. You’ll need to activate your right-turn signal again to turn right onto Pike. Look for illegally parked cars on the far left side of Pike, where the bike lane is; if someone’s there, swing wide while still nearside of Pike so you can split and have more room for your turn.
• This is one of my favorite turns. You’re transitioning worlds here, going from 7-land to 49-land, representing the shift from South Seattle to North Seattle in a single gesture. Pretty awesome.

See you in the next post, where we’ll take it to the U District!

This one's about the physical act of driving the thing. It's time for tech talk!
Two recent posts dealt with psychological and existential problems of doing this route.
Another post offers tips on fights and other security issues.

Introduction
I first drove it in 2009, and have stuck regularly to it since, including several stints of consecutive years driving it nightly. I've gone down those streets more times than most operators will in their lifetimes, and with the regular blog coming to a close I wish to pass on a thing or two I may have picked up on the way– because it's good to help each other. And because the night 7/49 is the lowest-seniority route. If you're on it, it's because you're nuts like me and you like it, or because you're new. If the latter– welcome. It's going to be fine. 

Assumptions

• You've got a 4500-series 60-foot trolley.
• You're doing the full 7/49.
• We're going to do one full loop, starting with a road relief eastbound on 5th and Jackson. This post goes from 5/J south to Henderson.
• We're not going to do the Virginia street turnaround because that's rare at night, and you may already know it from the 36 and 70.
• We're going to ignore passenger stuff completely– refer to, well, the whole the rest of this blog. Here's a good starting place.
• And– these are my suggestions, not the official rules. I'm only one person, but these tips have worked for, if no one else, at least me. 

On Jackson Street at 5th

• Here's your coach pulling up. Have your bag ready to put behind the driver's seat. Ask the driver you’re relieving how they are, thank them for the bus, and ask if there are any reroutes or issues with the coach. 
• Enter the coach, put your bag away, set your mirrors, and start driving. Everything else can be done later. All you need right now are your mirrors.
• Make sure you're not early– 5th is a timepoint that is often checked– and wait for that green light. Are you early? Great. Red lights are the perfect place to work on setting your seat, working on the interior mirrors and logging in. But otherwise, you’ll get to all that later. Wave in the passengers with ORCA cards– it’ll take too long to figure all that out right now.

Crossing 5th 

• Don't rush this. If the hand is counting down already, consider waiting out the cycle. I assume your coach is on the side wire because it's always nice to use the side wire (allows other buses to pass), especially when a relief is taking place. If you're on the side wire, you should hear 4 deadspots as you cross the intersection (if not, you'll hear 3). 
• I measure the location of deadspots by where the front of the coach directly beneath me (the middle of the front doors) is during the moment of the beep. 
• Green light. Accelerate to 9mph before reaching the middle of the intersection. 
• Do not activate your right turn signal as you cross the intersection, as this will set your poles to turn right. Merging? Use your 4-ways.
• Deadspot 1 (as your poles return to straight wire): your front has just passed the middle of 5th Avenue.
• Deadspot 2: as you hit the farside crosswalk. You will need enough momentum to clear both these deadspots at once; there isn't enough space between then to accelerate. Remember, you only need 9mph to do this. 4500s coast quite well.
• Accelerate for 6 feet or so. 
• Deadspot 3: (this used to be by the Western Union sign in the window. Stand by for update; I’ve been doing it by rhythm lately!)
• Accelerate for 6 feet or so. 
• Deadspot 4: as your front doors pass the neon sign of the pho place.
• You made it. First day? You probably powered through all the above and jerked the bus around. That’s okay for now. But each time you go through, try to memorize these locations a little more so you don't power through deadspots (it's bad for the electricity), and to give a smoother ride. Remove your foot from the accelerator before the deadspot; if you're new, the back of the coach where the poles are is slightly further back than you think. 

Maynard

• Cruise up to Maynard and get the people. No need to rush these lights; the cycles are quick. Watch those cars parallel parked on the right– many are momentary deliveries to the grocery store there. 

8th 

• Do not put on your right turn signal as you cross 8th; doing so will activate the right turn wire. Take the intersection at 9mph, removing your foot from the accelerator at the crosswalk on the far side of 8th– that's where the deadspot is for your 60-foot coach. (In a 4300 today? It's just after the halfway point of the intersection). Ask me in person why I suggest 9mph for all deadspots. 

Pulling out of 8th

• You will need control of the left lane, due to parked cars on the right. I often merge into it entirely; if you do, be mindful that enterprising car drivers may try to squeeze past you on the right. Consider splitting the lanes to minimize this. 

10th 

• Slow down to 9mph for the special work. Don't use your left turn signal, or you'll activate the switch above. Do you need to merge left here, or otherwise use your turn signal for traffic maneuvers at any time when they conflict with what you want to do with the wire? 

