Chronically Late- Route 12

[TransitStop]

this is what they say is a "average" trip for route 12, however in my opinion and from being on a friends bus the 12 is able to stay within the "green zone"

 

Story

 

As bus number 6382 lumbered into the Blair Road transit station on a recent Wednesday afternoon at exactly 5:01 p.m., a green "0" glowed on the GPS display perched between the driver and the fare box.

 

This bus on route 12 was headed downtown, through some of the most congested areas of the city. No other regular OC Transpo route runs seriously late as often as the 12, a Citizen analysis of GPS data shows. The route runs behind schedule by 10 minutes or more about eight per cent of the time. At this moment, though, the green digit on the GPS indicated the bus was zero minutes behind schedule.

 

About a dozen people boarded the articulated bus and by the time it reached the first intersection at Blair and Ogilvie roads, the zero had become a 1.

 

As the bus snaked through the residential area east of the shopping mall, the number ticked higher. A red traffic light at the end of Jasmine Crescent by Lester B. Pearson High School and a few more on Ogilvie put it at four minutes behind -still within the target five-minute window, so not a problem yet.

 

Drivers on route 12 know they can usually make up lost time along Montreal Road near the National Research Council where traffic is typically light.

 

But on this day, there seemed to be a passenger getting on or off at every stop, which are spaced in intervals of about one every 200 metres. In a series of stops and starts, the bus fell further behind.

 

Across from Ogilvie Square, a middle-aged woman carrying a large cardboard box waited at the stop. The driver flipped a switch to lower the front of the bus for her, at a cost of 20 extra seconds. At the next stop, an elderly woman climbed on and explained she'd forgotten her bus pass. 'No problem,' the driver said, 'I trust you.' It didn't matter, anyway -- seniors travel free on Wednesday. He waited until she had found a seat before gently pulling into traffic. Thirty more seconds.

 

And so it went until the green 5 on the GPS display became an orange 6. Route 12 was officially late.

 

Some drivers believe the demographics of their passengers along the route can contribute to the slow down. The 12 travels through lower income areas of the city where, it seems, there are more elderly and disabled riders. They take longer to get on and get seated. A driver running behind can't accelerate quickly after a stop for fear of knocking them over.

 

At the next stop, a woman on the median waved to the driver and he waited until she crossed in front of him. The 6 was now a 7.

 

At the NRC, five more passengers boarded quickly, but at the next stop, a mother pushing a double stroller waited. The bus knelt again as she struggled to get it over the snow bank and into the bus.

 

The bus moved past the Montfort Hospital easily but at the corner of Brittany Drive and Montreal Road a large group waited. The apartments nearby tend to generate a lot of passengers, and one of them on this day pushed a giant baby buggy with wide, rugged wheels. Another bench in the priority seating was raised to make room.

 

The front half of bus 6382 was getting crowded, and it was now 10 minutes behind.

 

At the corner of St. Laurent Boulevard, an obese woman with a walker and yet another mom with a baby stroller climbed aboard. One elderly woman stood to surrender her seat.

 

"I'm a senior and I'm giving up my seat," she said loudly, "even though there are lots of young people still sitting."

 

The driver waited as the passengers shuffled around to make room for three strollers and the walker. By the time the bus pulled away, it was 12 minutes behind. A child started screaming on the way into Vanier proper.

 

Drivers refer to these blocks of Montreal Road as the Mirror Eater. So narrow is the street in places that care must be taken to keep the side mirrors from bashing against telephone poles. Traffic planners call this kind of road design "friction," factors that can slow down the flow of vehicles.

 

And the clientele can sometimes be problematic, too, with lots of late-night drunks teetering down the aisle. Often, younger operators end up driving route 12, as those with more seniority choose gentrified suburban routes closer to their homes, where there's a chance of what some call "the Perfect Run" -- not a single passenger getting on or off.

 

No chance of that through Vanier. By the time the bus passed the Tim Hortons at Vanier Parkway, an orange 13 lit up the GPS, just two minutes ahead of the next scheduled bus on route 12.

 

Approaching the bridge over the Rideau River, the driver caught a break. There was a route 15 bus immediately ahead and it scooped up most of the passengers heading downtown. A few minutes were gained along Rideau Street. The bus rolled past the Bytowne Theatre and just squeaked through a yellow light at the notoriously clogged intersection at King Edward.

 

Flashing red and blue lights ahead at the Rideau Centre suggested an accident, but the ambulances were on the other side of the street. Most of the passengers unloaded at the shopping mall and 6382 passed through the gauntlet quickly.

 

There are scheduled stops for the 12 in front of Parliament Hill, but because the route terminates at Slater and Bank streets, few ever board there. By the time the bus turned onto Bank, the lag was down to 12 minutes. A few lucky green lights and 6382 ended its run as the last passenger jumps off to catch a westbound 95 on Albert Street.

 

Final score: 11 minutes behind schedule.

 

For those wondering 6382 is a 2008 New Flyer D60LF

NOT MY PHOTO