Last Wednesday, after my last class at 5:40, I went to catch the final 1F Westmoreland Transit Bus for the night. I’ve been riding with the service since I began commuting last year. It’s around 45 minutes to and from campus every day.

I like the transit service because it drops me off at a Sheetz 8 minutes away from my house, and they run coach buses that have air conditioning and cushioned seats.

After getting on the bus Wednesday night, for the first time I looked up and saw an LED sign that read each stop we were passing and a voice announcing what we passed over the intercom as well. Later when I got off, I asked my driver if the transit service would be upgrading each of the buses with this.

In reply, he said in a frustrated voice that – to his knowledge – all buses would be receiving the computerized system that tracks drivers.

Part of me is excited for the blind man that I run into on the 1F to gain more independence when it comes to riding. The other part of me is annoyed that the service decided to put funds into something that I deem unnecessary.

Westmoreland Transit does not stop in the city nearly as much as the PRT does. For the most part, everything is a straight shot from the city to Westmoreland. Occasionally there is a person who is stop- ping in Forest Hills or somewhere along the line, but I don’t think that it’s a common enough occurrence to justify implementing a whole new accessibility system.

I understand that Westmoreland Transit is just trying to meet an accessibility transit standard, but it’s annoying when people are trying to take a nap and you hear the name of the next stop approaching.