Living Car Free - Get Onboard, It's Time To Stop Hating the Bus!

This was a very good segment on NPR the other day about problems with the bus. One of the major issues is that bus schedules are horrible! Unlike a train map that's simple with limited stops, a bus map does not illustrate the bus stops and where they are located. You can waste alot of time looking for bus stops based on the worthless map the first time you do this exercise! Should you ever find yourself in a strange town, you can't take the bus because not knowing the route can get you lost real fast.

Bus companies need to use GPS and track all their bus routes, upload them to Google maps and put this on their website.http://www.npr.org/2012/03/29/149625725/op-ed-hate-the-bus-its-time-to-reconsider

I've never found bus maps/schedules hard to read or find. Stops are marked by signs and generally occur every block or two. But I've seen enough people stand on the wrong side of the street to catch a bus going to their destination. Buses have to follow the same traffic laws as cars, so I don't know why they stand on the opposite side of the street. If you want to go to downtown, stand on the side of the street with the vehicles pointing toward downtown. I'm a little scared that these folks usually drive themselves.

I've ridden Houston Metro a bunch of times. Finding a bus stop is never a problem.

Smelly winos and lunatics who want to convert you to the preachings of the prophet of the day are a much bigger problem than finding a bus stop.

Smelly winos and lunatics who want to convert you to the preachings of the prophet of the day are a much bigger problem than finding a bus stop.

The desire to avoid interacting with people thought to be "undesirables" is one of the major barriers to widespread use of public transit in America. In reality, of course, people behind the wheels of automobiles are the ones who pose an actual danger.

It's not "smelly winos" or evangelists of various stripes who produce a 9/11-sized pile of bodies every month.

This was a very good segment on NPR the other day about problems with the bus. One of the major issues is that bus schedules are horrible! Unlike a train map that's simple with limited stops, a bus map does not illustrate the bus stops and where they are located. You can waste alot of time looking for bus stops based on the worthless map the first time you do this exercise! Should you ever find yourself in a strange town, you can't take the bus because not knowing the route can get you lost real fast.

Bus companies need to use GPS and track all their bus routes, upload them to Google maps and put this on their website.http://www.npr.org/2012/03/29/149625725/op-ed-hate-the-bus-its-time-to-reconsider
I disagree with this. The local bus company here does a pretty good job of communicating the schedules. Yes, it's a trifle more complex than the train perhaps, but 15 minutes of investigation will solve the whole puzzle.

On my bus route, there's something moving every 15 minutes during the week days. Not great service in the evening, but then most of my travel is during the busy time.

I think there are two inherent issues with buses for people who travel by car:

Meeting up with follow citizens in a crowded vehicle is a bit of a culture shock.
Most people find waiting for transportation, even if 5 minutes for a bus, annoying. But this is a learned behavior from driving cars. After a short introduction to buses, you learn to cool your jets, take a book with you and relax.

I've never found bus maps/schedules hard to read or find. Stops are marked by signs and generally occur every block or two. But I've seen enough people stand on the wrong side of the street to catch a bus going to their destination. Buses have to follow the same traffic laws as cars, so I don't know why they stand on the opposite side of the street. If you want to go to downtown, stand on the side of the street with the vehicles pointing toward downtown. I'm a little scared that these folks usually drive themselves.

I noticed that too that people will stand on the wrong side of the street to catch the bus. If you're lost, how do you know what direction is downtown? Many times, people will just board the bus only to ask the driver directions where to get to a certain location. They just lost an hour waiting for the bus and now have to walk to catch another.

I disagree with this. The local bus company here does a pretty good job of communicating the schedules. Yes, it's a trifle more complex than the train perhaps, but 15 minutes of investigation will solve the whole puzzle.

On my bus route, there's something moving every 15 minutes during the week days. Not great service in the evening, but then most of my travel is during the busy time.

I think there are two inherent issues with buses for people who travel by car:

Meeting up with follow citizens in a crowded vehicle is a bit of a culture shock.
Most people find waiting for transportation, even if 5 minutes for a bus, annoying. But this is a learned behavior from driving cars. After a short introduction to buses, you learn to cool your jets, take a book with you and relax.


