I had to take my car in for service today at the Honda dealership. I decided to take the bus to work from there just to see how well our mass transit works out on the north end.

According to the CityLink map, the route goes north on Knoxville, then makes a loop: west on Pioneer Parkway, north on Hale, east on Detweiller, and south on Knoxville. Since I was on Pioneer Parkway and there was a bus stop right across the street, I figured I’d catch the bus there. There was a nice CityLink bench there at the stop (which happens to be right in front of the Social Security Administration office), so it was a pleasant wait.

Well, even though the bus stop on Pioneer Parkway was the most convenient for me, the bus wouldn’t pick me up there. The bus stopped, but the driver explained that, if I wanted to go south on Knoxville, I had to walk over to the bus stop on Knoxville by Green Chevrolet and catch the bus there, there are also other options of Ottawa Party Bus Services for people that want to use the buses for more than transportation.”

There were no sidewalks where I was, so I had to walk over the grassy knoll and through a couple of parking lots to get to the other bus stop. This one had no bench — just a patch of dirt by a light pole with a bus stop sign on it and lots of traffic whizzing by at 45-50 miles per hour. I waited another ten minutes to catch the same bus that wouldn’t pick me up three blocks away.

Customer-focused?

I would suggest that this is not the “progressive, customer-focused transportation service” the CityLink Rider’s Guide described. It really wasn’t a big deal for me, being an able-bodied person, but this bus stop is right next to the Social Security Administration office. What if someone on Social Security takes the bus out here? Since it’s at the end of the line, how are they supposed to get back home? They want the elderly and disabled to traverse the grassy knoll and parking lots to get to the southbound bus stop, and then, if/when they get there, provide them no place to sit and wait?

Not surprisingly, there were few people riding the bus during my trip; no more than five people. This isn’t all the bus company’s fault. Part of the problem is sprawl and lack of pedestrian infrastructure (e.g., sidewalks), which is a city planning problem. Just like sprawl puts a strain on police, fire, and snow removal service, it puts a huge strain on bus service. Another part of the problem is places like the Social Security Administration office deciding to locate themselves in a place that has such limited accessibility.

Need for improvement

I’ve tried riding the bus several times, and here’s what I’ve observed:

First, bus travel is very slow. Part of the reason is that buses are pretty infrequent. They come only once every half hour during peak times, and once an hour during non-peak times. Plus, nine times out of ten you have to ride to the bus station first and transfer buses. Although the bus lines intersect elsewhere in town, there’s no easy way to transfer buses at these intersections. So unless you live on the same route as your destination, you have to ride to the transfer center first, which can add considerable time to your trip.

Second, many of the bus stops have no bench or shelter. If buses are going to be as infrequent as they are, every bus stop should at least have a bench. I doubt there are many elderly who would or could stand for half an hour to an hour waiting for a bus. Maybe that’s why I’ve never seen any elderly riding the bus. Ideally, each bus stop would also offer a shelter and a map of the various routes so the uninitiated can figure out what route they’re on and how to get to where they’re going.

Not everything is bad; the drivers are usually nice and the transfer center is a good facility. If you have enough time, you can get almost anywhere in the city you want to go; that is, there are a sufficient number of routes to meet most destination needs. And the price is right at $1 per ride. But as with anything, there’s room for improvement.