I have strong childhood memories of riding through hot summers and cold winters atop the lipstick red leatherette seats of the New Look Buses that the D.C Metro flaunted at the time. They were great looking, albeit shaky machines to be in, made even more charismatic by the people who rode them.
I specifically remember the distinct sounds of the riding the bus; something I don't get when trying to sift through commercials on my radio while stuck in traffic on the 10.
In the midst of rattly windows and the rubber band twang of the yellow stop request cable, the menagerie of riders laughed, snored, gossiped, did their hair, eavesdropped, and applied make-up and read the news paper in a manner magically in-tune with the bus's wafty dance over potholes and frequent stops. It was theater.
D.C was always full of tourists, and my favorite, albeit sadistic, game was to count the times the bus driver told confused first time riders "I ain't no bank, I'm a bus driver- so don't ask me for change. Exact change. E-X-A-C-T C-H-A-N-G-E!"
One night though, after getting caught in a summer down pour, it happened to me, and as I walked home, cold and wet, the joke had lost its humor.
Ever since I moved to LA three years ago, I have given up my buses and bicycle, and spend a great amount of my time sitting in traffic in my car. I love my car, especially when it runs, but with gas prices rising and my new relocation closer to Down Town LA, I was more than happy to hop on this assignment to help design the Big Blue Bus of the future.
Last week we all took the Big Blue Bus route from downtown LA to Santa Monica to LAX. I made sure I bought exact change for the occasion, and was preparing my stomach for a ride I though would be uncomfortably warm and bumpy.
To my pleasant surprise, I had a smooth and happy series of trips. Part of our job was to interview BBB riders, and people were more than happy to share their thoughts and opinions with us, repeatedly stating that BBB riders were the happiest of the land.
The A/C worked, the buses were spotless, and the bus drivers greeted people rather than scorned them.
We talked to tourists with big bags, junior high school students, loyal riders who have rode with BBB for decades, tried not to disturb those people who chose to nap their way through traffic rather than sit in it.
All in all, and inspiring and pleasant time. We came out of the experience with a slew of ideas, and can't wait to see what you all think about them.
3 comments:
WHAT route from downtown LA to LAX?
There are three. None are run by Big Blue.
I assume you ended up on the Lincoln "Rapid" bus, which is nothing more than a multi-million dollar marketing campaign.
We were promised that this "Rapid" would operate in its own bus lane.
When you raise the issue today, you get a bunch of double-talk, yet the chief now calls it "Bus Rapid Transit".
Try taking it on Thursday or Friday evening at rush hour. Good luck getting to your terminal in under two hours.
Likewise, try taking the Culver City #6 to the airport. Bring a copy of War & Peace to read while waiting.
We don't need new bus designs. We need don't glowing reviews and marketing campaigns. We need existing service to actually move. We need our overpaid government officials to actually deliver on their meager transit promises.
Full-time dedicated bus lanes on Lincoln, as well as Sepulveda, along with signal preemption (not "priority"), should be implemented TODAY, as a stop-gap measure. Plans for an elevated light rail on each route should already be in the planning stages.
Hi anonymous,
Thanks for your comment.
We took the 10 from Downtown LA to Santa Monica, and then hopped on the 3 to the airport. I guess I left that idea out...
I know that London is doing some interesting systems planning with Bus priority lanes- ie when a bus needs to get into a lane in bottleneck situations, all cars need to stop.
I like the idea of signal preemtion- will do some more research regarding this system.
Signal preemption is not for the bus of the future. It could be on the bus of now. The City would have to allow the buses to have preemption just like the fire trucks do now and install the same device on the bus that goes on the fire truck.
I am working on Signal Priority now. We already have it on the Rapid 3 in Los Angeles. I am currently in the very early stages of signal priority for all of Santa Monica. Right now we are in the process of trying to prove out a concept and once that works we can move forward.
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