As MTA removes printed bus schedules from stops, elected officials push back on behalf of the tech-challenged

[Via Garibaldi 8]

TRANSIT

As MTA removes printed bus schedules from stops, elected officials push back on behalf of the tech-challenged

 

As the MTA removes printed bus schedules from stops, some politicians are pushing back, citing the need for those without tech. Photo Credit: ULI SEIT

By Vincent Baronevin.barone@amny.com  @vinbaroneAugust 16, 2019 11:33 AM

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The cash-strapped MTA is removing arrival schedules from all its bus stops in order to save some money, angering elected officials in bus-dominant Queens.

The removals began last month in the borough, where the MTA has instead posted information recommending riders either open the authority’s MyMTA app, text the MTA’s arrival number, call 511 or check social media.

Sixteen Queens politicians have penned a letter urging the MTA to reconsider its plans.

“Replacing bus schedules…does not help those riders without access to a charged cell phone, especially senior citizens, low-income New Yorkers, and even tourists,” the politicians wrote in the letter, dated Aug. 5.

 

“We believe it must be the ultimate responsibility of the MTA to provide accessible and accurate schedules to all paying riders, regardless of their individual access to technology,” the letter continued.

The MTA, overseeing 326 routes and more than 16,000 stops, estimates it will save $550,000 a year by no longer having to reprint and repost bus schedules when they are altered.

“As we modernize bus service, we’re finding ways to provide accurate arrival time information to customers in faster, more efficient ways,” said Sarah Meyer, the MTA’s chief customer officer, in a statement. “Moving to paperless schedules helps reduce our paper waste and makes the most of new technology that puts real-time information in customers’ hands whenever they need it.”

The authority is grappling with large budget gaps and forecasts a billion-dollar deficit in 2022, at least partially due to bad management. To keep out of the red, the MTA is searching for ways to save while pursuing a reorganization plan that would eliminate 2,700 jobs.

And removing the bus arrival times, Meyer said, helps keep the MTA from cutting service.

“The $550,000 in recurring annual savings from this initiative allows NYC Transit to redirect our resources to maintaining bus service levels,” she noted.

The letter to the MTA was signed by City Council members Peter Koo, Adrienne Adams, Karen Koslowitz, Barry Grodenchik, Costa Constantinides, Donovan Richards, Paul Vallone, Robert Holden, Daneek Miller, Antonio Reynoso, Jimmy Van Bramer and Daniel Dromm; State Assembly members Edward Braunstein and Nily Rozic; State Sen. John Liu; and Congressional Rep. Grace Meng.

By Vincent Baronevin.barone@amny.com  @vinbarone

Vin has been covering transportation at amNewYork since 2016. He first landed on the beat at his hometown newspaper, the Staten Island Advance, in 2014.

Source: https://www.amny.com/transit/mta-bus-schedule-1.35151835?fbclid=IwAR3Kr0o1SUq-zdpdp7S3t-2-9xU9xpAn_KKu4rJY8ojO7ounwOAMaEvs5zU

[bobtehpanda]

This is dumb. If you want to reduce waste use e-ink screens or something. But all the MTA knows is cut, cut, cut.

[B35 via Church]

Quote

....And removing the bus arrival times, Meyer said, helps keep the MTA from cutting service.

Smfh.... How are the kool aid drinkers going to defend this Chicago bullshit......

What an insult.... So by having to update paper schedules at various bus stops throughout the city, that somehow automatically springboards to have to equate to service cuts?

 

Edited August 16, 2019 by B35 via Church

[Via Garibaldi 8]

They also leave out that the countdown clocks which are fixed by the DOT are CONSTANTLY broken, so if your countdown clock is broken at your stop and your phone is dead, good luck finding out when your bus is coming.

[67thAve]

Printed publicity, in this day and age, is something that still needs to be taken seriously - even if the Internet has reduced how often people use it.