Merging during switches

• I recommend using your 4-ways in that scenario. 4-ways do not affect the wire, and let cars behind you know you're about to do something weird. They don't know what, but something.
• You can also do Straight Override, but keep your hand on the switch so you remember to switch it back to "N" right after.
• Eventually you'll know where all the switches are, and will likely take the easier path of doing your merging maneuvers before or after them.

12th 

• Approaching– return to the right lane. Is there a coach in the zone already? Wait. This zone only holds one coach. 
• Green light. Expect 3 deadspots. Do not use your right turn signal, or you'll trip the 36 wire. 
• Deadspot 1: As your rear wheel crosses the nearside crosswalk. You need to hear this. If you don't, you're on the 36 wire and need to stop immediately. 
• Deadspot 2: As you're crossing the farside crosswalk. 
• Deadspot 3: front of your coach lines up with "Bac Sam" on the grocery store sign on the right! 
• Check your time. 

Leaving 12th

• You've got your crowd, and are ready to take them to the Valley. Great. Watch the crosswalk for the streetcar island. Notice the wire splitting above, about a block and a half past the 12th Ave zone. There's a wooden telephone pole on the right. 
• You need to be hitting your right turn signal before you reach it– you want to trigger the right turn wire. You will hear a click of metal.
• I drive with my front roof hatch open (use the "rear" switch by the signage to activate), so I can hear the wire better. First night(s) on the route? Consider driving with Climate Control off, so you can hear the wire and learn where the switches are and what to listen for. 
• You've passed that wooden telephone pole and heard the click. Fabulous. Slow down to 9mph. Listen to that satisfying soft ker-klunk as you get onto the right wire, about 10 feet after hearing the click above. You really are the 7 now. 
• If you hear a deadspot beep, you missed the switch. It's okay. I know, you don’t want to have to go out there and do this with all these people sitting here. But you have to. Just do it. Stop, safely get out, and move your poles. 

Resetting your poles from one lane of wire to another

• Pull the parking brake. 
• Be sure you pulled the parking brake. 
• Step out the doors with your vest in hand. Be mindful of cars. Put on your vest as you walk or jog to the back of the bus. You walk quickly to the back, to show the passengers you care about being expeditious, but once you're back there behind the bus and with the ropes– take your time. Rushing it will take longer. 
• Grab the rope of the pole closest to the lane of wire you're moving to, but don't pull the pole off the wire yet. While still holding the rope, walk over to where you're directly beneath the pole, then pull the pole off the wire. This will prevent the pole from swinging around wildly. 
• Still holding your pole, and being mindful of cars, walk the pole over to where you are directly beneath the wire you want to let it gently rise to the wire. Do it slowly. Use both hands.
• Is the shoe at an angle where it doesn’t want to slip back onto the wire? Raise the shoe up to the side of the wire and use the wire to knock the shoe back into something approaching straighter alignment. Then try again. Take a deep breath while you’re doing this, and remember to be mindful of cars. 

Resetting your poles after losing your poles

• I try to be aware of where the poles are at all times, and the minute I’m not sure, I check visually, either by the mirror or by actually stepping out. You want to be sure. This way, you only ever have to move poles from one lane of wire to another, rather than having them fly off and go everywhere. But let’s just say that’s just happened anyway, because sometimes it does. The poles have just flown off and are swinging around, settling on top of the coach. 
• Pull the parking brake.
• Be sure you pulled the parking brake. 
• Jog out there while being careful of cars and putting on your vest.
• Rack each pole. Hot tip: first rack the pole you’re going to reset first. This saves you a second because it takes a second for the air pressure to build back up.
• Is it raining? Don’t stand directly beneath the pole, but just to its side, as you pull the pole down to tap the coach as you and get it out of the hook. This way all the raindrops on the pole don’t fall on your face! 
• Continue as in the above section.

Preparing to turn right on Rainier

• So you’ve just gotten on that lane of right-turn wire, and you know it because you didn’t hear a deadspot. You’re getting good at this. As you drift toward the light, there’s a tiny deadspot about a coach-length after the switch you just negotiated. These tiny deadspots are called sectional insulators, and although you should not power through them, you do not have to slow down for them.
• Wait for the green. Yes, you’re no longer in the CBD so you’re allowed to make a right on red, but look at that blind curve on Boren to your left. You’re a bus. Do you really think you can turn fast enough here before a car comes flying around that bend? Wait for the green.
• Is the light already green? This is a long green. Chances are you’ll make it. Rock and roll hard; a slight right turn like this one has more potential for blindspots with regard to crosswalks. Watch those oncoming left-turn vehicles from westbound Jackson. 
• Doesn’t it feel great to make this right and land on Rainier, with that beautiful view of the mountain, knowing you’re really doing this, grabbing the bull by the horns and thriving? Maybe not yet. But one day it’ll feel like that.

