Editor,

Is it now the policy of Island Transit for the buses to leave the Clinton Ferry Terminal at the exact scheduled time of departure no matter how close the passengers of the incoming ferry are to disembarking?

On Tuesday, Dec. 30, a group of Whidbey hikers were returning from a hike at the Japanese Gardens in Mukilteo on the 2 p.m. ferry. This arrived at the Clinton dock less than five minutes after the scheduled 2:15 p.m. departure time of the No. 1 bus but the bus had already left, stranding several hikers at the dock for an hour.

The ferry’s imminent arrival would have been obvious to the driver. Is the driver required to immediately depart anyway? I ride the bus regularly and seldom find it to arrive within five minutes of the listed time, so I don’t quite get the rationale here.

At any rate, several hikers are now unlikely to use public transport to reduce their carbon footprint in the future.

ROBERT LOWEY

Langley