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July 23, 2007
RT Surreality.
Tags: rt, sacramentoI left an evening meeting in plenty of time to catch my bus. I had four blocks and about ten minutes to get to my stop. Given that I can comfortably cover a block in less than two minutes, I should have had no trouble to get there. Here’s the math problem: I had to run to catch my bus. Why?
The bus was early. Three to four minutes early. The driver had to stop at his time point and wait for time itself to catch up (great time to grab a snack from the bag).
Of all the ways RT can inconvenience me, being early is not generally on the list! Had I missed the bus, however, it would have been a half hour until the next one. That would have been a major inconvenience.
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In theory, the buses are required to stop at timing points if they are more than one minute ahead, or so a driver once explained to me. However, if the timing points are too far apart, the bus can get several minutes ahead, especially if it is late and there are few riders.
The bus I take home from work routinely has to wait three minutes at the first timing point, which means the previous two or three stops we were more than two minutes ahead of schedule. (There are just three timing points in the 18-mile route.)
I am assuming that the timing points are located at important stops, important being places were the most riders can be expected. That’s certainly the case on my regular route — Kaiser Hospital, Wal-Mart, etc.
There may be drivers who go out of their way to keep to the schedule between timing points, but that hasn’t been my experience in the months I’ve been relying on RT to get to and from work.
As for your potential half-hour wait, on too many of RT’s suburban routes that wait can be more than an hour, especially after 6 p.m. And if the state funding gets significantly cut this year, as it appears it will, suburban riders will be lucky to have what little service they have today.
July 23, 2007 @ 11:36 pm
Oh, I’m just being snarky. I could easily have walked the extra two blocks to the timing point (it was in midtown - the next stop after mine), but I only could have made that decision in hindsight.
Service is way too slim in most of the city, let alone the ‘burbs. Those of us who live close to downtown are really lucky.
July 24, 2007 @ 8:17 am
More people need to take advantage of what transit service there is, imperfect as it may be. Only with more riders will there be better service. More needs to be done to convince people, especially those who work downtown, to use transit.
Unfortunately, one person misses a bus because it is early and he tells his friends buses are unreliable and people who have never boarded a bus never do, feeling they are better off not bothering with the hassle.
More needs to be done to encourage people to give transit a try.
I would like to see more from RT in the way of promotional offers. For instance, in the last week of the month, give away that month’s transit passes to people who want to try the system out. For that one week, all they have to do is show their pass to the driver just like any other monthly pass holder. They get to ride as much as they want. What’s the cost to RT? The benefit is obvious.
July 24, 2007 @ 9:39 am
build the damn thing to the airport…
why SF/Baltimore/Atlanta yada yada have decent urban planning and Sac ’s suck is beyond me…
oh, that’s right, the genius Angelides gave us new urbanism TOD at his Laguna stucco slum, BUT WITHOUT the mass transit…figures
July 24, 2007 @ 2:52 pm
cole - why indeed.
John — it’s a Catch 22 really, because RT could also attract more riders by offering more service. I’d be curious to see how many commuters would actually take advantage of that offer (not just got the pass but used it).
July 24, 2007 @ 10:26 pm
Enticing people with more service can’t happen because that assumes a ready supply of funding for expansion. Our environmentalist governor has just worked a deal with our compliant environmentalist majority Democrats that significantly reduces transit funding. Clearly, existing transit riders will be lucky if current service levels are maintained. There will be no new services with which to attract riders.
July 25, 2007 @ 6:55 am
What a boring blog. Do people actually read this drivel?
July 30, 2007 @ 12:36 pm
yada yada yada. What a boring comment. Do people actually read this drivel?
July 30, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
Yes.
We read this drivel. If I were holding true the publics feelings about Bus and Light Rail Drivers I would refer to Yada Yada Yada as an ill informed asshat.
Simply put, the budget impasse in California snatches monies that are gravely needed to maintain current service (which most people think is terrible) as well as the dollars to expand service to areas that are not connected or are barely a blip on the screen in terms of public transportation options.
The Governor robbed Peter to pay Paul, and thats the bottom line. I would love to drive my train to the Airport….but even at my youthful age I do not see that happening before I buck the kicket.
August 01, 2007 @ 5:22 am
yada yada yada…you read it.
You seem like an asshat to me. Bug off.
August 13, 2007 @ 2:09 pm