The much-celebrated "flexibility" of buses usually means "unreliability" and "inconsistency" from the passenger perspectivehttps://twitter.com/devonzuegel/status/999042791773634560 …
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In fact it's kind of a precondition for my being able to rely on it at all
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One of the worst things about the bus schedules where I live is the sheer variability: a given route runs one schedule on weekdays, another on saturdays, a third on sundays, and may operate entirely different weekday, saturday, and sunday schedules when schools are on vacation
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Other routes simply won't run at all on Sundays--or on Sundays AND Saturdays--and a few *change their route* depending on the day of the week. Some routes operate different schedules on Thursdays and Fridays than they do Monday thru Wednesday.
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Possibly the worst offender is Route 38, which connects Amherst w Mount Holyoke College: this route operates every half hour when the colleges are in session & doesn't run at all during vacations... ...except during winter break, when it operates every 40 minutes...
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...and then it has *yet another* schedule which it operates during the end of December and Spring Break, where it operates 4 round trips a day. The regular school year schedule is different on M-W, Thursday, Friday, Sat, and Sun. Winter schedule is similar, but M-Th is constant.
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Needless to say, this is dizzying to keep track of--trips that are easy to make during the week (while I'm working) become impossible as soon as I get some time off. The aforementioned Route 38 is ideal for hiking--but doesn't run during the summer, which is the best time to hike
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Oh one more thing: schedules for all routes get updated as many as *four times every year,* so by the time you memorize one you might be too late.
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It would be one thing if we needed to keep changing schedules because of runaway population growth or decline--but neither are issues in Western MA. It's a very stagnant place! We ought to be able to simplify most routes to a "weekday & weekend" schedule, or even a constant one!
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Occasionally I see a local RTA bus in my street. I have no idea when it runs, where it stops or if it would take me anywhere useful.
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I see a dozen paratransit buses in my area for every fixed-route bus, and they're operated by the same agency!
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those cost ten times as much per passenger to operate lmao
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One reason that to be a success,
#regionalrail needs to be accompanied by improved service targets for connecting RTAs. -
I'm literally within two miles of two commuter rail stations but even on current poor schedules there's no bus service to connect me
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and this is a relatively high density neighborhood, 200+ dwellings in my complex alone. But only option is to drive and park!
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