Try to do this exercise. I went to the Chicago Transit Authority's web site and by random selection, choose to look at bus #121 Union Wacker Express! LOL, What a name! As someone who's never been to Chicago, I can't tell you where the bus line ends or starts or ends on the map! Since there are no addresses, I have to Google the streets and waste valuable time trying to trace where the bus actually goes.

It appears the start point is "Clinton 540, Union Station" but there is nothing on the map that states this. When I try to google "Clinton 540" in Chicago, I can't find the street?? When I finally Google Union Station, I see there is a South Clinton street but what does 540? mean in the map??? I could go on forever.

Now suppose I was on a street that wasn't stated on the map? How do I determine my position from where "Lower Wacker" or "Post" are on the map. I could spend an hour looking for these streets on my cell phone! It's easy if you live in your town your whole life but try another transit agency and the map becomes useless.

I suggest limited stops and have them posted on Google like train stations are. I can find all the stops on Metro North (New York MTA) on their website or Google. The bus is a whole different story.


http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/bus_schedules/121.pdf

Try to do this exercise. I went to the Chicago Transit Authority's web site and by random selection, choose to look at bus #121 Union Wacker Express! LOL, What a name! As someone who's never been to Chicago, I can't tell you where the bus line ends or starts or ends on the map! Since there are no addresses, I have to Google the streets and waste valuable time trying to trace where the bus actually goes.

It appears the start point is "Clinton 540, Union Station" but there is nothing on the map that states this. When I try to google "Clinton 540" in Chicago, I can't find the street?? When I finally Google Union Station, I see there is a South Clinton street but what does 540? mean in the map??? I could go on forever.

Now suppose I was on a street that wasn't stated on the map? How do I determine my position from where "Lower Wacker" or "Post" are on the map. I could spend an hour looking for these streets on my cell phone! It's easy if you live in your town your whole life but try another transit agency and the map becomes useless.

I suggest limited stops and have them posted on Google like train stations are. I can find all the stops on Metro North (New York MTA) on their website or Google. The bus is a whole different story.


http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/bus_schedules/121.pdf

Good job pointing that out. I often find abbreviations in the routes, but no key as to what they stand for. And as far as jumping on one of our 1 hour headway buses from mid route you have no idea where it goes because the bus stop sign simply has a route number and phone number. So how would you know where the heck route 78 goes for example.

I have also seen the route description with one name on it, but you cannot find that stop on the route map - doesn't exist.

The desire to avoid interacting with people thought to be "undesirables" is one of the major barriers to widespread use of public transit in America. In reality, of course, people behind the wheels of automobiles are the ones who pose an actual danger.

It's not "smelly winos" or evangelists of various stripes who produce a 9/11-sized pile of bodies every month.

That's all well & good until some lunatic chews your ear off for a half an hour raving about what some prophet on the west side had to say about the mayan calendar and space aliens, or when some guy that hasn't had a bath since soap was invented climbs on the bus and turns the air into a noxious gas.

They've got every right in the world to be crazy and stinky. I just don't want to sit next to someone of that sort on da bus.

I also wouldn't want to sit next to a mass murderer.

We can extoll the virtues of the bus all we want, but face it, the bus is a PITA.

I'd rather ride my bike.

the transit system in Denver is RTD. Reason To Drive. or in my case bike, always got to any part of Denver quicker on my bike than a bus could. Now in Fort Dicks, I have walked the length and width of the city looking over my shoulder for a bus, never have seen one yet.

Louisville's TARC is lousy. It's hard to get anywhere but downtown without a transfer. The keep raising fares AND cutting services. On the plus side, every bus has a bike rack.

Bus service in NYC is lousy in the outer boroughs: waiting times are insanely excessive, then 3 buses show up and they all packed like sardines. It's common to wait 45 minutes or more for a bus. Although I understand it's not entirely MTA's fault: it's the traffic conditions, but that doesn't change my attitude towards buses. We don't have bike racks here either and fares are getting too high for what you get.

