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.
C.J. –
Guess my experience(s) are different than yours. I’ve never had any issues with the 12 bus connecting with the 1 bus at Glen\University.
From what I’ve observed, though, it seems like there are a few people that have conditioned some of the drivers to pick them up wherever they stand waiting as I’ve witnessed that a couple of times. Yes, I know it is harder for the elderly to get around (even though it isn’t just the elderly)and that is a nice service for them, but it seems in direct opposite of what you witnessed. And maybe when I take a bus, the busses I use do have more elderly people on them than you witnessed.
I do agree about the benches, though. However, I’m going to guess that the frequent rider knows when the bus is going to be there and times it accordingly….I know I do. However, I’m guessing that the transfer at Glen\University has a short wait time so I do not experience much of a wait.
My suggestion: Smaller buses, more frequent trips and a centralized transfer center. Putting that thing in downtown Peoria was a huge mistake.
Ditto Billy.
And, that’s bs, having to go to a different stop because of the “end of the line.” Personal story – went to college in Jersey, just outside of NYC. Had an intership in the city and bussed in and out (private bus line). Anyway, one night I was taking the next to last bus back to Jersey and I fell asleep (long day in tech rehearsal) and missed my stop. The bus driver took me to the end of the line (at which point he was going into the bus facility and I wasn’t allowed to be there). He dropped me off at the last stop, where I waited for about 30 minutes, and when he came back, he picked me up and I got off on the way back.
Now, there is no CityLink facility out there that your bus had to go through, right? And even so, WTF difference does it make! Dumb rule! Likely it has to do with the fare, and not having to charge you $2 but still stupid.
Hmm… public transportation is the big missing component from the Heart of Peoria plan. Duany was even asked about that during the Q&A session he held. The city specifically directed them not to look at it. Public transportation is essential to developing a pedestrian friendly environment which to me also means one has to find a way to reduce the amount of traffic overall. To be truelly pedestrian friendly we have to find ways to create incentives for people to choose to take public transport over crowding the streets with automobiles.
Peoria’s bus system is ‘ok’ not great. It could be a lot better than it is. The current system is not run in a manner that would enable it to scale up if need arose (gas shortages?), nor is it in a position to attract many more riders.
What is wrong? I will be direct.
1) The bus stops are poorly marked and most lack even a basic bench. What they should have, as CJ pointed out is: a shelter, a map, a schedule, a bench, and suitable surface to stand on. (it is good to note that Wendy’s turned Burger King on University is putting in grass and sidewalks.
2) No high capacity bus network stops whenever a customer asks them to. Peoria’s bus will stop at the nearest corner after you hit the button or strip. This has to stop. You cannot have a reliably timed route and do this. The more customers you have the more unreliable you would become. What needs to happen is that the bus stops themselves become landmarks, that are less frequent than the signs are today. The buses should ONLY stop at the bus stop.
3) More frequent routes. Coming every hour, if you are lucky (see #2), is not good enough for most folks. Your busiest routes should run every 15 minutes. The problem here is the classic chicken versus egg. You can’t run more routes without more customers, can’t get more customers with more frequent routes. This is invariably why public transportation systems are subsidized.
4) Smaller buses won’t enable the city to scale up Bill. Small buses only ensure that your bus system will remain small. The standard bus size is fine for now.
5) Putting the bus station downtown isn’t a huge mistake. The huge mistake is the utter failure of the city to capitalize on it. Where else would you put it? Part of the problem is our city does not have a true central business district. In any major European city and in the few cities in the U.S. that have it right, the bus station is in THE central business district and vice versa. The train stations are nearby as well. Instead we build a ‘walkable mall’ out at Grand Prairie, which should have been downtown.
6) As I said above, Bus Stops should become landmarks. They should have a turn off lane for the bus to stop in, so that traffic is not impeded. These stops should change very very infrequently. They should follow the Duany guideline of a 10-15 minute walk. So figure the stops would be every 10 to 15 minutes by foot. They could be more frequent as customer volume allows but in most residential areas the longer interval is fine.
7) As I have looked at the map the routes themselves are not great and should be reevaluated. There probably are not enough routes overall, let alone frequency.
8) Fares? A dollar?!?! $2 to $4 is not unusual and that is in highly subsidized areas. Look at the buses on our roads next time. They are ill maintained and mostly hand me downs from somewhere else. We need to be more supportive. If you are concerned that really poor people would be overly burdened by $2, then surely something could be worked out, while everyone else is paying $2.
9) From the pie in the sky category: Why do we pay for TWO bus systems anyways? What two are they? Citylink and District 150. Ok.. so there are some Supreme Court decisions out there that complicate the issue but surely they could be revisited. No European city has a school bus system. The city bus lines ARE the school buses. It works out fine because the routes are there, the frequency is there, the subsidies are there (ie student fares versus full fare). The kids ride the same lines on the same routes as everyone else. What a better way to get a new generation acclimated to public transport than to **gasp** require them to use it.
I’ve rode that Knoxville bus through Pioneer Park and have witnessed what you went through. During a cold last winter the bus was pulling away from dropping off workers for Afni I believe at the bus stop there. A young girl came running in front of the bus yelling “wait, wait”. She made it to the closed bus door but the driver shouted to her to catch him when he returned. It must have been 20degrees outside. I just don’t get this type of treatment.
The bus isn’t a cab Candy. In a larger city, you are either there for the bus or you are not. When the doors close, the bus moves on. If you jump in front of a bus yelling wait wait, you are either gonna get hit or get a horn honked at you to move. They have to do that in order to maintain their schedule. Being on time is essential to public transit being successful.
