Big Buses Sit For 6 Hours Because Mayor Can't Get There Until Noon

NOB HILL--I was at the Flying Star early this morning to get breakfast before hopping on an articulated bus. This is the first day of "Rapid Ride" service, and I wanted to be there. The buses were to start rolling at 6:00 A.M.

Mike Moye, however, had bad news. He had ridden his bicycle out to the Unser station to be on the very first bus. He was told by an employee that the articulated buses wouldn't start until noon because Mayor Chavez wanted to ride the very first one and he couldn't make it until then. Disappointed, Mike started riding to Nob Hill. Downtown he saw one of those accordion pleated beauties parked at the transportation center. He got the same story: nobody gets to ride the new buses until the mayor does.

Doesn't he get enough publicity? Isn't his face everywhere cutting ribbons, reading in schools, erasing grafitti? Is this bus system about him or about the people of Albuquerque?

I guess I will go back down to Central Ave. about noon. Maybe I can be lucky enough to ride that bus with the mayor. If I get a chance to speak to him maybe I'll ask him what my girlfriend MaryAnn said this morning: "Why can't he get his ass out of bed like the rest of us?"