I noticed that too that people will stand on the wrong side of the street to catch the bus. If you're lost, how do you know what direction is downtown? Many times, people will just board the bus only to ask the driver directions where to get to a certain location. They just lost an hour waiting for the bus and now have to walk to catch another.

Well, having a map is handy. But generally, addresses increase away from the city center and decrease as you head toward it. Mostly, I think people just never learned how to read maps.

Buses suck. Some people who ride the bus suck too. Not the majority, but they make life crappy for the rest. Like others have said, I bike faster than the bus.

I actually wrote up a blog post about the bus service in my town recently:

http://hanklegan.blogspot.com/2012/01/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html

I'm like most of the others on this forum: the bus sucks compared to riding a bike. I'd almost rather walk than ride a bus. But I still say it's better than driving.

I was riding in a car with someone a few months ago, and she complained when we got stuck behind a bus. I asked if she'd rather be stuck behind one bus or 25 cars, and she relaxed her attitude a little lol.

I've also found that riding a bus is much more confusing to a novice than a train system. When I first moved to Chicago, it definitely took me longer to figure out the bus routes than the train routes, and I'm someone with a really good sense of direction and maps. I had friends who'd lived in the city their whole lives and could only confidently ride 3 or 4 different bus routes.

Try to do this exercise. I went to the Chicago Transit Authority's web site and by random selection, choose to look at bus #121 Union Wacker Express! LOL, What a name! As someone who's never been to Chicago, I can't tell you where the bus line ends or starts or ends on the map! Since there are no addresses, I have to Google the streets and waste valuable time trying to trace where the bus actually goes.

It appears the start point is "Clinton 540, Union Station" but there is nothing on the map that states this. When I try to google "Clinton 540" in Chicago, I can't find the street?? When I finally Google Union Station, I see there is a South Clinton street but what does 540? mean in the map??? I could go on forever.

Now suppose I was on a street that wasn't stated on the map? How do I determine my position from where "Lower Wacker" or "Post" are on the map. I could spend an hour looking for these streets on my cell phone! It's easy if you live in your town your whole life but try another transit agency and the map becomes useless.

I suggest limited stops and have them posted on Google like train stations are. I can find all the stops on Metro North (New York MTA) on their website or Google. The bus is a whole different story.


http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/bus_schedules/121.pdf

540W is the coordinate for Clinton, it tells you how far west Clinton is from city center. The map tells you that the route starts at the intersection of Jackson and Canal, or the coordinates of 500W and 300S. You will find that rural areas often only use the coordinates for road names.

Also coordinates are on street signs, so if you can figure out which direction to go by looking at the street signs. Knowing this is very handy whether you bus, walk, drive, or bike. :)

I've looked into bus service a few times. What it comes down to is that the bus service simply doesn't go where I want it to go in a reasonable amount of time. For instance, I rode the commuter train from DFW Airport to downtown Fort Worth. Including a shuttle bus hop from the airport to the train station, it took about an hour to get the 30 miles to downtown Fort Worth. There is a bus route that runs from downtown to a short walk from my home, but to go the 10 miles would have taken 1:45 including waiting for the next (infrequent) bus.

First you have to HAVE a bus service....

Aaron :)

540W is the coordinate for Clinton, it tells you how far west Clinton is from city center. The map tells you that the route starts at the intersection of Jackson and Canal, or the coordinates of 500W and 300S. You will find that rural areas often only use the coordinates for road names.

Thank you rockmom! I would have never figured that one out! It's amazing how no legend was provided.

Bus service in NYC is lousy in the outer boroughs: waiting times are insanely excessive, then 3 buses show up and they all packed like sardines. It's common to wait 45 minutes or more for a bus. Although I understand it's not entirely MTA's fault: it's the traffic conditions, but that doesn't change my attitude towards buses. We don't have bike racks here either and fares are getting too high for what you get.


