Maria Frank

aria Frank started regularly riding VTA when gasoline went up to $4 a gallon.  At that time, the Stanford University employee and Mountain View resident made the pleasant discovery that riding the bus was as fast, or faster, than driving.

Convenience is one reason she is sold on public transportation. There is however, Maria confided, another reason.

“I met my boyfriend at the bus stop near my house,” she explains with a smile. 

Although they didn’t always take the same bus into Palo Alto every day, Maria explained they did start to notice each other regularly waiting for the same bus.

At first she and Jose Guadalupe (Lupe for short) would nod to each other in a friendly manner while waiting at the stop. At some point the nods turned into smiles and from there, as the cliché goes, the rest was history.

Romance aside, Maria does see other benefits to riding the VTA Route 22 or Rapid Bus Line 522 back and forth to the Palo Alto Transit Center. Since ridership is so high in this corridor, a bus comes every few minutes (9 times per hour for much of the day), making it extremely convenient. Between the transit center and her office Maria transfers to a Marguerite Shuttle operated by Stanford University Parking & Transportation Services.

Compared to the employee parking lot she would park in if she drove, the Marguerite Shuttle actually drops the 10-year Stanford employee off closer to the entrance of the building where she works. And front door-to-desk travel time is the same for both driving and riding public transportation.

Maria says she appreciates the driving skills shown by VTA bus drivers. Parts of El Camino Real have significant potholes, she explained, and the operators make a real effort to steer around them. She also likes the recent remodel job at the Palo Alto Transit Center, where new canopies and lighting were installed several years back.

“It’s well lit and I feel safe there if I work late,” she said.

So, while Maria isn’t willing to predict a bus stop romance for every person riding the bus, she is willing to say riding transit leads one to a less stressful and more enjoyable life.

All aboard!