Long Day's Journey Into Plight: Stephen Dare Goes JTA

[ChriswUfGator]

From the article that I read FIRST:

True to form, I read the article and was mildly amused.  Very visual and entertaining.  What has become of the series, though?  One bus trip to the extents of the system and you gave up?

And yes I did read the article based on your suggestion.  

C'mon Chris - I gave you credit, jeez.  So what is it, can you not read or tell time?  JK  

Alright, well I'm more cheerful now that I've had my coffee.

To answer your earlier question, if Stephen is interested in doing an anniversay followup to see what has changed, I'd be happy to ride along for moral support and to fend off any misandristic deer. You should come along too, if my past JTA experiences are any indication, we'd have lots to talk about (or at the very least joke about)!

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Alright, well I'm more cheerful now that I've had my coffee.

I was 6 shots of espresso in (expresso to the girl at the counter) by 7.  Now that you have some clarity.....

I'm already working on a project for Lake that I'll keep everyone posted on, albeit not nearly as eloquent, picturesque or verbose as Stephen.

[ChriswUfGator]

And Westsider, just to explain myself a little bit with my stance on JTA (and, I think, many people's), the problem between JTA and the community is that there has traditionally been this attitude that they're somehow doing their customers a favor, and people should damned well shudup and be happy with what they're given.

But the truth is that JTA is taxpayer-supported, and their customers then have to pay fares on top of their tax revenue in order to use the service. It's not a favor, and they're not being 'given' anything. JTA is supposed to be a reliable method of transportation, not run with the attitude that it's a social wellfare program and we don't have to worry about the user experience because we have been so rude and incompetent that the only people who use it are those who have no alternatives.

If I had a car that didn't work right, took longer than reasonable to get me anywhere, was rude to me, that was so unnecessarily complicated that I couldn't figure out how to operate it, and that always forced me to drive downtown and feed it more money before going to my actual destination, then I'd get rid of the damned thing and replace it.

For whatever reason, JTA continues to enforce asinine policies, nickel & dime people, employ some of the rudest bus drivers known to mankind, operates an expensive (both to users, and to themselves) hub system instead of creating point-to-point routes which would take care of most of their ridership's needs, habitually runs unreasonably behind schedule, and doesn't provide basic necessities to a useable public transport system, like bus shelters.

The frustration over these issues, which by the way also prevent JTA from breaking even (since many people who would otherwise use them don't), is compounded by JTA insinuating itself into every push for alternate transportation options, like rail, and then clinging to the bus-based operating model to the detriment of rail iniaitives. This is doubly frustrating, because they can't even run their bus system adequately, and yet they are running around constructing BRT and usurping funding and demand for alternative options. It is just a frustrating situation.

[fieldafm]

Ive done a few random updates, but I don't think id mind doing another 30 days.  I had spoken with Fieldam about doing one, perhaps a few of us could do one.

I will be doing one as soon as my work schedule goes back to a more normal routine b/c from the preliminary test runs and planning I did... its going to represent a pretty significant change to my daily routine.  Work should be more normal shortly, so stay tuned!

[Doctor_K]

Alright, well I'm more cheerful now that I've had my coffee.

I was 6 shots of espresso in (expresso to the girl at the counter) by 7.  Now that you have some clarity.....

I'm already working on a project for Lake that I'll keep everyone posted on, albeit not nearly as eloquent, picturesque or verbose as Stephen.

Try and stick to eloquent and picturesque.

There will never be a cunning linguist quite like you, sir.

[BridgeTroll]

How about... Bard of the Blog...