Speaking of New York City, I happen to like their bus map. This is really what I'm looking for but it's still missing the stops. However, I consider that map to be the standard all should follow. This feature should also be standard for all bus lines.


http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/busbx.pdf

One feature I like about my transit agency is the "MY BUS" free text service that will tell you when the next bus arrives. Now if only we had a decent map where I can see where all the bus lines go!
http://www.njtransit.com/sf/sf_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=BusServiceNearByFrom

I've looked into bus service a few times. What it comes down to is that the bus service simply doesn't go where I want it to go in a reasonable amount of time. For instance, I rode the commuter train from DFW Airport to downtown Fort Worth. Including a shuttle bus hop from the airport to the train station, it took about an hour to get the 30 miles to downtown Fort Worth. There is a bus route that runs from downtown to a short walk from my home, but to go the 10 miles would have taken 1:45 including waiting for the next (infrequent) bus.

I managed to locate myself near the best bus route in our city. I admit certain areas -- especially the suburbs -- are difficult to maneuver by bus. But in the metro area, there's pretty reasonable coverage.

As well.... even if it took me an hour to get to work by bus, it would seem pretty reasonable if I had a twisted ankle. Reason is that I don't have a car. You could probably enjoy the hour if you had a good book with you.

Thank you rockmom! I would have never figured that one out! It's amazing how no legend was provided.

It likely wasn't in the legend because that is just what is printed on the street sign, like in this photo:
http://www.pegster.com/PF11.htm

I have never been a big fan of the bus. Too slow and too many stops to get you from point A to point B. And at least in my area they tend start the run when people already need to be at work and slow down the runs when people are getting off work. My feeling is they do it for the drivers so they can work a 8-5 workday just like most people. Just my observation. The light rail on the other hand starts early, runs late and provides a table and WiFi. However that being said the last time I took Metrolink into LA there was a woman walking through the car selling Tamales. But I live in the land of the multipal car household and the Bus has to drive on the same street as all of those cars and Light rail doesn't so the bus has a handicap.

Now add to that all the cuts to bus service and it isn't a good option for a lot of people.

I commuted by bike + metro train + bus for a long time and I ride public transportation in addition to my bikes to get where I am going now. The things that people here in Los Angeles don't like are justified. For instance, people spitting on the bus! People who haven't bathed in weeks making the entire bus wreak! Punks who think they're gangsters disturbing everybody and trying to intimidate them. The fact that the drivers and MTA do nothing about any of this. I was also been threatened with violence on the bus I commuted on every day by another commuter who was mentally unstable. Neither the MTA or Sheriff's did anything about it.

Just like any other business, public services should have policies too. A restaurant might say "no shirt, no shoes, no service", and public services should set some standards too. You never know what you will get on the buses in Los Angeles, other than no response from the driver, mta, or law enforcement, unless you are first seriously wounded or killed.

As well.... even if it took me an hour to get to work by bus, it would seem pretty reasonable if I had a twisted ankle. Reason is that I don't have a car. You could probably enjoy the hour if you had a good book with you.

My commute to work back in the 80s (same site, different company, and I lived near where I live now) was actually on a company-provided bus (I think they arranged with the local bus service to pick up people). I picked up a mile or two from my house. I either walked or caught a ride with a neighbor (who worked the same place) to the pickup point. The dropoff was at the front door of my workplace. It was a 45 minute bus ride (as opposed to a 30 minute car ride) and I usually read a book a month on the bus. At the time, my wife was a stay at home mom and would be able to take care of afternoon stuff like starting dinner, etc. Now she works too and usually gets home after I do. I'll use mass transit when I can, but there comes a point where it isn't worth it to me.

For me to take the bus now, I would need to ride all the way downtown (almost an hour), then catch a connection that would take me all the way out to work (more than an hour, I think), and then I'd still be a good half hour or more walk from work.

