I wait like a chump for the bus every day. Sometimes it’s on time, sometimes it’s late, but one thing that is a constant is as one bus pulls into a terminal, the connecting bus that is idling (the bus half the people on the arriving bus need) just pulls off when it sees the other bus stopping, and since all the buses going in one direction leave AT THE SAME TIME it is quite inconvient to wait a half an hour for the next bus. I just have to say, I love how the city urges everyone to take the bus and then when they do it’s like a big “Hahahah. Fuck you, suckers!” —Buying a Car
This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2010.
When has the city every urged everyone to take the bus? Do you ever see City Council members taking the bus to/from work, to go shopping, etc? Nope. The majority of residents drive their cars.
did you ask the driver?
I’ve seen the drivers call ahead or honk at the other bus to keep them there.
there are options… don’t just sit and grumble….
I’m with the OP. This shouldn’t happen, but it happens way too much. And, a person shouldn’t have to ask the driver to honk at another bus to get it to stop. If Transit actually scheduled logically so that buses heading in one general direction actually connected within a decent time frame, it’d be a miracle.
Since we’re on the topic of stupid scheduling, I’m pissed about what happened to me the other day. I’m at Micmac, trying to get to Tacoma drive, there’s four routes I can take, so why did I have to wait forty minutes before one came in? That’s so stupid. With that many choices of routes, I should’ve had a twenty minute wait, maximum. Instead, they all show up at almost the same time. Ridiculous.
zZz’s right. I remember when I had to schlep over to the darkside every day on the 52 and it would always be a little bit late and I’d miss my 51…and most of the others on the bus would miss their transfers too, so someone must’ve complained because almost every day i’d hear on the PA “wait for an incoming 52.” It was nice because it meant I could get my transfer and not have to walk 2k to get to work ontime. I also got to work over 30 minutes early when I did get my 51 and got to leave 30 minutes early ^^
I’ve also re quested the driver call ahead and have the 18 held back when I started taking the 4 before the 16 and 89 ran by my building to lacewood. They were all happy to do so except one driver (one of the infamous twins, perhaps?) who refused and bitched at me (literally!) the entire ride down from my place on parkland to the terminal. A simple no would’ve been fine — I didn’t need her life story!
Mic Mac to Tacoma is like a 15 min walk , I do it all the time …why wait for 40 minutes. Just walk, exercise wont kill us people. Frack we are getting lazy…
I see a lot of bus drivers waiting for the passengers of another bus to get off so they can catch their bus if they need to.. It’s a courtesy thing. Some people have it, some don’t.
Kirbul-
Actually, closer to 25 once I add on the distance from the bus stop to my house, I have and do walk it. But, this particular day I had some heavy purchases which would’ve been a bit much for that distance, and I was with my mother, who is 75 and can’t walk quite that far, especially after just spending time walking the mall.
No matter the reason for taking a bus, it’s still ridiculous to wait that long when there’s that many buses going that direction. I can see waiting it if only one route serviced that area, but not four.
Shut up, Kirbul.
For a city the size of Halifax the bus system should be better. It needs a major overhaul. I think one of the major problems is that the system has just been tweaked here and there over the years as the city has grown. It needs to be completely re-evaulated.
One of the most frustrating things for me is waiting for a bus on a main route, only to have the bus be too full to pick me up. I have often wondered what happens if the second bus is too full as well.
The system just doesn’t seem to work nearly as efficiently as it could. It is a nightmare to use on rainy days or snowy days.
matrix: the problem with busses being too full isn’t a problem unique to halifax, and I’d say it can be worse in other cities.
I used to live on a very main route in Ottawa and often I’d have to wait for a third bus regularly because the ARTICULATED busses were too full. Mind you, the busses would run every 10 minutes or so, but still — kind of frustrating when you just want to go home after a long freaking day at work and it’s a bazillion degrees outside and you’re MELTING. lol
I think halifax has made some good strides with acquiring a new bus depot and more artic alf busses, but scheduling really needs to be looked at to make a more cohesive system, overall.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2010/12…
As a avid user of OC transpo…I’m confused…most busses are ALF artic busses…and unless the bus was SUPER packed, there should’ve been plenty of room for the mother to go to the back with the stroller. The bus probably WAS packed because depending on the route, they’re generally full.