King

• That’s Labor Systems on the right. No one cares about this at night because it’s closed, but a morning run will have passengers asking for it; it’s a day labor place for enterprising jobless people. Watch for cars passing on your left to turn right in front of you; this is an awkward location for a zone. 

Runners

• There’s a runner, coming up from Dearborn way down there. Are you on time? Consider waiting for them. They’re coming from Goodwill, which is nearly a mile away of walking, and for decades the stop for them was right at Dearborn; now they have to hike all the way up to King, and you’re breaking their heart. Are you late? If your follower will be here in less than 5-10 minutes, I would consider leaving them. Your follower will get them, and if you wait for everyone you’re defeating the purpose of frequent service. The southbound 7 has approximately 10 minute service until 19h00 and 15-minute service until 23h30, daily. After 23h30? Don’t be mean. Wait. They may not look like they need the bus, but there’s one chance in 10 that they do, and it’s worth it just for that one chance. You never know, and 30-60 minutes is a long time to wait for the next bus.

King to Dearborn

• Merge left soon after leaving the zone. There’s a small deadspot (sectional insulator) right around where you cross King. You need to be in the left lane until after crossing Dearborn. Notice how the wire is drifting to the left– stay roughly under it.
• (You can be 12 feet on either side of a lane of wire. 12 feet is the width of one regular lane of traffic.)

Driving When Late

• I don’t advocate for driving faster when you’re late. Try to drive at the same speed even if you’re late. A colleague told me, “if you become late– slow down.” Why? Because when you’re rushing, you’ll have an accident, or you’ll get moody with the people. Being in a hurry magically makes you angry at everything.

King to Dearborn (continued)

• However, I do advocate for different decisions regarding expediency depending on how you’re doing on schedule. Are you early or on time? Use lane 2 as you approach Dearborn and wait for the regular traffic light. Are you late? Without hurrying, use lane 3 and take advantage of the special bus lane light. Horizontal white light means stop; Vertical white light means go; the flashing white triangle in the middle is the equivalent of a yellow light. 
• Try to avoid rushing up to this lane 3 bus lane light, in an effort to keep it smooth for your passengers. You want to trigger it before those northbound cars finish turning left, I know. But it’s better to be smooth and safe. It’s not that big of a time savings, and your priority is safety. You want to keep your job. 
• As you cross Dearborn, carefully begin merging right immediately after you’ve crossed the intersection. This is complicated: be mindful of the stopped northbound cars just to your left, especially if you’re coming in from lane 3. Also be mindful that cars will be turning onto southbound Rainier from eastbound Dearborn, and your right mirror may not see them very well. Glance over there as you cross Dearborn. The wire eventually wants you to be in lane 1 or 2. You probably have passengers at Charles; go for lane 1, unless there’s weird traffic.

Charles

• People will ask you where to catch the 554 to Issaquah. This is it. After servicing the zone, merge into lane 2, which becomes lane 1 as you go underneath I-90. The next zone is after the intersection that’s beneath the bridge. The next several zones are straightforward: no special work, no need to merge. Slow down to 9mph for the special work near Plum St. 

Bayview

• Check your time. Remember, your timepoints, with the exception of the first timepoint on any trip, are arrival timepoints. You want to arrive at Mt. Baker down there at the appointed time. Watch the special work as you approach McClellan; it lines up (always front of the coach, unless otherwise indicated) with the tree right after the QFC driveway.

Mt. Baker

• Special work– slow down to 9mph as you cross the utility pole that lines up with the back of your coach hitting that trailing wire. You’ll know which one after a trip or two. I like knowing exactly where the special work is, so I don’t need to slow down for great big stretches of roadway. I only want to be going 9mph for the brief moment that is the special work. Do it smoothly; don’t be rough on your people. These new Excelsior models are extraordinarily sensitive to your braking. Don’t make somebody’s grandmother throw up back there.
• I tend to pull just past the zone flag at every zone, so I can know if they actually want my bus. Maybe they want the 106; this will tell you. Are you early? Maybe you are, because you tried to wait at Bayview but somebody yelled that they were trying to make a connection to rail here, so you chose to come down here and wait instead of back at Bayview to be nice. As long as you weren’t more than a minute early and you wait it out, the supervisor across the street probably won’t give you any guff. 
• Is there a 106 behind you? Is it nighttime with no traffic? If both are true, leave the zone by pulling dramatically into a position splitting lanes 2 and 3 (mostly in 2, bleeding a little into lane 3) so the 106 behind you can safely cruise by you in lane 1 to make his right turn. His light turns greens before yours does, and (s)he will appreciate it. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Way

