🚀 go-pugleaf

ifisher@unixg.ubc.ca (Ian Fisher) wrote:

>Martin_Williamson@mindlink.bc.ca wrote:
>
>>ifisher@unixg.ubc.ca (Ian Fisher) wrote:

>>I'm afraid if you're looking for service waiting for personal
>>schedules then you're part of the 'must have my car' crowd.  Public
>>transit is just that, public.  It attempts to strike a balance
>>suitable for most.
>
>Excuse me. If you went out to UBC and waited at Bay 1 for one of the
>express routes you would find that most riders are there waiting on
>the platform at 30 after the hour or even earlier, even though their
>bus doesn't go until 35 or 38 after. On the 31, where alternate
>service is available on the 9, many riders lose much of the time saved
>by riding the express in the wait.

As I mentioned above, public transit is just that, public.  It is not
possible to schedule to one specific group (in this case UBC students'
finish times).  Those buses travel to other parts of the city and meet
other buses which do the same.  There are many other groups that would
like to be scheduled too as well.

Thing to keep in mind (and this in not an excuse) is that public
transit is subsidized transportation.  You are not paying the whole
shot with your money in the farebox.  Since others contribute, they
are entitled to some consideration as well, hence a modified schedule
that attempts to meet some, but not all, expectations.  I think a 10
minute wait falls into the 'reasonable' time frame.  If the bus left
at 30 a student from Chemistry would wait, oh say 5 minutes (allowing
for walk time) whereas someone from the First Nations House of
Learning, the Asian center or the Museum of Anthropology would
probably just see taillights.  It's a compromise, there are few
alternatives in today's world.