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Seattle does have some rail, I've been on it but always with my sister. This time I will go it alone.
NYC is mass transit done right though even there I refuse to ride a cross town bus.
BTW the drive between Missoula MT and Coeur dAlene ID is a MUST SEE DRIVE. Both those cities are super nice but reek of patchouli if you catch what I mean.
Seattle is nice but not for me. If it wasn't for my kid and dawgs I'd head South. As it is I feel like a man without a home.
Just a suggestion if you go south, look into Upstate SC. It seems like your cup of tea.
I decided to test out Centro by riding the bus downtown and back, instead of paying for parking... the whole day to waste, if needed, so I'd be safe if it was a miserable failure.
Originally, I intended to head out from Manlius so I looked up the schedule - I wouldn't make the next bus (4 minutes from then, and I wasn't quite ready to leave) and the following one wouldn't be for another 2 hours. "No problem- the point is to take the bus downtown so I'll just drive to the Wegman's Park&Ride in Dewitt and catch the same bus, later on its route. The website said that it would arrive at 9:23am and the fare would be $1.25. I arrived nearly 10 minutes early, just in case.
At 9:35, I called Centro and asked where the bus was... keep in mind today's heat and glaring sun.
"What? There's no bus scheduled for then."
Um- yes, there is. Right here, in this shelter, is the bus schedule.
"Oh- that must be an old one... the schedules were updated this spring."
Really? This schedule that's RIGHT HERE says - in a dedicated space - "Updated on 5/2/2011." Your website also says that the bus was supposed to arrive at 9:23am... you really need to have someone fix this.
<silence, then> "Well, ma'am- there's no bus coming there."
Awesome. No apology, no offer of an alternative. If I didn't have a car, I'd be SOL until about 4pm or decided to walk to Shoppingtown. So- I decided to go to Shoppingtown, where I saw that a bus was due to arrive at 9:50am, headed to downtown. It was then 9:40 and, after chugging water in the sweltering sun at the Wegman's parking lot for 20+ minutes, I had to use the restroom. TONS of time to go, right? Of course! Still, I came back as quickly as possible... at 9:43. As I walked outside, the 9:50am bus pulled up and I jumped on. I put in my $1.25, as the website had told me to do, and got snipped at by the bus driver. "Don't you see the SIGN?!" (Small, laminated sign, saying that the fare is $2.00.)
Geez- at $2 each way, I should have just paid for parking... but I was already on the damn bus and the AC was blasting so whatever.
And then he LEFT! I hadn't walked more than a few steps down the aisle when it lurched forward. It's a good thing I pee quickly... I was agitated, hoping that no one else was planning to take that bus, because the driver was an antsy jerk and was there and gone seven minutes early.
At Westcott St., he pulled over and parked on the flippin' street so he wouldn't be too early for all the SU students. For exactly 7 minutes, to make up for the time he'd NOT waited at Shoppingtown. (Grrrr.) On the way, he also hadn't stopped for a clearly visible fire engine.
I finally get downtown without further issue and, hours later (decided to grab lunch, stopped at the Erie Canal Museum and tried to see the Onondaga County Hist. Museum but it's being renovated), returned to be picked up. Again, no issues. I boarded my bus to return to Shoppingtown and pick up my car... no later than a single minute into the drive, a white car comes barreling through the intersection (HOW does one not see a bus that takes up the entire intersection, side to side?!) at full speed. It smashed into the broad side and made us all jump and scream... weird to see someone drive that fast, into us, as if we weren't even there. They backed up and took off - YES, someone smashed right into the center of a Centro bus and ran. We all got off and hopped onto another Shoppingtown-bound bus that had been behind us. That bus driver was hilarious - very friendly and a good driver. No further drama.
What it worth it though? I'm not thinking so... not without a careful, pre-rehearsed plan. If you come and go at the same times and KNOW they work, sure! If you just want to use the public transport for a change? Make sure you have time to burn.
Proulx, glad that you're ok! Did the bus driver call the cops? I sure hope so!! I keep noticing more and more drunk driving news articles in the area and that just scares me and makes me angry as all heck!