My commute to work back in the 80s (same site, different company, and I lived near where I live now) was actually on a company-provided bus (I think they arranged with the local bus service to pick up people). I picked up a mile or two from my house. I either walked or caught a ride with a neighbor (who worked the same place) to the pickup point. The dropoff was at the front door of my workplace. It was a 45 minute bus ride (as opposed to a 30 minute car ride) and I usually read a book a month on the bus. At the time, my wife was a stay at home mom and would be able to take care of afternoon stuff like starting dinner, etc. Now she works too and usually gets home after I do. I'll use mass transit when I can, but there comes a point where it isn't worth it to me.

For me to take the bus now, I would need to ride all the way downtown (almost an hour), then catch a connection that would take me all the way out to work (more than an hour, I think), and then I'd still be a good half hour or more walk from work.

So what's your backup if you are injured or can't ride for whatever reason?

If transit truly sucks it explains why a great many people who normally don't need a car continue to have one. This is a minor catastrophe for many because keeping a car for rare usage is kind of wasteful. It would be cheaper if we all invested in better transit.

Although, even if we did that, many cities are so widely spread out, it would be astronomically expensive to provide convenient coverage for everyone...even if the demand was there.

This is the case where I live right now. My default transit option is driving my own car. I used to ride to work but that's become rare, unfortunately. Ultimately we hope to a section of the city that is more urban and has better transit ties to other parts of the city.

All you who have, "light rail" are sooooooo lucky!! The bus service here in C. Springs isn't too bad unless you have to get to the "northern areas" of town, then it can take "hours" to do all the connections. Our city buses do have bike racks although they scare me as the bikes seem to wiggle badly so I'd rather "ride" the bike and leave the bus to, specific uses, jmho.

I have never been a big fan of the bus. Too slow and too many stops to get you from point A to point B. And at least in my area they tend start the run when people already need to be at work and slow down the runs when people are getting off work. My feeling is they do it for the drivers so they can work a 8-5 workday just like most people. Just my observation. The light rail on the other hand starts early, runs late and provides a table and WiFi. However that being said the last time I took Metrolink into LA there was a woman walking through the car selling Tamales. But I live in the land of the multipal car household and the Bus has to drive on the same street as all of those cars and Light rail doesn't so the bus has a handicap.

Now add to that all the cuts to bus service and it isn't a good option for a lot of people.

What does a woman selling tamales have to do with this thread or the rest of your post?:wtf:

That's all well & good until some lunatic chews your ear off for a half an hour raving about what some prophet on the west side had to say about the mayan calendar and space aliens, or when some guy that hasn't had a bath since soap was invented climbs on the bus and turns the air into a noxious gas.

They've got every right in the world to be crazy and stinky. I just don't want to sit next to someone of that sort on da bus.

I also wouldn't want to sit next to a mass murderer.

We can extoll the virtues of the bus all we want, but face it, the bus is a PITA.

I'd rather ride my bike.

Did you ever try moving to a different seat on the bus?

A couple random thoughts for your consideration:

I think the day will come (soon) when we'll be able to scan a sign at the bus stop with our cell phone, and get a real time extimate of when the next bus will be at that stop, and when it will arrive at your next destination. That'll be great!

for those complaining about hub-and-spoke bus routing--the only way that will end is when a lot more people ride buses. A grid type route system is only efficient when there are lots if riders.

One skill that makes bus riding more pleasant is learning how to avert or avoid the "stinky winos" that everybody complains about. Learn how to avoid eye contact, hide behind a book or headphones, sit at the front of the bus, and show marked disinterest without pissing somebody off.

Why do high school kids spend so much time learnig how to drive a car, but no time learning how to ride a bus? This is wrong!

What does a woman selling tamales have to do with this thread or the rest of your post?:wtf:


Just that I never expected to see a Vendor on a public commuter train. It was still faster than the bus.

