Metro staff has been doing everything in its power to decrease ridership for several
decades now, including my favorite of running buses in packs or herds so as to give
the majority of the ridership (those that live near downtown) the least amount of
service possible, so that transfer point riders (perhaps 5% of the ridership at most)
don't have to wait to transfer. The reason transit management nationwide remains so
incompetent is that when a Metro director such as Paul LaRousse demonstrates through
his "leadership" that he is thoroughly incapable of running a bus system (or maybe he
just didn't care, because his car still started at the end of his shift), he gets
kicked upstairs to some kind of transit thinktank out east. (Admittedly, there are
legitimate problems with transit, such as the unbridled sprawl other government
"leaders" actively promote. However, by discouraging the near-downtown "choice
riders," Metro seals its fate as an indifferent drain on the taxpayers). We can only
hope that the new director is actually interested in increasing ridership and making
the bus system work for its riders.
To amplify a bit on the herding issue, Metro did, I think, propose as one of its
budget cuts to stop herding a couple of the bus routes (I didn't really understand how
they costed out this "cut"). The proposal was written in language so arcane no one
understood what it was. I figured it out only by reading the TPC minutes after the
fact. It was also described not as something to increase ridership in the
near-downtown areas, but as something to make commutes longer for the transfer point
riders. When I tried to contact two Metro employees who had been at the public
hearing, neither one has the courtesy to return my calls or reply to my e-mails.
The "no racks on the 700-series buses" is just another one of Metro's many "take this,
rider!" jabs at potential riders.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2001 1:37 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: RE: Marsh View Hearing
>
> Assigning buses with bike racks randomly to those routes basically cancels
> any purpose it might serve except weekend bike trips.
> Thanks for your rant, I think Metro should be challenged on this.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2001 1:31 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: re: Marsh View Hearing
>
>
>
> >Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 09:09:36 -0500
> >From: "Arthur Ross" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Subject: Re: Marsh View Hearing
>
> >This is the development directly behind the Post Office on Milwaukee
> >Street, across from Woodman's. Take any bus that goes to the East
> >Transfer Point and you can walk from there. Put your bike on the bus
> >rack, and you can ride to 2 - 3 blocks from the Transfer Point to the
> >meeting. Bring your lights and you can ride home.
>
> >Arthur Ross
>
> Only if those buses don't happen to be 700-series buses. It's going to be
> the
> anniversary of Bikes on Buses in one month or so, and yet Metro still has an
> entire series of buses that don't have bike racks, and that they have no
> intention of putting bike racks on. The reason given was that Metro was
> going
> to get a bunch of new buses last year, and retire the 700-series, which were
> too
> small to put racks on. The deal on the new buses fell through because they
> didn't meet ADA requirements, so one would think that Metro might put the
> racks
> earmarked for those buses on the ones without. They haven't and won't,
> because
> they say the racks don't fit properly. Given that a machinist can make just
> about any kind of mounting jig fairly easily, and buses have loads of sheet
> metal up front, I don't understand why they can't just hook them on. It's>
> not
> as if a 2-bike rack takes a lot of load.
>
> Metro says they assign buses to routes on a daily, random basis, but routes
> such
> as the 56, 57, and 58 appear to get the 700 buses a much higher percentage
> of
> the time than randomness would indicate, which makes it very hard for users
> of
> those routes to have the flexibility.
>
> thus ends my current Metro rant.
>
> Rich
>