• Somebody got on at Mount Baker and literally already wants to get off. Why? This intersection is famously hard to cross. People have died here, including my friend Milard earlier last year. It’s either spend almost 10 minutes walking down, up and onto that pedestrian bridge, or hop on a quick 7. 
• This is a camera light. Your bus needs to cross the stop bar before the crosswalk while the light is still yellow, or else the camera will flash. Ideally, you’re better than that and you just stopped, because you’re a professional and you stop at all yellow lights unless it is unsafe to do so. But I thought you should know just in case. 
• Also: I know, the people at the zone don’t exactly look inviting. But these guys always have destinations– often Letitia (for Safeway) or Graham (for 7-11 or the smoke shop). If they’re sitting in the shelter over there, they don’t need you. If they’re standing by the flag, they do. 

Walden

• A little slower, to see if anyone’s in that shelter–

Letitia Street S-Curves

• This stop is good for Safeway. You can do 20mph safely through these curves, which include the curve at Andover as well. There’s a slow order through all of this of 25mph, but it used to be 20, which I recommend. There’s the zone, then a tree. Stop where you like. 
• After that tree is a telephone pole, and right after that telephone pole is another tree. In between the telephone pole and the tree just past it is a sectional insulator. Remember, you don’t need to slow down for it, but you do need to coast through it. It’s right at the midpoint between the pole and tree.

Andover

• Yes, you probably have runners from Safeway. Do you wait? Don’t you? I use the rules of thumb above (“Runners” section), but it’s your preference. I tend not to wait for people who are across the street from where I am.
• This light turns red quickly (which may decide the above for you).
• Watch the curve after you leave the zone; you just barely fit, and on hot days you may lose your poles on the straightaway if you're far to the right. Is it nighttime with no traffic? Before crossing the intersection and starting the curve, you can see the lanes behind you pretty well in your left mirrors; you might consider splitting for ease. This is why you picked nights– you get the whole road to play with!
• I split as I approach Genesee to avoid parked car doors on the right. 

Genesee

• Transfer point for the 50. On your side right now, it goes to Beacon Hill, Sodo, and West Seattle. In the other direction, toward Seward Park and Othello St, passengers need to catch it eastbound on Genesee by that Shell gas station. 
• Check your time. Are you headed only to Henderson? Congratulations. This is your last timepoint. If not, you still have Graham and Henderson (remember, you can always arrive at your trip’s final timepoint early).
• Merge left to split as you leave the zone, the better to avoid parked car doors. The cars on your left won’t like it; boo for them. You’re bigger. Plus, this is Rainier Avenue; they’ve likely been on buses before, and likely been behind buses. They’ll let you in.

Alaska

• On hot days you may lose poles crossing the intersection. Why? When the temperature gets over 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the wire starts to expand and sag a little– not a lot, but enough to make staying on the wire finicky. To mitigate this, keep it below 10mph while crossing the intersection and hug the left of your lane.
• The closer you are to being directly beneath the wire, the more likely you are to stay on. This is why you never lose poles on the 49; all the wire is directly above the coach. On Rainier, the road often tilts to the right, causing the top of your coach to be at an angle farther away from the wire; the bus thinks something’s going wrong, even though nothing is, and will drop your poles in a fit of excessive caution. This is why I miss those Bredas! This will be a bigger issue on your northbound trip; we’ll get to that later.

Edmunds to Brandon

• Pull all the way to the stop bar to serve the passengers. This way, when the light turns green, you’ll trigger the bus light (if it’s active). 
• Watch those cars coming and going from the Hummingbird Saloon on the right side just past Hudson. 
• After 39th (which OBS calls out as “Dawson”), there’s a sectional insulator that lines up with the middle of the second driveway on the right.
• You don’t have to slow down for these curves, including the one up there past Brandon, other than to drive safely. But as regards the wire– you’ll stay on because, as you can see, there’s a lot of support wire built in, making the curvature of your lane of wire smoother and less kinked, allowing for quicker passage.

Orcas

• This zone only holds one coach. 
• This is a camera light. You are more likely to get dinged here than at MLK because at MLK you just left a zone and you’re going slowly; here, you’re cruising in at a decent speed. You see the counting hand; no need to rush. Just stop. Try to stop for yellow lights; you’ll find yourself less stressed, and with a lower heart rate. At least I do when I’m not flooring it all the time. I like to drift down Rainier; brain science reveals that driving over 25mph puts you in a different mental state more keyed for panic and apathy.
• 25mph or under is scientifically proven to elevate your mood, which, since you’re doing this for 8 hours, you care about. 

