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ChineseFoiled Again
This past week I moved to a new office building with all the trimmings and gadgets a new building trying to prove to the world that it’s creative must have. Decorative basketball hoops, couches with digi code, giant carpets and hanging flat screens for no apparent reason, airing whatever’s in HD. Yesterday was a local news segment about a lady who makes earrings specifically designed for cats, but it was in HD so it was newsworthy. But building spoils aside and to the point of this post. With a new location comes a new commute to work. I accepted this with open arms and blessed my future mornings without the insanity of the 720.
So there I was, Monday morning and smiling. Getting off at Beverly, mocking those poor souls I’ve seen so many times who I knew had to get off at Wilshire. I wonder if they noticed me getting off? And if not on Monday morning, at least by today? I wonder if they now hate me? I hoped not, but what could I do I thought, it wasn’t my fault they had to ride on the most popular corridor in Los Angeles, if not the United States, and do so without a train. (I try to throw that in as much as possible. Damn you BRU, that too.) I walked casually to my new transfer spot and waited for my new love… the 14. But the love affair, as all love affairs with busses, didn’t last.
For three days things went smoothly. Things went grand. The 14 was on time and fast. There was a perfect amount of people on the bus too. Just enough to fill the seats and when more people got on, just as many got off. What a harmonious balance this bus was! What a gem! What a find! I even started writing a post to have a poll on what bus was everyone’s favorite. Which was most reliable, most clean, most, most, most… and my proud endorsement was going to the glorious 14. Then came Thursday. Then came today, and just like all love affairs, the love grows old and you realize that perhaps it was all just in your head. Thursday it was 8 minutes late going west and equally late going back east. This morning one just decided to not show up making me over a half hour late to my new office (where many a boss meanders). And writing this now I fear a harsh slap by that harlot 14 this afternoon.
However, I’m a forgiving person and I believe all buses should be given a second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth chance (and on and on). If not I would have quit taking them long ago. And perhaps my hopes were just too high. Perhaps it was my fault in the first place. But as in love, I guess I just wanted to be happy. And of course I still have hope, so when I walk out there this afternoon 14, even if it’s only a lie, please show me you at least enjoyed the spooning.
Discussion
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I’m a new Angeleno who’s been using the buses to get around, and I find that they’re pretty reliable about 80 percent of the time. That number should be closer to 90 or 95 percent (and in a perfect world, 100 percent), but it’s high enough that I’ll continue to defend it until LA gets more subway service. The key is to take buses that don’t run along traffic-clogged boulevards at peak hours — if you’re healthy enough to walk a couple of blocks (no, it won’t kill you), you can usually find a bus running along a less-used parallel street that will take you in your general direction.
I’ve had similar experiences with 16, the next bus to the south, on Third Street. I have noticed that the least reliable runs are the buses coming out of Division 1. (The division number is written in the lower right corner of the windshield, and on NABIs, right above the back door.)
Division 1 is part of the Gateway Cities sector (southeast L.A. county), but ends up operating a bulk of lines like 16 and 66. It now splits some runs between Division 2. You may have caught a run operated out of D1.
Hurray!! Today the romance has returned. She was on time on the way home. Oh you sweet angel 14. And jody, i agree and am the first to defend any naysayers who complain just to complain with general comments about how “la doesn’t have good public transit.” busses or otherwise. few things are more annoying in fact. albeit i admit it needs to be improved on a lot of levels. but yeah, the busses are usually pretty good about being on time, though you might want to ride that 720 just to get a bit grounded. mythical in a way.
Re: “la doesn’t have good public transit.”
If you think L.A. is bad, we are just about one of the best in the country. There are over a thousand agencies that are much worse.
The correct phrase should be “LA doesn’t have good public transit for its city size.” The reported 70% on time rate is pretty bad for most bus based agencies. LA’s suburban service, while not as bad as some areas, is pretty lacking. (Which you can blame the BRU on.) Frequency is good when the bus comes, and when it doesn’t, well….
“”re: la doesn’t have good public transit”"
i’m sure we can all count a hundreds times a piece someone saying that when you ask them why they dont take public transit. so you tell them off the top of your head how to and which busses/trains they can take from where they live to where they need to go to work. then, after waiting a moment to think of a better excuse than “i’m just hardheaded, stubborn, close minded, and lazy,” they’ll most likely scoff and say, “i just wish l.a. was like new york city.” morons.
Hank wrote:
That’s an apples-to-oranges comparison, because transit service coverage area is not limited to municipal boundaries.
You have to compare something similar, such as fleet size and revenue hours. In that case, L.A. only has two peers: New York City’s MTA and New Jersey Transit. Chicago comes pretty close, but there are separate agencies for the city, suburbs and commuter rail.
That is because the buses have to do too much work. Transit agencies around the country and world are astounded that L.A. is forced to carry rail levels of ridership on buses.
The infrequent services and rail are much better.
The problem with expanding suburban service is not the BRU, per se. The problem is the very high marginal cost of expanding infrequent service. Increasing a 60-minute service to 30 is much more expensive than expanding a 15-minute service to 8, for instance.