I disagree, even as a very enthusiastic consumer of tracker apps.In the era of nextbus, there is zero point to clockface scheduling
I disagree, even as a very enthusiastic consumer of tracker apps.
Every X minutes" delivers value lots of ways:
1) Very often X is more frequent than the old service. Technically this isn't a matter of dividing evenly into :60 but as a practical matter, going clockface means you deploy more buses because you're no longer free to leave random gaps in your dispatching.
2) X stays consistent throughout the day. If you miss the last rush hour bus today, there's a whole wave of worry that washes over you (Before nextbus can intercept it) as you worry how sparse the buses are about to become--or you actually *know* (from next bus or experience ) that buses suddenly become sparse at 9:30a or 8pm
3) That X is a constant is reassuring on a subconsious level. That there's an organizational commitment to consistency. Until Borg implants let nextbus connect directy to the emotion centers of the brain, clockface is reassuring.
4) Nextbus sometimes lies. Real buses disappear and phantoms appear. When a strange gap shows in nextbus, if we really are delivering clockface--and know that the MBTA has a clockface system--riders may be willing to tough it out, despite bad data. 4a) Buses are physical realities. Living near the end of the 80, I know that if I see one going to the end of the line, I know that that's a promise that 10 minutes from now it'll be back, even if no tracker saw/sees it. )
5) It may also work to reduce bus bunching or to reduce its impact.
A lot of people drive even when they own unreliable cars because they've come to *think* of their car as reliable despite knowing that almost no commutes come off without some kind of crisis (icy windshield, won't start, flat tire, traffic jam, no parking when you get there)
Clockface will allow people to accept buses as reliable, predictable. Nextbus has clearly been a breakthrough on this path, but I think now we need another if we're going to keep driving BRT/Bus market share.
Jass said "in the era of nextbus," which to me conveyed "in the era of transit-vehicle-tracking-and-prediction"And what percentage of bus riders use nextbus? I bet it's really small.
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1) Very often X is more frequent than the old service. Technically this isn't a matter of dividing evenly into :60.
Additionally, once your schedule is more frequent than every 8 minutes or so, theres no point in pretending to keep to one. Just send the buses out as they are ready.
Actually there is a huge issue with not keeping the schedule, bunching of service.
This happens all the time on the Silver Line Washington. Worst case I saw was 5 buses clustered together inbound at Tufts Medical Center. That means there is a HUGE service gap behind those buses out the line. (Clusters of 3 and 4 buses are common on the Silver Line Washington).
Schedule discipline is mandatory for quality transit service.
The issue isnt schedule, its management. When bunching happens, management needs to order express
All non-electric MBTA buses should have front bike racks on them. They are only removed if the rack was damaged and/or rack removal was needed to make repairs to the bus. The racks are usually replaced relatively quickly, unless additional work is planned, there's a big maintenance backlog, etc.How many buses lack the bike rack on the front? 0645 (?) Lacks. Is this part if a fleet that lacks them or just a hasty bumper replacement?
I have found it really useful to mix bike and bus commuting (bus when weather is dire for only a "to" or "from" trip, or yesterday when bike's freehub failed mid trip)
Actually there is a huge issue with not keeping the schedule, bunching of service.
This happens all the time on the Silver Line Washington. Worst case I saw was 5 buses clustered together inbound at Tufts Medical Center. That means there is a HUGE service gap behind those buses out the line. (Clusters of 3 and 4 buses are common on the Silver Line Washington).
Schedule discipline is mandatory for quality transit service.
So all "Yellow" buses. That's great. It was only my 4th time trying the bike-on-rack thing (I scoped out a lot of others using it before I tried for the first time), so I figured it might have been a damage/repair cycle issue (we had a lot of fender benders a few weeks ago in the snow, so I accept that the T is working hard to keep them all deployed)All non-electric MBTA buses should have front bike racks on them. They are only removed if the rack was damaged and/or rack removal was needed to make repairs to the bus. The racks are usually replaced relatively quickly, unless additional work is planned, there's a big maintenance backlog, etc.
When I lived in Brighton and routinely took the 57, I remember watching a second 57 tailgate the scheduled one. The second one would be empty and the first one packed. At least once I saw a driver pull out of Kenmore at the same time, with both busses having been parked at Kenmore for a while.
I complained to customer service, but only got crickets. I hope the situation has improved in the past decade.
Would it ever make sense to "intentionally" bunch buses? That is to say on very busy routes to send off 2-3 buses on the same route at the same time. If dwell times were reduced because of greater capacity, would service times improve?
When I lived in Brighton and routinely took the 57, I remember watching a second 57 tailgate the scheduled one. The second one would be empty and the first one packed. At least once I saw a driver pull out of Kenmore at the same time, with both busses having been parked at Kenmore for a while.
I complained to customer service, but only got crickets. I hope the situation has improved in the past decade.
No, if you have many small (normal) buses, users would generally prefer to have the higher frequency rather than bunch them on purpose. High frequency means you never miss a bus.Would it ever make sense to "intentionally" bunch buses? That is to say on very busy routes to send off 2-3 buses on the same route at the same time. If dwell times were reduced because of greater capacity, would service times improve?
Let's remove another 760 in the name of faster trips and creating bus service worth walking to and waiting for and stops with amenities that make waiting less onerous.The T is almost finished with a survey of its 7,600 bus stops and plans to eliminate or modify 209 of the worst ones in the name of safety