Who will be impacted by a Fare Hike?

I wasn't surprised to see this story in the TU. According to the article, CDTA hasn't raised their fares since 1995 -- wow! Of course, they restructured the fares not so long ago when they phased out oh-so-20th-century transfers in favor of the very cool $3 day cards. Apparently the revenue earned from that change isn't enough to cover increasing costs and demand for service.

Too bad it's not looking like service will be expanding soon, because there sure is a need. One recent Sunday evening at about 7:20, I was waiting for a bus by the
View Larger Map'>Hannaford on Central Avenue. As usual, I had given myself very little wiggle room, and I was supposed to be at my daughter's friend's house off of New Scotland Avenue near the intersection of View Larger Map'>Ontario St. and New Scotland Avenue by 8:00. The bus was late. I must say, I've found late buses to be unusual during my travels around Albany. Not that it doesn't happen -- it does. Finally, at about 7:35, a 55 came chugging down Central Avenue, I wasn't expecting a 1 since after 6:40 p.m. on Sundays, it's almost 5 hours before another bus is scheduled to get to the Northway Mall stop at 11:20!

The bus was PACKED.

I got on, but there was no room behind the "yellow" line. The bus just sat there. Those of us who had boarded at Hannaford were trying to squeeze in. Now, where I come from -- this is not an issue, as one of my fellow new passengers and I were telling the people, "I'm from New York, there's plenty of room." You see, in NYC, there's an understanding that sometimes you need to "make like sardines in a can and squish together", it's only temporary, and it will get you where you need to go. That's not the philosophy, however as you travel north along the Hudson. People on the bus started yelling at us, "Get off the bus, I need to go home!" I asked if the bus was always this crowded, simultaneously, I got 2 opposing answers. "No," said the bus driver, "Not my bus!" and "Yes," from a bus rider...I turned to the bus driver (who looked a wee bit stressed), and asked if I should get off the bus. She explained to me that, at this point the issue was that she couldn't leave the bus stop while there was a person in a wheel chair waiting to get on.

Yes, that's right. There was a woman in a wheel chair who had been waiting for the bus, but there was absolutely no room for her. The bus is not allowed to pull away while there's a wheel-chair bound person waiting to board. So the driver had called her supervisor and was waiting for instructions. That's why the bus wasn't moving. I asked if CDTA would send a STAR bus for her, the driver said that she didn't think so, but didn't know.

Feeling guilty about trying to squeeze myself onto the bus while someone waited in her wheel chair on the sidewalk, I got off, called to say I'd be a bit late, and waited on the sidewalk to see what happened. It wasn't too long before a supervisor showed up and told the bus driver to leave. It was already after 7:40 and another bus would be along "soon" to pick up the woman in the wheelchair. Soon, according to the schedule, meant departing Northway Mall at 8:03. Given that the bus that departs Northway Mall at 8:03 was scheduled to reach Central and Allen at 8:11 --it seemed to me that I'd be more productive walking. Since my friend in the wheel chair had the attention of the CDTA supervisor, I decided to get walking.

It was 8:06 when I got to the corner of View Larger Map'>Central Avenue and Ontario Street and turned to walk towards New Scotland Avenue. If I had waited for the bus... I'd still have been waiting for the bus! Saved time. Got some exercise. I hope that supervisor made sure my friend boarded the next bus, or gave her a ride if there wasn't room.

Wild Flowers brought to you by CDTA

I read in the newspaper today that we can all ride the bus for free on Earth Day.

Good promotion. Good marketing. Good for the earth.

Pick up a pass at one of the locations listed here ... while supplies last.

I called the CDTA information line listed in the article to ask about the promotion. It sounded like I was my operator's first caller asking about this subject. Hopefully, I'm not the only. She had the information at her fingertips and shared it well, though -- she had no idea what the "DABID" was. I gave her the 411, and she was thankful. A trained employee will take you far.

When you're done with your pass, don't forget to plant it or donate it to Capital District Community Gardens.

CDTA Needs More Consistent Service on Number 13 Route

Yesterday, I had an appointment at the doctor's office here. The bus goes into the parking lot, sometimes. But, not all times. The stop is called Mercycare on the bus schedule, the bus system and Trip Planner even though the name of the building is Slingerlands Medical Arts. Once upon a time, I believe there was a building there called Mercycare, and I think it was affiliated with St. Peter's Hospital. But, that's about as relevant to the average CDTA bus rider today as what the bus fare was in 1990. What's relevant now is that it's confusing to have a stop named Mercycare throughout your system, but no building at the location with such a name. A pet peeve of mine that I've called CDTA about, to no avail.

