Just wondering: Why are so many bus windows so scratched up it looks like someone scrubbed them with a wire brush? I notice this especially on the No. 2 line.
The only good thing about it is that it forces me to read instead of gazing out the window as I ride. The downside of it is that these scratched up windows make it nearly impossible to figure out where you are, where you're going or view street signs and landmarks. At night, it looks like everything is shrouded in an impenetrable fog.... Even during the day, it appears as if we are traveling through Beijing on a day of deadly smog levels--you can't even make out street signs! Just another "convenience" COTA provides its riders, I suppose.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Marathon Madness!
If it's spring, it must be marathon time in Columbus, an often maddening time for COTA riders in which we haplessly experience delays, reroutes, and scrapped schedules.
In fact, it was an experience during the Columbus Marathon about four years ago that led to the creation of this blog. I absolutely HAD to go to the grocery store one Saturday. Big mistake! The trip back--about 25 blocks--took more than two hours as buses crawled by with "Next Bus Please" or "Not in Service" on their destination zippers--or simply didn't crawl by at all. I couldn't walk--I had bags of groceries. As usual, no one was forewarned; no notices were posted of the upcoming upheaval were posted on the bus in the days prior to the event.
Last Saturday was no different. The Capitol City Half-Marathon was held in the morning, and I boarded the No. 2 East Main Street to downtown, so I could make a transfer to my destination in Franklinton (South Grubb and Rich streets, where stops for the Nos. 3, 6, and 15 are located). I had a home-made potato salad in tow for a potluck being held at my spiritual place of refuge. It was my plan to change downtown for one of three afore-mentioned lines, but COTA had other plans.
The bus already was eight minutes late when I boarded, eliminating the possibility catching two of the transfers, but I could still catch the third in plenty of time. However, as we moved along Grant without making the turn onto State Street, and instead, headed to West Broad Street, I knew something was terribly amiss. It was then I noticed the massive traffic jams all over downtown, and buses going down streets they usually don't go down. We turned onto West Broad Street, apparently where the Broad and High transfer point had been relocated. I jumped off the bus, and saw a West Broad Street No. 10, and jaywalked and dodged traffic to catch it. It was pulling off but the driver kindly allowed me on.
"What's going on?" I asked her.
"A marathon," she told me.
"I didn't know about this. Why weren't notices posted?" I asked.
"We've had notices all week," she said, despite the fact that none were posted anywhere on her bus. Nor did I see any at all during the week on any other bus I ride, and I ride at least two to four times a day.
The driver took us back down Grant, where we sat in traffic for about 15 minutes. A state trooper at the intersection of East Main and Grant stood around looking perplexed but I never him nor any other law enforcement officers directing traffic anywhere along the route she followed. As we headed back toward my neighborhood, I asked her what her route was going to be. After all, she was going east, the opposite direction that would take us to West Broad Street.
"I'm going to the freeway (Interstate 70), to the Rich and Town street exit), where I'll go over to West Broad," she told me.
To her credit, she was pretty calm considering.... I know bus-driving is an occupation in which high-blood pressure and a general nasty demeanor are occupational hazards. Riders also suffer the same afflictions.
"I've learned just to roll with it," she said.
Although my brain was beginning to roil, I took her example and sat down and buried myself in a magazine. I feared the worst because not only was traffic downtown deadlocked, but Interstate 71 north was closed for miles for major reconstruction; I suspected that I-70 was another parking lot. I figured I'd have to throw out my lovingly created potato salad because it would have become warm, increasing the possibility of salmonella poisoning. Fortunately, I-70 wasn't that bad, and I was able to get to where I was going, and the potato salad still had a healthy chill when I arrived. I just barely made lunch.
The usual 20-minute trip took a total of 1 hour, 5 minutes.
My question is why can't COTA adequately warn riders of these delays? I have only on rare occasions seen notices posted on the buses during huge events downtown that involve reroutes and delays. Never knew anything about Saturday's marathon until I enviously watched sweaty runners going where they needed to go as I sat on a bus stuck in traffic. It also would seem that the city and police department might be better prepared as well. Those who drove to the potluck also told of huge traffic jams and delays trying to get there.
