German
Spanish
French
Italian
Portuguese
Japanese
Korean
Russian
ChineseHow Long Is Too Long?
When it’s been 40 minutes do you hold your breath and go against all your low expectations of Metro to wait it out for that next Rapid? Or do you give in to failure and hop on the local? This question as old as time was posed this very morning while I fruitlessly waited on the often-maligned 714.
I only have to take this bus once a week but even that little bit gets under my skin. The true problem of the 714 lies in the fact that it only runs during “rush hour” which, according to Metro, stops at about 8:30am and 5:30pm. Now Metro may not say that but if one were to look at their “rush hour only” service they would see that the last busses during that period run much of their line well before rush hour is even close to being over. The 714 is no different. West bound or east bound, stops are past for the last time at 5:15pm and its no different in the morning. Busses are non existent after 8:45am and the only thing you can hope for is that the bus is running late, an insane proposition for fellow Metroriders but true all the same.
The 780 used to be this way and coming from the west side and trying to get to H-wood I’d always miss the last northbound 780 if I wasn’t at Fairfax and Wilshire before 5:20pm. Now I know the argument is that the line is long and that the bus runs at rush hour for at least half of it, meaning the last half, but I say bolox to all that. The last bus, if it’s to run only during rush hours, should start its final run during rush hour, not ending it.
Perhaps Metro is making a statement about the current working habits of Americans. Perhaps they’ve recently taken a trip to Italy or Spain, read Tom Hodgkinson, and believes that we shouldn’t be working so much. That the workday should most certainly end by five if not earlier, in which case no one would have a problem catching the last rapid line back home. Unfortunately Americans work longer hours with less vacay then ever and getting off at 5 is (somehow) a “dream” of the past. And I’m not suggesting that Metro should run their “rush hour” only lines forever into the night to meet the latest of the go-getters needs but I thinks it’s absurd that its not meeting the rest of ours.
LADOT’s express busses have the same huge flaw. Their last bus’ east or west end at least 30 - 60 minutes before they logically should. Again, 9-5 (a nightmare in and of itself) is a dream at this point since 6 and after is more appropriate. Why not add at least one more run to meet the needs of the many of us not able to adhere to such antiquated work hours. Again, if their goal is to make a statement that no man or woman should spend so much time at work then I commend them but put out a press release or something so I know my longer and much more annoying commute is for a good cause.
So when do I give up? When do I give in? I looked at the bus times before I left and one more should be coming. Then again, Metro bus timetables are useless so anything is possible. The last rapid should’ve passed me at around 8:35am heading west-the last of the morning. I’ve been waiting since 8:25am and it’s now 9:10am. I’m a patient person but when a Pico bound 14 (an apparition for we all know such a bus doesn’t really exist) arrives I finally quit on the dream and board.
The driver is terrible and stops at bus stops where no one is waiting and no one is getting off. He drives 10 miles an hour down hills, riding those breaks, and stops at some, not all, green lights. It’s an annoyance beyond compare and then it happens. As we’re waiting at a bus stop for absolutely no reason and myself and the one other person on the bus are looking around wondering what the f*k is going on the red boi 714 goes barreling on by. It’s 9:20am, just 40 minutes late.
Contemplating the insanity, I can only blame myself really; one should never give up before an hour. But hey at least it picked up after “rush hour”. Ahh the absurdity.
Discussion
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
This is where I think real time arrival info becomes very handy. AC Transit up in the East Bay operate their routes just as inconsistently as Metro, but they make NextBus available for many of their routes including the 1R and 72R (the Rapid equivalents). This info can be looked up online or over a PDA/iPhone/Blackberry with web access. When I see that a 1R is not due for 38 minutes (yes it has happened before) but a local 1 is arriving in 7, then I know I should just hop on the Local.
It’d be nice to have that service on the 20/720, especially late at night when the 720 runs less frequently. One time after an event at Staples, I was headed back towards Westwood. Taking the Blue to the Red and getting off at Wil/Vermont, I waited 70 minutes (while two Westbound 20’s passed and three Eastbound 720’s passed on the other side) before I gave up and took the Local 20. I could have easily saved 40 minutes had I just taken the first 20 I saw, rather than unknowinly wait for a Rapid.
try wating 120 minutes on a bus line that runs every 30 minutes had it happen twice in one week decided to drive the rest of the week due to the frustration. (line 266 if your wondering)
I have to do that same math on the 720/20 route. At Wilshire/Westwood it’s not so bad as the 20 bus stop is right by the 720. Most of the time, the 20 is not that much slower, so I just grab the first bus that comes by.
