Today was slow going

There was an accident on 5600 west that kept traffic moving slowly for quite a way. At about 31st south the bus driver was convinced to take it to Bangerter. I think we ended up worse off than if we had stayed our route. It was a VERY painfully long bus ride this morning. It normally arrives around 8:05 and this morning I got to work around 8:40. Yeah, not horrible but definitely the longest bus ride I've had yet on the 356. To compare this I could have driven and on a good day gotten to work around 7:40 instead. I did get some reading done and some podcasts listened to though. I'm saving the ride home for some programming I've been meaning to do.

Car to Bus to TRAX

I am the epitome of a weird bus traveler. I drove to a park-and-ride, took a UTA bus, and then transferred to TRAX this morning. I was surprised at how many people were on the TRAX train this morning and figured I'd never take it again. It was so crowded that people at the next stops down the line were unable to find room to get on. It looks like this wasn't a failure of UTA however, and simply an unfortunate early morning fire.

Time to add a new Bus to the Schedule?

Well, they shifted the bus schedule for the 327 by about 10 minutes. It looks like they should have shifted it the other way, or spaced them out more or added another bus. Maybe they should have done all three.

What say you? Do you think it's safe to stand while in a moving vehicle? I can see standing in a TRAX train but on a bus? No way. This should stop and when all seats are full passengers should not be allowed on.




It's just too unsafe and is a liability for UTA and Utah.

I Would Have Been Late

So, I was sort of planning on catching the 62 this morning and then transferring to the 327 on 6200 South. Well, I think I'm glad that I was running a little late and decided to drive to the park-and-ride instead. Generally I'm behind the 62 but this morning I was well ahead of it as I passed stop after stop along 6200 south with people waiting for their beloved transportation to arrive.

I have never been impressed with UTA punctuality. Generally they aren't really that bad, but sometimes you'll just get buses that don't show up, or buses that are 10-20 minutes late. I called a couple times and I was simply told that they are in normal operating conditions if they are up to 30 minutes late. I can almost get anywhere in the valley in 30 minutes. Why would I wait for a bus? Because most of they time they work out ok and I don't have to drive.

Bring in the Old

So, after driving to work the past two days, I've decided to try and take the bus more largely because I pay for a pass at work and because I am trying to save how much gas I use. I am back to using the 327 and driving to a park-and-ride to catch it. The difference between catching my bus at the park-and-ride or just catching the bus near my house is about 10 minutes difference. Even though I left my house about 8 minutes later than if I were to catch the bus near my house, the 356 ended up right in front of us as we entered downtown. So, it was quicker to go to the park-and-ride.

Tomorrow I want to try the 62 and catch the 327 at a park-and-ride, although it's more like a transfer since I won't be parking. I will then take the 356 home since it seems to do much better in the afternoon. I might just wait until 5600 West is not under construction until I take the 356 again.

What I liked about my commute this morning

Here is a list of things I liked about my commute to work in my car instead of the bus:

1. I liked listening to my podcast on the radio using my tuner card instead of lousy headphones.
2. I could merge where I wanted and wasn't being constantly cut-off by inconsiderate drivers.
3. I wasn't sitting next to anyone that was smelly - just myself, but that shouldn't count.
4. I got to go the speed limit I chose.
5. I could choose alternate routes.
6. I passed people that were slower than me.
7. I added to greenhouse gases without remorse.
8. I got to park in the parking garage.
9. I got to work in less time.
10. I only have myself to blame if my drive is lousy.

Argghh!! Lame Bus

I will not be taking the 356 again. It is too much of a pain. This morning I was getting to the stop late, but since there was a person in a wheelchair waiting for the bus I figured no big deal, he'll take 5 minutes loading and then I can get on. Nope. The bus driver didn't see the person and was almost to the corner where I caught him and told him he missed the guy. Anyway, after he tried to deploy the wheelchair ramp and determined part way through this that the ramp wouldn't give enough room for the guy to get on, he decided to pull the ramp back in and close the door -- Only the door wouldn't close for him. I figured he must be getting ready to do something but about 10 minutes later he still doesn't have the door closed. I decided that this was my stop and proceeded to go home and drive myself to work. I still beat the bus. Even on it's regular schedule. It's a sad park-and-ride route. Very pathetic. It needs to only stop at park-and-rides. It's still trying to be a bus for everybody, just making fewer stops than the REAAAALLLY slow buses used to. In fact, I can't imagine that the really slow buses are all that slow actually, considering average times of 65 to 90 minutes on this bus. Express bus? Indeed.