Taking the Bus to Speech - NOT!

The bus is an everyday part of the lives of many disabled individuals.  MyGuy and i are lifelong suburbanites, living in  a city which virtually abandoned non-automobile transportation sometime in our childhoods.
  Public transportation was  not in view when we we chose our home.

Past Experience

  Not that we had NO experience with public transport.  Once i
had ridden a train to TerreHaute.   Before my mom learned to drive, she & i would take a bus downtown for a day of shopping.  During my college trip to Europe, public transport in various cities was a lifesaver after our van was broken into - and way fun, too.  Just a few years before moving here, i saved over a half hour of drive time to work by parking in our church lot, then taking the bus the rest of the way.
  Otherwise, i had to choose between allowing time to walk 15 blocks to work from the nearest available parking, or cooling my heels for an identical amount of time before i could clock in.
  For a night person like me, there was no contest.

Today's Reality

  Miss Tutor lives in an apartment across the 4lane highway.
  There are  about half a dozen bus stops within a mile of her place.  All of them are in open weather, generally in a fieldlike setting,  and none have shelters.  One or maybe two have a single bench.
  There is an hour between bus runs. If you are thirty seconds late, it's an hour before you can catch another.
  For  Max and i to take the bus, we would need to cross that four lane state highway, which is a mile from our home.  After crossing the highway, it's another mile to the busstop.  (This is one of the ones within a mile of Miss  Tutor's.)
  Some bus stops are Park and Ride locations.  That would be a nice help, in a nearly rural area like this.  But the parking lots all have threatening signs.  They will tow you if you if you are not are not a customer.
  There is a Park and Ride about five miles into town.  i've used that on occasion - yes, i have a reliable vehicle, and still i prefer taking the bus, when i can't avoid going downtown.  If  i can't get a ride to the closer busstop, i will generally use that one.

Taking the Bus to Speech - NOT

  Snowbird Speech Therapist has her office downtown.  Last night i decided to check out taking the bus there today for Max's 11:00 appointment.
  i knew it would take longer.  i knew we would have to walk, at both ends.
  To reach her place by 11, we would need to wake Boom to have us at one of the bus stops.
That's 9 for the one by our home, 10 till 9 for the Park and Ride, which is actually safer for dropping off .
  Once on the bus, we had options, trading transfers for walking time. The one with a single, wait on the bus while it changes its route # transfer, would involve a 20 minute, 5 block walk.  The one with 3 actual transefers would involve a five block,  nine minute walk.
  If we walked at the estimated speed, we would arrive at 10:30.  Leave home at 9, arrive at 10:30, for a trip that takes 30 minutes in our van. (Yes, i would still take the bus if i could, but how much better to have a transport system that didn't require this.)
  Oh.  Wait.  It would be me walking.  i walk slowly, so  multiply walking times by two.  i do not know whether Max would better handle the waiting time on the route-changing bus, or the staying slow enough to not lose Mom time.
 Either would be extremely stressful - for both of us.
 That hour nand a half might not be enough. 
  Maybe two hours wouldn't either.

As It Turned Out

  It's a good thing we didn't try this today.  Snowbird Speech Therapist called me a little after 9, or in other words, after the time we would've  been on the bus.
  She had to cancel today.