Now, this is an example of why having a frequency of an hour between buses is bad. Waiting 10 or 15 minutes for the next bus is less of a big deal then a farking hour!
Mahkno
The bus may not be a cab, however, when someone is right there how long can it take to open the door and let them jump in? Isn’t the bus supposed to be a “public service” vehicle? Judging by the ridership in Peoria, I doubt this happens so frequently that it messes up their schedule.
FR,
There are always people late for the bus. If you get in the habit of holding up to let every latecomer on, your business will ultimately suffer. Compound that with all the irregular stops they have to make to let people off and normal traffic, that all adds up. 30 seconds can turn into 5 minutes real fast. 5 minutes can turn into 10 minutes. Then people begin to get pissed. If anything our buses are too courteous. They have resigned themselves to the small ridership that they have. The city has resigned CityLink to being a poor mans cab.
And FR… what about the responsibility of the rider to be on time? That rider was being rude and inconsiderate to the other passengers who presumably were on time. Other people have time responsibilities too.
M
Your argument hold up if we are talking about repeat offenders. But life is made up of exceptions, and an hour’s wait in 20 degree weather is the time for exceptions. A little kindness goes a long way.
As a teenager in Springfield I used the bus system quite often. After moving to Peoria, the few times I have been forced to use the bus system have not been fun. To the point that each time I vow to never ride a CitiLink bus ever again!
For example:
SPFLD: Buses are always on time. Period. If you miss your bus you can be assured the next bus will be by in exactly 15 minutes to pick you up.
PIA: Buses appear to have a different schedule each day (if their even on a schedule). For example: 9am bus to downtown shows up at ABC stop some times at 8:55am, somes times at 9:10am. I have had more than 1 bus pass by the marked bus stop where riders are waiting (and no I don’t mean a bus marked “out of service” or something simular nor was the bus full) without stopping.
SPFLD: Buses are kept clean and well maintained.
PIA: I have never had the pleasure of getting on a clean bus here. And for maintained, how can they maintain their buses if they don’t even clean them?
SPFLD: Friendlyness of personel. The driver always have a smile and a “Good Morning” for you when you get on the bus. If you ask a question (such as “Is this the 123 bus to downtown?”) They answer you in a courtious way and point you in the right direction if they aren’t the bus your waiting for. (All while staying on schedule I might add)
PIA: You’re lucky if the driver even achknowledges you asked a question. Ask the same question of one of CitiLinks drivers and you either get a smart alec answer such as “What’s the sign say huh?” or a blank stare.
SPLD: You can transfer to any other bus where ever the two meet. The main “hub” is downtown but if your connecting bus intercedes your initial buses route before (or after) downtown you can change buses at this point.
PIA: OK the few times I have been forced to ride the Peoria bus system I have not had to change buses as I was always going to coming from downtown. But from what I’ve read above and heard in general from others (and please correct me if I’m wrong) you can only change from one bus to another at the downtown “hub”.
SPFLD: I’ve never experienced “end of the line” instance like described above. On more than one occasion I had riden the same bus for an entire round trip. (OK, I was a teenager, it was summer, the buses were air conditioned and our house was not. Not to mention I was bored. What can I say?)
PIA: Again I can’t say I’ve ever tried to do this in Peoria (What can I say? I’ve grown up, not to mention that I don’t have countless hours to kill during the summer like I did them. Did I mention that I do now have air conditioning? I may not be able to pay the CILCO bill if I actually turn it on but that’s beside the point!) For this one I’m just using the others experiences.
Now don’t get me wrong. I LOVE Peoria! I wouldn’t move back to Springfield unless you gave me lots, and I mean lots, of money. However I think the bus system and CitiLink in general need some major improvements around here!
My bus experiences, here and there:
I used to live in Takoma Park, MD, which is adjacent to the city of Washington, DC. Two blocks from my home is a main bus route directly to downtown DC. If you catch the bus in DC and go north, you must get off at the city line, or pay an extra .50. If you think you can get away with it and stay on the bus, the driver stops and calls the cops. (this was in 1975-76) It was the mass transit equivalant of a speed trap. I have other DC bus horror stories, but you’ll have to read the book.
In Peoria, I rode the bus daily for lots of years. Of the many stories there, two come to mind.
In 1987, Jan or Feb, the Main St bus going downtown, took the hill a bit too fast, and we went down the entire hill sideways. The bus righted itself just in time to pull up against the curb across from Glen Oak Towers. It was an E ticket ride. This was after a snowstorm the night before of about eight inches.
A year or so before that, on the same bus, about 845am, I get on to find every seat taken, except for one double seat just behind the rear door. I swear that every person on that bus watched me pay, and make my way toward the back, knowing I would sit in that seat. The bus started, I wasn’t paying attention, grabbed the overhead pole and began to swirl into the seat. Out of the corner of my eye, looking down at the seat, something just didn’t register right with the brain and I stopped mid-squat. Right there on both seats was a huge pile of a chunky, pinkish colored puke. As I righted myself, I looked around, and I KNOW that every other face on that bus was smirking. I scrunched myself in between two people on the far back seat, red faced. The bus stopped at the next corner, and a woman got on. I watched her approach the empty seat and …. later smirked, finding a new kinship with my busmates.
And then there was the time…
You can transfer between busses wherever two busses meet. When I get on 12 I ask for a transfer pass so when I get on 1 at Glen & University I just hand them the transfer pass.