It's time to enlist the wisdom of Sherlock Holmes

When you're a bus driver, you have to use all your years of experience to anticipate what a rider might do, speculate what they're doing, be sneaky enough to make them THINK you know what they just did so they'll confess to it, and then scare the pee out of them so they'll never again do what they were just caught doing. And to achieve that objective, sometimes you have to enlist spies -- like Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street Irregulars.

The Baker Street Irregulars were a bunch of street kids that Holmes used to ferret out information heard on the street. He'd give them their marching orders, send them out to reconnoiter and spy, and when they brought back the information he requested, give them a shilling or two, then send them on their way. It was a win-win situation for all.

So, if I gather some of my sneakier elementary riders, tell them to be on the lookout for anyone who isn't following the rules (like eating or writing on the backs of seats), and to report back to me, I could give them a Coke or Dr. Pepper, and it would be a win-win situation for all -- except for the "bad guys."

I always did like Sherlock Holmes. All I need now is a funny hat and a pipe. Anyone want to volunteer to be my Watson?