Bus Fuss : Transit: Two months after its inception, most patrons don’t know what effect the Rider’s Bill of Rights has on their commutes.

When the Southern California Rapid Transit District unveiled its landmark document, the Riders’ Bill of Rights, in July most public transit patrons didn’t know what effect it would have on their daily commutes.

They still don’t.

The seven rights--including the right to a safe journey and the right to courtesy--are still known to only a few. They are understood by even fewer.

“Rights for who? Bus riders? What kind of (bull) is that?” asked Roy Howard, 58, before stepping into a bus on the No. 1 line at the corner of Broadway and 3rd Street downtown.

Howard and several others at nearby stops then recounted the problems they have had with discourteous drivers, raucous passengers, muggers and buses that have left them waiting and waiting.

At a news conference Thursday, RTD officials said they know about the complaints and skepticism. Yet they have been encouraged by a growing rider response to the new services that accompanied the bill, said RTD President Nick Patsaouras.

A customer service hot line fields about 2,000 “mostly complimentary” calls weekly, he said. There are a few complaints, Patsaouras said. These he attributed to the sheer number of public transit patrons each day--1.3 million.

RTD officials acknowledged that the “rights” they have declared may be understood by few people so their current publicity campaign has focused on explaining the new customer services and policies being offered.

Take, for example, the “fare warranty,” a policy to help guarantee the Right to Convenience and Reliability. If your bus is more than 15 minutes late, you get to ride without paying, the policy states. The fare warranty went into effect Sept. 1, but many passengers who have been left waiting at bus stops are still trying to figure out how to hold the RTD to its free-ride pledge.

By Jason Suggs’ estimate, “I would say I got 15 free passes coming to me.”

Suggs, 18, a downtown Los Angeles resident, said he did not know that the policy requires bus patrons to inform the driver that the bus is late, then request the free ride.

He added that he was not so put off by late buses, because he has learned to plan for a delay. More annoying, he said, is the defensive attitude of some drivers when asked why their buses are tardy.

“They get all upset and say, ‘Don’t be blaming me,’ ” Suggs said.

The RTD began offering tours of its operations this week in an effort to familiarize the public with the daily responsibilities of the transit district’s 8,500 employees.