Eight Easy Ways We Can Improve Buses

I’ve been a public transportation enthusiast (nerd) for most of my life.

From the first time I rode the DC Metro in 1987, I wanted to ride trains all the time. When I graduated from college, it was pretty clear that I had to live in a place with great public transit. I’ve lived a (mostly) delightfully car-free life in Chicago, Washington, DC, Pittsburgh, Oakland, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Denver. Always car-free, almost always delightful.

Buses Are Everywhere, But They Could Be Better

Bus systems exist in each of these cities and are often supplemented by some more glamorous options.

The larger cities can support a subway (DC, San Francisco, Chicago), while others round out their transit options with streetcars (New Orleans, almost DC), trolleys (San Francisco), light rail (Denver, San Francisco), and Pittsburgh even has two funicular railways (I gush about these fantastic incline railways here.). It’s fantastic to have these options but these flashier rides are often not available in every neighborhood, and buses fill in important gaps.

Non-scientific results of my 14 year study riding buses.

1. Buses run infrequently

One bus in my neighborhood in Denver ran every 60 minutes! WHAT? What if I missed that bus? What if I was going to a job interview? Or work? Or a funeral? If I’m expecting to pay ~$2 for a transit ride and then have to shell out $15 for a cab, it’s going to make me very grumpy.

2. Buses are unpredictable

Buses are often late or early, rarely on schedule. Buses coming earlier than anticipated leaves riders in a transpo pickle as irritating as buses that don’t show up or come late. Yesterday I looked up the schedule for a bus in Pittsburgh and made my evening plans based on the schedule I found online. I sauntered over to the bus stop, planning to arrive four minutes early. But the bus was five minutes early. I ended up being 25 minutes late, instead of right on time. This doesn’t work for people, and public transportation will never be widely embraced with problems like these.

3. Real-time info is often incorrect

Real-time arrival apps are now available in many cities but even this info is can be inaccurate. Not everyone has a smart phone and people shouldn’t have to own one in order to catch the bus.

4. Sometimes buses never even show up 

Why? Actually why doesn’t even matter. The reason isn’t going to get me to work on time. They need to arrive when scheduled.

5. Bus bunching

Often buses will get stacked up and there will be a huge gap where there are no buses and then one, two, three, four, or FIVE in a row will show up to massive crowds at each stop, choking everyone’s commute. This was frequently a problem on the 14th & 16th St buses in NW Washington, DC.

6. Buses are inefficient

Sure, you can fit a lot of people on a bus and each person riding the bus instead of driving alone means there is a lot less congestion. But in most cities in the United States, there is still tons of traffic and buses rarely have dedicated lanes, meaning they still have to sit in the same non-moving mess as each car. This doesn’t make any sense.

Bus stop sign on the side between a road and a hill covered in overgrowth.

7. Dreadful bus stops

Check out this bus stop on the Northside of Pittsburgh. Was this bus stop sign thrown there in a drive-by placement scheme?

There’s no seat, no shelter, no crosswalk, no consideration for the person taking — or trying to take — the bus. Imagine waiting here in a Pittsburgh winter for a bus that may not show up.

8. Price

Sure, transit is heavily subsidized, but it still takes a heavy toll on the wallets of those who depend on it most. New Orleans manages to charge just $1.25 per route and has a full day pass for only $3. They are winning. Some places charge a base fare and then an additional fee just to transfer to another bus. Pittsburgh, love of my life, I am shaking my head at you. $2.25 for the fare and $1.00 for a SINGLE transfer? That is absurd.

We Must Invest in Public Transportation TODAY

We need to invest in public transportation like the invaluable resource that it is for everyone, even those that don’t use it.

What would improve your experience with transit?

Have you experienced any of these problems?

What’s the most frustrating aspect of transit for you?

What’s the best?

Standing on the Corner, Waiting for the Bus

Eight Ways Public Transportation is Failing Us

I’ve been a public transportation enthusiast (geek) for most of my life. From the first time I rode the DC Metro in 1987, I wanted to ride trains all the time. When I graduated from college, it was pretty clear that I had to live in a place with great public transit.

I had a driver’s license for a couple of years but I was a terrible and distracted driver, prone to bursts of dancing behind the wheel. For the health of myself and the rest of the world, I knew I should put down my car keys and never pick them up again. Since then I’ve lived a (mostly) delightfully car-free life in Chicago, Washington, DC, Pittsburgh, Oakland, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Denver. Always car-free, almost always delightful.

