Editor, The News:
I was stranded at the West Coast Express train station today in Maple Ridge.
Hungry and tired, I stood atop the stairs of Port Haney Station and watched my connecting bus drive away, not to return for nearly an hour.
Oh, bus No. 733 of 1824:26:06 – why have you wronged me so?
Did I not deserve at least one more minute to walk my weary bones?
What’s that?
You were required to leave Haney Place Station a mere seven minutes after my train was set to arrive?
Dear, dear, isn’t that a five-minute drive at rush hour?
What if the train is a minute or two late?
Shouldn’t the bus wait for the train?
Obviously, no blame should rest on the driver.
The trains must run on time. (And so should the buses, apparently)
My friends, isn’t this really a case of discrimination against subsidized riders?
Isn’t this really about making West Coast Express people hustle for the bus while the other riders enjoy relative comfort in the knowledge that their major transit connections are coordinated?
My Translink friends, I implore you, is this not a right that we West Coast Express folk might one day enjoy?
For in the end, my dear friends, aren’t we all TransLink customers first?
Layton Maloney
Maple Ridge