People take the Howard Transit bus service to get from one place to another in Howard County. If you are a student or a senior citizen or person with disability, with proper ID, you can pay $1. However, if you are not and you are just a regular working person, a military person, just somebody who is going for a ride, or a non student, you have to pay $2.
If you needed another bus, you could ask the bus driver to call the other bus; the driver could call the bus, and ask them to wait at the stop where you need to catch another bus, and you could catch your bus and the stop that you needed.
It is not that way anymore.
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The drivers now have to follow a rule that says that they are not allowed to call another bus and have them wait at a stop for a passenger. So if your bus is running about two or three minutes late and you need another bus, you have to hope that the bus you need is still at the stop that you need. If not, you will have to wait about an hour or two, depending on what the bus line is you are trying to catch.
It used to be that when you got a transfer to another bus, you could use that transfer to get on all the busses you needed to in order to get where you needed to go. Now there is a rule that says you get a transfer when you get on the first bus if you need one. You ask for one, but now it comes time for you to get on the second bus, you have to give that driver your transfer so if you need to get on a third bus, you have to pay again either the $1 or $2 and you go through the process again.
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If you need to get on about six different buses, for example, that will cost you either $6 or $3 but then you need to go through the same process just to get back to where you started.
Some of the drivers don’t know how to drive the routes. If a driver witnesses a wreck, it is the driver’s choice whether or not he wants to stop and report it. Some of the passengers have called Howard Transit and complained about the drivers and the drivers are still working for the company. Some of the drivers for Howard Transit are unsafe to drive. They drive like maniacs on the road and they either speed or they are always running late. For a company that is supposed to be convenient and helpful, the Howard Transit bus service is more like a very expensive convenience or inconvenience.