Yesterday, I missed the bus that goes into the parking lot at 1240 New Scotland Road, otherwise known as Slingerlands Medical Arts. I probably missed the bus because I was sitting at my computer for too long ending my short-lived love affair with CDTA's Trip Planner .

I took the next bus, the bus that doesn't go into the parking lot and I had to get off here. Hopefully you can manipulate the view to see that there is a sidewalk to cross the bridge, and then that's it-- the sidewalk ends. Just the side of the road where you hope the cars won't cross that white line. There are signs posted with a speed limit of 30 mph, but I didn't sense a single car whizzing by me at such a speed. It was dangerous, yet I made it to the office without injury.

When I was finished with my doctor's appointment, I had a choice, I could do the safe thing and wait about an hour in the parking lot for the next bus, or walk back out to the bus stop, and only wait about 10 minutes. Would you like to guess which option I chose?

When I made my way to the stop heading back into Albany, there was a bus on the other side of New Scotland Road, someone getting out at the same stop that I had used a little while before -- obviously, he also missed the bus that goes into the parking lot. The passenger was taking a long time getting off the bus, cars were lining up behind the bus, and I was watching, wondering what was going on. When he finally got off the bus, I understood what took so long. He had a limp and a cane... and he crossed over to my side of the street-- very slowly. I think my heart skipped a beat watching him, I was quite worried about him making it across the road, worrying that a driver of a car behind the bus might be getting impatient and decide to gun it. He crossed the street without incident and he hobbled off down the dangerous road towards the doctor's office. The road with no sidewalk, holding his cane. A few moments later, a good Samaritan noticed him hobbling, turned his car around, and gave the man a ride to his appointment. I know this because that same good Samaritan drove up to me when he finished good deed number one to see if I wanted a ride. I graciously declined since the Number 13 bus was right behind his car, and I'd have another opportunity to be sure I milk my $44 per month for every penny it's worth.

I do wonder if it's time to re-route all Number 13 buses into the Slingerlands Medical Arts Building parking lot.

The Drive to drive

I LOVE driving. I've always loved it. Short drives, long drives, country road drives, maneuvering through a city, heck, I even enjoy parallel parking on the left side of a one-way street. I think there are only two kinds of driving I don't like (i) sitting in a traffic jam and (ii) wandering around a city I'm not familiar with... lost. Overall, I'm in a special groove when I'm behind the wheel. I'm seemingly in control of my destiny... or at least my destination.

So, why did I stop doing it on a regular basis?

In the short term, economics.

In the long run, a lesson for my kid -- a challenge for myself. A healthy dose of self-torture. And doing my little part for the environment, of course.

Some Disparaties in Shopping

I do love my shopping cart, but it's been out of commission lately




















thanks to the icy sidewalks like this one.
It's been a little easier to shop lightly with a back pack and a couple of canvass shoulder bags than to risk balancing on the ice while pulling the cart along behind me. With today's rain melting away the ice, I could be bringing the cart out for a trip this weekend.

Usually, when it's time to go the store, I head to the food co-op, one of the Price Choppers or Hannaford, but the other day, a friend of mine was taking her mini van to go grocery shopping and asked if I'd like to join her. I thought about the near-luxury of buying a jumbo pack of paper towels and perhaps some laundry detergent and having it driven right to my front door, and I didn't hesitate to take her up on the offer. When I got in the car, she asked if I'd like to go to the Price Chopper on Central or the one in Slingerlands. Decisions, decisions. We went for Slingerlands, and BOY what a difference -- what good service they've got in the suburbs -- we were astonished.

There were two major points of exceptional service that we both noticed.

1. Upon walking up to the store's entrance, a Price Chopper employee in charge of carts was wheeling back a number of carts from the parking lot, and putting them into the location for shoppers to use. The employee saw us coming, pulled us each out a shopping cart, checked the cart for debris and removed the debris from the carts, then handed us each a cart. Wow. Here in Albany -- this just doesn't happen.
   
2. During checkout they have quite a system of packing. Each cash register station must start off their day with an extra cart. So, when your items are being bagged, you don't have to wheel your cart to the front of the cashier to be loaded with your bags because they already have a cart there ready to go. It's a little thing, yes -- but the system is what's noticeable. I really noticed a team spirit among the people I saw working there. Granted, I have seen this type of packing before -- but NEVER at a Price Chopper or Hannaford in the city of Albany (and it wouldn't happen at the co-op because there just isn't room...yet.)

Of course, the store was also more brightly lit and much cleaner than the stores we have here in the city.

Why is it that folks in the suburbs are treated to brightly lit stores with better service than those of us who reside in the city?

