It sure has been nice

It sure has been pleasant not taking public transportation for the last few months. My company recently relocated to the South End of the Valley and the UTA's ability to do anything but cross-town or early morning downtown made it a necessity to drive myself. Considering that I'd be waiting for the bus longer than it would take for me to drive in I can't really complain.

But, now I get to take the bus tomorrow. I would take TRAX but I'm limiting myself to using some UTA bus tokens made useless by their new policy to not accept them at TRAX stations. So, I'd also like to thank the thank-less losers who forced UTA's hand in making this policy decision.

I was going to go back to the bus...

I was almost ready to have my company pay for my bus pass again, but on second thought, I'm not going to do that. It still takes longer to take the bus, I have to sit near people that should have called in sick, I have to wait in the rain and cold to catch the bus, and I won't ever be late getting to my car. It's always waiting for me like a kind friend. Anyway, not busing it. Ever.

My last day waiting for the bus?

Yeah, maybe. I got to the bus stop when the bus has been coming over the past 2-3 months and proceeded to wait for about 10 minutes. When my commute driving in is only 30 minutes, it's a considerable amount of time to wait for a really slow/late bus driver. I probably get annoyed to easily but I decided after my wait that I needed to get to work and I couldn't handle the bus this morning. Of course, while I was driving away I saw the bus coming around the corner. Oh well. I still shaved 15 minutes off the bus commute even with the wait.

Gahh!!

I hated my bus ride this morning,
The lady had no clue with the driving,
I arrived at work early,
No thanks to the girly,
May gas prices start downward going.

Eating on the bus

So, all the buses and TRAX have a sign saying food is prohibited on the bus. I don't think I've ever seen this rule enforced. Yesterday a guy gets on with a soda and a Subway sandwich bag. He proceeds to eat his cookie and drink from his soda. Yeah, give the guy a break. One of the biggest problems is we're too lenient on this type of infraction. Someone spills, the seat/floor get sticky and the bus becomes a little less nice. If the rule means nothing get rid of it. If not, I expect people to bring boom boxes and start smoking on the bus as well. I can find this type of rule breaking much easier on TRAX, but on a bus where the bus driver is the gatekeeper and can sometimes see what is being brought on the bus it's just hard for me to understand.

So I drove in today

Yeah, I just couldn't get my body out of bed in time to take the bus. I thought that I could lay down for a few minutes more but it turned into an hour. Anyway, I left my house at 8:23 and arrived at work at 8:53. I guess that's about 1/2 hour. At that time of the day the roads are pretty open so it turned out to be a pretty good commute. I listened to my iPod so I enjoyed my time in the car too. Anyway, I'll have to see how the commute home is.

One of the biggest shortcomings of Public Transit

It's public. I sat near the back of the bus today and a couple of yackers (people who talk the entire ride) were bugging. I finally put on my headphones and cranked the classical music to help me concentrate on my reading. Anyway, I guess if the bus is a giant water cooler then just talk. I find it's a great time to read or catch up on something. All I can say is that I probably need a new book if I'm that distracted.

Route 348

After starting this week with the intention of tracking the true schedule of the 356, I decided instead to try another bus, the 348. I like it. I actually takes considerably less time than the 356 in the morning. I also noticed that the 348 drops me off closer near my work faster than the 356 since I caught the 356 at the beginning of the route, and it would drop me off at work very last on its route. the 348 doesn't pick me up first, only stops at actual stops, and it seems like the bus drivers actually know the route - I mean, really, a bus driver that knows the route is a lot better than one who doesn't. I think I'll be taking the 348 from now on. The 348 has better buses, is not as packed and there are more of them. Plus, it even stays pretty close to its schedule - something that can't be said for any vehicle driving in rush hour down 56th West. The only thing I have noticed thus far is that its schedule in the morning between 90th South and 6200 South is too pessimistic. The bus waits for about 3-5 minutes because it has arrived too quickly. The bus could be quicker if the schedule reflected this early arrival instead of having to wait at a corner for a few minutes. The bus arrives later than scheduled by anywhere from 8-15 minutes as I've been tracking. It arrives earlier than expected but I have started to actually catch it now that I've tried to get there a littler earlier than I thought it would arrive.