Try to do this exercise. I went to the Chicago Transit Authority's web site and by random selection, choose to look at bus #121 Union Wacker Express! LOL, What a name! As someone who's never been to Chicago, I can't tell you where the bus line ends or starts or ends on the map! Since there are no addresses, I have to Google the streets and waste valuable time trying to trace where the bus actually goes.


http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/bus_schedules/121.pdf

It tells you: It starts at Union Station, Jackson and canal and goes north and east to Navy pier. Then it tells you it goes south and east from Navy pier to Union station, Jackson and Canal. It lists the major intersections it runs through. It's got a schematic, with street numbers. (Everyone in Chicago, including the tourists that bother to read any guidebook, knows that State is 0E/0W, and madison is 0N/0S, and that there are about 8 blocks to a mile.) It's slightly complicated, because it's displaying three dimensions on two: Upper Wacker is directly above Lower Wacker (a large part of the heart of downtown Chicago is a very large system of bridges), but it's pretty clear. there's a time table, too, which tells you it's a rush hour bus only, that when it's running there's never more than about 20 mintues between buses, and that it's clearly designed to get people from Union Station (which is a train station, with a number of commuter rail lines from the west and south suburbs (and amtrak)) to the other side of downtown in the morning, and bring them back to their train at night.

There are many, many things you can pick on the CTA for (Trust me on that!), but the clarity of their bus schedule fliers is not one of them. The signs along the route are even useful: http://www.transitchicago.com/riding_cta/how_to_guides/bustrackerlookup_stopblade.aspx

And bus tracker (an internet/text message service) works pretty well.

I use the buses here in Los Angeles occasionally. Some problems I have had: (1) during busy times, the buses that come by are full and the bus drivers bypass the stop (they stop away from the stop and only dropoff not pickup passengers.) Standing room only. I have expeirneced this on the Wilshire Blvd line. It plays havoc with your commute if 3 buses in a row are too full and bypass your stop. (2) The buses have racks for 2 bikes in front. It is speculative whether the bus that stops for you already has 2 bikes on the rack. If it's during busy times it is likely there will be 2 bikes already, so no room for yours on the rack. For this reason I conclude it is not feasible to include biking to work in addition to taking buses, because of that risk. To obviate the risk, you'd have to budget in a lot more time, to allow for about 3 extra buses to come by to try to ensure 1 of them will have room for your bike. (3) outside of about 7am to 8pm, many of the routes have buses infrequently, ie every 30+ minutes or more, and the express buses stop service, so it adds greatly to your travel time if you are travelling outside these hours. For example late at night you may have to wait 1 hour for a bus late at night (if the bus is still running at all.) Another thing I have experienced with Santa Monica buses is that they will drop buses out of service if the ridership is low that day or a bus is running late. This is not publicly announced. Say for example the published schedule has a bus every 25 minutes. But if one bus gets behind schedule and or it has few riders on it, they will take it out of service, tell the bus driver to skip that scheduling (and the bus driver drives to the start of the route to get in line to start the route at a later time.) So you may end up waiting for a bus for 45 minutes when one is supposed to be there every 20 minutes. Here is how it works. You are waiting for the 9am bus. It is 10 minutes behind schedule. There's only 3 riders on it. The dispatcher takes it out of service. So it never gets to your stop. That means the next bus is the 9:25 am bus. You can wait from 850am to 925am before the bus shows up. The 915am bus never arrives because it was aborted by dispatch. I have watched buses approach my stop and the bus # on the sign turn from the bus # to "out of service" before it gets to my stop. This is a particular thing with Santa Monica buses. I asked bus drivers what happened to the buses a few times before one of them explained the situation to me.

On my birthday I thought it might be neat to ride the bus all day, passively watching town go by. My husband said I was crazy. I did not ride the bus.

I agree that their maps are confusing and hard to read, based on the one for this town. Basin Transit Service (http://www.basintransit.com/) and their map (http://www.basintransit.com/largemap.shtml).
I DID just realize that google maps has a bus icon next to the car and bike- and it does make sense. <3 Google

It was hailing the day before yesterday, and my two coworkers were both unreachable for rides. I ended up wearing a thick coat and my snow pants because I have no rain suit. I overheated, but lucked out when the hail and rain stopped shortly after leaving the house. I had thought that it might have been nice to know how the bus worked then. It also doesn't start early enough in the day for when I need to get to work.