At Wilshire/LaBrea, the 20 stop is across LaBrea, so you have to commit to one or the other beforehand. You’d think the electronic signs at the 720 stop would help, except they will announce “Bus arriving,” etc. for the 920 as well, and it’s not a 920 stop. So you get all excited thinking the 720 is arriving, only to see the 920 cruise on by. I’ve had three 920s go by before (a hugely overcrowded) 720 lumbers to a stop.
The trouble with NextBus is transit agencies seem to consider this solving the problem–it may help, but what we really want are busses that have a schedule and run on it! (I’m looking at *you*, SF Muni!)
Nick, I’ve made this observation, and I might as well try to make it a PhD dissertation.
I like to call it Wad’s Law.
The law is this: Reliability is inversely proportional to frequency.
In other words, the more frequent a service is, the less reliable it is.
It holds true across agencies, and even along times. For a small transit agency, the most unreliable route is its busiest if the line runs more frequently than others.
Since it happens in L.A., San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Lubbock … everywhere, it’s really out of the hands of management. A lot of the problems come from the demand side of the equation. Management can only affect supply, or worse, it can try to destroy demand to get it to be manageable.
This doesn’t exactly relate to LA Metro, but where I used to live in the mid-west there was a bus line that went from right outside my apartment door to within two blocks of my place of work, but I couldn’t ride it for my commute. It was labeled a commuter express, but for some reason only ran from 4-4:30 in the afternoon. I don’t know what kind of business hours transit agencies keep, but I doubt many people really get off work around four in the afternoon.
We do have our own NextBus system, it’s called Rapidbus.net. Those signs on the 720 and 750 (the two initial Rapid lines) goes off the same information, as does the Metro Orange Line. Most of the important Rapid lines are listed on there, except the most busiest and only 60BRT line in the San Fernando Valley, Metro Rapid 761. I’m still waiting on that one, until then, it’s the 233/761 shuffle.
I’d love for buses to be on time too and the problem is always with the general driving public, they either crowd the right hand lane preventing the buses from alighting/boarding at stops and cutting them off, which is a huge sign of discourtesy thats way too common on the roads. Of course, turning our Rapid lines into a subway system would be a a great solution if we can get the money, but in the current condition, we should put real priority on buses on the street; like bus lanes, and a bus only light. A solution to the right turn lane on busy streets is to let the right turn light stay green to clear the cars until the bus passes the intersection.
Right, but you and I both know Muni and AC Transit will never achieve on time performance, haha.
There are limitations to rapidbus.net. For one, it doesn’t track buses by GPS as NextBus does. Rather, it uses the same loop sensors that give signal priority to the Rapids. This makes it harder to provide real time estimates as times are only updated as the buses go over the sensors, rather than having constant communication with GPS. Secondly, because many of the loop sensors or real time displays are either broken (when they’re blank) or not communicating properly with ATSAC (when the displays say METRO RAPID BUS), many times there is little to no helpful information. Sometimes there is just simply no power to the system because the power washers that come to clean the stops blast everything around there including at the direction of the electronic display which can obviously cause damage. Third, there are gaps between certain areas (BH being the biggest one) where you cannot receive real time info because loop sensors are not installed in BH and therefore cannot communicate with ATSAC.
Oh yes, tonight, I’m standing at Wilshire and Normandie waiting ten minutes for a Rapid Bus at a stop where the sign says “NEXT BUS IN 1 MIN”, and let the local pass by. I watched the clock, looked around, and decided to take the subway instead, since I knew when the subway was arriving, even though I had hoped to get on a bus since I just missed the subway to Downtown.
I thought that the hours and frequency of the 714 Rapid were being expanded as part of the upcoming June service changes… anyone know if that’s still the plan?
I didn’t see any mention of 714, but Metro is starting up the last 6 of the Rapid lines on June 30.
