Riders Lose Darndest Things Not Only Do Bus Passengers Leave Hats And Gloves, But Bicycles, Gold Ingots And Even A Human Heart

It used to be that people would leave just umbrellas, hats and gloves on the bus.

Now forgetful passengers are even leaving their bicycles.

“It went from almost none to where we’re almost OD’ed on bikes,” said Pam Tiebout, Metro Transit senior customer assistance representative. “We had no idea we were going to be so inundated with bikes.”

The problem manifested itself after Metro mounted bike racks on the front bumpers of all 1,141 buses in the county in 1994. Now seven to 10 bikes a week are finding their way to the lost and found and Metro has recruited NowBike to take over the bike-holding duties.

It would seem difficult to forget a bicycle, but the trend doesn’t surprise Tiebout, who’s worked in lost and found for 18 years.

“If it can physically be gotten onto a coach, it’s been left behind,” Tiebout said. “I truly believe that people would absolutely lose their heads on the bus if they weren’t fastened on.”

A lot of the people who reclaim their bikes tell lost and found workers they got off the bus at the back door and walked toward the front of the bus to get their bike off the rack, only to see the bus pull away because the driver didn’t know, Tiebout said.

“Some of the bikes we get are just trashed and maybe they put them on the bus to get rid of them, but why they do that I just don’t know,” Tiebout said. “I would not say the majority are being claimed by the owners.”

Besides bicycles, Tiebout has dealt with left-behind gold ingots, a 25-inch console TV, small animals, wedding bands and even wheelchairs. One person literally left a heart on the bus.

It seems an Eastside pathologist carrying a human heart in a refrigerated case to a lab in Redmond hopped off the bus, sans heart, Tiebout said. But fortunately for Tiebout, the absent-minded pathologist intercepted the bus and retrieved his specimen before it made it to her storeroom.

Another time, a giant garbage bag of X-rated material was found - the contents of which can’t be revealed in a family newspaper.

Bicycles aren’t the only transportation aid that’s misplaced.

Lost and found workers have collected skateboards, canes, crutches and even a wheelchair - which leads them to wonder how its owner managed to walk away.

“We’ve just got to figure it’s a miracle,” Tiebout said.

She deals with an estimated 30,000 items a year, about 8,000 of them umbrellas - a subject of her scarier dreams.

She referred to the scene in the Disney movie “Fantasia,” where an army of tiny marching brooms advance on Mickey Mouse. “I used to have nightmares those were umbrellas,” Tiebout said.

The Puget Sound area not only lives up to its reputation for rain, it’s bus-riding residents also live up to the local reputation for honesty.

Riders routinely turn in purses and wallets - many left behind by visitors who react with great surprise when they find their valuables were returned intact.

Both Metro and NowBike hold items for 30 days. After that, those who turned in the lost items have the chance to claim them. Otherwise, NowBike and Metro turn the items over to charity.