Customer disservice on Route 47
By adamg - 6/24/09 - 7:24 pm
Steve Prowten tweets from somewhere on Route 47:
Missed my appt! MBTA 47 bus MIA for an hour. The 5:20 and 5:40 did not come. At 6 pm bus arr but shift change and no driver.
He adds:
Called MBTA cust service from bus stop. Asked why bus was so late. Put on hold, rep did not pick up again. Others reported same.
Comments
rider bill of rights
Chaisus that's a long time at rush hour, and on the 47 which runs like 5 times a day, like taking the bus to Bountiful.
Did you read the rider's bill of rights? I think if the bus is that late, you're supposed to get a free ride.
Wow, a whole free bus fare
I ride the 47 sometimes, and if it were that late for me, it would cost me $120 cash, plus a net three extra hours of my time to make up the appointment on a different day.
The 47 did make me a bit late not long ago, despite me allocating 70+ minutes for the two-leg trip. Several out-of-service buses went past, and eventually the next 47 camped out, waiting for its official time to start, rather than rescuing the people poor or foolish enough to let their appointments and employment depend on an MBTA bus.
(No criticism intended of the many individual MBTA employees who do a good job; it is the *system* that is often inadequate.)
The 47 is indeed one of the
The 47 is indeed one of the suckier bus routes I've had occasion to use. I've found it's very rare for it to be anything vaguely resembling on schedule.
I've often wondered why this is ...
I don't think that the 47 is especially bad right now
Most afternoons I've ridden the 47, it's started right on schedule.
In general, though, I've learned to assume that MBTA buses of all routes will *not* show up on schedule, in addition to being slow. Hence having to allocate 70-90 minutes to be safe for a trip that should take 15. And let me tell you about some 2-hour trips that would've been 15 by car.
agreed
I've taken the 47 a few times from central and while it usually arrives on time, it stops every other block through cambridgeport. My wife can take it home from work (it's the most direct public transport home), but she says it's never on time in the afternoons and it runs so few and far between that it's not worth even trying to wait for it.