I can't honestly see why a public bus would be considered unclean- wash it, sweep it! I drive a school bus and you cannot tell me that reasonable people who pay for the service are worse than kids who think they are getting a free ride as a right instead of a privilege.
I do think that buses need to get the stupid advertising OFF their buses, and look more professional. I saw one in jacksonville once with a woman's face on it, where her eyes were the front and back wheels. It was seriously creepy and distracting.

I can't honestly see why a public bus would be considered unclean

I believe the argument is more like unclean people ride the bus. Homeless people and many disabled or otherwise disadvantaged favor public transportation. It's an unsettling microcosm that many would prefer to ignore.

Riding the bus is like getting up too close for comfort.

I live in a small city (Binghamton, NY) and the bus schedules/maps are decent once you figure out where you want to go. It took me a couple of hours looking at different routes to figure out my options (and their were only 3 as it ended up and 1 was ridiculously long).

The problems I see are 1) they don't have maps, schedules, or any other information besides a route number (if it isn't so faded that you can't see it) at the stops and no indication of when a bus is supposed to come and where it will take you. You have to do a lot of homework before hand, 2) The bus only runs once an hour, 3) It takes an hour to get to work by bus, 30 minutes by (slow) bike, 20 at most by car.

In general, the biggest problem taking a bus in a new area (or having to switch somewhere unknown) is not knowing where to get on and off.

The best thing I think our local bus transit could do though, IMO, is get there schedule on google maps. Although getting rid of the Walmart hub and making the bus that goes by my house go to the University hub (where I work), would be the one thing that would get me to actually ride it on a somewhat regular basis. Once I have to change buses, I'm less likely to take public transit.

I believe the argument is more like unclean people ride the bus. Homeless people and many disabled or otherwise disadvantaged favor public transportation. It's an unsettling microcosm that many would prefer to ignore.

Riding the bus is like getting up too close for comfort.

People don't like dealing with what they don't like. It is the same way everywhere. They aren't ignoring the Microcosm they know it exists and as Roody suggests they have a way of dealing with it. Don't make eye contact, move to another part of the bus, pretend to be reading a book. Just another way of avoiding getting too close. But knowing full well the group exists. Choosing to use another form of transportation is just doing the same thing, but instead of pretending to be invisable the person is invisable.

Did you ever try moving to a different seat on the bus?

That's not always possible. I remember one time on the bus, standing, packed like sardines. I felt someone rifling the backpack I was wearing. I turned a little so they had to stop. When I finally got off the bus, then I could actually see what had happened, they had gotten the zipper undone, but because my backpack was so full, they hadn't been able to get anything out before being interrupted.

The problems I see are 1) they don't have maps, schedules, or any other information besides a route number (if it isn't so faded that you can't see it) at the stops and no indication of when a bus is supposed to come and where it will take you. You have to do a lot of homework before hand, 2) The bus only runs once an hour, 3) It takes an hour to get to work by bus, 30 minutes by (slow) bike, 20 at most by car.

In general, the biggest problem taking a bus in a new area (or having to switch somewhere unknown) is not knowing where to get on and off.

I know, to my last job in the morning, I realized that if I got off the bus about 12 blocks early and walked two blocks I could make the connection with the route I wanted, but catch it one run earlier, saving me 45 minutes of travel time. It wouldn't work anywhere else on the two routes, and it certainly wasn't on any of the schedules. It was only a hunch and field testing that did it.

People don't like dealing with what they don't like. It is the same way everywhere. They aren't ignoring the Microcosm they know it exists and as Roody suggests they have a way of dealing with it. Don't make eye contact, move to another part of the bus, pretend to be reading a book. Just another way of avoiding getting too close. But knowing full well the group exists. Choosing to use another form of transportation is just doing the same thing, but instead of pretending to be invisable the person is invisable.
Yep. You're right. I know keeping my nose in a book means I don't have to listen to some of the discussion.



