Instead of screaming into the void of Twitter, I bring you a weekly highlight reel of what it’s like going places in Greater Hartford when one is gloriously car-free. These posts are on a slight time delay because nobody needs to know exactly where I am when I am there.

In the last week I have had various people suggest that I be patient, positive, and try to avoid upsetting people (that last one is a paraphrase). . . and these are all very subjective ideas. I can be patient about a bus showing up five minutes late or when there are cancellations because of a snowstorm. I will not be a doormat when dozens of trips are canceled daily over multiple weeks and it takes news coverage before CTtransit was willing to acknowledge the extent of their issue. . . which they still have not corrected. Their communication remains, otherwise, lousy, posting trip cancellations after they’ve happened or just when someone would be showing up to the bus stop. Today’s canceled trips included the 161 — a bus that serves St. Francis, Hartford Hospital, and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Do we also suggest that people be patient when they have lost their access to/from visiting loved ones?

Over the weekend a friend wanted to meet up, and I had to turn her down because service has been so spectacularly unpredictable. I dared to make a trip to Bishop’s Corner in the middle of a weekday, only because the infrequent bus service there was still somewhat usable if my preferred route fell through. I made it home, but the trips after mine were canceled (as I later learned) so I was thankful to have not been too leisurely about getting my shopping done. I bought nothing that could completely spoil or melt were the bus to fail me, and this is kind of crap that my grocery choices were limited by CTtransit’s maybe we will, maybe we won’t show up attitude.

What else? If you’ve ever wondered what happens if someone in a wheelchair wants to use the bus but all the front seats are taken, I was witness to that. In this case, there was a weird bus chain happening on the route because someone was very late, and the passenger was able to board the bus following. But, there’s your answer. . . one that’s unsettling when bus trips are canceled left and right, and even if not, there usually isn’t a second bus right there. What can you do? If people need the seats you can’t kick them off. What we can do is design better buses. Some of the CTfastrak ones seem better suited for carrying more passengers at a time with various types of mobility devices, in part because the aisle is wide. Or, we have more frequent service — though what I observed was on one of the routes with (usually) frequent service.

The answer for what happens if both slots in the bike rack are full when a third rider wants on seems to be “it depends.” A friend recently said she saw the would-be third cyclist turned away, but in the past I was on a regular (not Fastrak) bus and the driver let the third person wheel the bike on board. Was it awkward? Yes. More than some of the other wacky things people have brought on board? Not even close. What’s weird is that the third cyclist was permitted on one of the more frequent buses but turned away from one that is less frequent and travels a much longer distance.

All of this has been very motivating when it comes to getting my own bike back up and rolling.

Here’s a treat, since everything seems to be falling apart:

I think this tree is only getting started. Might flip some asphalt on Capitol Avenue next.

Another opportunity to mock BDL’s Ground Transportation Center with a look at my corner no frills stop that is a sign and ankle-high grass, but at least isn’t pretending to be something it’s not.

WHAT NEXT

This Thursday! Watch a short documentary film at Real Art Ways at 7:15 PM, then stay for a talk with the director, followed by a panel discussion. It’s an opportunity to network and do something with that angst you feel every time you have to dodge someone driving at you in the crosswalk.