My Salute to "Dump the Pump" Day

Being the Planner that I am, I like to "walk the walk" as much as possible. Since I had never taken a Palm Tran bus before, I thought today would be a good day to do so seeing as it is national "Dump the Pump" day. I already had two scheduled appointments in downtown Lake Worth, back to back. So instead of hopping in my car, I grabbed the camera and headed off to the nearest bus stop on Dixie Hwy.

That stop is by McDonalds, part of the Arbor Shopping Plaza. I got there around 12:50 p.m. or so. At about 1 p.m., the southbound bus appeared.

I, along with a mother and child, climbed aboard.

Once inside the bus, I paid the fare. The woman in front of me had a pass that she just waved at the driver. I put a dollar bill in the fare box, along with 50 cents in the coin drop slot and took a seat about midway back, on the aisle. The bus was about 70% full and was made up all ages, races and descriptions of people that you could think of.

The woman seated directly ahead of me was a familiar face for those that travel north and south on Dixie Hwy. She was the woman in the blond wig and overcoat that saunters up and down the sidewalk all day long. Besides the odor emanating from her, the bus was clean and the air conditioning was refreshing after waiting outside for the bus to arrive.

About half way to my destination at Lucerne and Dixie Hwy., a young man got on board and started talking very loudly about equality, genocide and mass killings. The bus driver gave him a warning to be quiet or he would have to get off the bus. That worked for about a minute, then he started up again. By then we were where I needed to get off. The bus stopped and many people exited and entered the bus in front of the CVS right across from City Hall. The guy with the loud voice got off and went south on Dixie Hwy.

From there I walked to the Shuffleboard Court building and waited for my appointment. The entire trip on the bus was about 7 minutes. With the walk to the stop and the wait for the bus, the total trip time was about 20 minutes. I was early for my meeting with the folks from Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council concerning the Charrette this coming Saturday (see previous post). So, that gave me time to look over the maps they had laid out to stimulate thought and discussion.


Once the meeting finished, I walked out into the larger room where I overheard part of a conversation between Miss "T" and another lady. She was telling her about how the day before someone got robbed at gunpoint right outside the door to the shuffleboard courts. She had called the police immediately, but after 20 minutes they had yet to show up. The guy who pulled the gun had gone off and walked west down Lake Avenue. There was more to the story, but I didn't stay around to hear it all as I was a little late for my next appointment.

That appointment was with Joan Oliva, Exectuive Director of the CRA. She had called earlier in the week to set up an orientation meeting with me related to my appointment to the CRA. We talked about coming meetings and likely agenda items. I talked about some of my priorities that I would like to see come about. She was able to give the packet for next Tuesday's meeting to me as well.

So, I headed back to the bus stop, with a quick side trip to CVS for something cold to drink. The northbound bus came in about 15 minutes. While waiting, I bumped into a neighbor of mine that uses the bus quite frequently to take care of errands. She is older and has trouble seeing. Her children a few years ago encouraged her to give up her car, which she eventually did. I usually see her walking her dogs around the neighborhood. Instead of getting off the bus around College Park, she went on to Winn Dixie to do her weekly shopping.

Otherwise, the trip north was uneventful and after a brisk walk from the Dunkin Donuts, I was home a little after 3 p.m.

Would I do it again? Sure. I'm not sure that it is economical for short trips like this one. I don't think that I would have used $3 worth of gas getting to and from downtown from my house. But to and from downtown West Palm Beach might be another story. If I was headed to the Tri-Rail stop, it would be worth it. I would've had to transfer to the east/west route at Lake and Lucerne to do that. In no way was it objectionable to me, especially if you keep in mind this is a public bus. As long as you are comfortable being with people of all types, it's a good way to get from here to there.