Bus systems exist in each of these cities and are often supplemented by some more glamorous options. The larger cities can support a subway (DC, San Francisco, Chicago), while others round out their transit options with streetcars (New Orleans, almost DC), trolleys (San Francisco), light rail (Denver, San Francisco), and Pittsburgh even has two funicular railways (I gush about these fantastic incline railways here.). It’s fantastic to have these options but these flashier rides are often not available in every neighborhood, and buses fill in important gaps.

These are the non-scientific complaints of my 14 year study riding buses.

1. Buses run infrequently. One bus in my neighborhood in Denver ran every 60 minutes! WHAT? What if I missed that bus? What if I was going to a job interview? Or work? Or a funeral? If I’m expecting to pay ~$2 for a transit ride and then have to shell out $15 for a cab, it’s going to make me very grumpy.

2. Buses are unpredictable — they are often late or early, rarely on schedule. Buses coming earlier than anticipated leaves riders in a transpo pickle as irritating as buses that don’t show up or come late. Yesterday I looked up the schedule for a bus in Pittsburgh and made my evening plans based on the schedule I found online. I sauntered over to the bus stop, planning to arrive four minutes early. But the bus was five minutes early. I ended up being 25 minutes late, instead of right on time. This doesn’t work for people, and public transportation will never be widely embraced with problems like these.

3. Real-time info is often incorrect. Real-time arrival apps are now available in many cities but even this info is can be inaccurate. Not everyone has a smart phone and people shouldn’t have to own one in order to catch the bus.

4. Sometimes they don’t show up at all. Why? Actually why doesn’t even matter. The reason isn’t going to get me to work on time. They need to arrive when scheduled.

5. Bus bunching. Often buses will get stacked up and there will be a huge gap where there are no buses and then one, two, three, four, or FIVE in a row will show up to massive crowds at each stop, choking everyone’s commute. This was frequently a problem on the 14th & 16th St buses in NW Washington, DC.

6. They are inefficient. Sure, you can fit a lot of people on a bus and each person riding the bus instead of driving alone means there is a lot less congestion. But in most cities in the United States, there is still tons of traffic and buses rarely have dedicated lanes, meaning they still have to sit in the same non-moving mess as each car. This doesn’t make any sense.

7. Dreadful bus stops. Check out this bus stop on the Northside of Pittsburgh. Was this bus stop sign thrown there in a drive-by placement scheme? There’s no seat, no shelter, no crosswalk, no consideration for the person taking — or trying to take — the bus. Imagine waiting here in a Pittsburgh winter for a bus that may not show up.

8. Price. Sure, transit is heavily subsidized, but it still takes a heavy toll on the wallets of those who depend on it most. New Orleans manages to charge just $1.25 per route and has a full day pass for only $3. They are winning. Some places charge a base fare and then an additional fee just to transfer to another bus. Pittsburgh, love of my life, I am shaking my head at you. $2.25 for the fare and $1.00 for a SINGLE transfer? That is absurd.

We need to invest in public transportation like the invaluable resource that it is for everyone, even those that don’t use it.

What would improve your experience with transit?

Have you experienced any of these problems?

What’s the most frustrating aspect of transit for you?

What’s the best?

How Often Do You Use Public Transportation?

I don’t know about you (what about you?) but I use public transportation all the time. ”

How often do you ride the bus, the streetcar, the metro, subway, train, incline, ferry, or… people mover?

I’ve always tried to live in cities that have excellent public transit so that I don’t have to spend money on a car, and I can use my money instead for adventures.

I ride a bike and I walk a lot.

But sometimes it’s nice to have someone else paying attention so I can pay my fare, relax, read my book, and get there on time and in style.

Reading on the bus

Like every service in this country that is for the public good, it is facing funding shortages. In cities around the country there are service cuts, layoffs, and an increased reliance on automotive transportation to get around.

Last year Pittsburgh had a 15% service and route cuts on an already shaky and skeletal system. Though often called the “Most Livable City,” Pittsburgh’s meager public transportation system is facing another 35% in cuts! Even in dense neighborhoods with the most bus routes and riders, buses are often 30 minutes apart now, and there will be even fewer if funding does not come through from Governor Tom Corbett. If a bus route even still exists after this systemic demolition, it’s likely that it will stop at 10pm. This truly is a travesty which will leave many Pennsylvanians stranded.

