AATA Bus Driver Richard Saves the Day!

Kat and I biked downtown this afternoon to attend an open house at the University of Michigan's College of Nursing.  After the presentation, as we prepared to ride home, she realized her rear bike tire was totally deflated.  And we don't carry tools.

So we walked over to a bus stop and waited for the No. 2 bus.  Neither of us had ever used the front-of-the bus bike racks before, which obviously showed.  I was having trouble securing my bike so I pulled my bike off the rack and was telling Kat to take the bus home and I would ride my bike home.  As I was talking to her, the bus driver stepped out and showed us how to use the safety bars and told us not to worry and take our time.  A very kind thing to do.  I quickly took these 2 pictures when we arrived at our stop, basically at the end of the line, when no one else was on the bus. Richard went out of his way to be helpful, making our day a little easier.

October 12th follow up: I also sent a feedback response that same evening at AATA's website and I received a response back this morning.

Dear Astrid Larsen,

Thank you very much for the compliment. We greatly appreciate the positive feedback and will be sure to document AND convey this to Richard. I am sure he will sincerely appreciate your kind words. He is a fantastic asset to our team and we are pleased that you received the customer experience that we expect here at Ann Arbor Transportation Authority. Thank you again for your wonderful comment. We appreciate having you as our customer and look forward to serving you again.

Sincerely,
The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority
Contact: lsands@theride.org

-------Now for the rest of the story!

Kat and I found the location of the open house on Central Campus.  Kat was one of about 20 prospective students in attendance.  It was surprising how many had traveled from out of town to attend the session - California, New York, New Jersey etc. 

It had never occurred to me before but it makes sense that not all classrooms for nurses would look like traditional classroom.  The nursing school has classrooms that look like hospital rooms. 

Kat and I enjoyed our outing, learned a few things about the nursing program at UofM, and are forging ahead with her college/career exploration.

Astrid