Well, another weekend gone, and for all you folks that work in the service industry, it was that time of the week for the city to show again that it doesn’t give a rat’s ass about you. I know for example (from cooking in hotels/hospitals & restaurants) that my shifts stay the same 7 days a week. However, for some mysterious reason Metro Transit likes to change the times of the bus routes on the weekend, as well as make sure it’s as inconvenient as possible by halving some routes so they don’t go downtown. Shows real caring for the people in this city that cook your food, clean you floors, wash your toilets, and for the poor nurses that have to wipe your asses when you wind up in hospital. NOT!
By showing such contempt for its citizens Halifax can’t even be considered a city. It’s Hooterville, a backward little small-minded town, with so-called politicians that show its voters that the only ones they care about sit in the office chairs in this city. For all the rest, run for that bus, stand in the rain, or spend your minimum wage to take a taxi to your thankless job.
I have one suggestion, the people that make the bus schedules should be put in a position where they work weekends, and for the bare minimum of 6 months (winter months), have to actually take the bus; Actually have to stand in one of the very few so-called shelters during a nor-easter while waiting for a bus that isn’t coming on time anyway; Has to try to plan a different way to work that takes 3 times as long every weekend. IF and only if someone at Metro Transit had to actually use the schedule they designed, guarantee it would improve because any saving the city is making from the reduced service on the weekend isn’t doing anything but buying someone Cubans and Scotch. Cynical? Try riding the bus for a change. —Stuck on the bus
This article appears in Mar 10-16, 2011.
I wasn’t aware that the definition of “city” was at all related to the bus schedule. Thank you for enlightening me OP.
you took the words right from my bitching fingers op. I agree 100%
also, call city hall to complain. Dont waste your time with the number transit gives you to complain. They never listen to anyone on that line anyway.
Ridership just isn’t what it is on the weekends than it is during the weekdays.
If they kept the routes the same for the entire 7 days fares would go up substantially because the expenditures would rise and the number of riders wouldn’t change. So you’d have a glut in the revenue.
Simple case of supply and demand *shrug*
Seems every week theres two or three bitches about the city and the services and “backwardness” of it, usually most people sit here and dismiss it saying move or get the hell out etc but its pretty sad attitude to have with the amount of disgruntled people around and nobody listening to them.
I wish i could help or do something about it but i can’t vote, influence people to vote or get out and change it really.
I love the idea that bus planners should have no choice but to ride buses.
THe rest is same old same old.
sign me, “living in the country & there’s no bus around here…but the school bus !”
& I pray to the Flying Spagetti Monster that it stays this way !
They should replace the weekend buses with the Flintstone’s car.
they have a thing, called a route map, and time schedule. did you ever think to get one? they have adcvertise in their buses, about changes, all the time too.
look at space behind driver, and you will see what i mean. but we can all read minds, like you seem to be wanting them to, so we look at booklet to make sure..
Anyone willing to talk further, in detail about this subject for an article I’m writing for Journalism School please email me at blitzeringbop@ gmail .com
PK = BO (Bang On)
not to mention I’m sure if they were going to revamp the system,
people would much rather opt they keep them running an hour or two later thurs to sat rather than pumping those extra runs into just throughout the days on the weekend.
I don’t see why MT can’t do a couple runs after midnight to the ‘burbs. In other cities, their downtown routes will run at 1am and then again at 3am — enough time for the driver on shift to run the route to wherever they’re going and back.
It’s a HUGE pain in the butt to have to pay 20+ bucks to get from downtown to mah crib after hours. I’d even pay a premium to have an after hours bus service. I mean 5 bucks, for example sure beats paying 25 (which is generally what it costs with a tip). *shrug*
Morning all 🙂
Motreal, Toronto & London (England) – the public transit systems of these cities shuts down around 12:30 – 01:00am, and the weekend schedules are different too. So, metro-transit isn’t that different.
Lol – try to get a certified cab in London after midnight.
A-Men brother/sister. I think we should STRIKE circa the deep South 1960 – that is where we live afterall.
And to you Nevermind – since you are so lacking in intelligence – let me explain. City’s have new-fangled devices like sidewalks, and garabge cans and you guessed it, PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. If you do not have reliable, efficient, EFFECTIVE public transportation, you do not live in a city, you live in a town. And yes, we live in a one-horse town. Fool.
I can tell you our planning staff doesn’t take the bus. Ever. If PDG were in charge of planning (which sadly requires education I don’t have):
– Sunday schedules would look a lot like Saturday schedules. None of this radically different bullshit.
– Time points would be reevaluated. Some of my favourite examples of bad scheduling include 15 minutes to get from the bottom of Parkland to RIM on the 89 (the trip takes less than 10 at the speed limit with stops) and on Saturday, 9 minutes to get from the Mount to Sunnyside Mall. Try that in your car on a Saturday afternoon without stops, let me know how it goes. Also, I will not be paying any speeding tickets obtained while attempting this.
– Speaking of the route 89, someone thought it brilliant when it came out to schedule it to run up and down Parkland AT THE SAME TIME AS THE 16. Then they cut the frequency of it because no one rides it, gee, I wonder why…
– Bring the website to the 21st century.
– Either make GoTime work properly, or publicly admit it was a failure and have it announce only scheduled times.
“- Speaking of the route 89, someone thought it brilliant when it came out to schedule it to run up and down Parkland AT THE SAME TIME AS THE 16. Then they cut the frequency of it because no one rides it, gee, I wonder why…”
YUP.
It’s a PITA too because the routes aren’t staggered so you generally have to wait a really long time for a route that goes down parkland. I’m lucky I can walk to my building from lacewood with relative ease, so the 21 and 52 (*shudder*) will suffice, but I’ve waited a considerably unreasonable amount of time at the terminal for a bus to come by that’ll go in that direction — usually at night and when that happens I can usually get home by walking much faster than I can taking the bus, which isn’t the safest thing for a young, lone female to be doing (either walking home OR waiting 30-40 minutes at a sketchy terminal for a bus).
Could be worse though. I COULD live in Fairview. Where I’d probably get stabbed (and punched in the face by zed while pleading for assistance). 🙁
I come from a one-horse town and Halifax is definitely not one.
At least your town HAS a horse.
Try being from the buttfuck down I grew up in.
Also, “Hooterville” sounds like a theme park run by Hooters, which would be the best theme park ever. 😛
I’m pretty sure I grew up in a more buttfuck town than you did, PK. 😛
No fucking way! I know what town you grew up in and TRUST ME, it seriously does not compete for Butt-fuckiness. 😀
O rly?
Check your FB wall 😛