Like most other people that ride this bus, I take transit because I have to. When you don't have a car and need to get out to the other side of Mississauga in less than 2 hours and not have to take 5 busses, route 82 is the way to go. This route goes from Islington station in Etobicoke, all the way to Meadowvale Town Centre on the NW side of Mississauga. The bus is mostly on time + or - 5 mins, but this is what's expected of a bus.
Now for the fun bits:
When it rains outside it drips on people inside the bus (and the odd computer...)
When you wait at a stop and there's another bus picking up people, some of the awesome drivers who are in a rush to get nowhere, pass the stopped bus and don't pickup the people waiting for the 82.
This route is notorious for new drivers. You know the driver is new because he hasn't quite figured out the right kind of pressure on the gas and brakes. I'm not sure how they driver their cars but if I'm sitting I shouldn't be catapulted out of my seat every time they make a turn or step on the brake.
This is an express bus, meaning it only runs for a few hours during rushour. So it baffles me why a) the bus is only once every half hour, and b) why they ALWAYS have the busses with the least amount of space (i.e. the ones with the "no sitting" areas above the wheel wells). In 5 years, I've only seen them use accordion busses a handful of times. Having half the passengers stand for the hour long trek while holding on for their lives as the driver breaks-accelerates-breaks in rush hour traffic is nuts...
No wonder so many people drive to work! read more