Graham

• After Kenny, I start splitting. Either that or I go slow. You’ll fit in lane 1, but if there’s no traffic you might just split to get those parked car doors off the mind.
• After servicing Graham, I definitely split for the curves going toward Holly. You don’t have to, but it’s easier to stay on the wire if you do. I continue splitting until halfway down the straightaway toward Holly, then I drift back into lane 1 to service the zone at Holly. I put my 4-ways on when splitting, so the cars behind me know I’m up to something. 

Holly

• We’ve all lost our poles here. Every last one of us. Especially in the summer. Especially all the time. With Bredas the only time you lost poles was driver error, but the purple bus is sensitive. It’s okay to be sensitive, right? Your cute little bus is just trying to help. As I mentioned under “Alaska,” the tilt of the roadway in combination with the poles being a little farther to the left are what cause it. The macro solution is obvious: King County needs to move the wire to the right, and this headache would go away instantly. Clearly that must be more complicated than it seems. Until you and I run Metro, let’s not stress about it and go for the micro solution: split lanes immediately after servicing the zone. Slowly and smoothly get out there. If it’s busy, the cars will hate you. I say, who cares. I like you. 

Nathan on cars

• Plus, as with all cars failing to signal, cutting you off, being absent-minded, making incomprehensible decisions: You’re a professional. It doesn’t bother you. I don’t tell myself car drivers are stupid; that may be true, but I’ll lose my faith in humanity in about an hour if I think that. I can’t think that. I think, they’re absent-minded. They’re concentrating on other things. If they were actually focused, they’d do an okay job. This isn’t an excuse, but an explanation. It doesn’t matter to me if this explanation is true or not; I just need to believe it as my truth, so I can stay reasonably sane. Also, I’ve noticed if I actively look for safe drivers (wow, that car signaled!), I start noticing more of them, and more of them, until I’m convinced there’s a ton of really terrific car drivers out there. It’s all in your perspective.

Holly (continued)

• You don’t have to do the above. You can also get through it just by doing 10mph for a while. But if splitting is doable, I go for the split. The real estate is there; you may as well take it. It’s a smoother ride for your people, avoiding all those bumps on the right edge of the lane, and you don’t have to sit there doing 10mph for what feels like a quarter mile. 
• While passing the gas station on the right, you can back in lane 1. Be aware of a dip in the road as you cross Willow, the street right before your next zone at Frontenac.

Frontenac

• Careful getting out of here. Somebody will want Othello, so you’ll choose lane 1. 

Othello 

• Is your follower behind you? Consider pulling past the zone, all the way to the end of the last driveway, to make room for 2 coaches at this zone. I split the lanes clear down to Rose after servicing Othello, not for the wire (you won’t lose poles here) but for those pesky car doors. Speaking of leaders and followers:

Skip-stopping in a trolley

• We’ll talk about skip-stopping on Third Avenue when we get back up there. This is different.
• Let’s say you’re the 7 to Henderson, and the 7 to Prentice has caught up to you. The upcoming zone has a passenger waiting, but you don’t have dropoffs. The 7 behind you is visible to the waiting passenger. I say, skip the passenger. Your follower will get him. However:
• Let’s say instead you’re the 7 to Prentice, and the 7 behind you is the one that only goes to Henderson. I say you do have to stop for this guy, even though you have no dropoffs. Why? Because he might need Prentice. The bus behind you needs to go everywhere you’re going in order for you to skip people. Otherwise you might be screwing the passengers. 

Henderson

• Check the DDU or your signage to see what you’re supposed to do here. If the signage code on the DDU says “20A,” you only need to go to up to Henderson and turn left. You’re a “7 to Rainier Beach,” and after servicing Cloverdale you’ll get in lane 2 and go up to the split in the wire, activating your left turn to trip the poles onto the left wire, no deadspot. Take the turn deep and square to stay under the wire and have greater visibility in this area. 
• For the love of all things holy, please pull far enough forward that a 2nd coach can pull in behind you. That means going past the 987 zone and up to the utility pole that has a sign which just says, “BUS.” I don’t care if you park here and use the restroom; just please pull far enough forward that I can fit behind you. 
• If your signage says “7 Prentice St,” and your DDU reflects that by showing the “AF” signage code for that, you instead get to go straight (either way your DDU says “7 to S Henderson St,” so don’t go by that). Somebody will yell out, “are you turnin’ or goin’ straight?” and you’ll get to say, “goin’ straight!” and they’ll be thrilled. They like it when you go this way.
• You remain in lane 1, slowing down for deadspot which is at the far corner of the driveway that’s blocked off, the last driveway on this block before the intersection. You cross Henderson and drop off most of your folks; at this zone they can transfer to the 106 or 107 for service to Skyway and Renton.
• Bummed that you have to do the Prentice Loop? Comfort yourself with the thought that it's 15 minutes of bus driving where nothing ever happens. How lovely!
• Did you forget to go straight? Did you forget to do the Prentice loop? Get back out there and do it. Right on Seward Park Ave, Left on Rainier, put your poles back up and Just Do It. Why? Two reasons:
  

1. Some little old lady might be up there crying her eyes out waiting for you. There's always that. And: 
   
2. Take some pride in your work. Don't do the easiest thing; do the best thing. Be good at what you do.

51st

• Somebody asked if you go to the Safeway in Rainier Beach; this is it.

