🚀 go-pugleaf

: > Improvements: 
: > 1) Stagger the buses leaving campus (every 2 
: > minutes or so) so you don't get a whole slew of buses leaving every ten 
: > minutes and then nothing for another ten minutes.

: The reason they don't stagger is so that meets can be made.  Service is
: measured at capacity per hour, not in specific arrival or departure times.

It makes sense for the buses to arrive and leave at the same time (no 
staggering) at major bus exchanges such as Kootenay, Phibbs, Ladner, 
Lougheed, etc. where many people transfer between buses.  Transferring is 
rare at UBC however.  Since the majority of UBC bus passengers are 
environmentally friendly and/or poor students, they are coming/going from 
their classes, not trying to switch buses.  Many of the UBC buses go to 
the same places (downtown) or major arteries which connect with suburban 
buses (Granville Street being an example).  Thus, instead of having 
passengers wait 10 minutes for a bus to leave the loop, minimize this 
waiting by staggering.  Besides, when all the buses leave at the same 
time, you get a traffic jam of buses at the lights on Wesbrook Mall.


: No problem.  Simply make sure that each bus is duplicated "just in case"
: to allow for mechanical failure, human failure or heavy traffic problems. 
: That way wew can pay people and invest in equipment to stand by in case
: the scheduled service is delayed.  And if the bus does show up, the
: standby can go home. Silly. :-(

I like the sarcasm, but it doesn't justify buses not showing up. 


: Public transit is not supposed to meet or exceed each and every individual
: need in any city.  That's why taxi service exists, and that's why some
: people chose to drive cars.  If what is there does not meet your needs,
: why not write or call BC Transit and see what can be done to accommodate
: your concerns.  If they can't do it, try an alternative.  BC Transit
: surveys passengers every year, and has statistics to show where it is
: rated high and where it is rated low.  They work on the shortcomings and
: keep things going where they are acceptable.  And all this within the
: framework of a budget that is subsidized by the taxpayer.

: If it can't meet your needs, find a better way!  That's free enterprise
: and your right as a citizen.

I understand that Transit can't meet everybodys needs and that's fine.  
But when it's the MAJORITY of people's needs that aren't being met, then 
we have a problem.  As discussed above, the airport, ferries, and 
universities are major transit destinations and many people use buses to 
go to these places.  The fact of the matter is that transit is not 
reliable there.  To quote a previous post, it sucks bad.  You are arguing 
that we should find an alternative to transit, if it can't meet our 
needs because of our right to free enterprise.  The alternative that most 
people would pick to transit is the vehicle.  This is exactly what the 
government wants us to reduce use of, hence the 10 year plan.  So, in 
essence, you are telling those environmentally conscious transit users 
who get gipped off by an unreliable transit system to find an 
alternative.  I find that this defeats the purpose.

: =====================================================================
: George Johansen - johansen@portal.ca

: The opinions expressed here are not necessarily the official 
: platform or policy of any political party or company.
: =====================================================================