Operator calls another operator a "bitch" to dispatch for not picking up some passengers that were waiting on her bus (out of the rain) for a transfer!
Bus #2 would not stop for operator #1 even as operator was blowing horn and waving madly at operator #2. Operator #1 took passengers to where they needed to go and called dispatch to complain that operator #2 was always a bitch and never cooperates.
There is another transit agency - I don't remember who at this exact moment - that employs lights on the top of each coach called a "transfer light". The operator on that coach will activate the light if they are approaching a bus at a stop, to signal to the bus already at the stop that they have riders wanting to transfer.
ReplyDeleteAnother good policy (one which I believe TriMet has, but isn't consistently followed) - if you see a bus pull in behind you...WAIT! (unless you are severely off schedule and it is known that your follower is on schedule.)
It is a personal gripe of mine, especially on routes that operate with long headways, for a bus to pull out when you are seconds away from it at a transfer point or transit center, and then you have 30+ minutes until the next bus. Not a good way to attract ridership... I understand if you're on an en-route stop that you have every responsibility to be at your stop before your bus shows up...but when it comes to transfers, the system needs to work as a whole - not inconvenience those in transit.