patching...
Welcome back, Patch Blogger!

Buses Delayed By Protesters Following Opening of DNC Convention

Some delegates said they waited up to 90 minutes before the shuttle picked them up.

 

The first day of the Democratic National Convention was a long one for Michigan delegates and others.

Already suffering from lack of sleep and tired from a long day of events, some delegates waited up to 90 minutes for shuttles Tuesday night to get to their respective state parties or to their hotels, after speeches had ended at the Time Warner Arena.

Michigan delegate Fred Hoffman of Dearborn said they waited until midnight for the shuttle.

“Two buses came — and we finally got back to Concord,” Hoffman told Patch. “The issue was that many of us felt the buses should have been pre-positioned nearby so many could load right away rather than waiting for circle routes.”

New Hampshire delegate Sen. Peter Burling said he waited for an hour and a half outside the convention with his delegation. He said one man had been overcome with exhaustion and a medical team was called in to assist him.

“We thought maybe they had been trying to move First Lady Michelle Obama and had to delay service as a result,” Burling said.

According to Yahoo News, buses were delayed due to Occupy protesters lying in the roadway and forcing buses at the DNC transportation center to remain parked.

A call to the DNC Transportation Center had not been returned at the time of this report.

Delegates had no idea why there had been such a delay.

Dave Flynn, also of Michigan, also said shuttle service had been very unreliable and unable to meet the demands of the convention.

Flynn was hopeful it was an issue that would be resolved for the remainder of the convention.

According to a press release issued by the DNC, more than 250 buses were transporting convention attendees from more than 150 hotels in Charlotte and surrounding communities.

But it could have been worse, at last week’s Republican National Convention, buses meant to pick up the Florida delegation at Palm Harbor’s Innisbrook Resort never arrived, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Related Topics: Buses Delayed, Charlotte, Convention Shuttle Buses, DNC 2012, and NC

Diana Jackson

10:07 am on Thursday, September 6, 2012

So...What does this have to do with WYANDOTTE Patch???

Reply
Comment_arrow
Patch_comments_icon

Jason Alley

11:05 am on Thursday, September 6, 2012

Hey, Diana. Patch has some staffers at the national conventions and they're reporting back stories including people from several of the states that have Patch sites, with Michigan being one of them. While there weren't any people from Wyandotte in the story, there is someone from Dearborn. We figured that some readers might be interested in reading about a national event, with some local flair tossed in. For those who aren't, no worries. We don't report many stories like this, so it won't be overtaking your local news.

Art Zasadny

8:56 am on Friday, September 7, 2012

DNC attendees should be used to waiting for a bus!!

Reply

V. Scheurich

10:32 am on Thursday, September 13, 2012

Please watch and listen all the way through whether you are democrat or republican. It will make your blood boil if you have not seen this already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y35S4Oua8vI&feature=youtu.be

Reply

Leave a comment