By making customers wholly reliant on real-time tracking (knowing the MTA, they'll probably stop creating full PDF timetables for each bus route once the new site is fully up and running), the agency is no longer beholden to any set schedule - the only guideline for service the customer would be aware of would be the frequency charts listed on the back of the bus maps. Of course, that's only for Luddites, so the MTA thinks - everything is online, as everyone has (and loves!) to use their cellphones, even when they are sleeping. Who cares if the bus is 15 minutes late - whoops, it cannot be late any longer, for there is no longer any fixed schedule!

Also, notice how little money this saves the MTA. Many transit agencies (more often abroad - in particular, this was the case when I went to Germany in May) are able to cover the costs of printed publicity by including advertisements and/or charging a nominal fee for the publication. Notice how many Guide-a-Ride cases have empty panels with nothing at all? Why not use that as ad space to cover the costs?

Edited August 16, 2019 by 67thAve

[QM1to6Ave]

I see young and old alike read the express bus schedules in Manhattan especially. A lot of people really don’t know how to use Bustime. I’d love if the MTA was required to disclose how the money they save is actually used in the following fiscal year, so we know for sure that it doesn’t just disappear into thin air. 

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

So apparently reducing this $550 thousand will prevent the cutting bus service. The same $550 thousands that is PEANUTS compared to the savings they get from every schedule change in a year, for the last few years. The schedule changes that are supposed to go into effect this September alone is supposed to save $7 million annually IIRC (12.7 times more than by removing schedules). 

Edited August 17, 2019 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[aemoreira81]

Penny-wise, pound foolish! More money would be saved with articulated buses (on which the MTA is going all-in to grow that fleet in Brooklyn at long last) to reduce drivers via attrition.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

6 minutes ago, aemoreira81 said:

Penny-wise, pound foolish! More money would be saved with articulated buses (on which the MTA is going all-in to grow that fleet in Brooklyn at long last) to reduce drivers via attrition.

Yeah, and then the reliability tanks because the artics are subject to the same traffic conditions as the 40 footers they replace, and are subject to bunching, on higher headways. It would be okay if it was kept as close as 1:1 as possible, but the agency has a guideline which it is not following as of late, which is resulting in cuts of more than 50% of service at times.

Case in point, the Bx36. Right now has no EB bus between 174 Street subway station and W 178th amd Broadway, with three buses in Washington Heights. One of them has left, and will get slammed. There's two other "helpers" I guess, but to make matters worse, one of those buses is a 40 footer.

Edited August 17, 2019 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[aemoreira81]

6 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Yeah, and then the reliability tanks because the artics are subject to the same traffic conditions as the 40 footers they replace, and are subject to bunching, on higher headways. It would be okay if it was kept as close as 1:1 as possible, but the agency has a guideline which it is not following as of late, which is resulting in cuts of more than 50% of service at times.

Case in point, the Bx36. Right now has no EB bus between 174 Street subway station and W 178th amd Broadway, with three buses in Washington Heights. One of them has left, and will get slammed. There's two other "helpers" I guess, but to make matters worse, one of those buses is a 40 footer.

That might be bad dispatching as I see it. A good dispatcher would put one of them in place, rather than telling them all to "keep going".

[Mtatransit]

This is basically saying screw you to anyone not using their phone (the people who need the buses the most).

If the MTA didn't cut many midday and night service to once every 30 minutes, I wouldn't need to look at a schedule. They say they won't cut service but just wait till fall. BM5 would again list BX...Q... service reduced from xx min to xx min

Oh wait... they are cutting service anyways

https://nypost.com/2019/08/16/mta-warns-of-subway-and-bus-service-cuts-amid-budget-woes/

 

MTA is again telling people how to ride THEIR system. I am losing hope for this agency. Something I thought I would never say before, I'm starting to think that an private-public partnership could actually be a boon to commuters. Enough is enough... taxpayers and riders alike

Edited August 17, 2019 by Mtatransit

[paulrivera]

1 hour ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Case in point, the Bx36. Right now has no EB bus between 174 Street subway station and W 178th amd Broadway, with three buses in Washington Heights. One of them has left, and will get slammed. There's two other "helpers" I guess, but to make matters worse, one of those buses is a 40 footer.