HOWEVER, the driver handled this really shittily and could’ve given the mother the option to fold her stroller up, but maybe the stroller had tons of shit in it and couldn’t be…and, I will say that, even though this may not be the case, there are A LOT of people on scooters in ottawa who are “disabled” and will actually drive or walk the scooter on the bus and get off two stops down the road (in perfectly fine weather). A guy on my route down Bank street (one of the main streets in ottawa) used to pull this shit all the time. So maybe that’s the case here and the other person could’ve easily waited for the next bus? I dunno — it surprises me how vigilant the driver was here, honestly, because I used to see quite a few disabled people on the busses there and they don’t even strap them in like they do in halifax. They just put the little bridge thingy down and the person wheels on and parks. So why all the concern?
In any event, it wouldn’t surprise me if the driver was just being a prick about it because the vast majority of drivers in ottawa are miserable asshats. You think hfx has some mean drivers? Halifax has nothing on ottawa. That’s not to say there aren’t nice drivers there — i encountered a few (they have a singing driver! he’s legendary!) that were very helpful, particularly when I first moved there — but most are very unpleasant, and some are actually quite abusive.
And one interesting note about strollers on busses in Ottawa — when strollers are taken on the bus the accessible seating is usually flipped up so the aisles are clear and the person with the stroller usually stands behind the stroller. Novel idea, I have to say, but I know they wo n’t let you do that in Halifax. And just with the theme of the news story hugo posted, I once remember sitting on a packed artic bus that stopped to let someone on and when he saw another passenger trying to get on with a stroller, he told her there was no room and she’d have to wait for the next (this route ran every 10 minutes, so big deal, right?) and she got on and demanded he tell passengers to get off the bus so she could get in with her SUV sized stroller because OMG she had a child…he basically told her to piss off and wait for the next bus. Not saying that’s what happened here — that the mom was an asshole — but sometimes people with children do feel a little “special.” Like when there’s a line up in the bathroom and someone waltzes in with a kid and expects to go to the front of the line.
if you time it just right, you can get all the buses you need. just sometimes, assholes, maybe like you, hold them up with stupid shit questions, at the curb. saw this many times over the years. and then, that bus might be 2 seconds late, and people like you bitch.tough luck sucker.
SOME of us, LS, don’t ask questions because HAY we know how to read a map/schedule and still miss our transfers. Even when the transfers have a 5-10 minute difference. This occurs on a fairly regular basis on my way to work. I haul my ass out of bed early to get to the stop a good 10-15 mi nutes before my bus is scheduled to come because HAY it’s either really late or really early (usually late these days, but the one day I don’t leave early it *is* early) and I usually end up missing my transfer. It’s not a tragedy because I have a back up option, but it’s just such a pain because I got up early and while I am still at work ontime, it doesn’t give me enough time to grab something for breakfast and I have to rely on the vending machine. I realize this isn’t a major thing at all and I should probably just suck it up, but it’s just so annoying when you get YOUR shit together early and you’re all organized and the bus fucks that all to hell and you might as well’ve gotten an extra 15 minutes or so of sleep time (or cat cuddling :P) in there.
Jesus PK , you tell me to shut up because I make a point about how close Tacoma is to Mic Mac. Meanwhile you spew out nonsense 4 or 5 paragraphs long. I think you should take your own advice. Mind you now knowing the particulars I understand why walking wasn’t an option for the OP. But my comment still stands for alot of people out there who would rather wait for long periods of time for buses and complain about it, instead of just walking…and it happens all the time.
Ooooh snapz! The old “I’m rubber and you’re glue” comeback…I guess I shouldn’t expect much more from someone who defends texting while driving and can’t spell properly.
Go play in some traffic, Kirbul 😀
LMAO. I hate bus bitches because I don’t take the bus and everyone seems mean and pissed off. But when I read “Ooooh snapz! The old “I’m rubber and you’re glue” comeback”….I had to stop and read….you guys are funny.
Still talking about the texting while driving comment eh ? Funny thing is I wasn’t defending it at all , maybe you should read it over. I was just making a point about how many other things cause distractions on the road while driving. I am just sick of hearing about cell phones and how dangerous they can be is all.
So sorry about the spelling mistakes.. (as if you haven’t made some of your own ). Mind you I wouldn’t notice any of them because I’m not the pretentious person you seem to be.
it’s the PK drinking game….
take a drink every time she says ‘Ottawa’ or ‘diabetic’…
I dare you.
you’ll… be schnockered in no time.
Sebastian continues to demonstrate how stupid he really is with his unsourced stats and idiotic opinion. Oops, I’m being an anti-semite, er homophobe.
When I see another cyclist on the road, I pedal like hell to pass them. I usually win. When I don’t, or they take a turn that is outside of my route, I take it out on my cats when I get home. Well, only the adopted one.