The complex operation of transportation

The complex operation of transportation

To the editor:
    Taking the bus for new adventures. For its size, Korea has one of the better bus systems in the region. It’s a mix of modern and past. While the car is making inroads in the country, if you have to drive over an hour or overnight the preferred mode of transportation is the bus. Every community no matter how small has a bus stop. 

    I take an early bus over to Gwangju on Saturdays for Korean lessons. If I get the first bus out of town it leaves around 6:30 for the hour-long trip. The buses are of the coach variety, seats on top and huge cargo bays underneath. Now that we are in the summer time, these become useful for the various entrepreneurs that are in the community. Wrapped in bundles of cloth, plastic, and on wheels, various merchants of the moment take the opportunity to transport their wares to the next community or to the city to earn a living.
    If you are on the early bus, you get on and enjoy the ride. You pay the driver when you get to your destination. Later buses require that you buy the ticket before getting on. In the small stations the tickets are printed on thin paper and list the destination. At the big terminals, you can use a machine which prints the ticket at the time of purchase. The bigger stations still offer human ticket sellers at the counter.
    If you have a bundle or box you can bring it on the bus and let it share a seat. If it is larger, smellier, or bulky, you pitch it under the bus in one of the cargo bays. This becomes an interesting show as the bus gets full and makes its routine stops. Often, the station manager will open the bays and toss in packages. Then it’s up to the driver’s seat to give the driver fare for the packages. Everyone and everything pays.
    At the end of the shift, the bus is cleaned and washed. At the bus terminal in Gwangju, there are automated washers and staff who do nothing but clean the bus. When you see a hundred or more buses fueling, cleaning, loading and unloading the cargo of humanity, you begin to appreciate just how complex an operation transportation can be. The secret to its success is that it works. It has to. The rest of us need to get somewhere.