Why can’t MARTA be ON TIME?
email sent to Marta on 8/16/05 by my best friend
I have been a Marta rider since November of 2003. I have been riding route 8 since about January of this year (2005). In all that time the route 8 buses (north and south bound) have had an abismally poor track record.
Today as I stood waiting on the south bound bus at the intersection on Executive parkway once again the scheduled time for the bus came and went with no bus in sight. I got to the stop at 5:25 which is right about when the bus should have been arriving according to your schedule, but it was 5:55 before the bus came around the corner. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened because it has happened more times than I can count and it seems to happen several times per week. I do allow some room for traffic to be a problem but that still shouldn’t delay the bus that much. There have been several days where I have been waiting for the bus and seen not one but TWO northbound buses pass by me before ONE southbound one came. That is truly unacceptable no matter what traffic looks like. This tardiness happens on the brightest and sunniest of days and I recall one week where this happened THREE DAYS IN A ROW. It never fails to occur at least twice a week. One of those days I WALKED 20 minutes to go and catch the route 6 at Lavista and Cheshire. I’ve had to do that two times just this month so far just to be able to get home at a decent time…and I have found that the 15 to 20 minute walk still gets me home a little sooner or at the same time taking route 8 does most days and that is NOT a good thing.
The worst case has been when on one occasion where the NortHbound bus passed by on time. 45 MINUTES LATER THE SAME BUS DRIVER CAME BY ON THE SOUTH BOUND LEG OF THE ROUTE FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY THE BUS THAT *SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE A HALF HOUR BEFORE*!!!! The driver of the bus himself actually pulled over to make a call and complain about the other driver. This does not speak well of Marta’s commitment to its customers nor does it seem to fit with your “Pulling together” ad slogan.
On good days I walk out of my office at 5:15pm and walk in the front door of my home at 6:20 or 6:30 but usually no later. I already consider that too long of a trip and a waste of an hour. But when I walk in the house at 6:45 or 7:00 that’s nearly two hours of my time that I consider to be very valuable as I am sure any rider of MARTA will likely tell you. STANDING AT A BUS STOP FOR MORE THAN 20 MINUTES IS COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS NO MATTER WHAT ROUTE IT IS! The route 47 bus seems to be able to consistently run on schedule regardless of traffic conditions. What’s the problem with route 8? Think about it!
I can tell you right now that I plan on no longer being a rider or Marta after spring of next year. I had hoped to avoid having to purchase a car, but it’s not worth the TIME WASTED standing waiting on a bus that is late 60 to 70 percent of the time. I am a student. I have classwork that must be done and submitted ON TIME. As far as I am concerned every wasted moment spent waiting at a stop is cutting into my income. I would be better served spending the money you’re costing me by buying a car and paying for insurance and gas. (I’ve done the math. I know how much money in the form of TIME Marta is costing me).
I don’t want to hear any excuses about buses and traffic delays. I want to hear about your efforts to find bus drivers who give a good damn about their jobs and the service they provide. I want to hear about the fact that me and everyone else on that bus has somewhere we need to be ON TIME 99.9 PERCENT OF THE TIME and that service is not being provided. I want to hear about proposals for a solution to this ridiculousness. Otherwise I am going to have to assume that MARTA simply doesn’t give a damn and I will spend every opportunity relating my dissatisfaction with MARTA to anyone and everyone who will listen in as many forms of media as I can find. Consider it a critical customer review or your lackluster services.
I am offering you the opportunity here to convince me otherwise. What are you going to do to address the situation?
The ball is in your court people.
August 17th, 2005 at 9:41 am
Awesome. I can’t wait to hear their reply. (Or lack thereof.)
August 17th, 2005 at 9:57 am
The route of the #19 bus happens to pass through my neighborhood (Drew Valley). I would say that 60% of the time, I see two buses heading in the same direction minutes apart. They’re either both heading to Brookhaven or both heading to Decatur. I can only assume that it’s the bus drivers that are at fault and not Atlanta traffic. What I wonder is how much authority MARTA has over the drivers and whether they can discipline the drivers involved. Are the drivers represented by a union?. If so, there might not be much MARTA can do to correct the problem.
August 17th, 2005 at 9:59 am
damn… I hate it when safari automagically fills in my name when posting to blogs.
August 17th, 2005 at 11:27 pm
Today my friend did not hear back form Marta.
Just as we suspected they really could care less. I say the State should take over this pile of crap we call rapid transit and run it all the way to Macon and Chattanooga!