Whistleblower » Blog Archive » The bus didn’t pick him up, so he sent his $76 parking bill to Metro Transit

The bus didn’t pick him up, so he sent his $76 parking bill to Metro Transit

Posted on October 16th, 2008 – 12:00 PM
By James Shiffer

Ken Stano had made the trip many times before. He’d get to the Nicollet Avenue bus stop before dawn, catch the 46 bus, get off at the light rail station and ride to the airport in time for his flight to Cleveland. Stano was there with his luggage when the bus rolled around the corner, right on schedule. But the 46 rolled right past Stano, even though he stepped into the street to flag the bus down, right at the Metro Transit bus stop he had located on the agency’s web site.

Stano had to run home, get his car and speed to the airport. He missed his flight anyway, and lost a chunk of his Labor Day weekend before he arrived. When he returned to Minneapolis to retrieve his car, the parking bill was $76.

So on Sept. 17, Stano, an engineer who lives in Minneapolis and sells medical equipment, wrote a letter to Metro Transit. “I do not expect the Minneapolis Metro Transit system to compensate me for the airfare required to salvage the Labor Day holiday weekend. However I was forced to pay for parking at the airport. I have included a copy of this receipt and this I do ask to be compensated for.” He signed off with the complimentary closing, “Respectfully.”

Stano did a lot of things right. He called Metro Transit from the airport, where he had missed his flight, preserving a record of his complaint. Then he wrote a factual letter, building a case free of inflammatory words or absurd requests, and making his objective clear.

Once Metro Transit got the complaint, spokesman Bob Gibbons told me, an inquiry was launched. The bus driver was questioned about the missed connection, and said he didn’t remember leaving anyone by the side of the road. But there was a twist. The 46 normally travels down 46th Street in south Minneapolis. But the Crosstown construction has forced a detour further north on Nicollet Avenue, past the 45th and Nicollet stop where Stano was waiting that morning.

The driver mistakenly thought that he didn’t have to pick up passengers at bus stops on the detour portion of the route, Gibbons said. He was told that he did, and on that basis, the risk management department of the Metropolitan Council has deemed Stano’s claim worthy of reimbursement.

A $76 check will be sent to Stano, Gibbons said.

“We want our customers to be satisfied,” he said. “In this case the evidence clearly points to our mistake.”

Passengers who claim the bus left them behind are the number one source of complaints to Metro Transit, Gibbons said. But that hardly means they all get compensated - they have to prove their case. The number to call for complaints is 612 373-3333. There’s also an online comment form.

When I informed Stano that Metro Transit had decided to repay him, he said it would keep him riding the buses and the rails to the airport.

“It kind of helps you renew your faith and trust,” he said. “If there wasn’t any kind of investigation or remedy, you think, ‘Am I just taking a risk getting passed up again?’”

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2008 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Complaint sagas, How to blow the whistle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

18 Responses to “The bus didn’t pick him up, so he sent his $76 parking bill to Metro Transit”

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longfellowgirl Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
This happens more often than you’d think. I have had the 24 go by me on a few occasions, leaving me with the choice of waiting 20+ minutes for the next bus or to start walking.
rickblank Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Yup, me too. It’s another, allbeit small, argument for LRT.
Timothy Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
One problem I have experienced in the past when visiting the website for bus route information is that detour information has not always been updated. The site usually has correct info when the detours last weeks or months, but for short term changes the website fails to work around temporary street closings. Metro Transit needs to keep their website and travel planner pages updated on a much better basis.
Phil Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Yea. I feel for this guy. Last winter when it was below zero degrees, I stepped out of my car to wait for a bus at the part and ride. Well the bus didn’t come. After 46 minutes of waiting out side, so as to not miss the next bus; a bus finally came. When I called about this, they advised me that Metro Transit doesn’t guarantee buses will arrive and that I wasn’t guaranteed a ride based on the timing they state on the schedules. Basically I got frostbite because their business doesn’t guarantee the ONLY service they are to provide.
benjammin Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
In my experience, Metro Transit is pretty good about owning up to their errors. About 10 years ago, my sister’s car (which was under my name at the time) got side-swiped by a bus, and the side-view mirror was smashed. (There was nothing she could do to avoid it because there was nowhere for her to go - she was trapped between the bus and the side of the road, driving in a legal lane.) I sent them an invoice for the cost of replacing the mirror, and they paid it without question. I was a bit surprised, but certainly pleased that they didn’t try to fight it. I don’t ride the bus for personal reasons, but I do respect their business.
Katie Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I, and my fellow riders downtown, are completely fed up with the service we have received lately. It is constantly a guessing game commuting. More often than not I stand and wait for 20+ minutes waiting for my “express” bus. I have even waited for over an hour for a bus that is supposed to come every 10 minutes. The schedule is worthless - and my $130 bus pass I pay monthly is getting less and less worth it. I too have had drivers go right past me as I wait for yet another late bus. I call and email complaints and receive responses thanking me for my complaints without providing me better service. Metro Transit is a joke and raises my blood pressues. It is sad that for a city this large we can not have better public transportation. A shame.
Eddie Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Some friends and I took the 960 from 12th & Nicollet to the State Fair and back. On the ride home, the bus driver stopped at 7th & Nicollet. He shouted “LAST STOP!” When I asked about the bus going to 12th, he shouted “I SAID LAST STOP, GET OUT!” I called MetroTransit and the (very rude) customer service rep I spoke to said that the website “clearly says there is limited service in the evening.” I checked the website while on the phone and told her it doesn’t say anything about limited service. Her response was that I “must be reading it wrong.” I wish, for once, an agency in this city can actually act like a big city agency should.
Christopher Mankey Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
many of those drivers have that “not in my job description” attitude. Too many years of being coddled by their clueless unions. They act like they aren’t accountable to any one, and guess what? They aren’t. Those gummint slackers have obviously never met a payroll. They’re getting pay raises while people in other transportation industries (i.e., airlines) are taking pay cuts.

Maybe we should cut their exorbitant salaries until they can show their skills are worth more. Perhaps impose some kind of performance review, taking into account customer feedback, positive and negative. Driving a Metro Transit bus is one of the highest-paying unskilled jobs in town. 45K-plus for nothing more than to operate a simple machine. A non-union chimp could do it.
Chris Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Wow Mankey: “bus drivers=chimps?” Harsh. Harsh and ignorant.
kt Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Christopher Mankey - couldn’t have said it better myself - they are in a “customer service” industry and don’t know the meaning of customer service. NOT ignorant - true and should be heard!