Public Transportation

[jackfaire]

So on my way to work today I board the 6:51 Yellow Line. About half way through it's run it decided to become the Blue Line. The problem with this is that the blue line doesn't parallel the bus I need like the Yellow Line. The closest the Blue Line was two blocks away.

I was almost late for work. Grrrr.

[Fryk]

Huh? I'm confused... did the bus you were on spontaneously change lines? That is.... that's so...
Gah.

That'd be like taking a flight from Washington D.C. to L.A., and finding out in mid air that the pilot decided to fly to Toronto instead!

[jackfaire]

Huh? I'm confused... did the bus you were on spontaneously change lines? That is.... that's so...
Gah.

That'd be like taking a flight from Washington D.C. to L.A., and finding out in mid air that the pilot decided to fly to Toronto instead!

Train but yes that is exactly what it did.

Both go downtown but Yellow line goes a different direction through downtown and passes by the bus I need. Blue Line goes the other way and doesn't come close to my bus except at one point where it is within 2 blocks.

[MaggieTheCat]

??? How the heck does that happen? Didn't just about everyone on the train end up somewhere they didn't intend? If they boarded the train when it was Yellow and its final destination was wherever Blue ends up, that means you got a whole trainful of people who were expecting to be in Place A and ended up in Place B instead. I wouldn't think they'd wanna piss off that many people...

[jackfaire]

I wouldn't think they'd wanna piss off that many people...

I think their logic was, "Well you all get downtown anyway." It isn't something new and they used to do it before but that was when all trains in downtown went down the same road. Back in September they added a fourth line and two lines were rerouted to take another path through downtown.

Now if they switch up the line it can throw people off.

[Fryk]

I was all ready to repeat how stupid I thought this was, but as I was typing this, I was informed by the board moderators that Fratching.com had spontaneously changed to iloveweinerdogs.com, so...

I love weiner dogs, don't you?

[jackfaire]

UPdate

So apparently it was due to an electrical issue but they didn't feel the need to tell us that yesterday.

[blas87]

This is why I'm actually grateful that I live in a place where a vehicle is a necessity.

Public transportation here absolutely sucks. If the city is even big enough to have busses.....where my parents live, about 15 miles away, that town is getting upwards to a population of 15,000 and they have no such thing, but everyone drives so it doesn't matter.

There's a bus stop right on the corner of where I live. All the "crazies" that live in these complexes use the bus. I would hate to have to ride the bus and join them....seems just creepy!

[jackfaire]

This is why I'm actually grateful that I live in a place where a vehicle is a necessity.

I am grateful that I don't. I have a suspended license pending my paying off some tickets if a car was necessary for me I would be screwed.

[blas87]

Sorry my friend, but that's your own fault. Driving is a privilege, not a right.

I have some friends in your shoes...and my bf as well. It must suck to not have a license.

[MadMike]

Public transportation sucks where I live. If you live in the city, it's halfway decent, but on this side of the river it sucks. My wife didn't start driving until she was almost 30, and when she still lived in the city, she just took the bus. But once she moved over here, she couldn't do that anymore. Apparently in their infinite wisdom, they didn't align any of the evening routes in our area with any of the ones in the city. What this means is, you can catch a bus to the transfer station without a lot of trouble, but by the time you get there, the last bus to this side of the river has already left. In the morning, she was able to catch a bus from here to the transfer station in the city and then catch another bus to her job, but couldn't get back that way in the evening.

Oh, better yet -- where we ended up buying our house is about a mile away from the closest bus stop. I had to start driving her into work, which was a good 10 or 15 miles out of my way. Eventually she had to learn to drive and get a car.

It's funny how they bitch about all the cars on the road and preach about how people should use public transportation, but then they turn around and make it damn near impossible.

[AdminAssistant]

Public transpo in my town is okay- there are two bus lines - the University one and the city one. The city one....well, lets just say my town has a lot of interesting people in it. The University routes are pretty good...if you live on the west side of town in a giganto apartment complex. I live on the edge of the student ghetto, and there are very few stops in that area. I just drive everywhere, but my car was recently out of commission and I was able to walk to campus (30 minutes).

[jackfaire]

Sorry my friend, but that's your own fault. Driving is a privilege, not a right.

Oh I agree it was totally my bad and I am not saying it isn't my fault was simply pointing out how monumentally up a creek I would be without the Trans.

[protege]

Public transit sucks here too. Mainly because of their cash-flow problems, but also because it wasn't designed very well to begin with. Throw in the poorly-made decisions, lack of maintenance, etc. and it's no wonder many people see it as a joke.

Recently, the city and state announced a massive project to extend the subway (oddly named, since over half the system is *above* ground!) over to the new football and baseball stadiums on the North Shore. Total cost for the project is well over a billion dollars That's right, a billion dollars to run a tunnel under the Allegheny, which will only see limited service. What they *should* be doing, is extending the service into Oakland, Squirrel Hill, etc. where lots of college students and other residents...would actually *use* the system to get somewhere!

Trust me, if I had an easy (and quick) way to get across town to work...I'd *gladly* take public transportation. But as it is, I'd have to take a bus downtown, transfer to the 1A, and then to work. Total time would be well over an hour. I can *drive* to work in less than 45 minutes. Less hassle, and no waiting around (or missing the transfer!) if the first bus is late.

[smileyeagle1021]

I've seen that happen in Salt Lake before... not that the train changed routes without notice, but that the operator put the wrong route header up (ie, header says Downtown but the train is going to the university).