First day

I kept track on my watch this morning when we arrived at all the various stops. I found that the bus is about 3-4 minutes behind by the time it picks me up near the beginning of the route. By the end of the route it is about 20 minutes behind. I walked from 3rd West and North Temple back to work. This will be the only day I have a long walk. The rest of the week I'll be dropped right off where I work since we're moving locations tonight. Anyway, I'll keep track on the way home to see how the schedule fares at night.

I found another route I think I will try, the 348. Not only does it have twice the number of buses, it also comes in earlier and leaves earlier in the afternoon. I'll definitely have to give that one a try. It may turn out being like every other inaccurate UTA schedule but I don't have first hand knowledge yet.

Time estimates for driving, bus and bus/trax

Starting: 70th South, 5600 West.
Arrival: 300 West North Temple

Driving: 35 minutes (I still need to verify this but once I've done that I'll post it)
Bus (356): Leave house at 7:05 driving, catch bus at 7:13 - arrive downtown at 8:10
Bus (62) w/TRAX: catch bus at 6:47, arrive at 5300 South TRAX ~ 7:23, wait 5 minutes for TRAX 7:28 - 7:54

Total Times:

Driving: 35 minutes
Bus Only: 1 Hour 5 Minutes
Bus w/TRAX: 1 Hour 2 Minutes

I think I'm a little surprised by the Bus w/TRAX option as it seems that taking one form of transportation should be quicker than taking two. I'll be performing an experiment over the next couple weeks to see if my numbers add up over time. I'll let you know how it goes.

Is your bus late enough?

I think the UTA should update their schedules more often based on real data. Of course, I think the drivers should try and stick to the posted schedule, but I think that riders should carry atomic watches and keep track of stops and gather data. I suppose that the UTA could probably do this as well but I suppose the incentive isn't really there. I know this would help my route as people who depend on it for getting to work on time are sorely disappointed when it arrives 10-15 minutes later than it's advertised as arriving each day.

What my co-worker says

My co-worker says he's for public transportation as long as it's not heavily subsidized, and it's fast. I agree.

Feet on Seat

Do you ever see this when you're on Trax? I do. I also hear the voice of the lady saying, "Please be considerate of others. Do not put your feet on the seats." I snagged this picture but I could find this any time on Trax. I regularily see people with their feet on the seats. I really want to say something but I don't exactly think most people would think it's my place. I guess they should probably have people policing this, or better yet, maybe the inconsiderate riders can police themselves. If you're one of those people, please keep your feet off the seat. I really doubt you'd want to sit on the seats I saw on a bus I was on a while back.

No Bus Coming?

Wouldn't you like to know if no bus was coming? Just the other morning (March 24th ) apparently the second 334 and 356 never arrived to pick up passengers. Can you imagine just standing there waiting to see if the bus was coming? Wouldn't it be nice to know? How can UTA help us here? What things could they be doing to help us out? What if there was a site or a notification you could get on your phone to let you know? I know I've thought about this for a while now but maybe I'll have to see if I can cook something up.

Comments I sent to UTA about route 356

I take the West Valley Fast Bus (356) daily. I think the
route works fairly well. I am concerned with having a new driver every
morning however. Seeing as the route is advertised as a "Fast Bus",
meaning in my mind that it only stops at designated stops, it seems
impossible for it to actually be a fast bus due to a new inexperienced
driver every morning. We do have a fairly regular driver at night on an
MCI bus. I was wondering if we might consider making this route a
little more regular in the morning by trying to schedule the same
(hopefully one that knows where and where not to stop) bus driver each
morning and afternoon. I know this will help the route and I will enjoy
it thoroughly.

Update:

Additional comments I sent yesterday (Wed 26)

I wanted to add some comments about the 356 again. I
commented a couple days ago and wanted to follow up.

First, the driver this morning was pretty good.

Second, I was talking with other bus riders at our stop and they summed
up what I said in my last comment. The bus drivers are new each day and
don't seem to get that it's a fast bus. I think the main problem is
that every day it's a new driver. I want that fixed. I want them to
know where the stops are and stop only at those stops. I think this bus
route has potential and the ridership is really growing since gas prices
are too. Please fix it.

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.