Well, I had fun on my outing, but I'm not moving out of this pretty city any time soon. Of course, the Number 13 bus does go to the Slingerlands Price Chopper, so I could return on my own, and bring my shopping cart along for the ride!

...Where did I put that Swiper?

I can be absent-minded. I mis-place things from time to time. Sometimes, I just plain lose them. It's not fun, I'm not proud, but it is what it is.

I've been purchasing the CDTA Swiper since June 2007. During that time, I dropped it once when I was walking into my office, but was very fortunate that a colleague found the little bus pass before I even realized it was missing! Then, there was the very cold evening of February 27, 2008. I boarded a bus using my Swiper, but the next morning when I was getting ready for my day, the Swiper was missing. Not sure what happened to it, but I know why it happened. I didn't follow my own rule, my routine. The routine is this: get on the bus, find a location to sit or stand, put the card away in the special spot in my bag where I can always find it. The critical error happened here: I was on the phone when I get on the bus, and I STAYED on the phone, distracted -- didn't follow my own procedure, the card never got put away.

Now, if I were in my city of origin, NYC and my MetroCard had disappeared, I could be reimbursed! Here in CDTA-land, I cannot find any information on the CDTA website about such a consumer-friendly option when a card is lost or stolen.

I try to look at the bright side of things -- so here's the positive aspect of my lost card: at least it happened at the end of the day on the 27th of February - the shortest month of the year. I only wound up paying an additional $6 to buy two $3 day cards. True, if it weren't a leap year, I would have only had to pay an additional $3, but I'm trying to see the bright side right now.

Actually, this takes me to something else I just don't understand about CDTA. I don't get why monthly passes (aka Swipers) -- both the 7-day pass and the 5-day pass - are valid from the 1st day of the month through the last day/ week day (if you have a 5-day pass) of the month, rather than the very consumer-friendly option of "good for 30 days from the date of first use"... just like the METROCARD!

Imagine deciding that you're ready to start riding the bus regularly, you want to buy a 7-day Swiper, so you can take 2 buses each way to and from work Monday through Friday, and it happens to be the 10th of January when you make this decision. Would you get your money's worth if you purchased a Swiper and started using it that day? I don't want to do the math -- maybe you do. I think our time would be better spent letting CDTA know that they're on the right track, yet there's so much more they could be doing to provide quality service to the residents and visitors of our region. A public meeting is coming up in April to be held at one of my favorite places; let's make it there.

Transit Updates

One day last week, I looked down at my morning newspaper and saw Roger looking up at me. Roger has added the TU to his running list of blogs - cool.

When I noticed Roger's blog blurb in the paper, I was happy to see that he was posting about a meeting hosted by Lucille Brewer who wrote this letter last summer about the bus to the mall. I was unable to attend the meeting, but I do want to become a member of Citizens for Bus Transportation.

Maybe even more people will join the group, with the 6% increase in CDTA use over the past year, there must be more citizens who are indeed for bus transportation.

Gotta say, this was quite a week for CDTA news in the TU, they even pointed out my favorite new tool on the CDTA website. Yes, it's a bit bug-gy, but this software-tester-in-a-previous-life finds workarounds and overall, thinks the Trip Planner is pretty nifty. I've actually only used it for practical purposes twice thus far. The first time, I needed to figure out how to get to Siena college from downtown Albany one recent Friday evening, it worked like a charm. It's a good thing I had a ride home though, because the last bus back to Albany from Siena leaves Latham Circle Mall at 6:52, so it must get to Siena shortly thereafter, this was not going to work for me since I'd need to return back closer to 11:00 p.m. Three words: More Service Needed.

The second time I used Trip Planner, I encountered a couple of odd things. I needed to get to an address on Washington Avenue Extension which requires taking a little Shuttle bus. The Trip Planner had me get on the shuttle, but (i) it referred to the shuttle by a number (27[v]) and NO PLACE does CDTA refer to the ShuttleBug by a number, so this is ummm... kind of confusing, and (ii) a great feature of the ShuttleBug service is that it makes stops at office buildings all along its route -- even if the buildings are not scheduled ROUTE STOPS, however it doesn't appear that the Trip Planner was given that information because it had me get out at Wal-Mart (eek) and walk across four lanes of traffic (or is it 6?) to the other side of Washington Avenue Extension, when really all I needed to do was tell the bus driver where I was headed -- it's cool like that.

HANDS DOWN, the best CDTA announcement of the past month was this one. Thank you Philip Morris and Proctors for hopefully being just the FIRST local arts organization to partner with our Transit Authority.