Public transportation is a resource for everyone. It makes the most sense for our money, our land use, for efficiency, for socializing, for socialization, for our time, our sanity, our quality of life, for our lungs, and for our future.

Pittsburgh bus in Lawrenceville

 

What are your thoughts?

Readings on Winter, Snow, Getting Stuck, and the Importance of Options

For those of you who are following the three whole posts I’ve written since November and for those who have commented even when things seem dead on this side of things, thank you! I’m still getting back into the swing of things since the move.

Today I’d like to recommend some links that I’ve enjoyed recently for your reading pleasure or dinner party banter preparation.

I really enjoyed Erik Weber’s piece yesterday in Greater Greater Washington about the different realities of a crippling snowstorm when you depend on a car to get to the suburbs (you get stuck, sometimes up to 13 hours as happened to many in the DC area) or you live in the city where you have the options of car, bus, train, bike, walking, and in some cases, even skiing to get around.

This excerpt is long but I think important and fits in quite well with topics I have addressed all over this blog: that dependence on cars — or any one type of transportation — is extremely limiting. What we need here in the U.S. and everywhere is the ability and availability for people to choose how they want to get around and be able to do that safely.

Cars give people mobility. But what’s more important is accessibility. Sometimes these are the same: if I live 10 miles from a grocery, and I own a car, I have access to the grocery.

But if my car breaks down, it snows a foot and a half, or I’m suddenly unable to drive for another reason, I no longer have access to that grocery. Because I’ve relied on a single means of mobility, when it is no longer available, both my mobility and accessibility are severely diminished.

Many people often argue that smart growth proponents (like me) are trying to force people of their cars in favor of biking, walking and transit. But, to me, growing smarter really is just providing more legitimate options. I don’t necessarily want to live in a place where you can’t have a car. Nor do I want to force other people to do so.

I do, though, want to live in a place where you don’t need a car, a place where, when driving is no longer an option, we are not imprisoned by our built environment.

Me too. What about you? Has snow made getting around harder? What’s your experience?

Readings on Transit

This is a link that I’ve been meaning to draw attention to for awhile.

This is a post from August that was recommended by a reader from a blog called “A Midwest Story.” It’s an analysis of public transportation perception in the U.S. and abroad, there are three posts before this one that address different facets of public transportation.

The American perspective:

The fact that American riders are poorer indicates that in U.S. public transportation services are focused on people that are unable to drive a car – because they cannot afford one or because they are to young or to poor. Now, if we eliminate the riders under 18, and we consider the  the other market segments – the poor and the disabled – in correlation with American culture , the conclusion is striking. In the U.S. public transit is considered by the public as well as their representatives as an alternative for the society’s destitute no different than public assistance services such as welfare and food stamps.

And the German perspective:

Unlike their American counterparts, Germans are more likely to use public transit indifferent of income or car ownership and, to a much larger extent, as a viable alternative for commuters. The way that politicians and their constituents regard public transportation is also different. At the local level, it is an alternative which lowers congestion in urban area and the  pollution damage to historical buildings. At the state and federal level it is a green, sustainable alternative. And for riders it is, beyond being the  only option for the poor and disabled, a comfortable alternative to spending empty hours commuting by car

What do you think?

On Biking and Fear

Check out Elly Blue’s post on Grist on fear and bicycles.

Many people don’t bike out of fear — with the most significant terrifying factor, of course, being cars. As many as 60 percent of people in U.S. cities would like to ride a bicycle if it weren’t for traffic-related concerns.

Yet..

Bicycling […] is astoundingly, incontrovertibly good for you. A 2009 review of the scientific literature found that the slight increase in risk from bicycle crashes is more than offset by the vast improvements in overall health and lifespan when you ride a bicycle for transportation. In fact, the health benefits of bicycling are nine times greater than the safety gains from driving instead.

And…

The real thing that’s killing us is that we continue to create places that impose barriers to actually being able to move your body. High-speed streets without sidewalks or crossings. Walkable neighborhoods where there is literally nowhere to go. Gyms accessible primarily by car.

Suggested Reading by Bike Pittsburgh

Some things I’m reading at work:

The Post-Gazette continues blaming pedestrians for the increase in pedestrian fatalities, but is this just more of the same “windshield perspective?”

Is bike-sharing a possibility in Pittsburgh?

Want to see some of the steepest streets in the world? Check out Rick Sebak’s video of the annual Pittsburgh bike race, the Dirty Dozen.

