30 Days of Plight. Stephen Dare goes JTA every day.

[thelakelander]

Perhaps this is one of the reasons our bus system is not seeing significant increases in ridership, due to higher gas prices, like most systems in major cities are enjoying.  Sounds like another reason that makes rail more desirable and another point to exposing the foolishness of moving forward with bus rapid transit here. 

[gatorback]

Oh god.  That's horrible.  I have no response to that other then  "Damn".

[Lunican]

The Green Line in Boston will let you ride free if you don't have your money ready just so they can stay on schedule.

If they are running late they don't collect fare from anyone. I'm not sure if that's their official policy but it happens every time I'm there.

[second_pancake]

Holy crap!  This makes so much sense now.  Those JTA drivers really ARE buttwipes.  And to think, I was giving them the benefit of the doubt everytime they drove their buses up my arse when riding my bike...not to mention when they drive in the bike lane 300 yards before their designated stop. 

Maybe I'm just a trouble maker, but I wouldn't have gotten off the bus.  Just think, if it got bad then it would've been all over the news and JTA's complete incompetence would've been exposed for the whole city to see.

[mikemiller]

We at the JTA are very interested in following Stephen's "adventure." In fact, we have talked about getting together during this period and after its conclusion to discuss some of his discoveries and observations. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our service and having someone like Stephen ride the system for a mointh straight and log his observations can be very beneficial for everyone. By the way, to Lunican's posting, I don't know where he got that! The JTA does not [b] stop the bus and charge an additional fare to cross the intracoastal. Think about it logically for a moment. Could you imagine how long it would take to stop a bus, walk up and down the aisle, and require everyone to pay again? Not only that, but it is our policy that operators not handle or carry any cash (security reasons, of course). That's why we require exact change. One note to Stephen's first day, if you recall, you said that you were going to pick up your pass on Monday. That was July 1st! You asked about a monthly pass for the month of JULY. That doesn't mean June 30th. C'mon, Stephen, be fair here!

[thebrokenforum]

Wow...kudos for not flipping out. I wish I could say that it's uncommon behavior for JTA drivers but it's not. Are you planning on calling and filing a compliant?

Perhaps this is one of the reasons our bus system is not seeing significant increases in ridership...

I think so. I think that people would rather carpool, walk, bike etc. than have to deal with stuff like that. All it takes is once to leave a sour taste in your mouth and then bam, no one wants to ride. It's not bad enough that the buses run late or even at all or that it's hot out or even that you have to ride in some shady areas but the driver should be the least of one's worries. I know they have to put up with a lot of stuff from passengers but this is ridiculous. Him being difficult about giving his name proves he knew he was in the wrong. he probably didn't expect you to challenge him.

Again, with the problems so varied and numerous, if anyone from the city is reading this: take a surprise ride on your own public transportation. See what you're missing.

This kind of stuff should be on the news. I wish you had a video log of the incident. Morgan Spurlock would eat this stuff up.   

[David]

Steph: if you are riding JTA you will first want to invest in a good pair of walkers. And not having to be on time might be a good thing to work out with you boss, family friends and your church trust me.

as the saying goes...."what time does the 3 o'clock bus show up?....3:15, duh!"

[Lunican]

Thanks for clearing up the process for additional fare collection over the intracoastal Mike. I did think about it logically and that's why I was concerned about what I had heard. Glad to hear it's not true.

[David]

from my experience in cities like NY & Chicago the bus drivers are a bit strict on the exact change rule. In New York of course, they kicked me off the bus and told me to get correct change and wait for the next.

In Seattle the particular bus I rode was a bit more forgiving, he just took the extra .50.

I've never quite understood the exact change rule either, if i'm willing to pay an extra .50 just so I can keep the flow going, what's the problem?

[BridgeTroll]

We at the JTA are very interested in following Stephen's "adventure." In fact, we have talked about getting together during this period and after its conclusion to discuss some of his discoveries and observations. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our service and having someone like Stephen ride the system for a mointh straight and log his observations can be very beneficial for everyone. By the way, to Lunican's posting, I don't know where he got that! The JTA does not [b] stop the bus and charge an additional fare to cross the intracoastal. Think about it logically for a moment. Could you imagine how long it would take to stop a bus, walk up and down the aisle, and require everyone to pay again? Not only that, but it is our policy that operators not handle or carry any cash (security reasons, of course). That's why we require exact change. One note to Stephen's first day, if you recall, you said that you were going to pick up your pass on Monday. That was July 1st! You asked about a monthly pass for the month of JULY. That doesn't mean June 30th. C'mon, Stephen, be fair here!

Welcome to the forum!  Glad to see you will be following along.  Though it may be hard to see at times... most folks here are interested in improving the system rather than bashing it.

[Eazy E]

This is one of the best things I have read here.

Creative Loafing in ATL did a similar experiment a few years ago, using only MARTA busses, not the trains, and if I recall correctly, same results as SD is having.

[BridgeTroll]

  We can only wish you the best of luck...

[RiversideGator]

The amazing thing is you seem surprised that the JTA system is ineptly run and designed.  Anytime something is run by government it is run poorly and has bad customer service.  This is so common (although not universal) that it should be considered akin to a law of nature.  And to think you Obama people want this same bunch to control and ration life saving and life sustaining health care.   

[Eazy E]

The amazing thing is you seem surprised that the JTA system is ineptly run and designed.  Anytime something is run by government it is run poorly and has bad customer service.  This is so common (although not universal) that it should be considered akin to a law of nature.  And to think you Obama people want this same bunch to control and ration life saving and life sustaining health care.   

Yeah, because the insurance system right now is run SO incredibley efficient, right? 
God, this argument makes me sick-- people act like our current system is so infallible, when, in fact, it's anything but.  But, why try something new, might as well stick with the current, crappy-beyond-belief system, right?

[Eazy E]

The amazing thing is you seem surprised that the JTA system is ineptly run and designed.  Anytime something is run by government it is run poorly and has bad customer service.  This is so common (although not universal) that it should be considered akin to a law of nature.  And to think you Obama people want this same bunch to control and ration life saving and life sustaining health care.   

Yeah, because the insurance system right now is run SO incredibley efficient, right? 
God, this argument makes me sick-- people act like our current system is so infallible, when, in fact, it's anything but.  But, why try something new, might as well stick with the current, crappy-beyond-belief system, right?

way to know how to use html tags, dork.