In general, the biggest problem taking a bus in a new area (or having to switch somewhere unknown) is not knowing where to get on and off.

IMHO using the bus is not much different from striking out on a bike commute for the first time. It takes a couple of trips -- even when you've done all the homework -- to find the optimal route, timing, etc.

What Artkansas calls "field testing".

Yep. You're right. I know keeping my nose in a book means I don't have to listen to some of the discussion.




I have found wearing a pair of earbuds helps too...don't even have to be listening to anything either ;)

Aaron :)

Did you ever try moving to a different seat on the bus?

Generally, that's exactly what I do. However, there are times when the bus is packed and even finding a place to stand is next to impossible.

And there's one guy that gets on at Gessner.... It doesn't matter where you sit on the bus. He is going to sit right up front. You can go all the way to the back of the bus and his stink is overpowering.

Edit:

Furthermore, my average commute time on the bus = 2+ hours.

My average commute time on my bicycle = 1 Hr. 40 Min.

Well, yeah. The stinky people. I mind that too. It's often really hard to bear that for extended period of time.

Well, the husband decided to try google transit to plot a bus trip for us. Our verdict is that it is not that great and gave us a longer route than needed. I just want a map and schedule, please.

I use the Nashville MTA bike-n-ride regularly (listed under 'Bus Services' tab). http://www.nashvillemta.org/setpage.asp?page=homepage.html

I ride my bike from the house to a park-n-ride (about 3 miles) then ride an Express into downtown (20 minutes during rush hour).
I hop off the bus and bike another mile to the office. I reverse the same procedure on the way home.

On my bus: I've never encountered many of the negatives that have been mentioned here. The majority of the riders are State and Metro government employees (they get free passes so why not?) and students; either college or high school students that attend the Magnet Schools.
The only places I encounter the winos, street preachers, and solicitors are on the streets around the bus terminal. On the bus, I'll see more suits/ties than undesirables. YMMV

As for a negative: The routes are great going into, out of the city. Cross connects are sketchy. Almost all non-downtown destinations would require a ride into town to catch the outgoing connector.


[edit to add] earlier someone mentioned the bus bike rack and the bike being loose: I strap an extra bungee chord from my bike frame to the bus rack. It takes about 2 seconds and it makes me much more comfortable.

I think the day will come (soon) when we'll be able to scan a sign at the bus stop with our cell phone, and get a real time extimate of when the next bus will be at that stop, and when it will arrive at your next destination. That'll be great!
You can do that today if your agency is live on Google Transit (more likely than not). Just open Google Maps and click on the bus stop you're standing at and you'll see the next bus arrival times for each route that serves that stop. It's schedule times, not real-time (for the most part - again depending on your agency's tech capabilities), but for this purpose schedule time data is very useful if you're at an unfamiliar stop on an unfamiliar route.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8017/7297352234_e1e64f8a23_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/67013016@N07/7297352234/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/67013016@N07/7297352234/) by bendertj (http://www.flickr.com/people/67013016@N07/), on Flickr
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8009/7297332846_9a7ec71b8e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/67013016@N07/7297332846/)
GT-Desktop-NextBus (http://www.flickr.com/photos/67013016@N07/7297332846/) by bendertj (http://www.flickr.com/people/67013016@N07/), on Flickr

Yep, all Chicago Transit buses and trains were equipped with Train/Bus Tracker technology, so you opened the app, selected the stop, and it told you the arrival time of the next bus. Not scheduled time, actual arrival time, and usually accurate to within 30 seconds +-. It was nice, it let you know if you needed to run out the door of your house or take a leisurely stroll with a cup of joe.

You can do that today if your agency is live on Google Transit (more likely than not). Just open Google Maps and click on the bus stop you're standing at and you'll see the next bus arrival times for each route that serves that stop. It's schedule times, not real-time (for the most part - again depending on your agency's tech capabilities), but for this purpose schedule time data is very useful if you're at an unfamiliar stop on an unfamiliar route.



Transit isn't supported on Google in my part of the country... It is barely supported at the local level.

Aaron :)