While I am all in favor of people competing in marathons, especially if they are raising money for a good cause, the needs of us poor COTA-riding schlubs needs to be considered, too. We have lives: we have to work, go to the grocery, keep appointments. And since we don't drive, we have to factor in bus time for everything we do that involves trying to get somewhere. It often takes twice as long for us to do these things than it does for those with cars.
As the summer festival and outdoor event season begins in earnest, I'll be keeping a wary eye on COTA's performance, both in alerting us to upcoming delays and reroutes, and maintaining service with the least inconvenience possible.
By the way, the potato salad survived, and everyone loved it. As far as I know, no one got food poisoning.
In fact, it was an experience during the Columbus Marathon about four years ago that led to the creation of this blog. I absolutely HAD to go to the grocery store one Saturday. Big mistake! The trip back--about 25 blocks--took more than two hours as buses crawled by with "Next Bus Please" or "Not in Service" on their destination zippers--or simply didn't crawl by at all. I couldn't walk--I had bags of groceries. As usual, no one was forewarned; no notices were posted of the upcoming upheaval were posted on the bus in the days prior to the event.
Last Saturday was no different. The Capitol City Half-Marathon was held in the morning, and I boarded the No. 2 East Main Street to downtown, so I could make a transfer to my destination in Franklinton (South Grubb and Rich streets, where stops for the Nos. 3, 6, and 15 are located). I had a home-made potato salad in tow for a potluck being held at my spiritual place of refuge. It was my plan to change downtown for one of three afore-mentioned lines, but COTA had other plans.
The bus already was eight minutes late when I boarded, eliminating the possibility catching two of the transfers, but I could still catch the third in plenty of time. However, as we moved along Grant without making the turn onto State Street, and instead, headed to West Broad Street, I knew something was terribly amiss. It was then I noticed the massive traffic jams all over downtown, and buses going down streets they usually don't go down. We turned onto West Broad Street, apparently where the Broad and High transfer point had been relocated. I jumped off the bus, and saw a West Broad Street No. 10, and jaywalked and dodged traffic to catch it. It was pulling off but the driver kindly allowed me on.
"What's going on?" I asked her.
"A marathon," she told me.
"I didn't know about this. Why weren't notices posted?" I asked.
"We've had notices all week," she said, despite the fact that none were posted anywhere on her bus. Nor did I see any at all during the week on any other bus I ride, and I ride at least two to four times a day.
The driver took us back down Grant, where we sat in traffic for about 15 minutes. A state trooper at the intersection of East Main and Grant stood around looking perplexed but I never him nor any other law enforcement officers directing traffic anywhere along the route she followed. As we headed back toward my neighborhood, I asked her what her route was going to be. After all, she was going east, the opposite direction that would take us to West Broad Street.
"I'm going to the freeway (Interstate 70), to the Rich and Town street exit), where I'll go over to West Broad," she told me.
To her credit, she was pretty calm considering.... I know bus-driving is an occupation in which high-blood pressure and a general nasty demeanor are occupational hazards. Riders also suffer the same afflictions.
"I've learned just to roll with it," she said.
Although my brain was beginning to roil, I took her example and sat down and buried myself in a magazine. I feared the worst because not only was traffic downtown deadlocked, but Interstate 71 north was closed for miles for major reconstruction; I suspected that I-70 was another parking lot. I figured I'd have to throw out my lovingly created potato salad because it would have become warm, increasing the possibility of salmonella poisoning. Fortunately, I-70 wasn't that bad, and I was able to get to where I was going, and the potato salad still had a healthy chill when I arrived. I just barely made lunch.
The usual 20-minute trip took a total of 1 hour, 5 minutes.
My question is why can't COTA adequately warn riders of these delays? I have only on rare occasions seen notices posted on the buses during huge events downtown that involve reroutes and delays. Never knew anything about Saturday's marathon until I enviously watched sweaty runners going where they needed to go as I sat on a bus stuck in traffic. It also would seem that the city and police department might be better prepared as well. Those who drove to the potluck also told of huge traffic jams and delays trying to get there.
