Un Connect-a-Ride

So, once again the B bus was way late this morning. See, it usually gets here at about 6:08, occasionally a minute earlier. If it's 7 minutes later than that, it's still okay for me, because the 87 Metro bus comes at 6:29. If I walk to the Metro stop right out of the house, I catch it. There comes a point where the B bus can't get me to the Metro stop on time, and then comes the internal debate.

How late is the B bus? Are they coming on this run at all? It is the first run, and if they're already 15 minutes late (which they are, a lot), will they decide that the customers on the first run should be the only ones to suffer, instead of making the whole day's customers late (there's only one bus per route)... Should I wait and see if the 6 o'clock bus is running, or should I assume they'll start with the 6:30? Calling the office never helps, they never know (or if they do they don't tell you).

The problem is that by then I've already missed the 6:29 Metro bus, and need to catch the 6:49. That one gets me to work just on time with a chance to grab some breakfast. (And I mean just on time - like with five minutes to spare. If I need to do any classroom prep, no breakfast. ) So I either have to start walking to the Metro stop (20 minutes' brisk walk) or gamble that there will be a B bus along in another couple of minutes. If I wait, and they wait, I can't catch the 6:49 and I can't be at work on time - with or without breakfast. I either get off at the Metro stop, wait 15 minutes, and catch the 7:10, or I go on to the Mall and hope the G bus waits for the connection (which, by the way, it won't: let the B bus be thirty seconds late and the G takes off, even if the B driver calls...)

So Monday I walked. And they didn't run a 6 B bus - the 6:30 passed me, on time, and the driver stared at me like "Why are you walking, crazy woman?" So walking was the right call that time. Sometimes I start walking and the B shows up in time to have made the 6:49... Sometimes I walk and I never see a B bus at all...

Today I didn't have to be in the classroom at 8. So I waited. And the B bus showed up at 6:14, which is just enough time to make the connection (though of course not to make the connection to the other Connect-a-Ride buses at the mall for the other riders...) But I got to work on time.

So what's my point? Because, like Ellen DeGeneres, I do have one. It's this: Connect-a-Ride keeps increasing their fares. It's now $1.75 to ride the bus once, and $.50 for a transfer. It costs $.50 to transfer from the Metro, too. That transfer fee really irks people, too, let me tell you. Connect-a-Ride says they have to raise the fares because their ridership is down...

Well, you know what? They already lost their $.50 from me because the G bus is so quick to leave transfers behind. I'd rather pay the Metro from Greenbelt than gamble on the G bus and lose 7 out of 10 days or take the earlier B and then stand around the parking lot at the mall for 25 minutes, especially when it's dark. And they lose it in the evening, mostly, because I'd rather walk home (unless the weather is awful) than stand around for 20 or 25 minutes waiting on a perpetually late B bus. (Mind, I can understand why it's late by 5:30 in the afternoon. First run in the morning, though? What is the excuse for that?)

If they want riders, they need to start running on time. Buses that didn't leak in the rain would be nice, too, as would buses in decent running order, but on time: that's the key. If people can't depend on the bus being there for them, they will make other plans to get to work.