By: Andy Gao

I have always been fascinated by public transit. Growing up in Houston, public transit wasn’t an option. Driving would be the only choice. In my opinion, using public transit is the best way to explore a city. Riding public transit, you get to see different angles of a city you would never see in a car.

Earlier this summer, my family and I went on vacation to Vancouver, Canada. We had a fantastic time escaping the 100-degree Texas heat, but also spent a lot of time on the transit. Riding public transit in Vancouver is very convenient, as buses come very frequently and the Skytrain network is fantastic. The bus and skytrain network went to all the major sights: Stanley Park, Science World, Canada Place, Grouse Mountain, and Capilano Suspension Bridge. Transit was also cheaper than renting a car. While it wasn’t 3 dollars Houston Metro Daypass cheap, it was still very affordable.

During our trip to Vancouver, I made it my goal to visit all 53 Skytrain stations. As a result of doing so, I got to explore different parts of Vancouver that normal tourists wouldn’t go to see. Most of the Skytrain network is elevated above the street, so I enjoyed seeing the different suburbs of the greater Vancouver area. To top all of this, the entire Skytrain network is driverless, so I got to sit in the front of the train and pretend that I was driving!

Now, riding public transit isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, there can still be some negatives, or as I call it, adventures. We were waiting for a bus to bring us back to our Hotel. Everything seemed normal. The bus came, and we got on. My family and I walked towards the back of the bus to find a seat. We looked down at the floor and saw something I wasn’t expecting to see: A pile of vomit laying there! What shocked me more was the fact that nobody else on the bus seemed to mind. People were still sitting right in front of the pile of vomit, their feet dangling above it. I was shocked! Was this a daily occurrence on Translink, the transit agency in Vancouver?

In truth, the urban environment of Vancouver and the entire country of Canada contributes a lot to the reactions of people. Being in an urban environment, you get used to many things. The streets can be dirty, with unknown substances. People are smoking all over the street, and there are a lot of homeless people. Furthermore, as cannabis is legal for recreational use in Canada, people get used to a lot of crazy things. Due to all of this, people in Vancouver might see this as something ordinary.

The next day, we had our next adventure on the bus. It was just like the day before. Everything seemed normal as we got on a trolley bus from downtown to go get dinner. We sat down, and the bus began to move. A few stops later, a person got on the bus, screaming and yelling. The bus driver tried to get him off the bus by telling him that there was going to be a fare inspector boarding at the next stop, as this person didn’t pay his fare when he got on the bus. Then, the person started to scream at the bus driver. The bus driver sat back down and continued driving the bus. As I was sitting towards the front of the bus, I could see both the crazy person and the bus driver. The driver began to make calls to what I assume to be HQ, or the transit police, all while the person was still screaming, this time to another person who he sat down next to. This continued for many stops.

We exited downtown Vancouver and headed across the Granville Bridge to the suburbs of Vancouver. During these 10 minutes, the crazy person was still screaming obscenities, and gesturing wildly. Apparently, he was from Ottawa, and he was angry about Vancouver or BC or something. What an interesting guy!

We exited the Granville Bridge and turned right to serve a bus stop. As we were coming into this bus stop, the driver accidentally turned too sharply, and the trolley poles detached from the wire. We were so close to the bus stop, the bus driver used the battery power to move into the stop. We sat at the bus stop for a few minutes. After a lot of convincing from the bus driver, he left the bus and began screaming out in the street, almost getting run over by cars. The bus driver quickly jumped out of the bus and rehooked our trolley poles. “Let’s get out of here!” the bus driver exclaimed. Some fellow passengers on the bus asked the driver if she called the police, and if she thought they would catch the crazy person, to which she responded: “Yes, I already called them. I’m sure he will make himself known to the police. He was loud and proud.”

Later, when I had a chance to sit down and reflect on the situation, questions started popping into my head. Was he in need of mental health services or was he on drugs? That all made me quite sad as I realized that there could be so much more done to help people in need. In all of my years taking public transit in cities across the world, from Chicago to Beijing, this experience was one for the books.