Are you kidding me? MaBSTOA doesn't work like that in 2019. Bus #1 probably deadheaded to Webster Avenue to start its pickups there, bus #2 probably deadheaded past the Manhattan stops and started service along University Av, and poor bus #3 would be left to handle Washington Heights all by itself, and on top of that it will probably short turn at West Farms Square.

Edited August 17, 2019 by paulrivera

[B35 via Church]

9 hours ago, Mtatransit said:

This is basically saying screw you to anyone not using their phone (the people who need the buses the most).

If the MTA didn't cut many midday and night service to once every 30 minutes, I wouldn't need to look at a schedule. They say they won't cut service but just wait till fall. BM5 would again list BX...Q... service reduced from xx min to xx min

Oh wait... they are cutting service anyways

https://nypost.com/2019/08/16/mta-warns-of-subway-and-bus-service-cuts-amid-budget-woes/

 

MTA is again telling people how to ride THEIR system. I am losing hope for this agency. Something I thought I would never say before, I'm starting to think that an private-public partnership could actually be a boon to commuters. Enough is enough... taxpayers and riders alike

Ever since the MTA introduced articulated buses as part of their fleet, service levels have only gotten worse in this city - even on the routes that don't have artics running on 'em..... You generally didn't hear all these complaints about bus service back before/around that time - especially to the magnitude that we're hearing/reading now.....

I remember my very first post about the "bendy buses" & it was specifically about the Bx40/42.... I used to love fanning either of those routes when hitting up the Bronx & it helped that buses would come like every 5 minutes or so..... Then one day I decided to do a fantrip, I'm like wtf is this? Fleet went straight from RTS' to artics, and instead of service along that corridor arriving like wildfire, service ended up becoming significantly sparse.... It was like night & day; to the point where I got completely disinterested with wanting to joyride either of those routes on any real/consistent basis after that fact..... Before early last month, I couldn't tell you the last time I even took a 40/42 period (joyriding or not)... Bunching on that route doesn't fool me, because if you miss that bunched set, it's not uncommon to be waiting 20+ mins. for a bus - Which is exactly what happened to me, when I went to holla at somebody for a quick lil minute.... Both going & coming...

I'll keep parroting this until I'm as blue in the face as one:
The MTA does not primarily use artics to address overcrowding, they use it as an avenue for slashing service.

Not only do they want to dictate how people utilize their services, not only are they completely oblivious to the fact that more & more people don't work the typical 9-5 (and the schedules of a lot of these schoolkids are just as wide-ranged), they want to have passengers crammed on less buses on top of it..... God forbid when bunching happens & emptier buses become apparent - which to them, will give off the illusion that even MORE service can perhaps be cut.... And it's a wonder as to why more people resort to sticking up the traditional "bird" at them....

Removing bus schedules as an alternative to keeping bus service intact, my ass..... When cuts start bleeding into other areas like that, be wary.....

Very wary.

[Deucey]

22 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

“The $550,000 in recurring annual savings from this initiative allows NYC Transit to redirect our resources to maintaining bus service levels,”

Until the next round of service cuts because it’s still bleeding cash.

But what are folks to do when BusTime has an outage, or the stop is in a zone with minimal reception?

I feel like someone had it right last year saying that  is trying to get off fixed schedules and just run the buses whenever.

They're not slick, but the public are accommodating, so we’ll just have to trust an untrustworthy agency, I guess .

[B35 via Church]

11 hours ago, aemoreira81 said:

That might be bad dispatching as I see it. A good dispatcher would put one of them in place, rather than telling them all to "keep going".

11 hours ago, aemoreira81 said:

Penny-wise, pound foolish! More money would be saved with articulated buses (on which the MTA is going all-in to grow that fleet in Brooklyn at long last) to reduce drivers via attrition.

