Changes coming to Riverside Trolley Bus

[ChriswUfGator]

Back in the real world, nobody is going to wait an hour in the rain and heat with no shelters, to get on a bus that for no legitimate reason is running an additional hour or two late beyond its absurdly long scheduled headways, and then have to pay for the privilege of dealing with JTA's famously rude/nasty drivers, only to wind up missing whatever meeting they were going to anyway.

agreed...which is why JTA is replacing the 1-hour headway bus with a "trolley" that runs on 10-30 minute headways (depending on time of day)...and also why JTA is installing more shelters throughout town.

as to your concern about the route itself...I am confused...within Riverside and downtown, the proposed route is virtually identical to the current "trolley" route you seem to like....so what's the problem?

The problem is that merging it with the existing bus line they added major delays and a bunch of unnecessary stops to a trolley that was intended to be a point-to-point shuttle service connecting two entertainment districts. Now that they've decided to cut costs by merging it into an existing bus line with a billion stops and that routinely runs 2 hours behind schedule, it is totally unuseable for its intended purpose. "Hey I'll meet you at TSI...oh crap nevermind I won't get there before closing." Or "Hey I'm headed to the Landing, it's 3pm so I should be there by 7!" LMAO.

And the only times at which the headways are 20 minutes is 2 hours during the middle of the day, which isn't when the trolley would be successful. The execution is so terrible, it's a failure before it's had its first rider.

[tufsu1]

I don't see how a bus that only goes to FSCJ will ever run more than 30 minutes behind...especially given that it will be on 30 minite headways...

and since it will run on 10-15 minute headways during the lunch period (like the current route) you wouldn't even know if a bus was behind schedule.

btw, you say the route can't be successful during the 2-hour mid-day peiod...the current ridership # for the "trolley" would disagree.

[Dog Walker]

Let's wait and see how it works out.  I'm happy about the extended hours and just hope JTA doesn't screw up something that has been successful so far.  (Holding breath!)

[ChriswUfGator]

I don't see how a bus that only goes to FSCJ will ever run more than 30 minutes behind...especially given that it will be on 30 minite headways...

and since it will run on 10-15 minute headways during the lunch period (like the current route) you wouldn't even know if a bus was behind schedule.

btw, you say the route can't be successful during the 2-hour mid-day peiod...the current ridership # for the "trolley" would disagree.

Tufsu, it won't be possible to tell how many people are riding the "Trolley" and how many people are riding the WS route, because they're merging them. Also, yeah I agree I can't possibly see how the silly bus could be more than 30 minutes behind, but has that ever prevented most of JTA's buses from being hours behind schedule for no reason? No.

I will wait and see how it works out, but unlike the original concept for a point-to-point connection between the Riverside and Downtown dining/entertainment districts, this re-named bus route is of no use to me.

[CS Foltz]

Chris...........I am with you on this one! If there is ever a way to bollux something that is even close to working, I would bet money JTA will will find a way, under the guise of improvement, to screw things up!

[tufsu1]

I will wait and see how it works out, but unlike the original concept for a point-to-point connection between the Riverside and Downtown dining/entertainment districts, this re-named bus route is of no use to me.

well then I can only assume that you either never found the existing trolley route of use or you're just not willing to ride with "others".

[ChriswUfGator]

I will wait and see how it works out, but unlike the original concept for a point-to-point connection between the Riverside and Downtown dining/entertainment districts, this re-named bus route is of no use to me.

well then I can only assume that you either never found the existing trolley route of use or you're just not willing to ride with "others".

This is hilarious...a rich white guy just pulled the race card on me, LOL!

But Tufsu, look, it's simple. This trolley was supposed to be a 10 or 15 minute wait for a ride to downtown entertainment. Now it's a 40-minute wait (assuming the bus is on time, which we all know JTA never is) for a ride that will take an hour thanks to all the stops you have to make.

This wasn't supposed to be another stupid bus route, it was supposed to serve a specific purpose that it doesn't serve anymore. Who in their right mind is going to wait an hour or more to ride a bus for another hour just to go downtown when you could have already been there an hour and 50 minutes ago by just taking your car. You have to remember this is Riverside/Avondale, everybody's got a car. JTA can't treat this like their normal demographic, or it will fail. Actually it's a failure already, just another ho-hum bus route that nobody's going to use.

