Many of you know that I edit two transportation Facebook pages, Metro Go and TSAC (Transportation Services Advisory Committee).
Along with providing content for these Pages, I am charged with monitoring Comments, Likes, and the traffic on the sites. Most of the comments are complimentary as the group that follows these issues pretty much agree on the challenges and the solutions.
I know many of the people that follow our site. Occasionally, they comment. We received a comment recently that expressed a frustration that I have heard in conversation. The complaint centers around the attitude of the drivers. I'm positive that some drivers are not good salespeople for our bus service. I'm also sure, from personal experience, that some of them great ambassadors and promoters of the system.
At the heart of these complaints is one or two bad experiences. I also think it revolves around the individual's expectations.
When I think of a bad experience, it dosesn't take me long to remember the driver who stopped to wait for a customer who was running to catch the bus. The driver who belts in the wheelchair knowing that the time taken might cost him/her their short break at the end of the route.The driver that remembers you asked a particular stop and he/she reminds you that it's coming.
Inevitably when I smile and greet the driver, he/she returns the greeting in kind. Most people thank the driver when they exit. Most drivers acknowledge the thanks gratefully.
I do not expect the driver to tell the lady next to me, who is talking on her phone loud enough to let anybody on the bus know how she feels about things, that she should tone it down. The driver is not responsible for passenger behavior.
I know that if the bus is three minutes late, it's not the driver's fault. There is little sense in chastising them for it.
While we realize and accept that the bus system is a part of our transportation infrastructure, it is different than a highway, a parking garage, bike trail of a sidewalk. Mass transit is the assembly, for an undetermined amount of time, of a small community. While the driver is an indispensable part of the community he/she is not in charge of the conduct of the community, unless he feels that the behavior poses a danger. In that case, he/she calls the police.
There a lot of reasons people don't ride the bus, but I think the biggest reasons are the many people look on the bus as inconvenient, unrelable and unsafe. I challenge those assumptions. Learning how to use the bus as a major part of your transportation might take some time. It will never be as convenient as using a car because we make sure, at great cost, that there is plenty of parking and high volume road capacity.
Maybe we could make the bus performance more compatible if the budget for the bus system was larger. We could increase frequency, build heated shelters, and install more routes.
Milwaukee is installing a bus rapid transit route. This route has limited stops, runs in a dedicated lane, can override stop lights. This could be a model for the future of high-volume routes, particularly those that service job areas.
Along with providing content for these Pages, I am charged with monitoring Comments, Likes, and the traffic on the sites. Most of the comments are complimentary as the group that follows these issues pretty much agree on the challenges and the solutions.
I know many of the people that follow our site. Occasionally, they comment. We received a comment recently that expressed a frustration that I have heard in conversation. The complaint centers around the attitude of the drivers. I'm positive that some drivers are not good salespeople for our bus service. I'm also sure, from personal experience, that some of them great ambassadors and promoters of the system.
At the heart of these complaints is one or two bad experiences. I also think it revolves around the individual's expectations.
When I think of a bad experience, it dosesn't take me long to remember the driver who stopped to wait for a customer who was running to catch the bus. The driver who belts in the wheelchair knowing that the time taken might cost him/her their short break at the end of the route.The driver that remembers you asked a particular stop and he/she reminds you that it's coming.
Inevitably when I smile and greet the driver, he/she returns the greeting in kind. Most people thank the driver when they exit. Most drivers acknowledge the thanks gratefully.
I do not expect the driver to tell the lady next to me, who is talking on her phone loud enough to let anybody on the bus know how she feels about things, that she should tone it down. The driver is not responsible for passenger behavior.
I know that if the bus is three minutes late, it's not the driver's fault. There is little sense in chastising them for it.
While we realize and accept that the bus system is a part of our transportation infrastructure, it is different than a highway, a parking garage, bike trail of a sidewalk. Mass transit is the assembly, for an undetermined amount of time, of a small community. While the driver is an indispensable part of the community he/she is not in charge of the conduct of the community, unless he feels that the behavior poses a danger. In that case, he/she calls the police.
There a lot of reasons people don't ride the bus, but I think the biggest reasons are the many people look on the bus as inconvenient, unrelable and unsafe. I challenge those assumptions. Learning how to use the bus as a major part of your transportation might take some time. It will never be as convenient as using a car because we make sure, at great cost, that there is plenty of parking and high volume road capacity.
Maybe we could make the bus performance more compatible if the budget for the bus system was larger. We could increase frequency, build heated shelters, and install more routes.
Milwaukee is installing a bus rapid transit route. This route has limited stops, runs in a dedicated lane, can override stop lights. This could be a model for the future of high-volume routes, particularly those that service job areas.
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