The MTA and bikes

Just to let everyone know I had a very serious near miss with MTA Mobility car while riding my bike and I just wrote the manager of MTA Customer Service a fairly strong letter. I am also curious what others think about MTA drivers and their curtsey around cyclists.

by B' Spokes

Like most people I live a hectic life and who has the time for much exercise? Thanks to xtracycle now I do. By using my bike for daily activities I can get things done and get an hour plus work out in 15 minutes extra of my time, not a bad deal and beats taking the extra time going to the gym. In case you are still having trouble being motivated; the National Center of Disease Control says that inactivity is the #2 killer in the United States just behind smoking. ( http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/bb_nutrition/ ) Get out there and start living life! I can carry home a full shopping cart of groceries, car pool two kids or just get lost in the great outdoors camping for a week. Well I got go, another outing this weekend.
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Glad you're ok. Last year, I had a brush with an MTA bus on Eastern Blvd in between Middle River and Essex (Orville Rd area). The bus driver passed so close to me that I felt the vacuum from the change in air pressure pulling me and my bike toward the bus. I was able to compensate, but there's no doubt in my mind that circumstances could have gone very wrong for me. --- -- iodaniell
I should probably note that the reason why I have stipulated over the last year as I wrote to the MTA in November 2005 about the problem with buses around bikes and I was assured that my remarks would be passed on to the training department. I agree 100% that prior to 2006 some MTA buses were a real hazard for cyclists.
Usually, I find MTA drivers to be courteous and skilled. Once last year the 31 eastbound on Wilkens Ave passed so close that the wind blast nearly knocked me over.
My commute takes me up charles from Mt Royal to Hopkins, I have been intentionally "nudged" by a bus. I caught up to the driver, yelled at thim a bit, and he just gave me a little smug grin. I'm used to busses trying to intimidate me though, following closely, reving the engine, blaring the horn, not passing even though there is plenty of room. Ive had ambulances do this to me too. It seems like the "professional" drivers, cabs, busses, they seem to be the worst at sharing the road.
It amazes me that
Well It happened to me again, after blaring its horn at me, a bus tried to push me over into some parked cars on Cathedral st. I think the bus driver was mad at me for passing her on the left. The thing that angers me the most is that, this happened about half a block from a red light. She was stopped at eager st. when I passed her, and before read st. she was cutting me off, she would have had to really gun the engine to catch up to me in that short of a space. I rode around to her drivers side window and and asked her "what the hell is your problem?" but she wouldn't look at me. I didn't get get the number of the bus, I just rode off, I have to remove myself from those sorts of situations
NEW! As of 5/22/2008 I filed the following on the MTA website: I telephoned in this complaint on Friday, 5/23/2008, but was told I could not get a complaint number until the following Tuesday, after contacting a Ms. Brenda Mac-Thomas. After leaving a voice mail message to Ms. Mac-Thomas on Tuesday, I have NOT been contacted. It is now Thursday, 5/29/2008. ---------- On the morning of 5/22/2008 at 6:30am, an MTA bus with number 9925 approached me from behind as I waited for a traffic control signal to turn green at the intersection of Lasalle Rd and E Joppa Rd. I was on a bicycle (I have been commuting to work for 4 years on bike). The bus moved up three times finally making me uncomfortable with it's proximity to my rear wheel. This action prompted me to turn my head and ask out loud to the bus driver, "What is your problem?" By this time, the light turned green and I was able to go straight through to Radio Park where I work. The bus driver, apparently, wanted to make a right turn. [and, I was in his way] --- iodaniell