Using Cell Phones on Buses: Unveiling Your Life... from Hysterectomies to Business Deals
Thursday, February 22, 2007 8:15 AM
Wayne Ziemianski is a geologist who has been commuting on buses and vans from Cypress to downtown for the past six years.
His one gripe: Cell phone users who talk almost non-stop on the bus - and who talk loudly. 
"The buses are a very quiet environment, and when people are talking on their cell phones, it's annoying because it stands out," says Ziemianski. "If somebody is making a long call, they typically follow it with another. "
The other night, for example, Ziemianski says he sat in front of a woman who launched into a 25-minute business call with her boss about a supplier relationship. The call lasted until the bus reached Northwest Transit Center.
Then after a two-minute break, she started another call - this time, personal. "She talked 95 percent of the ride. You could hear every word," recalls Ziemianski. 
Loud, non-stop calls like this only happen about twice a week on Ziemianski's commute, but frequently enough to bother him when it does. "The buses are all filled. You can't go to the back of the bus. There's no ‘by yourself.' We're all in it together," he says.
The former vanpooler says the van had rules about using cell phones only in an emergency. A quick call to one's spouse about who's picking up Johnny is OK. A long conversation is not.
How heated do some people get about cell phone conversations?
Last May, a profanity-laced video (viewer discretion advised - subtitles have profanity at the end of the six-minute video) called "Bus Uncle" quickly became one of YouTube's most popular video with more than a million hits. It depicted a middle-aged, stressed-out businessman on a Hong Kong bus who got into an argument after a young man behind him asked him to lower his voice while talking on his cell phone.
It was captured by another passenger on his cell phone. The incident quickly became a cultural phenomenon in Hong Kong. Bits of dialogue from that argument seeped into the Cantonese language as popular catchphrases, a commercial television station parodied Bus Uncle to promote its 2006 World Cup coverage and a re-enactment was used to advertise bottled water.
Ziemianski says he would feel comfortable asking someone to lower his or her voice while speaking on a cell phone, but adds, ‘In the absence of a policy, I don't think that's right."
He suggests METRO put a reminder in its LED scrolling banner signs in front of the buses that says something like this: "Please be courteous and limit cell phone usage to emergencies."
Our neighbor to the north is doing something similar. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit system (DART) launched a courtesy campaign about six months ago called "Respect your Ride."
"Folks can use cell phones. We just ask them to use their ‘indoor voice.' The only place you can't use a cell phone is City Place station, and that's because of physics. You're 120 feet underground," says Morgan Lyons, DART's manager of media relations.
The list of what should be common courtesies is on DART's Web site - and each reminder is flashed periodically on the LED signs on its trains and buses. Those courtesies are also printed on interior rail and bus cards.
METRO doesn't have the ability to insert messages in the LED signs yet - but we will hopefully be able to do that later this year. A few years ago, we had brochures entitled "METRO's Traveling Tips" that mentioned courteous behavior vis-a-vis cell phones.
What do you think, riders? Should we ask customers to limit calls? Or should we say nothing about limiting calls but instead, ask passengers to talk in a low voice? When does your right to talk on cell phones impinge on another passenger's right to a quiet ride home?