Yes, yes... there's cherry, orange, grape, lemonade.... Might wanna start saving those pennies

People and their feeble excuses.... Bad dispatching....

11 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Yeah, and then the reliability tanks because the artics are subject to the same traffic conditions as the 40 footers they replace, and are subject to bunching, on higher headways. It would be okay if it was kept as close as 1:1 as possible, but the agency has a guideline which it is not following as of late, which is resulting in cuts of more than 50% of service at times.

Case in point, the Bx36. Right now has no EB bus between 174 Street subway station and W 178th amd Broadway, with three buses in Washington Heights. One of them has left, and will get slammed. There's two other "helpers" I guess, but to make matters worse, one of those buses is a 40 footer.

You aren't going to see any 1:1 conversion of 40' to artics, because they're not in it for the passenger...... Commuters are nothing more than expendable entities represented as mere numbers to this agency & as soon as more people realize that their best interests aren't being had at heart, the better off they'd be....

[bobtehpanda]

23 hours ago, 67thAve said:

Printed publicity, in this day and age, is something that still needs to be taken seriously - even if the Internet has reduced how often people use it.

By making customers wholly reliant on real-time tracking (knowing the MTA, they'll probably stop creating full PDF timetables for each bus route once the new site is fully up and running), the agency is no longer beholden to any set schedule - the only guideline for service the customer would be aware of would be the frequency charts listed on the back of the bus maps. Of course, that's only for Luddites, so the MTA thinks - everything is online, as everyone has (and loves!) to use their cellphones, even when they are sleeping. Who cares if the bus is 15 minutes late - whoops, it cannot be late any longer, for there is no longer any fixed schedule!

Also, notice how little money this saves the MTA. Many transit agencies (more often abroad - in particular, this was the case when I went to Germany in May) are able to cover the costs of printed publicity by including advertisements and/or charging a nominal fee for the publication. Notice how many Guide-a-Ride cases have empty panels with nothing at all? Why not use that as ad space to cover the costs?

Reducing printed schedules in favor of the internet also assumes the internet is working, and there are a lot of factors there 

• You have a functional and working phone (batteries die)
• You are in an area with functional cell service
• The MTA's APIs for distributing the data from buses is working (things like Internet outages, bad software updates, etc.)
• The buses are accurately broadcasting information to the MTA

The nice thing about paper is short of physical damage paper doesn't stop working. It's slow and cumbersome but it doesn't break.

E-ink that gets updated once in a while reduces paper waste but needs a power source during update, but that's not the worst thing.

[NewFlyer 230]

8 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Ever since the MTA introduced articulated buses as part of their fleet, service levels have only gotten worse in this city - even on the routes that don't have artics running on 'em..... You generally didn't hear all these complaints about bus service back before/around that time - especially to the magnitude that we're hearing/reading now.....

I remember my very first post about the "bendy buses" & it was specifically about the Bx40/42.... I used to love fanning either of those routes when hitting up the Bronx & it helped that buses would come like every 5 minutes or so..... Then one day I decided to do a fantrip, I'm like wtf is this? Fleet went straight from RTS' to artics, and instead of service along that corridor arriving like wildfire, service ended up becoming significantly sparse.... It was like night & day; to the point where I got completely disinterested with wanting to joyride either of those routes on any real/consistent basis after that fact..... Before early last month, I couldn't tell you the last time I even took a 40/42 period (joyriding or not)... Bunching on that route doesn't fool me, because if you miss that bunched set, it's not uncommon to be waiting 20+ mins. for a bus - Which is exactly what happened to me, when I went to holla at somebody for a quick lil minute.... Both going & coming...

I'll keep parroting this until I'm as blue in the face as one:
The MTA does not primarily use artics to address overcrowding, they use it as an avenue for slashing service.

