I rode a Milwaukee County Bus for the first time today.
My photographer Becky and I were working on a story about how the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office is cracking down on crime on city buses.
Specifically, how they managed to arrest a 16-year-old suspected of punching a bus driver in the face, and breaking his nose.
I'm embarassed to say that it's been years since I rode a bus.
Growing up in a pedestrian city like Montreal ---think of a smaller, Frencher New York --- I used to ride the bus all the time.
As a little girl with my mother... as a teenager with my friends.... as an adult with my own daughter in tow.
Today as I boarded route number 19 at 27th and Atkinson, I found myself looking around like a child seeing something for the first time.
I marveled at the electronic billboards that gave the time of day, bus route information, and yes... news updates!
I felt nostalgia as someone pulled the --- oh, what's that thing called??
You know the overhead string line thing that rings the bell letting the driver know you want to get off.
And sitting in the very last seat at the back of the bus, I said "Wheeeee" and laughed in my head every time we hit a bump creating that roller coaster sensation.
But as bus #19 moved through shadier neighborhoods, I also remembered the details from all the stories we've covered lately. The bus drivers and passengers who have been assaulted on these same buses.
Things have become so bad, that Sheriff David Clark has had to deploy a special troop of deputies, just to monitor city buses. Many of these detectives are plain clothes officers.
That's right, undercover officers guarding our transit system.
During rush hour, there are as many as 400 Milwaukee County buses on the road, and an undisclosed number of detectives riding them.
It's a necessary move.
One that I hope makes riding the bus fun again... for people who do it everyday.
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