Select Bus Service - Is it REALLY that difficult???? (New York: buy, inspectors)
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OMG.... is the "Select Bus Service" really that difficult of a concept??? I was on the M34 today and every single stop, people got on, trying to "dip" their MetroCard even though the driver has the slot blocked.
Okay, at the bus stop, there are 3 machines. There is a sign telling you it is SELECT BUS SERVICE. It's been advertised ad nauseum for the past year. So WHY do you not get it??? Must you stand there, questioning the driver and holding everyone else up??? You shake your head as the driver is talking but you STILL don't get it!
GET OFF THE FREAKING BUS, WALK TO THE MACHINE, HIT THE 'START' BUTTON, DIP YOUR CARD, TAKE YOUR CARD BACK, TAKE YOUR RECEIPT. It's not rocket science.
Why is it that people just don't "get" this??????????????? I remember when they first started the SBS on the M34/M34A. They had MTA workers there in bright orange vests giving out instructions. People STILL got on the bus trying to dip their Metro Cards.
Maybe it's their first time using it. I don't ride buses that often and I would probably be one of those confused people too. It's not a crime. Sheesh.
Maybe it's their first time using it. I don't ride buses that often and I would probably be one of those confused people too. It's not a crime. Sheesh.
No, it's not a "crime"; it's just plain dumb.
If you were at a bus stop and you saw every other person walking over to one of three machines, putting in a card (or coins), and taking out a receipt, wouldn't you wonder about that? Especially when there's a sign that says "SELECT BUS SERVICE" and it's been advertised and on the news for the past year?
If you were at a bus stop and an MTA worker in a bright orange vest was giving people instructions and pointing everyone to a machine, would you still get on the bus and attempt to dip your MetroCard? Or would you wonder what information the worker was giving everyone and find out if there is some kind of change.
C'mon. Select Bus Service is NOT new in Manhattan. The M15 (1st/2nd Ave) has had it for about 2 years (at the least). The M34/34A has had it now for about 2 months. On top of that, it's pretty self-explanatory if you're at the bus stop.
OMG.... is the "Select Bus Service" really that difficult of a concept??? I was on the M34 today and every single stop, people got on, trying to "dip" their MetroCard even though the driver has the slot blocked.
Okay, at the bus stop, there are 3 machines. There is a sign telling you it is SELECT BUS SERVICE. It's been advertised ad nauseum for the past year. So WHY do you not get it??? Must you stand there, questioning the driver and holding everyone else up??? You shake your head as the driver is talking but you STILL don't get it!
GET OFF THE FREAKING BUS, WALK TO THE MACHINE, HIT THE 'START' BUTTON, DIP YOUR CARD, TAKE YOUR CARD BACK, TAKE YOUR RECEIPT. It's not rocket science.
Why is it that people just don't "get" this??????????????? I remember when they first started the SBS on the M34/M34A. They had MTA workers there in bright orange vests giving out instructions. People STILL got on the bus trying to dip their Metro Cards.
Sigh............
Most people in New York City are stupid and don't even realize it. Even on the regular buses I have to deal with morons that don't have money on their cards and yell at the bus driver, don't have any change and ask people for change on the bus, people who don't know how the swipe and constantly swipe the wrong way and keep doing it even when the bus driver tries to explain to them the right way, people screaming from the back for the door to open when it is open and the light is on etc.
I knew these Select Bus services would be a big failure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by omigawd
Common Sense isn't so common, I guess.
Unfortunately in this city a lot of people lack common sense.
I knew these Select Bus services would be a big failure.
It is actually working quite well in the Bronx. I used the BX12 SBS that runs along Fordham RD when I lived there and I've never had a problem. Except when police came on the bus and arrested people who didn't have their receipts, but since I always had mine, it was only an inconvenience because it held the bus.
It CAN be rocket science.
A passenger waiting with me in the coldyesterday told me he and his wife, BOTH of whom have 30 day Unlimited travel Metro cards confronted two non-functioning ticket machines at 89th St (M15) on Thursday. They jumped on the bus when it came anyway and told the driver the machines are broken. All was well until they reached 14 street where he told me that 5 cops were waiting to give out tickets. BOTH of them were hit with $100 tickets (I hear $128 with costs.)
Now both must plead their cases. It was not enough to demonstrate that both had unlimited cards and thus no reason to steal a ride that would have been free.
So, it's not QUITE as easy as the MTA or the original poster implies. I wunder what was the cost of setting up the first system up First Avenue and Down Second on the M15 line? I wonder who got the contract and how.
I myself have experienced blown machines more than once...both near Costco.
I think then LIMITED system on the THIRD-LEXINGTON and MADISON-FIFTH is a lot more convenient, even if only half the riding population knows what PLEASE EXIT FROM THE REAR DOORS means.
Last edited by Kefir King; 12-11-2011 at 07:40 AM..
Okay, and if a machine is broken, you tell the driver when you board the bus. If the inspectors (not cops) come on boads, you tell them. If they still want to ticket you, you simply take the ticket and go back to your original boarding place and photo or video the machine showing it's broken (darn near every cell phone has a camera or video capability). Also, if the machine is broken, don't take SBS. The M15 runs both regular and SBS. The regular stop is 2 blocks from the SBS stop.
As far as it being easy? What's so difficult about understanding the concept of SBS? If you read my OP, there were no broken machines or anything else. Just a bunch of idiots who didn't "get it".
If they still want to ticket you, you simply take the ticket and go back to your original boarding place and photo or video the machine showing it's broken (darn near every cell phone has a camera or video capability).
And how many hours of work do you think that would be, especially counting the court appearance to show the judge your video extravaganza?
In the case I mentioned THIS WEEK, the cops would hear NOTHING about the machines..."Just tell it to the judge." (I fogot to mention the man had a cane...so running back from 14th St. to 89th with video camera might not have been too easy. Perhaps he needed to BE at 14th St?)
If the MTA and City are going to install machinery outdoors, they should NOT be fragile...and they apparently ARE.
The system is a poor one. Three M15 Selects go by empty and then LONG AFTER a local bus will go buy with people crammed in like sardines. It will be passed by several more EMPTY M15 Selects. The benefits are not worth the aggravation.
Last edited by Kefir King; 12-11-2011 at 08:03 AM..
I didn't say the bust stops are in the same place. However, at the location you mention (89th St), both regular and SBS stop there. And most of the SBS stops are either at the same place or within a block or two of one another.
Sorry the guy and his wife got a ticket but they could have waited for a local bus. Also, what happened to everyone else who got on at that stop? Did everyone get tickets? I'm sure the guy and his wife weren't the only ones at that stop.
As far as it "taking hours" to fight the ticket? It wouldn't "take hours" to hop on the bus from 14th to 89th, video/photo the broken machine and take the bus back. You can't count the court appearance in "the hours" because they have to go to court regardless.
I don't think the machinery is fragile.... probably some morons vandalized it as usual.
None of this, however, has anything to do with my OP. My OP is simply, why is is SBS such a difficult concept for people to grasp????????
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