When Transit Served Downtown Austin

Don’t think too harshly of me, but I sometimes liked to spend a little time sipping coffee at a table in the winter outside Little City coffee shop (long gone). It’s not that I was lazy and slacking off. At that time, every bus in the system went down Congress Avenue, past Little City. Now they’ve taken every bus off Congress in a reverse congestion relief initiative, counter to every other example in world capitals. Nevertheless, back then downtown was where it was happening, and Little City was a strategic command center just steps away from hundreds of buses passing through every hour. With my steaming coffee (and yes, I was an avid smoker) and mobile radio, I was able to respond with alacrity to the many wheelchair lift malfunctions that occurred on Congress, Brazos Street, or Colorado Street (both a block off Congress). In most of these cases, I didn’t even take the jeep, I just walked. Sometimes a breakdown would occur directly in front of the coffee shop, and I would startle the operator by standing outside the bifold doors as he or she was still holding the radio handset. I would pop off the panel with my special key, and operate the override controls, restoring functionality of these buggy lifts. (from "Public Transit Operations: The Strategic Professional") Find "Public Transit Operations: The Strategic Professional" here.