Rendezvous With the RTD : Commuting: Taking only the bus for a week, a reporter picks up a few survival skills, such as getting along with passengers and learning to transfer. His 38-minute morning drive turns into a 2-hour, 19-minute affair on 3 buses.

For one week recently, I relinquished all the luxuries of my car--solitude, speed and stereo--to try a new way of life.

I took the bus. A recent San Fernando Valley survey had indicated some public dissatisfaction with the Southern California Rapid Transit District--obnoxious drivers, infrequent routes, slow service, a constant threat of crime.

So I conducted my own survey, and I believe that the RTD gets a bad RAP.

For anyone who can’t afford a car or who prefers to avoid constant freeway congestion, taking a bus around the San Fernando Valley isn’t, as some in the private survey suggested, only a rendezvous with the city’s downtrodden.

Working people, students and the elderly also take the bus.

Most people dress neatly, and don’t smell.

The drivers I encountered during my commute to work and on other excursions were friendly and helpful.

Buses arrived on time. Passengers were courteous.

But the bus does pose inherent intrusions--the frequent passenger with the Walkman blasting annoying static from headphones to an unappreciative audience, or the deranged drifter, preaching incoherently about the latest headline in the news.

One can never feel completely secure, trapped in a public vehicle with strangers.

In the car, the driver is dictator. In the bus, the passengers must coexist.

First, I called the RTD to determine the most direct routes from my home in Pacific Palisades to my office in Chatsworth. An operator plugged me into a voice computer. I found out the normal 38-minute commute by car would take an estimated two hours and 19 minutes and three buses, with transfers in Westwood and Van Nuys. Altogether, there are 38 bus routes that run in the Valley, with about 200,000 average daily boardings.

I figured out the schedule in five minutes. Learning how to purchase transfers took three days. The regular fare for a ride is $1.10. It’s 25 cents for each of two transfers, and 40 cents more to take a bus that uses the San Diego Freeway--bringing the total one-way fare to $2. But the trick is to ask for a transfer upon boarding the bus, not departing. That’s because bus drivers don’t want to risk giving people two transfers.

Twice I failed to ask at the right time and paid extra. I found out when the driver politely informed me of my error. I wasn’t alone.

I learned quickly that you must also closely monitor the route because drivers don’t always shout out the street name of each stop. Falling asleep can mean landing in another area code.

Waiting at the stop is another experience. Motorists constantly flashed me dirty glances, as if I were some kind of criminal or vagrant. A few even laughed.

The bus stop can be an adventure. Once, a toothless drunk who claimed to be a World War II hero wouldn’t leave me alone at a stop on Van Nuys Boulevard. He complained about George Bush, the mob, the perils of marriage. When I boarded the bus, I looked out the window and saw him corner another victim.

There are certain rules at the stop, such as making certain to signal the driver that you want to board. One driver became annoyed with me when I just sat on the bench without making the slightest gesture. A simple nod or hand movement is sufficient. Once I sat frozen, and the driver drove by. I had to wait another half an hour for the next bus.

Upon departing the bus, make sure that the driver knows when you want to get off. Pull down a little wire and your request will be registered. If you wait too long, as I did once, the driver will drop you off at the next designated stop.

Some use the bus as a soapbox. On one ride down Ventura Boulevard in Encino, an especially enthusiastic passenger lashed out to nobody in particular about the dangers of drug addiction. He then crusaded against Japanese products. As he got louder, the packed crowd grew a little restless. A few told him to shut up, but he didn’t listen. Even the driver got annoyed. “Ask him where he’s from,” said the driver, apparently familiar with him. “He’s from Europe,” came the answer.

Another passenger, heading down Van Nuys Boulevard, began mumbling to himself. Soon, people nearby scattered to the back of the bus. When the driver asked for his destination, the man answered, “Hollywood and Vine.”

“I don’t go to Hollywood and Vine,” the driver replied, instructing him to take the bus across the street.

He got off the bus through the back door, but moments later re-entered the front. This time, the driver let him go. And nobody bothered to tell him again.

