post # 4

Post # 4

The benefits of a bus system look great on paper, you get less traffic during the peak class hours, less pollution in the air from all the engines, and you provide all the students around campus, without cars, a mode of transportation. Unfortunately, those benefits do not render to the real world. All the Crimson Ride has done so far is create headaches for all of the students, who commute to campus, and the ones actually riding the buses. They also create a vast amount of pollution, due to the idling engines, while the drivers have casual conversations on the clock.

The biggest problem with the entire Crimson Ride system, including 348-RIDE, a van service that picks up students when they call, is the wait time for the bus or van. While you can get lucky every now and then, you will normally have to wait longer for the bus to arrive, than it would take to walk across the entire campus. These long waits are usually not even due to the time the buses spend in transit from one stop to another. It is not uncommon to see two buses stopped in the “bus only” lane with both drivers out of their vehicles, casually talking, while their buses are still running. Sometimes, they even stop on opposite sides of the road, blocking traffic, to converse. This adds anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour a bus ride, and further aggravations to those on the buses. Due to those transgressions, many of the drivers were replaced at the end of the year. While the university has taken those steps to eliminate that problem, the long wait times still persist.

In order to give students a way to judge wait times, the university implemented a GPS location system in order to track the buses around campus in real time, and installed monitors in the Ferguson Center. The system does not work however, when the majority of the dots on the screen are stationary. The idea was great because it offered students a way to see if the bus they wanted to take were anywhere near them. The bad thing is that the buses are hardly ever moving, further enraging the student population. For the first time the students can see the problem happening right in front of their faces.

On top of the long wait times at the designated stops, once you get on the bus your really not sure if you will arrive to your destination in one piece. The drivers tend to throw the buses around the corners at a more than comfortable speed. Although they may be “trained” professionals, it does not feel as if you are safe riding around the campus. One five-minute ride on the crimson ride will make those fifteen-minute, cross campus treks, look like a stroll in the park. The problem with the cross campus trek option, is when waiting at a corner to cross the street you have to be on the look out for one of those buses to come careening around that same corner in case it makes a b line for you. Also, some drivers have a tendency to not pay attention, and overlook a stop all together. One time, a driver drove past my stop, even though I rang the stop bell well in advance. On another occasion, I stood by the front door for 10 seconds waiting on the driver to let me on, and started to pull away because “I didn’t indicate that I wanted to get on.” Needless to say, I personally became more frustrated with the on campus bus system.

The best solution to remedy these situations would be to have an actual bus schedule. With the amount of students now on campus, the system has to improve. If a schedule was posted, and followed closely, many of the problems would be alleviated. Bonuses should be offered to drivers if they are able to maintain their schedules, by having a university worker riding along to evaluate their driving abilities, and punctuality. Students should be able to report late buses. Plus, some of the more unprofessional, and unfocused drivers should be let go altogether.

That being said, a couple changes cannot fix all the problems, but solve some tribulations. A full-scale overhaul would be necessary to remedy the failing bus system. There are far too many problems, ranging from driver indifference, to a lack of structure. A sliding pay scale can motivate a driver when it affects their salary, which affects their life style. If the bus drivers are paid more or less by the work they do many will be motivated to be professional, and keep to a strict timed schedule by not allowing them to leisurely converse on the side of the road. With the bus drivers working harder in a stricter atmosphere, the bus system will run on a more precise schedule.