54th

• You can use this Taco Bell for Comfort Station if you're feelin' desperate.

57th

• There’s a slow order of 10mph through this turn and the following kinks as you get onto Waters Avenue, which I find amusing because nobody in their right mind would ever drive through here faster than that! You’ve got the hard turn, the guys in front of the bar (wave hello!), the joggers congregating across the way, kids playing on the right and again up there on the left, plus some characters switching cars on the right for reasons we won’t ask about. 

61st

• Okay. I know that “Do Not Enter” sign looks like it refers to you, but it’s actually for the left side of the island. You’re fine to continue to the right. Simply follow the wire you’re on; contrary to that annoying adage you’ve been hearing at the Base (“just follow the wire!”), which makes no sense downtown, here the phrase really does ring true, because there’s no other wire in sight

62nd

• Turn right on 62nd while rockin’ and rollin’ like the professional you are. Is someone getting off here? Ask them if they need to cross in front of you, to eliminate awkward confusion. I split all the way up 62nd and down 64th, with my 4-ways on.

Prentice

• Every sensible bone in your body thinks you should drive the bus up to that Stop sign at Renton Avenue, but the 7 is an ancient route, and in ancient times they planned routes to go down tiny streets. Follow the wire: your turn is onto lil’ old Prentice Street, which is 1 block before the Stop sign. Square off the turn.

64th

• Your square turn here will be deeper than the shallow turn the wire performs; slow down at the end of the turn to stay on the wire. As with any turn in a trolley, wait until your bus has completely straightened out before accelerating. Why? The back of the bus hasn’t finished turning yet, and that’s where the poles are!

Waters

• Creep forward at the stop bar. Creep slowly. When you have a clear line of sight– the road is yours.

Waters to 57th

• Slow to 10mph for this curve, in accordance with the Slow Order.

57th to Rainier

• I split this turn, because if I try to do the whole thing from lane 1 into lane 1, I’ll lose my poles– like the situation back at Prentice and 64th, the wire turns more shallowly than my bus, and I solve this here by splitting.

Seward Park Avenue

• The deadspot is as you cross the “porchfront sidewalk” of the Deli. They’ll let you use their restroom if you ask nicely! Pull your poles if you do so, but remember you’ve got your own Metro Comfort Station at the Henderson terminal.
• Between here and Henderson, I usually don’t pick up passengers because they all want the 7 to Downtown. To clarify this for the sake of concern for the passengers and minimize frustration, I may sign my coach up as “To Terminal” (3EE), so they know I’m not actually a 7 to Downtown. Your signage defaults at this point to say, “7 to Rainier Beach,” but no one reads that. 

Henderson

• As you approach Henderson, split the lanes for your right turn. Signal right to trip the right-turn switch. I usually drop my passengers after I’ve made the turn, and will sometimes tell them so by way of explanation (“I’ll let you out after I make this turn!”)
• You made it. Beautiful. As I mentioned above, For the love of all things holy, please pull far enough forward that a 2nd coach can pull in behind you. That means going past the 987 zone and up to the utility pole that has a sign which just says, “BUS.” 
• When you pull up to the layover down there, pull all the way up. Pull forward at all terminals as soon as it’s possible to do so. Notice that there are 2 sets of side wire, allowing for 2 coaches to park here and for the 2nd coach to leave 1st if necessary. Be mindful of where you stop with relation to the wire, so you can get out. 

Sleepers

• Ah, there is someone back there. Detailed thoughts on your choices here. If sleepers are the most challenging part of your night, you're doing great. 

You did it. Enjoy those precious minutes. Use that Comfort Station, stretch it out, and eat something besides junk food. See you on the next trip!

“Hey,” she said slowly, pausing as she stepped onboard. “How long has it been?”

Far more people recognize me than I them, and this was another instance. Where had I seen her before? I smiled at her anyway, waiting for my brain to catch up.

I said, “twelve years.” I assumed she was referring, as passengers often do, to when they first saw me. For some reason there’s a tendency in folks to assume this moment was also my first time driving. Maybe it’s because I’m happy. People will eventually stop thinking I’m young... but hopefully they’ll always think I’m new. My stock answer here is to state how long I’ve been driving in total, because who knows? Perhaps they really did find me in my first days on the road. It certainly seemed the case with her.

