Will the MBTA listen to the thoughtful student on fixing broken bus routes?
By adamg - Fri, 03/07/2008 - 11:59am.
Young rider gives MBTA board an earful.
The kid even identified six spare buses sitting in a T garage that could be used to improve service on one route.
Stuart Spina's complete report.
Some comments on Route 32 from Cleary Squared.
From BostonNow:
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Devil's Advocate
"The kid even identified six spare buses sitting in a T garage that could be used to improve service on one route."
I'm all for more buses on existing routes and like some of the proposals in the article, but did the kid also find six drivers for the six spare buses plus the money to pay for the six drivers, fuel and maintenance? Otherwise it's a specious argument.
Point well missed
It wasn't that six EXTRA buses would be put into use.
It was that six EXTRA LARGE buses were sitting idle while six regular size buses were running highly crowded routes.
That doesn't take extra drivers, but it might take slightly more fuel and maintenance due to the extra size of the buses. Having articulated buses sit idle while regular size buses are too full to board on a regular basis is a questionable management strategy.
But
If the longer buses are niot in service it's probably because they are undergoing regular maintenance. They have to be taken out of service sometimes for maintenance work.
The T loves to take the
The T loves to take the articulated buses out of service en masse. I can't imagine they can work on them all at once, but there are often "hilarious" Saturdays on the #39 when they pull all of the 60ft-ers, and try to get by with nothing but the regular-sized buses.
Bus 10XX, where are you?
I occasionally take Route 39 on the weekends when I'm coming back from work in Watertown, and those weekends where they pull all the 60ft buses in favor of the 40ft buses is a beaut.
I remember as far back as the 1980s, well before ADA compliance, there used to be a minimum of 45 seats, and it still accommodated standees. (The old fishbowl buses had 51 seats.) With the ADA compliance the seating has shrunk to 40, tops (except for the 60ft buses, which handle 57) to accommodate two wheelchairs, three strollers, or several gadabouts who can't be bothered to move to the back of the bus.
In their next bus order, the T should add several 60ft buses. Either that, or have an independent transit agency take over the busiest routes and run them.
That's what 1am - 6am is for
At least if you ask the T why they don't run service on any line before 5am and most lines before 6.
Realistically, those buses are mostly needed during rush hours, so that means the T has at least 16-18 hours a day to deal with their maintenance schedule.
Complete report
The link for Stuart Spina's complete report doesn't seem to work, at least for me.
Tried it just now, works
It's a PDF. If you still have problems, though, let me know and I'll see if there's a copy of it somewhere else.
Working now
Dunno what was going on before - I got it open and read it. Wow! It is a really impressive piece of work!
New bus needed in Roslindale
Maybe the T can transfer one of those underused buses to the one of the lines on Washington Street. Tom Nealon reports that all week long, a bus has been backfiring as it slows down for the lights in Rozzie Square, i.e., right outside his shop:
No.
This has been another installment of simple answers to silly questions.