Not only do they want to dictate how people utilize their services, not only are they completely oblivious to the fact that more & more people don't work the typical 9-5 (and the schedules of a lot of these schoolkids are just as wide-ranged), they want to have passengers crammed on less buses on top of it..... God forbid when bunching happens & emptier buses become apparent - which to them, will give off the illusion that even MORE service can perhaps be cut.... And it's a wonder as to why more people resort to sticking up the traditional "bird" at them....

Removing bus schedules as an alternative to keeping bus service intact, my ass..... When cuts start bleeding into other areas like that, be wary.....

Very wary.

Perfect example of the scenario you just explained with the Bx40-42 happened with the Q10. I remember how buses would show up very often when there was only 40 footers on the line. Then when the New Flyer artics hit the line, that’s when really noticed how much service has been reduced. Now you can easily wait 15-20 minutes in the middle of the day whereas back then you had a bus coming every few minutes. Even the ridership statistics that the MTA provides shows how the ridership on the Q10 is dropping. You have more extreme cases of ridership decreases on some of the routes that are within the top 10 for ridership and you see large decreases of 5,000-10,000 within a span of a few years, when ridership is dropping that drastically there is a problem. 

The MTA is finding every little thing to cut at and you’d think that you’d see the benefits elsewhere but that’s not the case with this agency. They wanted to remove the WiFi off buses, reduce the frequencies on lines like the  and  , they are trying to reduce repaints and washes, remove bus stops, schedules at stops and the list goes on. Like damn where are the improves at? They should have all this “saved” money, but where is it all going? 

[NoHacksJustKhaks]

41 minutes ago, bobtehpanda said:

Reducing printed schedules in favor of the internet also assumes the internet is working, and there are a lot of factors there 

• You have a functional and working phone (batteries die)
• You are in an area with functional cell service
• The MTA's APIs for distributing the data from buses is working (things like Internet outages, bad software updates, etc.)
• The buses are accurately broadcasting information to the MTA

The nice thing about paper is short of physical damage paper doesn't stop working. It's slow and cumbersome but it doesn't break.

E-ink that gets updated once in a while reduces paper waste but needs a power source during update, but that's not the worst thing.

(Naturally) I prefer paper since it never fails, but E-ink certainly isn't a bad idea either. As long as MTA employees have enclosed access to a power source on the E-ink, it would be cheaper long term and work just as well as paper. 

Given how the MTA works though it'd rather toss us no bone at all, or (as an ex.) give us a genius challenge that does nothing but cover up the no bone problem. 

5 minutes ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

The MTA is finding every little thing to cut at and you’d think that you’d see the benefits elsewhere but that’s not the case with this agency. They wanted to remove the WiFi off buses, reduce the frequencies on lines like the  and  , they are trying to reduce repaints and washes, remove bus stops, schedules at stops and the list goes on. Like damn where are the improves at? They should have all this “saved” money, but where is it all going? 

The agency has little money to start with and the situation has only been getting worse sadly with corruption and a myriad of other issues. I truly am scared to see what future cuts are coming along. MTA currently hangs on a fragile string as is and this could be the start of potentially troubling times ahead.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

9 hours ago, Deucey said:

Until the next round of service cuts because it’s still bleeding cash.

But what are folks to do when BusTime has an outage, or the stop is in a zone with minimal reception?

I feel like someone had it right last year saying that  is trying to get off fixed schedules and just run the buses whenever.

They're not slick, but the public are accommodating, so we’ll just have to trust an untrustworthy agency, I guess .

That someone was me. lol One of the planners working on the Bronx Redesign basically said they were moving that route, stating that it's what other transit agencies do. That was the most heated part of the first meeting because I told them we need the buses running on a schedule, not showing up whenever. She made it sound like my request was absurd. Their argument is they don't control traffic. I told them absolutely not! They have BusTrek, so they can see buses in real time, allowing them to aggressively dispatch compared to the past, so while they don't control traffic, what I was saying was, I wasn't accepting the idea that they were as helpless as they were trying to come off as being. lol They want to focus on how long you wait for a bus instead of the schedules, which would allow them to conveniently leave more trips unfilled. If you don't know when the bus is due, then you likely won't complain, if your bus comes in 20 minutes versus 10, so yes, that's what they're banking on.

