Just listened to stupid lady complaining about bus schedule.

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
22,205
44
91
She was on her cell phone talking to some customer service department at Vancouver transit. " You know having the bus arrive ever 15 mins is just ridiculous. I've been here 3 months and I'm always almost late to work every day because the only bus leaving North Vancouver only arrives every 15 mins. The least you could do is but more buses on the route.... well at least until 9pm, people need to get to work and back. Blah blah blah blah..." WTF complaining that the bus arrives every 15 mins? How about plan your own fucking schedule out better! I take the bus every day to work and I make sure I take one bus earlier than I need too so I'm always early to work.
 

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
I ride the bus every day to/from work. Its FORTY min intervals between them.
Luckily I was able to convince the powers that be to let me start a bit early and leave a bit early so I could hit the bus that picks up at 4:45 instead of the 5:25 one. HUGE difference.

Tell that lady to STFU. Every 15mins is a damn DREAM as it is.
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
26,066
4,712
126
I rode the bus for years. Where I live, the bus comes once an hour (plus or minus 30 minutes). So, if you wanted to take the 7 am bus, you'd have to be out there at 6:30. If you were there at 6:35, you might have missed that bus since it was 30 minutes early. Then, the next bus, the 8 am bus, might be 30 minutes late and arrive at 8:30. I'd theoretically be standing outside for nearly 2 hours. True, it was normally not that late or early. But, damn, she has nothing to complain about.

Plus, our busses stop at 7 pm (last pickup 6-6:30 pm).
 

SonnyDaze

Diamond Member
Jul 31, 2004
6,867
3
76
Some people just don't get it. She is one of them.

And if they did put more buses on that route for her convenience, she'd probably be the first to bitch about raising fees and/or taxes to cover the added costs.
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,353
1,862
126
Ehh ... if the busses are usually on time then she has no right to complain, if they are never on schedule then she should complain....
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,741
456
126
There's no possible way for me to get to work via public transportation. She shouldn't be complaining.
 

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
22,205
44
91
Ehh ... if the busses are usually on time then she has no right to complain, if they are never on schedule then she should complain....

Timing is usually very good, down to a few mins either way. The buses have timing stops every so many stops that they sit at if they are early and only leave at the precise min they are supposed to. Certainly there are times when a bus breaks down or they have something else wrong and the bus is 20 to 30 mins late but that's not common.
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,758
603
126
Sounds like a moron. 15 minutes seems pretty good. I couldn't ride a bus to work if I wanted too.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,402
8,574
126
having ridden the bus for much of the last 6 months (nice weather) i've come to 2 conclusions:

the bus does not come often enough
the bus stops too often


during 'peak' hours the local bus comes every 20 minutes. sounds ok, except that it's 20 minutes +/- 15 minutes. so you can easily be waiting 35 minutes. on a related note: mass transit really doesn't work when the buses leave early.

second, the buses stop too often. the goal for local buses is every other corner. in areas with small blocks that's about 100 yards. that kills the average speed of the bus.

my 3rd complaint is that the commuter bus system has strange hours. maybe its just that my particular park and ride is considered vestigial. bus service starts becoming limited going inbound at 7:30 in the morning and outbound at 6 pm.
 

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
having ridden the bus for much of the last 6 months (nice weather) i've come to 2 conclusions:

the bus does not come often enough
the bus stops too often


during 'peak' hours the local bus comes every 20 minutes. sounds ok, except that it's 20 minutes +/- 15 minutes. so you can easily be waiting 35 minutes. on a related note: mass transit really doesn't work when the buses leave early.

second, the buses stop too often. the goal for local buses is every other corner. in areas with small blocks that's about 100 yards. that kills the average speed of the bus.

my 3rd complaint is that the commuter bus system has strange hours. maybe its just that my particular park and ride is considered vestigial. bus service starts becoming limited going inbound at 7:30 in the morning and outbound at 6 pm.

You buss shouldn't be +/- 15mins. Could it possibly be? Yeah I guess so if there is a breakdown or weather issue or something. But buses (at least around here) adhere to a VERY strict schedule and don't deviate more than 3 mins either way. If they are running ahead of schedule, they will idle at a stop to adjust. If they are running behind, they FLOOR it between stops.

