About a month ago I got a special Bay Area clipper card and I wanted to make sure it worked, so I took the #6 bus by my house to Coddingtown Mall. I transfered to the #17 to get a ride to the SmartTrain, and I nearly missed the train! The conductor held it for me and I ran for it. Couldn’t figure out how to tag in, so I got off at central Santa Rosa expecting a return train momentarily. Nope. I read the schedule wrong. There would be a bus before the next train.

Nope. The return train came and went and I was still standing at the bus stop, watching in amazement as a “Not In Service” drove by at the scheduled time. Still, my chances of getting a ride to a stop close to home were with the bus so I waited for the next one. Learned about how wheel chairs and latched onto the bus. The driver has to unlatch. The wheelchair guy got off my bus in time to catch the 4 p.m. train to Santa Rosa North. I rode around to Piner High and another passenger and I unhappily discovered the “Not In Service” bus ahead of us, waiting at the bus stop just past the school entrance.

My bus pulled in behind, and the kids, approaching from the rear of the bus, all got on my bus. No one got off at my stop, they pretty much all went to Coddingtown Mall.

Number 6 Bus

What did I learn? The #6 bus drives back and forth between the two malls: downtown and Coddington, passing Oliver’s and Piner High on the way. The #15 bus is a waste — the stop is too far from the train station. It is easier to walk to the SmartTrain from Coddingtown through the apartments. I picked up bus schedules for the County buses to see if there is any way to park-and-ride to avoid $5 parking at SSU. So far, the schedules are impossibly difficult, arriving at campus 5 minutes after class start times.

I have been wanting to ride that bus for 20 years because I couldn’t figure out, by looking at it, what the route was. I’m glad I did it.