travel by bus, with fuss??

I choose to ride the bus downtown to work today, as part of my job we have some " outreach offices" one of those is located in Downtown Denver Proper - 1380 Lawrence street- the Lawrence street center was my destination.

well I rode on a bus that very much resembled this one in the photo. This is not my typical commute and I prepared myself by visiting the RTD-denver website and located the route and times I would arrive and depart from downtown... so far so good. This morning it was about 3 degrees and dry but I managed to walk two city blocks from the 16th street mall down to the building in relative comfort and the bus commute though VERY full went fast and easy ( no real trouble)

the return trip however was a little more trouble! I walked about 5 blocks to the Market street station ( though the temp was in the 30's at least tonight) I arrived in time to take the 5:14 bus ... getting on the bus I realized the driver was not to be seen and wondered to myself well how will they count fairs?? we sat a few minutes and departed on time. I had my eco pass around my neck thank goodness- and sat near the front. I made it to the east side of the westminster park and ride, departed with the other more experienced riders and said to the driver, thanks and have a nice evening.... well he looked up at me and said HEY do you have a PASS???? well at least i didn't have it tucked away but still around my neck so I flashed it at him but was embarrassed by my ignorance of the etiquette of downtown commuting :) Later on this evening I learned from Art ( an experienced downtown commuter) that this is typical protocol for the afternoon commute home, you get counted by the driver for the fair at the end of the ride, in order to facilitate the boarding and leaving of the bus!!

Well there is always Thursday when I will be headed to downtown again! Armed with my new found knowledge it ought to make for smooth riding. YEAH go RTD