Edited August 18, 2019 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Interested Rider]

The stop at Avenue X and Nostrand Avenue has an electronic sign on the north side and the paper sign on the south side. 

I know when the B/44 SBS or local is coming along with the B/36 to Avenue U before I cross te street but if I want to know if a B/36 is going toward Coney Island, I have to rely on the paper sign. I do not have a phone except in my apartment so how do I know when the B/36 to Coney Island is arriving?

This is another case  where those who make decisions are totally out of touch with reality (as it is anything new?).

It is contract time and the fan dance has started.

[B35 via Church]

22 hours ago, Deucey said:

I feel like someone had it right last year saying that  is trying to get off fixed schedules and just run the buses whenever....

Yeah, and market it under the cloak of "headway based scheduling".

13 hours ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

The MTA is finding every little thing to cut at and you’d think that you’d see the benefits elsewhere but that’s not the case with this agency. They wanted to remove the WiFi off buses, reduce the frequencies on lines like the  and  , they are trying to reduce repaints and washes, remove bus stops, schedules at stops and the list goes on. Like damn where are the improves at? They should have all this “saved” money, but where is it all going? 

Have them have you believe, debt repayment.....

13 hours ago, NoHacksJustKhaks said:

I truly am scared to see what future cuts are coming along. MTA currently hangs on a fragile string as is and this could be the start of potentially troubling times ahead.

We're already at the dawn of potentially troubling times.... Although it may not seem so, since we're talking about millions of people utilizing the various bus & train routes, the MTA is hemorrhaging patronage on the buses & trains & it's only going to go south from here on in..... I'm actually astonished at how much taxi usage there is in this city now (in saying that, I'm completely excluding what goes on at JFK & LGA).... Some would even say that it was all unsustainable (especially in regards to the subway).....

IDK man, I expected this shit (as far as cuts go) years ago; they were not done in 2010 by a longshot (I think I even said something of the sort on here)..... The only question I had really, wasn't even a matter or if, or (scary enough) at what magnitude..... It was a matter of when it would all happen....

I did not think it would be this soon.

45 minutes ago, Interested Rider said:

The stop at Avenue X and Nostrand Avenue has an electronic sign on the north side and the paper sign on the south side. 

I know when the B/44 SBS or local is coming along with the B/36 to Avenue U before I cross te street but if I want to know if a B/36 is going toward Coney Island, I have to rely on the paper sign. I do not have a phone except in my apartment so how do I know when the B/36 to Coney Island is arriving?

This is another case  where those who make decisions are totally out of touch with reality (as it is anything new?).

It is contract time and the fan dance has started.

Get this....

On the B12, they put up a countdown clock at the East New York av/Junius stop (while failing do so at the East New York av/Pacific st stop)....

What's odd about that you ask? Well, Junius st is the 2nd-to-last stop due EB on the B12, while Pacific is the 2nd WB pickup stop... While a few people actually do board the B12 at Junius (at the other side of the underpass) to get to Alabama (or for all the bus connections), you'd think the technology would be more useful for way more people disembarking at LIRR East New York that need the WB B12 at Pacific & what not....

Never mind there not being one for the B12/B25 for the hundreds upon hundreds that disembark at Alabama itself....

[aemoreira81]

12 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Yeah, and market it under the cloak of "headway based scheduling".

Have them have you believe, debt repayment.....

We're already at the dawn of potentially troubling times.... Although it may not seem so, since we're talking about millions of people utilizing the various bus & train routes, the MTA is hemorrhaging patronage on the buses & trains & it's only going to go south from here on in..... I'm actually astonished at how much taxi usage there is in this city now (in saying that, I'm completely excluding what goes on at JFK & LGA).... Some would even say that it was all unsustainable (especially in regards to the subway).....