Grist goes over the six reasons free parking is the dumbest thing you’re subsidizing and StreetsBlog shows how European parking policies are leaving the US behind.

Sec. of Transportation Ray LaHood touts how bike infrastructure creates more direct jobs, more indirect jobs, and more induced jobs per dollar than either road upgrades or road resurfacing with national bike advocates

My Beautiful New Bicycle’s Internet Debut

Now my bicycle is just over a month old and ready for her internet debut! Photos by the inimitable Elly Blue.

What Kind of Bike is That!

People ask me all the time, usually with an exclamation instead of a question mark. It’s the “Live 2” by Globe which is a new brand made by Specialized and tailored to people who ride for transportation.

This bike is not for racing, but it is perfect for life. That’s what I need anyway. I need to go to work, to the grocery store, to outreach events for my job, and I need to carry a bunch of stuff with me because I don’t drive Ever and this is my way to get around.

Hauling Supplies to Bikestravaganza! (This photo was later featured, bizarrely) on the website of the Mayor of Pittsburgh, Bill Peduto in 2017 when announcing his bike plan for the neighborhood of Oakland where a childhood friend of mine was killed while riding her bike there home from work in 2015…

See the giant silver circle in the middle of the back wheel? That’s my fancy 8-speed internal hub. That means that all of gears and everything I need to keep moving is contained INSIDE! Maybe, like me at first, you’d think, who cares about that?

I am telling you that it might be one of the greatest inventions since the bicycle

This means that you don’t have any messy greasy gears on the outside and your gears won’t get mucked up in the rain or snow. So if you depend on your bicycle to get you places even when the weather is undesirable, this is the ticket. (Not the only ticket, but the only one for me!)

The other incredibly wonderful part is that you can shift anytime. You don’t have to be moving! If you’re stopped at a stop light in a hard gear, you can switch back to a much easier gear for starting again when the light turns green.

I’m not kidding, friends, this has revolutionized my bicycle riding experience.

The fenders and the rack are integrated into the bicycle frame and so it’s possible to ride in the rain without getting muddy and while easily carrying tons of stuff.

This is my favorite of the five bikes I’ve owned since I made the bicycle my main form of transportation in 2006.

PS: Before bicycles I used public transportation and my feet because I lived in DC and Chicago and made my home in places with stellar public transit so I would never have to own a car. It was a great time and having the resources of public transit is essential to any city that wants to thrive and not be choked by motor vehicle traffic, air, and noise pollution.

But now I’m happy to make my own schedule and get there as fast or slow as I like.

Usually it’s pretty slow because I’m a meandering kind of gal and I like to take my time. Doesn’t mean that my time is less important than motor vehicle users, I just make my plans accordingly. And since I like my transportation, I don’t mind spending time riding slowly through the city getting where I need or want to go.

I love you bicycle!

We Need Free Public Transit Now

We Need Free Public Transportation Now

Imagine you had the power to do anything to fix the transportation systems in this country.

What would you do?

A fellow named Tom Vanderbilt wrote a book called Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us). Lots of people have already read it. I’m not one of them but it’s on my list, moving closer to the top. He wants to know what you’d do, and so do I.

Tom Vanderbilt talks enthusiastically about transportation, is pretty cute in a Traditional Clean-Cut Sort of Way, and also writes a great column at Slate.

Now he’s started something that is mix between a project and a conversation called Nimble Cities that is looking to solve the great transportation problems of today by looking to the whole world for ideas.

Ideas are flowing in nearly as quickly as the BP oil catastrophe pumps gas into our oceans. Submit yours now.

This is your chance. What are your great ideas?

Our Transportation System is Bankrupting and Killing Us

As he says in his Request for Ideas:

Transportation is also costing us even more: At the turn of the 20th century, U.S. households spent about 2 percent of their income on transportation. That figure is now around 18 percent, and it’s also rising.

And then there are the other social costs, not just time lost in congestion but the larger cost in human lives: The World Bank estimates that by 2030, road deaths could become the fourth or fifth leading killer worldwide, a larger threat than malaria.

I suggest that we Fully Fund Public Transportation

I think the most effective method to change consumption patterns in the U.S. would be to fully fund public transportation with public money. If taking public transportation was free for the user, ridership would grow astronomically. It’s been demonstrated again and again.

Level the mobility playing field. Give everyone the right and the means to get to work, to school, to fun, to appointments, to recreation.

