I take the 3:10 AM 100 bus from the Stephen P. Clark Government Center station, to my hotel job at Collins Avenue & 30th Street on Miami Beach. Approximately 50% of the time there is no 100 bus leaving Government Center at 3:10 AM. The run does not occur. OR SO I THOUGHT!
But no, the actual truth is far more sinister. Weeks ago I began tracking the 3:10 AM "run" on the stop number text app. The one where each stop has a number and you can text the stop number to get an arrival time. For example, Gov't Center is stop 104, while Collins and 30th Street is stop 2628. What I found was that DESPITE the 100 not LEAVING Gov't Center, it was often making its run and arriving on Miami Beach, stop 2628, and all the way up to Aventura Mall.
So, one day about 2 months ago I approached the 100 at Gov't Center after it discharged passengers at 3:10 AM, and asked the driver to confirm he was in service and going to Aventura. His reply was, "Yes, but I'm not stopping ahead, too many homeless people to stink up the bus, just stay right here and I'll let you on when I'm ready to go." So I did. Sure enough, he let me on and then blasted right past the Gov't Center stop as though he was going to the garage.
From that day forward I started waiting NOT at Gov't Center, but at the NEXT stop, SW 1st Street and 1st Court, stop #59 on the App.
Today, Saturday May 24 at 3:00 AM, I waited at SW 1st Street and 1st Court, stop 59. The App indicated a 100 was arriving at 3:13 AM, and exactly at 3:13 AM an empty bus marked "100, Aventura Mall Terminal" came speeding by in the far left lane, not even LOOKING at the stop, not even trying to stop as I yelled and lunged into the street.
But guess what? This operator then had the audacity to STOP one block ahead and run into the MDT break building located right on the next corner. I ran the block forward to the parked bus and waited 10 minutes for the operator to come out from his break. I then confronted him: "Are you a 100 going to Aventura Mall?" He just looked at me. "I was right there at the bus stop trying to get you to stop, I saw your sign, it said 100 to Aventura". Still no words. He just waved me onto the bus. He drive the bus with reckless abandon, missing several stops as people tried to wave him down. He had no Operator ID visible on the inside screens.
Most remarkably, he DELIBERATELY BYPASSED the Lincoln Road/James Avenue stop! He TURNED the bus on Collins and 15 Street onto Collins Avenue and proceeded North on Collins, even as several riders ran to the front of the bus asking him to stop because they needed to get off at Lincoln and James. There was NO traffic detour of any kind. The only reason for him to deliberately detour away from this stop was because sometimes smelly homeless people do get on at Lincoln and James.
The BUS NUMBER was 18137. It was the 3:10 AM run from Gov't Center to Aventura. The driver was a white male. No Operator ID provided inside the bus. BUS NUMBER visible on the outside, 18137, 3:10 AM 100 Route Northbound run.
People like this are a disgrace to MDT. This Operator should be identified and immediately FIRED. There is no valid excuse for this behavior. But let us understand that he merely reflects the utter contempt and disregard of local government and of Miami-Dade Transit for all transit users. And you can be SURE that with 50-75% of the 3:10 AM runs NEVER LEAVING Gov't Center over the past 3 years, this type of operator behavior has been occurring regularly. This is NOT a case of ONE single rogue operator, it is simply the FIRST ONE that I have personally CAUGHT doing it. read more