While I am all in favor of people competing in marathons, especially if they are raising money for a good cause, the needs of us poor COTA-riding schlubs needs to be considered, too. We have lives: we have to work, go to the grocery, keep appointments. And since we don't drive, we have to factor in bus time for everything we do that involves trying to get somewhere. It often takes twice as long for us to do these things than it does for those with cars.
As the summer festival and outdoor event season begins in earnest, I'll be keeping a wary eye on COTA's performance, both in alerting us to upcoming delays and reroutes, and maintaining service with the least inconvenience possible.
By the way, the potato salad survived, and everyone loved it. As far as I know, no one got food poisoning.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Fan mail
Earlier this year, a reader who signed himself Public Transportation Driver, presumably a COTA employee as he addressed the system specifically, took issue with my October 2014 post "Of Bedbugs and COTA." In it, I expressed concerns about the possibility of catching the little critters while riding COTA buses. PTD wrote:
I was gratified to receive my first comment, even if I was called a creep! I did not respond to him personally, but since I've been moribund since I received it in March, I feel obliged to make it my first item of business to do so. Here goes: PTD says "bedbugs amongst (sic) other things may be found on public transportation because "it's just that PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION we need to keep it in mind that it's your choice to ride." Well, I don't think I want to know what "other things" might be found on public transportation--bedbugs and trash are enough. Maybe he knows something I don't. I do take issue with PTD's assertion that COTA riders have a choice. I can bet you that most COTA riders don't feel they have a choice. In fact, for many it is the only option to go to work, shop, visit relatives, or otherwise move around the sprawling megalopolis of Columbus. It's not a choice for us like it is for the giggly gaggles of OSU students who crowd the North High Street line--it's a necessity.
Remember PTD, we live in a city, and in cities, not everyone has the means or the ability to afford to have and maintain a car. Hence, the necessity of public transportation. And like so many these days, you appear to look down on things "public" with its socialistic connotations and the nightmare images of the great unwashed the term apparently conjures among many these days. In fact, the term "public" has become so pejorative that Columbus Public Schools last year officially changed its name to Columbus CITY Schools, presumably to mitigate the negative associations our current (right-leaning) political atmosphere has attached to it. Me, I still believe in contributing to the public good--which PTD, you do as a public bus driver, whether you acknowledge it or not!
Additionally, PTD (once I was able to decipher his somewhat fractured grammar) states I was singling out poor people and neighborhoods as the greatest source of bedbugs. Not true. I should have worded it differently and I didn't mean it the way you think. In fact, I pointed out that bedbugs are found in the fanciest, most exclusive neighborhoods "like Riverside Drive." I should have made the reference to New York City's Riverside Drive more explicit. New York's Riverside Drive winds up the Hudson River on the Upper West Side of Manhattan--some of the most expensive real estate on the planet. Columbus, too, has a Riverside Drive, which winds along the Scioto River through tony Upper Arlington. Trivia: For many years, local urban legend had it that legendary guitar god and sometime-Columbus resident Eric Clapton, who is married to a UA girl, had a mansion somewhere along the Scioto!
Then PTD tells me to "get a car" (not possible in my current financial state) or even better, "a job with COTA as a coach cleaner"! My only response to that is: What do they pay? All nit-picking (or is it bedbug-picking?) aside, I was pleased to receive a comment from a reader, and hope to receive more. Thanks, PTD! I salute you because your job is rough and I know you guys put up with a lot of crap from management, riders, and other (non-bus) drivers.