There are a few stops I think are too close, but who am I to complain. IT picks me up nearly in front of my house and drops me off right in front of work.
 

JimmiG

Platinum Member
Feb 24, 2005
2,024
112
106
Every 15mins is pretty good.

Here, a bus arrives every 10 minutes both inbound and outbound (from 06:35 until 18:55 anyway, the service is not as frequent during night hours, usually every 20 or 30 minutes). There's also a second route that passes my apartment building, with buses every 15-20 minutes.

However the timing will never work out perfectly anyway. I'll either arrive 5 minutes early or 10 minutes late (the later bus takes slightly longer because of more people getting on/off and more traffic). That's just the way it is. Even if there was a bus leaving every minute, it wouldn't work out, because they would form queues and clog up at the traffic lights. So there wouldn't be a buss every minute, there would be ten buses at once, every ten minutes.

When going home, I usually take a bus 10 minutes earlier than I have to, because I need to pick up the dog at dog daycare before 17:30 or there'll be a penalty fee. Again, it's fine. I take a 50-minute lunch instead of the normal hour to compensate.
 

Texashiker

Lifer
Dec 18, 2010
18,811
198
106
Just listened to stupid lady complaining about bus schedule.

Lets see, what are some of her other options,

Walk to work - but that would require effort

Buy a car - but that would rquire her to pay a monthly car note and pay for insurance.

Buy a bicycle - but we are back to the "effort" issue again.

Carpool to work - but that means working as a team with other people, and maybe paying part of the gas bill

Sorry, I do not have a solution to the problem.
 

Yreka

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2005
4,084
0
76
Lets see, what are some of her other options,

Walk to work - but that would require effort

Buy a car - but that would rquire her to pay a monthly car note and pay for insurance.

Buy a bicycle - but we are back to the "effort" issue again.

Carpool to work - but that means working as a team with other people, and maybe paying part of the gas bill

Sorry, I do not have a solution to the problem.

How about leave the house earlier ? Again, "effort" issue.
 

JimmiG

Platinum Member
Feb 24, 2005
2,024
112
106
How about leave the house earlier ? Again, "effort" issue.

She would probably have to do that even if she got a car. It's impossible to estimate exactly how long it's going to take to drive, because of traffic, unforeseen events and obstacles.
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
She would probably have to do that even if she got a car. It's impossible to estimate exactly how long it's going to take to drive, because of traffic, unforeseen events and obstacles.

B.S. 95% of the time, your commute will take about the same amount of time (adjusting for things like weather, which are also pretty constant).

The other 5% of the time (yes, I am making up the %'s), everyone will be late, so no worries.

MotionMan
 

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
22,205
44
91
You buss shouldn't be +/- 15mins. Could it possibly be? Yeah I guess so if there is a breakdown or weather issue or something. But buses (at least around here) adhere to a VERY strict schedule and don't deviate more than 3 mins either way. If they are running ahead of schedule, they will idle at a stop to adjust. If they are running behind, they FLOOR it between stops.

There are a few stops I think are too close, but who am I to complain. IT picks me up nearly in front of my house and drops me off right in front of work.

Yeah they call them timing stops here and they are even marked on our bus schedules.
 

Scouzer

Lifer
Jun 3, 2001
10,358
5
0
Public transit? I've never lived anywhere with public transit. Tell her to whine moar.
 

mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
17,501
12
0
Entitled bitch. Thinks the world lives to service her.

From someone who works in customer service, this is the norm these days. We had someone call to complain because my manager left early one day, because his baby was taken to hospital. Was a weekend and i was away. Since there's only the two of us who work there, its not like anybody could cover. This lady was all upset because they came to rent a car and there was a sign on the door saying he'd left because of an emergency. How dare he. :colbert:

Working in these places, you can't tell doucebags like that off. They really do deserve a smack across the side of the head though.
 

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
22,205
44
91
From someone who works in customer service, this is the norm these days. We had someone call to complain because my manager left early one day, because his baby was taken to hospital. Was a weekend and i was away. Since there's only the two of us who work there, its not like anybody could cover. This lady was all upset because they came to rent a car and there was a sign on the door saying he'd left because of an emergency. How dare he. :colbert:

Working in these places, you can't tell doucebags like that off. They really do deserve a smack across the side of the head though.

I've worked in retail customer service now for about 5 years. I know very very well :p