I am writing this letter to address public transit as I sit with a window-seat view on my bus ride home.

First and foremost I'm a firm believer in public transit; there are way too many vehicles on the road with only one occupant. As a student of Thompson Rivers University, bus fare is already included in my tuition so I might as well put it to good use. Not to mention the parking situation at the university, with little space and ridiculous prices.

All that being said as much as I want to reduce my carbon footprint, the system can be so frustrating. From Aberdeen to get to school riding the bus is, on a typical day, approximately eight minutes give or take depending on traffic.

Getting home is a completely different story, even if I manage to catch the first bus right after class. I understand that sometimes circumstances arise that cause the bus to show up late, that's life.

To show up early and leave before people have a chance to get to the stop is not acceptable. Now the person who showed up for the time that the bus was supposed to arrive ends up having to sit around until the next bus comes. Depending on the route and time of day this can be a substantial amount of time (a maximum of a half an hour for Aberdeen at mid-day). Not to mention that it’s another 25 minutes once you get on the bus to get to some places on route. Everyone leads busy lives, has places to go and expects to be there on time; understandably this is not always possible.

Considering the bus riders of today are already doing us all a favour by taking the bus and helping our environment, the least our system could do is stick to the schedule consistently.

CALLIE HILL

Kamloops