Bedbugs amongst other things may be found on public transportation. . But because it's just that PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION we need to keep it in mind that it's your choice to ride... even if COTA took the precautions to prevent them it want make to much of a difference considering the same pple have the right to ride just like you.... it saddens me to know that there are pple like you ridding around lurking &looking for something wrong ..yes there is a bedbug epidemic in Columbus not just in poverty stricken areas you can go to work n pick them up from your boss ...geeeessshhhh get a car or perhaps get a job with COTA as a coach cleaner and see how many buses stay clean with you on they team... creep
I was gratified to receive my first comment, even if I was called a creep! I did not respond to him personally, but since I've been moribund since I received it in March, I feel obliged to make it my first item of business to do so. Here goes: PTD says "bedbugs amongst (sic) other things may be found on public transportation because "it's just that PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION we need to keep it in mind that it's your choice to ride." Well, I don't think I want to know what "other things" might be found on public transportation--bedbugs and trash are enough. Maybe he knows something I don't. I do take issue with PTD's assertion that COTA riders have a choice. I can bet you that most COTA riders don't feel they have a choice. In fact, for many it is the only option to go to work, shop, visit relatives, or otherwise move around the sprawling megalopolis of Columbus. It's not a choice for us like it is for the giggly gaggles of OSU students who crowd the North High Street line--it's a necessity.
Remember PTD, we live in a city, and in cities, not everyone has the means or the ability to afford to have and maintain a car. Hence, the necessity of public transportation. And like so many these days, you appear to look down on things "public" with its socialistic connotations and the nightmare images of the great unwashed the term apparently conjures among many these days. In fact, the term "public" has become so pejorative that Columbus Public Schools last year officially changed its name to Columbus CITY Schools, presumably to mitigate the negative associations our current (right-leaning) political atmosphere has attached to it. Me, I still believe in contributing to the public good--which PTD, you do as a public bus driver, whether you acknowledge it or not!
Additionally, PTD (once I was able to decipher his somewhat fractured grammar) states I was singling out poor people and neighborhoods as the greatest source of bedbugs. Not true. I should have worded it differently and I didn't mean it the way you think. In fact, I pointed out that bedbugs are found in the fanciest, most exclusive neighborhoods "like Riverside Drive." I should have made the reference to New York City's Riverside Drive more explicit. New York's Riverside Drive winds up the Hudson River on the Upper West Side of Manhattan--some of the most expensive real estate on the planet. Columbus, too, has a Riverside Drive, which winds along the Scioto River through tony Upper Arlington. Trivia: For many years, local urban legend had it that legendary guitar god and sometime-Columbus resident Eric Clapton, who is married to a UA girl, had a mansion somewhere along the Scioto!
Then PTD tells me to "get a car" (not possible in my current financial state) or even better, "a job with COTA as a coach cleaner"! My only response to that is: What do they pay? All nit-picking (or is it bedbug-picking?) aside, I was pleased to receive a comment from a reader, and hope to receive more. Thanks, PTD! I salute you because your job is rough and I know you guys put up with a lot of crap from management, riders, and other (non-bus) drivers.
Cotacrimes.blogspot.com returns -- with a vengeance!
Nothing like a couple of unsavory experiences on the Central Ohio Transit Authority buses to get my dander rising, and get me back to the blog. Just a quick update:
-- We dodged a proposed fare increase that was skedded for Jan. 1 (my monthly pass would have gone from $62 to $69; individual fares would have risen from $2 to $2.25), and the CBus, the vanity coach that takes High Street, German Village, and Arena District revelers around those areas (and anyone else who needs to go there, but it's mostly ridden by partiers and hipsters) remains free, at least until May 3 (at this writing on May 2, it appears it will remain free for the time being).
-- Ugly new bus stops have been built downtown, and several downtown stops have been consolidated (in other words, closed). At least some of the new shelters have heat, and most actually have the line schedule posted, something I've been bitching about for years. The new shelters are part of a plan to spare tourists, out-of-towners and Statehouse bureaucrats the sight of motley groups of COTA riders who congregate downtown trying to make transfers. Ultimately, riders will be herded to side streets but this has not happened yet. Dayton did something similar, but built a fairly nice station for its riders, complete with electronic timetables that tell you how long you will wait for a bus to arrive. This is something I'd love to see in the COTA system. Still, in the far-flung reaches of the COTA empire, some bus stops are still only signs next to drainage ditches (I plan a photo series this year documenting the sorry state of many of our bus stops that I plan to title, Our Filthy Bus Stops).