IDK man, I expected this shit (as far as cuts go) years ago; they were not done in 2010 by a longshot (I think I even said something of the sort on here)..... The only question I had really, wasn't even a matter or if, or (scary enough) at what magnitude..... It was a matter of when it would all happen....

I did not think it would be this soon.

Get this....

On the B12, they put up a countdown clock at the East New York av/Junius stop (while failing do so at the East New York av/Pacific st stop)....

What's odd about that you ask? Well, Junius st is the 2nd-to-last stop due EB on the B12, while Pacific is the 2nd WB pickup stop... While a few people actually do board the B12 at Junius (at the other side of the underpass) to get to Alabama (or for all the bus connections), you'd think the technology would be more useful for way more people disembarking at LIRR East New York that need the WB B12 at Pacific & what not....

Never mind there not being one for the B12/B25 for the hundreds upon hundreds that disembark at Alabama itself....

And remember---MTA stands for Money Thrown Away! Another great example...when bus operators were laid off in the budget crisis in 2010, the MTA could simply have furloughed drivers and recalled them as other drivers retired or were let go.

[SoSpectacular]

Just my two cents...

From what I'm reading here and from what I've been through personally so far, I could give two shits about them doing away with schedules. A majority of the time the buses can't even keep up with those damned things!

Keep in mind that these schedules are just rough guidelines for when a bus MIGHT show up. There's too many factors affecting how these things run. 

Also, unless you've been to Zerega and trained there, you should know that Transit emphasizes safety- especially now that Vision Zero is a thing. They will tell you to basically throw your paddle "out the window" because you're most likely not going to make the time points listed on it. You'll get there when you get there. So all in all, I'm not surprised in the least bit. 

But, carry on. I'm neutral in this debate. Just something to keep in mind.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 hours ago, SoSpectacular said:

Just my two cents...

From what I'm reading here and from what I've been through personally so far, I could give two shits about them doing away with schedules. A majority of the time the buses can't even keep up with those damned things!

Keep in mind that these schedules are just rough guidelines for when a bus MIGHT show up. There's too many factors affecting how these things run. 

Also, unless you've been to Zerega and trained there, you should know that Transit emphasizes safety- especially now that Vision Zero is a thing. They will tell you to basically throw your paddle "out the window" because you're most likely not going to make the time points listed on it. You'll get there when you get there. So all in all, I'm not surprised in the least bit. 

But, carry on. I'm neutral in this debate. Just something to keep in mind.

Those paddles are supposed to have realistic time points, something they agreed to provide after they were audited in 2015. Besides, they have BusTrek which they can use to determine how their buses perform in terms of time.

[B35 via Church]

4 hours ago, SoSpectacular said:

Just my two cents...

From what I'm reading here and from what I've been through personally so far, I could give two shits about them doing away with schedules. A majority of the time the buses can't even keep up with those damned things!

Keep in mind that these schedules are just rough guidelines for when a bus MIGHT show up. There's too many factors affecting how these things run. 

Also, unless you've been to Zerega and trained there, you should know that Transit emphasizes safety- especially now that Vision Zero is a thing. They will tell you to basically throw your paddle "out the window" because you're most likely not going to make the time points listed on it. You'll get there when you get there. So all in all, I'm not surprised in the least bit. 

But, carry on. I'm neutral in this debate. Just something to keep in mind.

Good to know.

Proof that the narrative of the incompetence of this agency isn't mere rhetoric & conjecture by frustrated & downright pissed the f*** off commuters in this city.

2 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Those paddles are supposed to have realistic time points, something they agreed to provide after they were audited in 2015. Besides, they have BusTrek which they can use to determine how their buses perform in terms of time.

It would be one thing if the MTA promised that the schedules would be followed to the absolute letter (which I believe most passengers realize that they don't)...

It's quite another to tell b/o's just throw them out the window.... One thing I learned about managing is that some people really need order to perform a task to the best of their ability.... What I'm getting at is, if you just have b/o's doing whatever, I would fathom that would translate into an IDGAF mentality...

Who cares about audits when the MTA does what it wants.... smh....