Review: Downtown 33 by Annie Porter

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ — Fantastic Route. Do Not Slow Down.

Verified Passenger · One Trip · Memorable
Annie Porter · Los Angeles, CA
Reviewed: LA Metro Route 33 — Downtown Express — Driver: Unavailable

I don’t normally leave reviews for public transit but I feel this particular trip warrants documentation.
The route: Good. Covered a lot of ground very efficiently. More ground than I personally needed to cover but once you’re on you’re on and that became clear fairly early.
The driver: We went through a few. The first one was shot which I want to note is not typical of my commuting experience and which set expectations for the rest of the trip that I found difficult to manage emotionally while also steering.
The speed: Consistent. Very consistent. Non-negotiably consistent. I cannot stress enough how important the consistency was and how much everyone on the bus understood this by the end of the first ten minutes.
Fellow passengers: Handled the situation better than I expected. There was some panic early on which was reasonable and which settled into a kind of focused collective calm that I found genuinely moving under the circumstances. The man with the baby stroller was very brave.
Stops: We did not make stops in the traditional sense. We made decisions.
The gap in the freeway: I have been asked about this many times. I would like to state for the review that the gap was larger than it looked from the driver’s seat and that I made a judgment call and that it worked and I feel that should be the end of the discussion.
SWAT involvement: Not standard for most transit reviews. Noting it for completeness.
Overall experience: Stressful but clarifying. I learned things about myself on that bus that I would not have learned otherwise. I learned that I can drive a bus. I learned that I work well under pressure. I learned that when someone tells you a bus will explode if it drops below fifty miles per hour you should immediately start looking for a freeway on-ramp.
Four stars. One star deducted for the bomb. Everything else was honestly fine.

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Comments:
@JackTraven_LAPD: You did great.
@AnniePorter: I drove a bus through an airport.
@JackTraven_LAPD: You did great.
@HowardPayne: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The device performed exactly as designed.
@LAMetro_Support: We are aware of the Route 33 incident and want to assure customers that this is not representative of our normal service standards.
@AnniePorter: There was a gap in the freeway.
@LAMetro_Support: We are aware of the gap.
@AnniePorter: I want that noted.
@LAMetro_Support: It has been noted.
@GinoTheDriver: I was shot and I want it on record that I kept it together until I really couldn’t.
@AnniePorter: You were very professional Gino.
@GinoTheDriver: Thank you Annie.