Bus Stop

[ricco67]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/m...politan/2876710

Oct. 31, 2004, 5:57PM

BUS STOP

Many changes to Metro's bus routes take effect

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Many changes to Metro's bus routes take effect

Thousands of commuters will need to find a new way to work beginning today as Metro eliminates several buses with low ridership and modifies the routes and schedules of several more.

The changes were implemented systemwide Sunday. Buses affected by the service reductions and adjustments are:

6 Jensen

8 South Main/North Main

17 Gulfton Limited

18 Kirby Limited

32 Bingle/Voss Crosstown

35 Leeland

43 Pinemont Plaza Crosstown

48 West Dallas

53 Westheimer Limited

54 Aldine/Hollyvale Circulator

55 Greenspoint-Kingwood Limited

60 Hardy/South MacGregor

64 Lincoln City Circulator

67 Dairy Ashford Crosstown

70 Memorial/University

73 Bellfort Crosstown

77 Liberty/MLK Limited

78 Alabama

82 Westheimer

84 T.C. Jester Limited

89 South Park Circulator

93 Northwest/Greenway Shuttle

97 Settegast Shuttle

98 Briargate Circulator

101 Airport Express

108 Veterans Memorial Express

131 Memorial Express

210 West Belt

284 Kingwood/Townsen-Greenway/Uptown

285 Kingsland/Addicks-Uptown/Greenway

298 Addicks/NWTC-TMC

313 Allen Parkway Special

323 TMC North Circulator

324 TMC South Circulator

Bell Station Trolley

Main Street Square Trolley

St. Joseph/Preston Trolley

For more information, call Metro at 713-635-4000, visit www.ridemetro.org, or stop by one of the downtown Ride-Stores, 720 Main or 1001

[dbigtex56]

Disheartening.

I regularly ride the 82 Westheimer, because even though the 78 Alabama is closer, it runs so infrequently that walking a 1/2 mile usually ends up saving time.

And now they're cutting service on the 82, too? Do these people (METRO) never ride the bus? How can a route where overcrowded buses frequently have to pass up people waiting at bus stops be considered 'low ridership'?

I believe a great deal of the success of the light rail can be attributed to its frequency of operation (every 6 minutes during the week, every 12 on weekends). Six minutes isn't much longer than one would expect to wait for an elevator in a tall building. Contrast that with 40 or even 50 minute waits for some bus lines ((I've come to the conclusion that bus drivers view schedules as mere suggestions). More than once, I've waited on Westheimer for long periods of time, and then two, or even three buses will show up one after the other.

Say what you will about Bob Lanier, but when he headed METRO he ran a tight ship. If we expect to merely retain the ridership we already have, let alone attract new riders, METRO needs to supply frequent, dependable service.

[ssullivan]

Disheartening.

I regularly ride the 82 Westheimer, because even though the 78 Alabama is closer, it runs so infrequently that walking a 1/2 mile usually ends up saving time.

And now they're cutting service on the 82, too? Do these people (METRO) never ride the bus? How can a route where overcrowded buses frequently have to pass up people waiting at bus stops be considered 'low ridership'?

Actually dbigtex56, the 82 has not had reductions in service. The Chronicle article isn't very well written. Rather than explaining what the changes in service were on all of those routes, it implies that all of them have had service cuts. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Yes, many of them have had cuts, or in a few cases, have been eliminated completely. However, those that were eliminated completely had extremely low ridership and had for some time. The 82 Westheimer is not one of those routes. It appeared on the list becuase of a modification to its routing at the end of the route downtown near the George R. Brown, and some minor adjustments to the schedule on weekends so that the printed schedule better matches when buses are actually running past the time points on the schedule.

For a full explanation of the service changes, click here to see the October 31 service changes page on Metro's website. It actually explains on each route what changes were made, and has links to the new schedules for the routes that were modified. The Chronicle obviously didn't read this page in detail, but instead just threw up a list of all the routes affected and made it sound like service was cut on all of them.

I'll also add that I had a conversation with one of Metro's executives that I know on a personal level a week or two ago about this. He said that the agency is caught in a tight situation right now with fuel costs going through the roof. They were actually very close to having to raise local fares to $1.25 this time, but were able to make enough adjustments to the schedule, and eliminate some employees on the payroll through attrition, to avoid a fare increase right now. They're being forced to walk a fine line between sacrificing ridership through a fare increase, which would be very unpopular with most people who depend on on Metro all the time, or cutting some routes that have extremely low ridership. In some cases, routes that were cut are almost completely overlapped by other routes. This was the case with the 70 University (the 70 Memorial is still running), which was eliminated. However, nearly all of its route overlaps with other buses, so there were really no places along the 70 University route that Metro service was completely eliminated.

I do agree with you that we need frequent, reliable service on Metro. It is a pain to wait forever for a bus, especially when you have a schedule and know what time it should be there. Yesterday morning I waited for an 82 bus that was running nearly 20 minutes behind schedule because it was so full and had a wheelchair rider on board (they take a while to load). By the time we got to Westheimer and Montrose, we had picked up another 10 people and a second wheelchair, and the bus was so full the driver had to tell some people at a stop waiting to wait for the next bus. By this point we were nearly 40 minutes behind schedule and the next 82 was right behind us. Several people on our bus were calling their employer to let them know they were going to be very late for work. Fortunately it's rare that I've had that kind of experience on Metro; usually the buses I take are within five minutes of being on time. But when it does happen, it's very frustrating.

[dbigtex56]

Thanks for the clarification, ssullivan.

As an aside, the situation you describe (two riders in wheelchairs), while rare, does happen. Even one rider in a wheelchair can slow things down considerably.

We are morally and legally obligated to provide access to the wheelchair bound, which is another reason the rail system has an advantage over buses. Riders in wheelchairs can just roll on in, without it becoming a big production number; saves the person's dignity, and everyone elses' time.

[ssullivan]

Thanks for the clarification, ssullivan.

As an aside, the situation you describe (two riders in wheelchairs), while rare, does happen. Even one rider in a wheelchair can slow things down considerably.

We are morally and legally obligated to provide access to the wheelchair bound, which is another reason the rail system has an advantage over buses. Riders in wheelchairs can just roll on in, without it becoming a big production number; saves the person's dignity, and everyone elses' time.

I agree. And I have no problem with wheelchair riders on the buses -- I'm glad that the buses here are all wheelchair equipped because in other cities that's not always the case.

But you're right, the rail line has an advantage there. With an already packed bus, it's very slow and difficult to get four or five people already seated up, pack everyone who's standing in the aisle toward the back to let the wheelchair on, deploy the ramp, raise the seats, and strap in the wheelchair. On an uncrowded bus I've seen this take less than a minute; on a bus that's packed beyond capacity like mine yesterday, it can take a good 10 minutes.

And I'm glad I could be of help. As usual, don't believe that everything the Chronicle writes is 100% true. In this case, a lazy reporter has probably cause some unneccessary panic with bus riders whose routes may have actually seen an increase in service by making it appear every route on that list has had a reduction.