So I thought I’d try out the new Flyaway shuttle to get to LAX. Metro’s trip planner said it’d be quicker this way — In the past I took the Big Blue Bus 3, then switched to the airport shuttle, but now I’ve moved and would have to first take the BBB 2 to get to the 3.
But to get to the Westwood stop for Flyaway, I had to take the BBB 2 going east — which has let me down before.
Still, I had a 15 minute buffer between getting from the bus stop to the Flyaway stop by 1 pm, so I felt pretty confident –
Unfortunately, the BBB 2 came 7 minutes late — then kept getting progressively more behind. The bus dropped me off at Westwood and Lindbrook at exactly 1:02 pm.
Two blocks of walking and I got to the Flyaway stop: “Sorry — The bus just left 5 minutes ago –”
I’m not complaining that the bus ran late — None of the other cars on the road were going anywhere very fast either.
But what I want is for the bus schedule to reflect something close to actual times instead of fantasy, idealistic times so I can plan more realistically based on them.
The Big Blue Bus 2 consistently falls a few more minutes behind schedule at every mile — even during non-rush hour times — so why not incorporate that into the schedule?
This way people would just know from the getgo that getting around the city takes a lil while and adjust their expectations accordingly — instead of feeling like the bus system’s a crapshoot that often lets them down.
Luckily, I’m one of those who plan to get to the airport way early, mainly because I have recurring dreams where I’m about to miss a flight –
So waiting a half hour for the next Flyaway was no biggie — I just walked over a couple blocks to Native Foods to hang out –
Obviously it’s impossible to build a bus schedule that can predict traffic situations, but what Metro should do is the next best thing: open up their GPS data and make the current location and estimated time of arrival of a particular bus accessible web/SMS/and cell phone. Basically like the NextBus system. Boy would that solve one of the major issues people (including me) have with bus riding.
Comment by Fred Camino (MetroRiderLA) — July 26, 2007 @ 8:38 am
If you leave near a Metro 720, you can use http://www.rapidbus.net to figure out exactly when to catch the bus to the Flyaway.
That being said, my rule of thumb is to plan to be at airport 2 hours prior to flight, expecially with public transit. The extra time often compensates for a missed bus or long security check lines.
Comment by jason — July 26, 2007 @ 10:13 am
Totally agree buses can’t always be on time — another reason for rail — and in fact the rest of the BBB lines are, in general, surprisingly quite consistent and on schedule. It’s just this #2 line that runs significantly late every time I take it –
The GPS thing would be v. cool — I think I’d need a new phone to take advantage of it though….
Comment by Siel — July 26, 2007 @ 10:14 am
Rail: Definitely more reliable, but not exactly the end of delays!
A next-bus thing would be very cool.
When I lived in New York, the subways ran all night, but you had no idea how long you’d be waiting for that Brooklyn-bound F train. Could be hours. When I moved to SF, which announces the time for the next BART or Muni train, it really helped cut back the commuter-rage. No sense in worrying about the next train if you know exactly when it should be there.
Comment by Rafi — July 26, 2007 @ 11:00 am
I ride the 7 nearly every day. I don’t pay any attention to the schedule. Even at the beginning of the route in SM, it seldom comes at the advertised time. I learned a long time ago that the schedule just gives you some sense of the average time between buses at different times of day.
As for the rail thing helping, kind of. I developed my habit of using the schedule to estimate headway times while riding the “L” in Chicago.
Comment by Don Hosek — July 26, 2007 @ 11:52 am
btw, that rapidbus site doesn’t let you enter any stops that aren’t in the city of LA. I rarely take the 720, but when I do, neither of my stops (4th, La Cienega) are in L.A. so it’s not terribly helpful.
Comment by Don Hosek — July 26, 2007 @ 11:57 am
depending on where you live (i.e. west of 26th and still near enough to Wilshire to be able to walk to Montana), it might be faster to take the #3 to get to Westwood. the schedule would suggest that the #3 takes longer, but b.c. of the route and fewer people using it (can’t imagine anyone living north of Montana actually riding it, but you never know…) it seems to get to Westwood more quickly.
your other option is to go down to Santa Monica and catch the #1, which runs more often and also stops more often.
Comment by lag2 — July 26, 2007 @ 7:52 pm
Jason — I totally take the 720 all the time — but you know how it is when you’ve got luggage — the #2 stop was a few blocks closer, and it’s tough to resist that when you’ve got a week’s worth of living stuff with you (and all my friends think I pack light!).
Rafi: F train? Where were ya goin? I always took the A train to JFK. My sis used to live in Washington Heights in NY — and the ride took a fucking long time — but it was certainly reliable if you planned on it –
Don — With the 720, I never pay attention to the sched — but I do with the BBB, b/c it runs less often, and with most lines, runs on time –
lag2 — I’m between Wilshire and Arizona, so the #1 would be the next best choice — I’ll try that next time :)
Comment by Siel — July 26, 2007 @ 9:30 pm
I use the blue bus too from West LA. It does not appear to be on a set time schedule but on weekdays I find it does show up every 20 minutes. Regarding the GPS – I’ve seen that one metro bus. It’s neato, but the delay on the GPS will cause you to miss your stop if you rely on it.
Comment by Todd Cameron Brown — July 27, 2007 @ 10:14 am
Big Blue Bus recently purchased the same software that allows Metro to get accurate recordings of actual bus running time, so hopefully in the near future they’ll be able to use it to adjust the running time on #2 (as well as making sure there’s an adequate number of trips on the bus routes).
Comment by Chris — August 13, 2007 @ 10:04 am