“Twelve years,” she repeated. “That sounds about right. Maaaan, iss been a while. I remember when you first started this job. And you still here?”
“Yeah, I like comin’ out here. Lil’ different each day, people to talk to…”

She chuckled, looking on in wonder. She was a mother’s age, mildly heavyset with a sweatshirt, ponytail, and baseball cap, and the sparkling eyes of someone around children often enough to absorb their youthful flair, but not enough to be exhausted by them.

“Man, you still doin’ it, huh. You still got that hair! That's how I recognized you!”
“Ha! It used to be straight when I was little.”
“Huh.”
“But yeah, I try to put out that positive energy, you know?”
“I know that's right.”
“‘Cause that karma comes back around in unexpected ways!”
“It sure do! You brave though going out there every day, like with that driver* getting shot. I was surprised by that, happening here.”
“Yeah, me too. This’ a pretty good city. I just try to keep puttin’ those good vibes out.”

That’s all I can do. I get varied replies in response to the line; pessimists won’t hear a word of it. Neither will anyone who thinks our actions are meaningless, without consequence. I don’t know what’s true. I haven’t been alive long enough to know if being good has even the slightest effect on our lives. But I know what I want to believe.

But she was no pessimist, and I found her attitude infectious. She whispered: “Oh, you know they ain't gonna mess with you!”
I laughed. “I got my fingers crossed!”
“Aw, you don't need to keep em cross', you got somethin’ special. Something nobody could take away. ‘Cause they would a done that by now if they could. Twelve years. Sheeeeeit. It was the hair! What's your name again?”
“Nathan.”
“Nathan. It was the hair that did it. I saw from a distance and I said naawww, that can't be him, from all those years ago!”
“And we're still here! You're still here! That's a modern miracle now, we're still doin’ our thing day in and day out!”
“One day at a time!”

1. The Question

I’ve given the above dilemma a lot of thought. It was a shock to discover some years ago that, to quote Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven, “Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.” I used to think if we were good, we’d be fine. Didn’t you? But I remember squatting in front of an enormous impromptu memorial in the aftermath of the 2015 Paris terror attacks, having my own sort of Carlton Pearson moment as I looked at this photograph.

I distinctly recall having the thought: There is no way these young people deserved to be killed as they were.

2. The Fall
​
That was the beginning. Then things would happen to loved ones of mine, people whose actions I know well, and then to me.

We were struck with violence and implacable death.

And I knew incontrovertibly that neither they nor I had done anything to suffer these iniquities. This realization terrified me, and altered for the worse my perspective on going out into the street every night. I began to assume evil rather than goodness, defaulting to suspicion and fear over the peace that comes with giving the benefit of the doubt.

There’s a colleague of mine who goes out there, on the worst routes, like I do– like I did– enthusiastically, without a care in the world. She’s a trim young woman in her thirties or forties and nobody’s first idea of a tough invincible figure who can fight off anything. But that’s exactly what she is, and she gets her power from her strength of belief. She’s Christian to what I would term a radical degree, religious in her every word and act. She is so confident that she will thrive.

I would look at her and think, I used to feel like that.

I so desperately wished I could be like her again. My confidence had stemmed from a multiplicity of philosophies and spiritualities  rather than a religious source, but it achieved the same end: I trusted the world.

I felt like I couldn’t do that anymore, and the most depressing part about it wasn’t that evil might happen to me again, but that I lived in a universe that didn’t appear to care whether evil happened to me, or anyone else. The thought that Cause and Effect might not exist was more existentially terrifying to me than any individual incident. But gradually it occurred to me:

This is a stupid way to think.

It isn’t working very well.

It’s akin to paralysis. I struggled to get through what were formerly the best parts of my day: pulling up to Fifth and Jackson with a welcoming spirit. Saying hey to the guys. Pulling up to Rainier and Henderson inbound with joy, not trepidation.

How did I used to do that?

3. The View

I thought of her often, the driver mentioned above. I may have a contrasting spiritual identity, but I wondered if it was possible to approximate her fearless approach to life nonetheless. How do you put your hand to a stovetop again after you’ve been burned?

I don’t know when I realized it: She isn’t going out there assuming everything will go well. She’s going out there trusting she has the tools to handle whatever comes her way.

What tools do I have?

Of course Cause and Effect are real. What was I thinking? Our actions do have consequences. Haven’t you seen the smile you cause to bloom on someone else, when you smile at them? The dancing shifts of mood you bring as people respond to your tempo, whether it’s thoughtful, kind or cruel? The most powerful tools are not weapons or laws, but ideas. The idea of respect, the idea of kindness; the idea of patience. These manifest themselves in your customer service decisions, and they have more influence than you– or I– realize. You overwhelm (or at least lessen) negative emotions with positive ones. 