I agree, Centro could be good for someone that uses it every single day. But for people like me that wanted to take it to a festival or for you that wanted to not pay for parking, it's just not worth it. The cab system here is something else I've been disappointed with, but then again I came from a big city in Hawaii, so wasn't really used to anything else. Overall, looks like I'll NOT be taking any public transport whatsoever in the area
Proulx, glad that you're ok! Did the bus driver call the cops? I sure hope so!! I keep noticing more and more drunk driving news articles in the area and that just scares me and makes me angry as all heck!
I agree, Centro could be good for someone that uses it every single day. But for people like me that wanted to take it to a festival or for you that wanted to not pay for parking, it's just not worth it. The cab system here is something else I've been disappointed with, but then again I came from a big city in Hawaii, so wasn't really used to anything else. Overall, looks like I'll NOT be taking any public transport whatsoever in the area
I wasn't going to miss the next bus to see! lol. Since the driver got out and told us to take the next bus or wait for another, I assume he did. The bus wasn't much damaged... just a perfect indentation from the car's bumper. D'oh!
Unfortunately, the $1.25 fare was a dead giveaway the schedule was old. Fares are $2 now. (pretty hard to swallow - that will kill them more than erratic schedules)
To the original poster: The practice of putting the "future" route on has to do with what route the bus will take after it passes through downtown. This is apparently of value to riders who want to get on the right bus so they don't have to change buses downtown. If in doubt, get on the bus and ask the driver where it's headed before downtown. (All buses pass through downtown)
The logic of this has to do with the fact that there really aren't any duplicate bus lines traveling similar routes. The only buses headed toward downtown on a particular street (except for streets downtown, where they overlap somewhat) will all have the same number. In other words, if you're on the 48's route, the bus that stops to pick you up IS the 48. And it will ultimately take you to Common Center downtown.
Before people beat up on Centro drivers too much... I had the misfortune of riding a bus last winter where some mouthy hotshot decided to get on there and threaten a fellow passenger AND the (female) driver. There were only a handful of people on the bus and things threatened to turn violent. The driver had to pull over and wait for Centro security to show up and kick the guy off the bus. The rest of the passengers got free ride vouchers. I didn't envy that driver for having to deal with that situation, essentially alone.
Centro has been useful for daily commutes. But for just hopping on once and going somewhere new - I'd have to study the schedules for a while. It's not exactly a system that caters to people who are not sure where they are going. :-)
Unfortunately, the $1.25 fare was a dead giveaway the schedule was old. Fares are $2 now. (pretty hard to swallow - that will kill them more than erratic schedules)
To the original poster: The practice of putting the "future" route on has to do with what route the bus will take after it passes through downtown. This is apparently of value to riders who want to get on the right bus so they don't have to change buses downtown. If in doubt, get on the bus and ask the driver where it's headed before downtown. (All buses pass through downtown)
The logic of this has to do with the fact that there really aren't any duplicate bus lines traveling similar routes. The only buses headed toward downtown on a particular street (except for streets downtown, where they overlap somewhat) will all have the same number. In other words, if you're on the 48's route, the bus that stops to pick you up IS the 48. And it will ultimately take you to Common Center downtown.
Before people beat up on Centro drivers too much... I had the misfortune of riding a bus last winter where some mouthy hotshot decided to get on there and threaten a fellow passenger AND the (female) driver. There were only a handful of people on the bus and things threatened to turn violent. The driver had to pull over and wait for Centro security to show up and kick the guy off the bus. The rest of the passengers got free ride vouchers. I didn't envy that driver for having to deal with that situation, essentially alone.
Centro has been useful for daily commutes. But for just hopping on once and going somewhere new - I'd have to study the schedules for a while. It's not exactly a system that caters to people who are not sure where they are going. :-)
I would be perfectly fine if they ADVERTISED that they flew the incorrect routes. The fact is, for someone that decides to take the bus, looks up all information, prints it out and brings it with them when they go to the bus stop, they are SOL. If having the future bus route is the protocal, then ADVERTISE IT!! How the EFF do you think people are going to know what the eff is going on?? When the bus showed up and it said 340, my sister and I were disappointed that that was not our bus.
I refuse to pay money for a system that is inaccurate or just really doesn't care about getting/keeping passengers whatsoever.
Thanks to the new bus hub, the average Centro experience is going to take longer with less available bus trips.
What price progress? Riding Centro and "having a life" will no longer be allowed to share a same sentence together!
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