We should invest in excellent public transportation that is:

1. Fast
2. Free (to the user)
3. Predictable (schedules available at all stops and on phones)
4. Attractive / Beautiful
5. Clean
6. Frequent (always less than a ten minute wait)
7. Everywhere (less than a ten minute walk from most locations)
8. Efficient (Local and Express)
9. Resourceful (should maximize options of local terrain. Pittsburgh for example could use streetcars, along side ferries and the incline to take advantage of our rivers and hills)
10. and has the right of way against all other modes of travel.

(Thanks to the blog, Free Public Transit for their constant work on equitable transit for everyone.)

Nine Years as a Car-free Lady!

Today is my nine year anniversary of living without a car!

When I graduated from college, I just didn’t want to spend my money on a car. I wanted to buy new shoes and eat at a million new restaurants! So I moved to Chicago where I could take the bus or train anywhere I wanted day or night, close to my house.

And when I left Chicago, I moved to Washington, DC. I lived in five different neighborhoods: H Street NE, Columbia Heights, Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, and Brookland.

While I was never more than a few steps away from a bus or train, I could walk to plenty of places as well. Numerous grocery stores, farmers markets, ethnic markets, restaurants, bars, parks were easily walkable for many parts of DC. (And many that have far fewer resources of course).

Owning a car seemed like a waste of money and time. Most of the people I saw in cars were sitting in traffic. Not many looked like they were enjoying themselves.

And they were paying money do to it.

I took the bus and train in DC for several years before I decided to save some dollars, make my own schedule and start riding a bicycle.

I had no idea how much I would love it!

After a few months I found a bicycle that I could afford, I liked, and that fit me. I’m kind of short!

Me and a sunflower I grew at my house in DC last year.

(PS: I didn’t  have a camera for several years so I am lacking in some photographic evidence, but if you’d like to see some more pictures of my garden, go here!)

I would have started riding a bike all the time, every day and night, had I known how much more free I felt!

I bought my first bike for $300 after years of not really riding and within the first week I rode 80 miles. I’ve never raced or competed or considered it. I use my bicycle to get around and I spend almost no money on transportation, PLUS I get in shape!

Everyone does push-ups at their going away party, right?

And though this might be a bit late…

If you’ve ever considered biking for transportation, tomorrow is a great day to start.

It’s National Bike to Work Day! Events, group rides, and free food are happening all over the country. Check your local bike advocacy organization for information!

Pittsburgh’s Bike to Work Day coincides with the first of a series of Carfree Fridays happening around the city for the summer.

Farmer Needs Car, Has Beer

One of my roommates (“Farmer Roommate”) is leaving Pittsburgh for six months to work on a farm in the middle of nowhere, as are apparently record numbers of young people disillusioned with the disconnect between people, the land, and food. Probably dozens of other reasons too.

If you’ve ventured out of our cities, you may have noticed that getting around without a car is nearly impossible. So for the first time, said roommate became a car owner through a pretty resourceful trade, two cases of homebrew beer for the motor vehicle!

The homemade beer on the homemade trailer

Though the car is sitting in front of the house, Farmer Roommate chose to deliver the beer using his main, Preferred Mode of Transportation.

PMT (Preferred Mode of Transportation)

And so Farmer Roommate completed the exchange by delivering his end of the bargain with the bike trailer he made using recycled bike parts and a design available at Free Ride!, the recycled bicycle and educational co-op in Pittsburgh. (PS: go there!)

Making dreams come true

Oil and Water Do Not Mix: Two Million Gallons and Still Spewing

Stop. This. Now.

Just because the entire earth isn’t burning at once doesn’t mean that we can keep pursuing the same archaic, inefficient, and destructive policies and technologies in the reckless pursuit of a dollar.

It is time to invest in sustainable transportation now.

Not tomorrow, not in five years, not in 2020, or 2030. Today.

We are in crisis. The earth is in crisis. Our population is unhealthy and obese and getting sicker. We are tied to inefficient, expensive, resource-heavy, sprawl-creating, land-devouring, oil-spilling vehicles, and we need to move away from this immediately.

Not tomorrow, not in five years, not in 2020, or 2030. Today.

Bicycle infrastructure, and public transportation that is cheap or  free, attractive, accessible, clean, predictable, and dependable MUST be a priority today. And we must invest real, substantial  amounts of money into systems that will make our communities ecologically balanced and our population healthy and robust.