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, the psychologists say; maybe that’s no less true of the universe at large. Didn’t you always manage to make it through your challenges, fraught and insurmountable as they felt at the time? Let me not be blind to the glimpses we find with hindsight, glimpses that show it really was for the best that it worked out this way. That you might even be better for it now, as brutal as that is to say aloud.

On a vaster scale, you can feel the mysterious multiplying effect of being good coming back around. I see it about me gently, like a mirror refracting light. Sure, I don’t understand how it works. Sure, things happen that don’t make sense.

But who am I to assume that because I don’t see order, it must therefore not exist? If I am part of existence, how can I objectively comment on it? Where was I, after all, when this earth was forged? And don’t we see echoes of the sublime all around us? Tell me you don’t see something incalculably true being communicated when dappled rays of sun shine through trees. When the stark and welcome beauty of the clouds stops you in your tracks, whispering to you in a language beyond words: “there’s more than you know.”

There is a process inside me that’s happening slowly. It worked before, my body says. I seem to be returning to my old easy happy confidence, but with a melancholic openness I don’t have words for. What can I do but take life as it comes, and make the best of it? How could it not help to take things less seriously, to lean toward the light and with laughter?

Give me time. I’m getting closer.

---


*My friend Eric Stark, whom you may have read about last year. Thank goodness our buses don’t have driver barriers; if we did, Eric would’ve been unable to take cover from oncoming bullets and would certainly have died.

Related posts: 

• The Soulful Stench
• Paris, One Year Later: A Personal Perspective
• On Terror & Other Things

“People wait for your bus specifically. They say to me, Oh, I'm gonna wait for Nathan's bus.”

So said Rahgeh, a fellow operator riding home on my night 7 after a long day of driving the E. We were laughing about why my bus was so full.

“Oh!” I exclaimed. “Yeah, I've heard that. Maybe it's because they know I'll give them a free ride.”
“Well also maybe because you friendly, you talk to them, nice…”
“Nice atmosphere, yeah. Maybe that's why my bus is so crowded!”
“Yeah it's a lot!!!”
“At eleven-thirty!!”

We were giggling. The bus being this full this late made no sense, especially on Sunday. Were some of them taking advantage of my kindness to get free rides or a warm place to lounge? Definitely.

But my answer to that would be, who cares? 

I can’t do anything about that, and I’m not going to change my attitude towards all because of the actions of a small few– and who knows, perhaps a percentage of that few actually needs your help. You will never know. You have to give ten free rides so that the one person out of that ten who actually, desperately, legitimately needed you can benefit. It’s just part of the game. I try to go along with it.  

His laughter subsided. We were drifting toward more earnest considerations. He said, “and your announcements.”
“Yeah I like to do some of the stops, or all of them if it’s busier, to let them know it’s a real person up here! Let them know that I care. I tell myself, I have to find a way to get along with them, because I'm going to see them again. Tomorrow, next week. Or tonight!”
“Yeah!”
“And if you respect them, talk to them, it helps everything. Of course you will have a few days out of the year that are really hard, but it's okay. Most of the rest of it–”
“Yeah most of it, it’s pretty good. Yeah, I think so in all of life. How we look at it.”

---

The less often you're on the 7, the more scared you will be of its people. Maybe the kids laugh at you because you're white... And it stings, provoking thoughts in you you don't like. Thoughts you know better than to have. I remember a 7 operator I trained with, blazing past a crowd of teens at a zone, because those were the days of unacceptable gang violence. I remember my black American colleague Alonzo telling an ill-mannered black girl, “man, you're an embarrassment to our people.” I recall my driver friend Sonum saying “in the country I come from, if we talked to elders like those guys just did, we would get slapped.”

Yes, there is injustice out here, doled out by every demographic in every direction. But you can’t play judge, jury and executioner. You don’t know enough. You have to force within yourself the discipline to not be God, but rather just a witness. It’s enough to just bear witness. Try and get to know the people. That always helps, but so does something else.

Tell it to yourself again and again: Their morality is between them and the Universe. Yes, I believe in What Goes Around Comes Around, but I’ve realized in busland I don't get to play a role in that. I have to prioritize the pleasant present, keeping things moving. If you can let people have the last word, this becomes a lot easier. 

The operators I most look up to give out love without expecting anything in return. As a woman in a marriage once told me: In life, this advice isn't appropriate. In a relationship it needs to go both ways. You deserve to be loved in return. 

But. 

On the bus, things are different. You don’t need anything back. You're teaching. You’re a saint– or, well, you’re trying to be. On the bus you are strong, self-contained, beautiful in your zen presence, infiltrating the air with respect and acknowledgement.

Look at you go.