[Charles Hunter]

Chris, not sure I get your complaint 40 minutes between buses - according to the JTA website

WS1 - Riverside Trolley
The merger of the WS1 and the Riverside Trolley will mean expanded hours for the trolley. Previously a midday service only, the Riverside Trolley will run every 35 minutes from 5 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and every 12 minutes during the peak weekday lunch rush (11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) The route is also expanding to include FSCJ Kent campus, St. Vincent’s Medical Center and the Shoppes of Avondale. The trolley will also run every 70 minutes on Saturday. The fare will now be $1, up from 50 cents.

So, during the hours the old Riverside Trolley ran, the time between buses will be the same.  The longer waits are during times the RT did not run.  Also, between 5 Points in DT, I don't see that it will be making any more stops than it does now.  Now, if you catch a bus at 5 Points that is going to FSCJ instead of DT, then you might have a problem (and need to pay better attention).

One problem I see, is that the fare for the Trolley portion of the route is doubling, which, I expect will drive some riders away.  Shame they couldn't have kept the 50 cent fare between 5 Points and downtown.

[ChriswUfGator]

Chris, not sure I get your complaint 40 minutes between buses - according to the JTA website

WS1 - Riverside Trolley
The merger of the WS1 and the Riverside Trolley will mean expanded hours for the trolley. Previously a midday service only, the Riverside Trolley will run every 35 minutes from 5 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and every 12 minutes during the peak weekday lunch rush (11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) The route is also expanding to include FSCJ Kent campus, St. Vincent’s Medical Center and the Shoppes of Avondale. The trolley will also run every 70 minutes on Saturday. The fare will now be $1, up from 50 cents.

So, during the hours the old Riverside Trolley ran, the time between buses will be the same.  The longer waits are during times the RT did not run.  Also, between 5 Points in DT, I don't see that it will be making any more stops than it does now.  Now, if you catch a bus at 5 Points that is going to FSCJ instead of DT, then you might have a problem (and need to pay better attention).

One problem I see, is that the fare for the Trolley portion of the route is doubling, which, I expect will drive some riders away.  Shame they couldn't have kept the 50 cent fare between 5 Points and downtown.

The lateness of JTA buses is a direct function of how many stops they make. You can't screw it up too badly when it's got 2 stops, but the current configuration is a whole other story. The WS1 route they merged it into routinely runs an hour or two behind, and this will be no different (duh, since it's the same route).

Also, the initial execution was not the original concept either. This thing was not supposed to be lunch-only.

[CS Foltz]

Here we go again with .....scheduling improvements to increase head times plus the added effecient slant of merging what was two routes into one! Told you JTA would muck things up! I don't for the life of me understand! It would seem maybe that JTA is bound and determined to do things their way............it does not seem to matter if its right.....or wrong......cost effective or efficient! JTA's way or forgetaboutit!

[ChriswUfGator]

The saddest part is JTA's continual attempts to blame their financial predicament on the economy, despite the fact that their ridership numbers are almost entirely bogus and even with the cooked books it's still obvious they have been in decline for years. It's sad when you really think about. At a time when the economy sucks, people have more incentive than ever to try and cut costs, which in a city with a functional system would probably mean taking public transportion. Auto insurance, gasoline, maintenance, car payments, it all adds up pretty quick.

So here we are in an economy that probably has more people than at any time in the past 40 years incentivized to try out public transportation, and what happens? Despite the obvious cost savings and the fact that we're in a recession, people are still fleeing JTA in droves, and their revenue is down a whopping 30% at a time when people in cities with functional transportation systems are actually giving public transportation a whirl. I was similarly stunned a few years back when gas was around $4/gal, wondering why JTA wasn't kicking butt?

The answer is that nobody who has anything productive to do can afford to deal with JTA. I have two friends who regularly ride the bus, and one says it takes her 3 hours or longer to get from Springfield to Riverside. She actually walks, because she says she gets here faster and actually spends less time in the elements, since JTA is stuck in 1902 being the only transportation authority I can think of that has no bus shelters.

And every time someone new thinks "hmm...maybe I'll try the bus" they wind up having such a horror story it becomes legendary. Take fieldafm on this site, for example. Professional type, owns a car, but decided to keep an open mind and try out the bus. They alienated and pissed off that customer so royally he'd probably swim to work before ever using JTA again, and that's the kind of customer you want to attract to public transportation. JTA is ridiculous, despite the highest gas prices on record and a recession, people are still fleeing them as fast as possible. Really says something about the service...