Let’s commence the onslaught of ridicule now for this plan:
Line 394 is going to be replaced by a THREE-BUS TRIP between Sylmar and downtown L.A. Line 794 will travel only between Burbank and downtown L.A., and Line 724 will travel between North Hollywood Red Line station and Sylmar — and weekdays only.
Perhaps enough customer outrage would cause an urgent service change before the December 2008 shake-up. For now, planning Metroed up San Fernando Road.
Brilliantmistake said it all for me re: the 720. Except that I get on at Commerce Center — THE VERY FIRST STOP — and the busses are still behind sched. I have waited over an hour there for the supposed 720 “rapid,” which theoretically runs every 15 minutes during the non-rush day times (9-5) when I’m waiting. Sometimes the 720 drivers start the bus at Atlantic, the second stop, even though this adjustment is not on the schedule or announced. Sometimes a bus breaks down and rather than sending another bus out early to replace it, they just make you wait for the next one. Other times, I have no idea why no bus arrives. I’ve programmed the Metro number into my cell now so I can at least sound off when the bus fails to arrive. I feel better, even if the service still stinks.
For the record:
Metro San Fernando Valley’s service development team didn’t want to do Rapid on San Fernando Rd. the way it is being done. They wanted to simply replace current limited-stop 394 with 794 and improve service levels to the Rapid standards.
They were told by Corporate that because the 724/794 was part of the New Service Plan submitted to Judge Hatter as a condition of letting the consent decree expire end, they had to do it this way.
During the public hearing, there were more negative comments than positive ones.
The SFV Governance Council voted unanimously to oppose the 724/794. And took the fight all the way to the Board of Directors … who sided with the attorneys and approved it.
The complete story, with maps, is (of course) at the Transit Insider.
Roger Snoble says that, under the New Service Plan, it cannot be modified until June 2009. Even if the customer outrage is 100%.
The BRU, after all the fighting, reversed their conditional support position from the public hearing before the Board. Didn’t make any difference. I have told them that the only way this is going to be undone quickly is if they assure Roger that they won’t take Metro to court if we do it the way the sector wants. They are having a meeting with Roger on Tuesday. We shall see what they tell him.
I have fought this, both in public session and behind the scenes at Metro, down to the wire … and my hands are still tied. The lawyers are the only ones that know how to untie me, and they won’t.
No (that was never the case), but 714 is generally regarded, both by Metro staff and the advocacy community, as being the leading Rapid candidate for cancellation once the federal court relinquishes control over the New Service Plan.
Kym, thanks for the background. You provided an insight that most of the public or the media would have never seen.
I talked to Jerard Wright about this, and we both agree on taking the 714 buses and canceling the line, and forming a Rapid Line 716 instead. It would shift the limited service to the next closest street. Line 716 has the conditions to be a very productive 7-day Rapid.
By the way, is 705 up for cancellation? That has always seemed to me the least used Rapid. There’s no ridership on La Cienega Boulevard, and are empty on Vernon near the Harbor Freeway.
You’re welcome. Parts of this saga were already “out there”, as they occurred during public meetings of the sector Governance Council and the Metro Board, but the general public does not attend either in large numbers so even the discussions made in open session were not widely disseminated. (That’s one reason I chronicle as much of these things as I can at my own site.)
To be honest, I don’t know. The conversation I had with Rex Gephart didn’t cover everything (we were mostly talking about San Fernando Rd.) and 714 just came up in context to something else.
I know this is an old post, but I just wanted to confirm that my earlier thought regarding potential beefed up service on the 714 IS actually coming to fruition! Metro just posted the new schedules on their website and the 714 will now be running all day, M-F, from 5am to 8pm. Up until now, it has been a “rush-hour only” Rapid line. The new schedule looks to have headways of 10 minutes in the peak hours and 20 minutes in the off-peak. I believe that they diverted some trips from the 14 Local in order to add these trips to the Rapid, but need to get that confirmed. Anyone?
They cut service on the 14 to every 20 minutes from every 15, conforming with the New Service Plan, which states that 1/3 of service may come from existing local service, while the rest has to be new service. It also allows Metro to save an exemption (I discuss exemptions in my post on the Metrorider forum about the June service changes).
Thanks!