Old-school COTA shelter
COTA shelter 2015
-- Some new coaches have been put into service, with smooth vinyl seats replacing the icky, fabric-covered ones of yore (see previous post: Of Bedbugs and COTA). I can't wait until all of the seats are changed so that passengers won't use the plastic grocery bags COTA inexplicably provides for customers to toss their trash into as plastic seat covers (I'll be addressing this in an upcoming entry). To its credit, COTA also has been putting hybrids into service, doing its part of cut down on the dangerous diesel pollution buses generate.
-- Still, many of the buses remain filthy (I blame riders for this mostly), and while on-time performance has improved, the system still can't handle large downtown events like today's Capitol City Half-Marathon, which caused sheer pandemonium and chaos for the system (see subsequent entry: Marathon Madness!). Drivers have generally been friendlier, at least to me, but many still can't tell you where and for what bus you can make transfers. Also, timetables are not aligned well enough to effect transfers; I can't tell you how many times I've approached the Hamilton Road/East Main Street intersection hoping to catch my transfer, only to see it pull away as I watched helplessly from the bus as it approached the intersection. Surely COTA planners could alleviate this. And drivers SIMPLY REFUSE to wait for approaching buses to allow riders to make transfers.
-- I don't know how many folks actually read this--I have almost 1,000 "views", probably about 500 are my own--but I did receive my first piece of fan mail, which I will address in the next entry.
-- We dodged a proposed fare increase that was skedded for Jan. 1 (my monthly pass would have gone from $62 to $69; individual fares would have risen from $2 to $2.25), and the CBus, the vanity coach that takes High Street, German Village, and Arena District revelers around those areas (and anyone else who needs to go there, but it's mostly ridden by partiers and hipsters) remains free, at least until May 3 (at this writing on May 2, it appears it will remain free for the time being).
-- Ugly new bus stops have been built downtown, and several downtown stops have been consolidated (in other words, closed). At least some of the new shelters have heat, and most actually have the line schedule posted, something I've been bitching about for years. The new shelters are part of a plan to spare tourists, out-of-towners and Statehouse bureaucrats the sight of motley groups of COTA riders who congregate downtown trying to make transfers. Ultimately, riders will be herded to side streets but this has not happened yet. Dayton did something similar, but built a fairly nice station for its riders, complete with electronic timetables that tell you how long you will wait for a bus to arrive. This is something I'd love to see in the COTA system. Still, in the far-flung reaches of the COTA empire, some bus stops are still only signs next to drainage ditches (I plan a photo series this year documenting the sorry state of many of our bus stops that I plan to title, Our Filthy Bus Stops).
Old-school COTA shelter
COTA shelter 2015
-- Some new coaches have been put into service, with smooth vinyl seats replacing the icky, fabric-covered ones of yore (see previous post: Of Bedbugs and COTA). I can't wait until all of the seats are changed so that passengers won't use the plastic grocery bags COTA inexplicably provides for customers to toss their trash into as plastic seat covers (I'll be addressing this in an upcoming entry). To its credit, COTA also has been putting hybrids into service, doing its part of cut down on the dangerous diesel pollution buses generate.
-- Still, many of the buses remain filthy (I blame riders for this mostly), and while on-time performance has improved, the system still can't handle large downtown events like today's Capitol City Half-Marathon, which caused sheer pandemonium and chaos for the system (see subsequent entry: Marathon Madness!). Drivers have generally been friendlier, at least to me, but many still can't tell you where and for what bus you can make transfers. Also, timetables are not aligned well enough to effect transfers; I can't tell you how many times I've approached the Hamilton Road/East Main Street intersection hoping to catch my transfer, only to see it pull away as I watched helplessly from the bus as it approached the intersection. Surely COTA planners could alleviate this. And drivers SIMPLY REFUSE to wait for approaching buses to allow riders to make transfers.
-- I don't know how many folks actually read this--I have almost 1,000 "views", probably about 500 are my own--but I did receive my first piece of fan mail, which I will address in the next entry.
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