“You get people like that all the time,” one driver said. “With all the nice people you get, there’s one goofball and that’s who you remember.”

Normally, though, except for the occasional outburst or the static from a nearby Walkman, the bus trip is uneventful. Most people either stare straight ahead, read or sleep. Few people look happy, as if the ride or the ordeal of their lives leaves little reason for contentment. After a few days of tiring trips, I felt myself displaying the same blank expression.

Most riders seem to have learned to accept life on the bus.

Delores Hatch, 49, of Van Nuys moved to California from Chicago 12 years ago. She’s never owned a car. Her sales job at May Co. at Northridge Fashion Square covers only the rent and basic living expenses.

“I can go all over California on buses,” Hatch said. “My complaint is that they don’t go frequently enough. In Chicago, you didn’t have to wait as long.”

Hatch is more concerned about the danger of waiting for a bus.

“You’re a target out there. Once, a car drove by and squirted water on me,” she said.

On another occasion, Hatch became friendly with a passenger from Los Angeles. He wanted more than friendship.

“He asked me to marry him that day,” she said. She declined, and never saw him again. “That was on the 167.”

Many riders, such as Hatch, quickly become regulars. Paul Schneider, 45, a bus driver for 17 years, picks up regulars on each route. He gets to know their schedule and destination better than they do.

“I’ve watched families grow up on the bus,” Schneider said. “It’s scary that over the years, people look the same.”

Some will bare their souls to the bus driver. Julianne Morouse, 22, a Cal State Northridge junior, said she sometimes reveals the latest details of her love life and personal matters to Schneider.

“I look forward to her coming aboard,” Schneider said. “When she wasn’t here for a few days, it was a letdown.”

Hatch has learned to rely on Schneider.

“I look for him specifically so I know that if there were any trouble, he’d be able to take care of it,” Hatch said.

As with other drivers I met, Schneider is warm and eager to answer passengers’ questions. He shows extreme patience with wheelchair-bound passengers, helping them board and get off.

Jay Tayrien, 41, who has been with the RTD since 1974, makes sure to warmly greet everyone who comes on board.

“If you greet them at that first step, hopefully, that will put anything they’ve had upsetting them behind them,” Tayrien said.

Many passengers take pains to point out that they are only taking the bus until the car is fixed. One driver said he thinks that might be a story some make up so they won’t feel embarrassed.

Teresa Trout, 35, who works for Viacom Pictures in Universal City, isn’t ashamed. She owns a car, but uses the bus trip from her home on the Westside to read and relax.

“It’s very convenient and cheap,” Trout said. “They run pretty regularly, and there’s a fair number of professional people.”

Each bus I took arrived almost exactly on time and offered a smooth ride. But the bus is no guarantee. On one trip in Sherman Oaks, the driver made a sudden announcement that didn’t enhance her popularity.

“We’re going to have to get off,” the driver said. “My right front brake is hot and I don’t want to chance it on the freeway.”

Passengers became immediately aggravated.

“Hey, I want to go home to my children,” the driver responded.

The driver said it would be 10 minutes for the next bus to pick everyone up. It was more like 20. But when it arrived, the crowd was more understanding. “Thanks for thinking of our safety,” one said.

After a week, my survey was complete.

In my new commute, I had logged about an additional 17 hours. Conversely, though, I only paid about $20--less than I would have spent on gas.

So would I ever take the bus on a regular basis again?

Probably not. I still prefer the freedom and flexibility of an automobile. The only reason for boarding the bus again would be if something went wrong with my car.

And then I’d make sure to tell everyone about it.

2 Hours, 19 Minutes Later

1. Starts at Sunset Blvd. and Marquez Ave. on Bus No. 2

2. First stop at Le Conte Ave. and Tiverton Ave.; transfer to Bus No. 560.

3. Second stop at Van Nuys Blvd. and Plummer St.; transfer to Bus No. 167

4. Final stop at Winnetka ave. and Plummer St.