SORRY BUS FULL
Vancouver Bus
Item#: 9403
Level1
Containment Class:
keter
Secondary Class:
uncontained
Disruption Class:
amida
Risk Class:
critical
An SCP-9403 instance taking the form of an ADL Enviro 500 on the 351 Bridgeport Station.
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An SCP-9403 instance taking the form of a New Flyer D60 on the 99 B-Line.
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Special Containment Procedures: Efforts are currently ongoing to contain and mitigate SCP-9403 within the transit network of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Should SCP-9403 spread outside of Vancouver, measures will be decided on a case by case basis to mitigate SCP-9403 instances.
Updated Containment Procedures: Protocol Blue Surge is to be used to deal with SCP-9403.
Existing measures for amnestic and medical treatment for affected individuals are still in effect.
The Foundation will conduct intensive lobbying efforts to improve public transit in SCP-9403 affected areas. Backup buses and CCTV networks are to be used as much as possible to identify and prevent SCP-9403 manifestation events.
Unions are to be funded to ensure that affected transit networks are complying with SCP-9403 containment and mitigation efforts.
Description: SCP-9403 is a phenomenon where buses sporadically manifest in neglected or underfunded transit networks. The exact predictability of SCP-9403 manifestations is impossible, with most cases resulting in SCP-9403 appearing near a bus currently serving a transit route.
SCP-9403 will appear as the bus model matching those served on the route within a 500m radius from the terminal bus stop for a route. An SCP-9403 manifestation event can last between one trip to the end of the route's daily service. Upon the end of the manifestation event, SCP-9403 will wait for everyone to leave the bus before departing and de-manifesting within a 500m radius from the last served stop. Items left behind on SCP-9403 instances will abruptly appear at the last served stop of SCP-9403.
Each instance matches the specifications used by the current extant transit company for their bus fleet, while lacking a farebox. The driver's seat is occupied by a sentient mannequin imitating a regular bus driver. A sign posted on the hard barrier of the driver's seat reads:
No fares required.
SCP-9403 passengers reported a varying degree of experiences, as shown below:
Type of issue
SCP-9403 Instance
Symptoms
Overcrowding
Cutaway Bus or a smaller bus that does not fit the route.
Compulsion to board the bus and squeeze into any available space left until it's completely full. Asphyxiation and broken bones are common.
Lack of maintenance/old bus fleet
Run down and broken bus in an unsuitable condition to operate. All seats and hold bars contain shrapnel of varying length.
Compulsion to board the bus with painless disregard for shrapnel. Passengers exit the bus with the sudden feeling of pain and injuries with varying degrees of severity. Some cases result in death.
Lack of transit service in areas heavily frequented by cars.
Varies. Instances serve non-existent routes.
Varies.
Congestion/Excessively delayed buses
Instances will appear near bus stops affected by congestion.
Compulsion to board the bus. Passengers exit the bus with severe carbon monoxide poisoning.
Any combination of the above can occur in SCP-9403 affected transit networks. To this day, it's unclear on what exactly causes passengers to board SCP-9403, nor whether the cause is attributed to a memetic effect or an integrated memetic agent on SCP-9403 instances.
An SCP-9403 instance taking the form of a T-48 CCF-Brill on the 17 Oak
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Discovery: SCP-9403 was first reported on 12/25/1948 following a manifestation event on the "Fraser-Cambie" route. At the time, it was believed to be a one off anomalous event and was logged as such. SCP-9403 manifestations reappeared on 01/01/1955 and have persisted to this day.
An SCP-9403 instance taking the form of a Flyer E902 on the 19 Stanley Park
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Protocol Blue Surge originated as Protocol Railroad Riders from 1955 to 1999, then as Protocol Transit Riders from 2000 to 2002 before settling on the current name from 02/14/2002 onwards.
Testimonies: According to passengers who took SCP-9403, instances were increasingly common throughout the 1980's and 1990's. Passengers reported that upon the arrival of an SCP-9403 instance, they felt like it was the bus that was supposed to show up and boarded it without any thought about it.
When asked about why they didn't stay away from the SCP-9403 instance, passengers mentioned that they preferred getting to their destination in time and couldn't afford to wait longer for another bus. Survivors of SCP-9403 instances with severe injuries mentioned that they would take SCP-9403 again, even if it meant risking their life to make it to work on time.
Frequent transit users responded in a similar matter, with SCP-9403 referred to as a necessary sacrifice for better transit service. When asked if SCP-9403 should be stopped to save lives, the answer was no from all frequent transit users.
Attempts to convince passengers to avoid using SCP-9403 were met with heavy backlash, with many claiming that removing SCP-9403 would be harmful for their commute to work.
A New Flyer D40LF. SCP-9403 instances were common as this bus model throughout the 2000's.
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Spread of SCP-9403:
On 01/02/2002, the Foundation coordinated a shut down of SCP-9403 affected transit networks, with immediate success. From 01/03/2002 to 01/09/2002, no manifestations of SCP-9403 were recorded, leading to presumptions that SCP-9403 was neutralized.
On 01/10/2002, SCP-9403 abruptly expanded to every city in Canada and the United States of America, leading to a spike in SCP-9403 instances across all affected cities and high hospitalization rates for broken bones. Around 400,000 deaths were associated with the spread of SCP-9403 in a single day due to overcrowding. The Foundation exhausted nearly three quarters of their amnestic supply to protect the veil.
On 01/11/2002, in light of the sudden expansion of SCP-9403 and possibility of SCP-9403 spreading outside of Canada and the United States, the Overseer Council voted 13-0 to revise the protocols to find a better way to contain SCP-9403. A revision was enacted on 02/14/2002 that brought Protocol Blue Surge into effect.
Addendum: Despite the efforts of Protocol Blue Surge, SCP-9403 is expected to persist for the next couple of decades and may never be fully extinguished. SCP-9403 is currently public knowledge under the cover story of an anti-transit movement trying to operate buses that kill people.
Foundation personnel from sites across Canada and the United States have expressed extreme difficulty in convincing politicians and governments of all branches to act on SCP-9403. Most if not all governments have let SCP-9403 operate as a cost saving measure, even if the mortality rate is high on select routes.
Any ongoing transit projects have faced severe delays by various bureaucratic factors and construction delays. Attempts to speed up construction under the necessary safety requirements have failed or have met fierce NIMBY opposition from local civilians.
Attempts with direct Foundation intervention in non-compliant governments have made marginal impacts in improving transit services. To this day, no SCP-9403 affected transit network has managed to fully extinguish SCP-9403, nor mitigate it. Politicians have varied in arguments as to why SCP-9403 should stay, citing the aforementioned cost saving measures, the convenience of a free bus service not provided by government funding, and the relief of having someone else do the public transit service for the government. When asked about the death and injuries rates from SCP-9403, those were rejected as "propaganda."
Further attempts are ongoing to put pressure on the government to stop relying on SCP-9403 to provide public transit services on their behalf.