A Whiteboard Aboard?

This weekend I was riding the bus in honor of the outrageous price of gas - $3.99 a gallon in my neighborhood! As I got on the 32 bus on Wisconsin Avenue I noticed that behind where the driver sits, there was a whiteboard in the place of where an advertisement poster usually hangs. At first I thought it was one of those creative UPS ads...you know the one with the guy drawing solutions on the whiteboard. But as I looked closer I noticed that it was in fact a whiteboard that the driver has used to write messages to the passengers.

The message of the day said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Cash fare $1.35 / Smartrip Fare $1.25.
Thank You!"

I couldn't make it out really. Was this a way for the driver to communicate with passengers and reiterate to them the benefits of getting a Smartrip card? Tangent warning - I am about to go off here. I know that the bus drivers hate when passengers jam the fare machine with the buckets of coins they carry. Just my opinion, but I think there should be Smartrip-only buses, similar to Smartrip only lanes in the metro. Maybe these could also be the express buses to downtown. "Next stop Farragut Square - no local stops." Sure there is traffic, but those pesky stops along Mass. Ave - you know the one right outside the British Embassy and the Brazilian Embassy - I mean who lives around there anyway? And chances are if they live around there, they can afford these gas prices. Not saying that they should drive just because they can afford it. All in all, I am glad they are taking the public transport.

Anyway, back to what I was saying about the whiteboard on board the bus. I think it is a great idea and could be a very creative way for the bus drivers to interact with the passengers - albeit one way initially, I think it could strike a pleasant tone. It could be the bus-stop version of when metro train conductors stray from their script and talk to their passengers - "Good Morning Red line passengers and welcome to the Red Line to Shady Grove, I hope you are having a wonderful Washington morning. Please make sure to take your belongings with you as you leave the train today, yes including those pesky Express papers. I appreciate your assistance and hope to see you again on metro." I love watching the faces of the passengers when this happens. Some laugh, some scowl, others are completely ignorant of anything but their blaring iPods. Remind me to send a complaint to Steve Jobs about those terrible headphones that emit more sound outside the ears than in the ears.

You all know what I am talking about - when the conductor decides to get creative and change it up a bit. Sometimes they say funny things - I call those the rail riding wannabe comedians. I hope they are working hard to eventually go on at the DC Improv. Then, there are the mean lecture type conductors that yell at you the entire time telling you to not block the doors because it will break their train and ruin our day, blah, blah, blah. I like the ones that tell you the time in between tunnels...it reminds me of the old fashion recording you used to call that would say "When you hear the tone, the time will be seven thirty seven and one quarter...BOING!" Ten points for anyone who can guess that line from a movie - a very old movie, but a classic. I digress again.

So, back to the drawing board, I mean whiteboard. I hope it is a new idea in implementation, because I would look forward to boarding the bus to see the thought of the day scribbled behind where the driver sits. After all they do have some of the hardest jobs in the city. I mean come on, I wouldn't last two seconds dodging those people on bikes in this city. That is why I always thank them when I come off the bus. It is great to see them thanking us as well - whiteboard or no whiteboard.