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ChineseThe Front Door Phenomenon
[tags] front door, metro, rear exit [/tags]
Why do people feel they must exit through the front doors while others feel they must stand next to them, blocking all traffic to get on?
What is it that makes passengers plunder and pillage their way to the front of the bus to exit when there is a perfectly viable alternative much closer and much easier to exit? In fact, it’s not only closer but it’s specifically recommended by the scrolling text and robot announcer and for obvious reasons. Meanwhile others stand at the front deflecting all passer bys with elbows and sneers as you try to inch by their bodies and bags at their sides. A less than easy feat even with the force of fellow riders pushing you in the back.
Are these people radical oppositionists that must fight all rules and regulations even if such rules are mere suggestions that benefit all people involved? This of course would make them more anarchists than plane Jane revolutionaries, a far more philosophical calling, but I still have a hard time believing these people are the followers of Against Me rather than Rage Against The Machine, but all in all its just music. Or is it?
Could De La Rocha actually be at fault here? Has his radical lyrics of oppression and grievances towards the status quo become so powerful as to reach such niches of society? Is all out bus chaos next? Followed by the disbanding of Metro only to be reformed several years later to actually cater to rich white people by charging more and existing only in a far off desert!!?? Which of course begs the question of whether Eric Mann is at fault here. Has this been Mann’s hope all along, to use the B.R.U. to preach the absurd in University forums and guerrilla action in busses? But wait; shouldn’t his followers have taken this action to the trains he is trying to ban? Of course being loyal members of the B.R.U. they can’t ride the train (tee hee), therefore they must wreak havoc on the busses they’re meant to improve. A lame brain scheme such as this could have only been thought up by one as maniacal as Mann. Screw up the busses even more and then blame it on racism! Of course, Mann you devilish do-gooder.
Or perhaps it’s much simpler. Perhaps all these people have nothing to do with Mann at all, but instead have been convinced they’re too fat. Too un-athletic, unhealthy. And since they don’t have time to go to the gym everyday, don’t have enough time to hit up the ol’ upright row machine, they fight through the crowds with legs and shoulders and back to get that heart pumping and burn those extra calories, like Jennifer Anniston taking the stairs to stay in shape. It’s the little things right? But why can’t such little things be done somewhere other than the bus? Why can’t these people take the damn stairs, they can’t all own ranch homes can they?
Then again maybe it’s even simpler than that! Maybe they’re just plain dumb. Just plain stubborn and selfish and inconsiderate. Maybe they like boarding times to be doubled because everyone else has to wait for them to de-board instead of de-boarding and boarding happening simultaneously while the others who just stand there are blocking half the aisle in the process.
But what’s the use of gripping if you’re not going to exact a solution. In other words, what can be done? I’ve seen bus drivers scold as people try to make their way to the front. So is a good ol’ classic public pwning what’s needed? After all fellow MetroRider Fredcamino was no fan of getting scolded (even if he wasn’t at fault). But what of the driver’s vocal chords surely we can’t expect him to scold at nearly every stop through his or her route. A strike would be imminent!
Since I can think of nothing beyond something that would spell certain doom to the next MTA/Villaraigosa talks, I speak out to my fellow MetroRiders. What can be done to halt this growing problem? Does anyone have ties to Al Gore? I can get my hands on a camera if so! No matter the solution it’s gotta be something and something soon because whether you’re waiting to get on or just plain waiting, waiting for those to get off at the front door can be just about the most annoying wait of all.
Discussion
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Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
Exiting at the front door of buses costs Metro over $30 million per year, because you have to add extra buses, as the delay increases at each intersection, the bus can’t stay on schedule.
It will take a major social change from the top down to alter this behavior. The Metro Board and CEO must understand the undocumented costs.
Then, all Metro Operations must grasp the concept with a total training program, so all management and operators are on the same page.
Then Metro Marketing must start a widespread campaign educating the customers that “Metro gets you to work on time…if you help by exiting out the back door” or “Metro helps you get home to be with your family…if you use the back door.”
The campaign must touch the sensibilities of the riders where everyone believes using the back door helps them with a personal goal.
Can this be done? Getting buy-in from the top is a challenge. Anyone interested in writing a script and producing a video to illustrate this to the decision makers?
Wow. Is this really a crisis?
Try installing one-way turnstiles at the front door. You know, like the subways.
It’s got to be better than a marketing campaign that insists people “use the back door.”
Unless it comes with free condoms.
I hate it when people exit out through the front door, because it screws up the schedule. I wish more drivers would enforced exiting from through the back. I have seen some drivers even shut the front door and make the riders exit out of the back. In regards to the people standing in the front refusing to move to the back of the bus, I have stopped being gracious towards them. They put themselves in the way to be groped and shoved. Why should I politely ask them to move out of the way and I don’t apologize when I barged right through them. I agree with Bart Reed, there needs to be a marketing campaign explaining how exiting through the front and not moving towards the back cost you money and time.
I’m glad to hear that I am not the only one ticked off about people exiting through the front door. When you combine that with the people trying to feed dollar bills into a reluctant farebox, it’s a recipe for frustrating delays.
Unfortunately, the offenders do not read these blogs and will remain oblivious to their transgressions. Or, they’re aware of it and could not care less about delaying everyone’s trip.
On the newer, low-floor buses there is no excuse for not exiting through the rear door–unless the bus is so crowded that you cannot get to the rear door and you are standing near the front.
But on the older buses with stairs at the rear exit, there are some disabled and elderly people who are afraid of those stairs and just feel safer going out the front, which I can understand.
I was on the buses in London and the bus drivers would not let people out the front, even if they were standing in the front. The bus drivers are pretty adamant that passengers cannot use the front door to exit.
I agree. This is up to the drivers to put the hammer down and crack the whip. But they don’t want to do it. I’m not saying the bus drivers are not justified. I’m sure driving a 10 hour shift, especially on certain highly used lines, takes both a physical and emotional toll on the drivers when doing it on a daily basis, and they’re in no mood to be an enforcer as well.
Some of them might fear physical retribution from angry or crazy riders, especially those drivers who are short of stature (like women). But keeping the crowds moving to the back of the bus IS part of the bus driver’s responsibilities. I’ve heard some of the bus drivers do this, but not nearly enough of them. The drivers have to step up to the plate.
its a rare driver that makes it a point to preach aloud to moving on back to the back of the bus and making sure people know, they’re not about to exit the front. however, i also know that it would be an enforcement that would last the entire length of their shift so like all things public transit, its a society wide thing that needs to grow with more than just one driver in charge of it all.
We need a door at the very rear of the bus like they have in most European cities!!