[identity profile] oneagain.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] davis_square
I got a call yesterday in response to the call I put in on Monday to the MBTA. A message was left for me on my answering machine (which I requested in the event that I could not answer the call) saying that the service providers had been made aware of the problem of adherence to the schedule and they were working on it, but he did not know how long it would take for any resolution. I called back today and told the woman answering the phone about the situation and that I wanted to be notified when some conclusion was reached about how this would be prevented in the future. She thought I meant that I wanted the 89 to run more than hourly, which, though it would be nice, was not exactly what I was asking for; what I was asking for was for this kind of situation to be resolved in the future by taking a bus that runs far more frequently in the event of another 89 mechanical issue, particularly in the midst of a snowstorm (did I mention seeing 4 87s in the time I was waiting?). (Also--the 89 is often 20 or 30 minutes late, or more, particularly on weekends. Is it *always* mechanical failure?) I was told that mechanical failures can not be avoided, and that it would have taken another hour to get another bus leaving from Charlestown (nonsense, the bus ride from Sullivan to Davis is something like half an hour *with* *stops*). I asked why a different bus could not be diverted, and she said there were not buses laying in wait (which was not an answer) and that they just didn't have the resources. I told her nonsense, there were many resources, folks just had to prioritize what to use them for, and keeping *many* people waiting an *extra* hour on top of the usual wait for an hourly bus, in the midst of a snowstorm, wasted *many* hours collectively and was simply not acceptable. She told me she would relay my message. I asked her if anyone was going to take this seriously, or would the answer still be, when (if) it winds up making its way back to me, that they don't have the resources. She said she thought so. I credit her for honesty, but I am still rather irritated.

On a related note, someone struck up a conversation with me about the 86 that was late some Thursday evening a few weeks back while we were waiting for it (ok, it was more like a monologue, but not an uninteresting one) and all he went through to try to get that addressed. He mentioned a bus driver, btw, who said "this is for people like you" as he showed him his tattoo on his arm with his bus driver number when the person talking to me asked for it. When he complained, he was told action would be taken, but he was never told what action *was* taken). Have others been threatened or intimidated this way by bus drivers? He also told me bus drivers make $80,000 a year. I am wondering how I would verify that. Anyone hear that, too? Know how to find out? I'm kind of curious now. If it is true, I guess I am kind of confused about how the excuse of "there are not enough resources for us to do our jobs" can fly. Is it possible that they can be paid per successful ride? (And by successful, I mean on time or close to it, not an our late, not even 15 minutes late.) Any thoughts welcome.

Date: 2011-11-04 07:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 808.livejournal.com
The OP quote is "why a different bus could not be diverted" so they do not mention whether it was laying in wait or whether it was actively on another route. The operator probably assumed, as I did, that the person meant a bus laying in wait as diverting a bus from an active route would be even worse than doing nothing.

Date: 2011-11-04 07:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] veek.livejournal.com
Not necessarily. There are often backups on the MBTA, and those (clearly) don't affect the number of buses on a given route. Net effect: first there are delays, then several buses of the same route number come through in rapid succession. We have had the technology to determine this ever since we've had the abacus, it just involves tracking information and making decisions based on it. These days, we already track buses with only seconds' lag. If there's a mechanical failure on an hourly route, and a four-of-the-same-bus situation on a nearby route, it's TRIVIAL to divert one of those buses with no perceptible negative effect for anyone.

Date: 2011-11-04 07:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 808.livejournal.com
Maybe we are talking different things here. When I said "divert a bus on an active" route I mean a bus that has already left the station and been assigned a route. When I say "idle", I mean a bus that is sitting somewhere and has not been assigned a route.

When you talk of a "four-of-the-same-bus" situation you are talking of an extreme situation. In my 12 years in Boston I have seen that exactly twice. So, yeah, in that situation you can move routes. But even then it isn't "trivial". If the new route is not the same length (in time) as the original route, then you have screwed up all subsequent runs by that bus. You also have to distinguish which of the four buses is the one most outside of its schedule. Then you have to filter in the transit time from the other route to the new route. Add on to all of that the fact that this occurred on a Sunday morning, the least active time of the week. The chance of a four-bus pileup on Sunday morning is quote remote. My problem with Sunday mornings is having even a single bus show up. So, yeah, it can be done. But it isn't trivial and requires a distinct set of circumstances to make it worth while.

Date: 2011-11-04 08:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] veek.livejournal.com
As you describe it, we're talking about the same thing.

Re: how often scheduling pile-ups happen, my experience (11 years out of the last 18) differs from yours. In addition, the original post specifically described such a situation.

As to triviality, I'm happy to disagree on this. When I said trivial, what I meant was: it is a fairly standard programming project; a reasonably competent programmer would find it a PITA but entirely doable.

Date: 2011-11-04 08:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emcicle.livejournal.com
I frequently see multiple bus back ups (3 to 4 coming a minute or two apart, or literally all lined up together), especially on the 77 route. Not on a Sunday that often, but definitely with enough frequency that i wouldn't call it rare or extreme.

Date: 2011-11-04 11:24 pm (UTC)
squirrelitude: (Default)
From: [personal profile] squirrelitude
I've certainly seen 3 in a row. It's not uncommon. This is due to the positive feedback loop caused by the nature of buses -- when a bus stops to pick people up, it is simultaneously delaying itself while creating less work (and therefore delay) for the next bus behind. Even if the buses leapfrogged, they'd still cluster like this.

Also, this is a PM bus, not an AM bus. Plenty of time for the schedule to go to hell. :-)

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