9623 replies to this topic

[Baro]

Bus service is always the last priority of the current transit administration. Studies, dress codes, paint jobs and logos, vision statements, and bonuses for management seem to come before everything.

[Mike K.]

I've mentioned several times that the waits along the 14 route in Vic West are bordering on ridiculous. I've waited over 20 minutes some mornings for a bus branded by BCT as a "frequent" service. It's almost as though posted schedules have no bearing on the frequency or arrival time of buses.

[mat]

I've mentioned several times that the waits along the 14 route in Vic West are bordering on ridiculous. I've waited over 20 minutes some mornings for a bus branded by BCT as a "frequent" service. It's almost as though posted schedules have no bearing on the frequency or arrival time of buses.

Is that due to traffic on the roads? In Vancouver some bus stops have LED signs with updates on service and I have seen 'notes' regarding delays due to traffic back ups.

[VicHockeyFan]

I waited for one about 2 weeks ago, a 28 or 29, it simply did not show up (or arrived more than 12 minutes late), so I spent $20 on a cab instead, as I could not be late.

[Mike K.]

Is that due to traffic on the roads? In Vancouver some bus stops have LED signs with updates on service and I have seen 'notes' regarding delays due to traffic back ups.

I don't think it's traffic related. By 8:30 traffic along Craigflower/Skinner/Tyee is free flowing.

Perhaps BCT just doesn't have enough drivers to fill schedules?

[Baro]

Not enough drivers. They don't pay new drivers enough so many do training then go up north and work for more money without having to wait 3 years or how ever long for their full wage. They refuse to pay them more so end up having to pay the existing drivers tons of overtime that ends up costing them more. But for management like this it's all about trying to pay them selves as much as they can get away with while giving as little to operations as posible.

[http]

Not enough drivers. They don't pay new drivers enough so many do training then go up north and work for more money without having to wait 3 years or how ever long for their full wage. [ snip ]

The Walmart Myth: "Employees Are An Expense"

Staff are an investment. In all fairness, at least they try to train them. The only thing worse than training staff and having them go work for someone else is not training them, and having to deal with the fallout of bad customer service.

[Mike K.]

If drivers really are taking training here then fleeing up north, why not make them sign a contract? Seems like a reasonable thing to do if BCT's largest operations centre is losing drivers to other communities in the province.

[Bernard]

I saw in the TC today that BC Transit is considering a new route, Vic West to Royal Jubilee along Bay Street. There will be hearings about it next week and the week after.

Please come to one of the following open houses to provide us with your input:

October 30: 3:30pm - 7:30pm, Vic West YMCA, 521 Craigflower Rd.

November 3: 5:30pm - 9:00pm, Blanshard Community Centre 901 Kings Rd. - Day Care Room at back of building on lower level

November 6: 6:30pm - 9:30pm, Cornerstone Café - 1940 Fernwood Rd.

November 8: 11am - 1pm, Fernwood Community Association Building 1923 Fernwood Rd.

[UrbanRail]

I saw in the TC today that BC Transit is considering a new route, Vic West to Royal Jubilee along Bay Street. There will be hearings about it next week and the week after.

I heard that too, and hope to attend the first open house, as I work in town.

[hungryryno]

1)BC Transit is contracting out the Cowichan Commuter service to FirstBus (owner of Farwest), who operates the Cowichan Valley Regional Transit System.
FYI, every other system in B.C. (except Victoria, and excluding Vancouver) is contracted out. What is the main reason to contract work out? It is cheaper to do so.
So why is B.C. Transit contracting this work out at DOUBLE the cost of having Victoria operate the two new routes in house?

2)They are also operating a seventh vehicle to transport the six drivers to and from Victoria everyday! Why not have one of the six buses return in the morning with the six drivers and vice versa in the afternoon, and run it in service?

3)Why was #66 chosen for one of the two new routes? Victoria already has a route #66 in operation. So there are now two Route #66's operating in Greater Victoria! Not confusing at all, eh.
There are 1,000 numbers between 0 and 999, yet B.C. Transit chooses to operate two Route #66's in the Capital Region!

[Holden West]

Victoria bus-driving jobs too far away and pay too little, laid-off loggers say

SHANNON MONEO
Special to The Globe and Mail

January 7, 2009

Since September, Victoria has needed at least 35 bus drivers to make good on its promise of increased rush-hour service, but forestry workers accustomed to earning double the $17.85-an-hour starting wage aren't biting.

"I could send out an e-mail looking for people," said Bill Routley, spokesman for the new Local 1-1937 of the United Steelworkers, which represents 5,000 West Coast forestry workers, about half of whom are laid off. "There wouldn't be a lot of takers."

Victoria's high housing costs, at least 20 per cent more than other areas on the Island, or the "brutal commute" to Victoria from communities such as Duncan, are keeping his members at home, he suspects.

"It's a no-brainer. People are used to a certain standard of living. I can't see why they would take a cut in pay and have to move to work," Mr. Routley said.

Independent log hauler Kelvin Madison has found work 110 kilometres from his Sooke home in Ladysmith earning $130 an hour transporting logs with his self-loading rig.

Despite 14-hour days, truck insurance that costs about $1,500 a month and fuel costs that hover at $100 a day, he'd never drive transit buses.

"He wouldn't do the shift work," said his partner, Lee-Ann Ruttan. "That's a terrible way to make a living."

Meanwhile, the driver shortage has left commuters in Victoria waiting twice as long as usual for buses when routes are missed because a driver isn't available.

"We get complaints all the time from livid customers. Buses get packed and passengers are cheek by jowl for 35 kilometres," said Mr. Jones.

[Mike K.]

If transit had two types of bus models instead of the five or six different models currently in operation (think maintenance, technician training, etc), didn't care about repainting the entire fleet for an unnecessary "rebranding," allowed more advertising options on buses and invested more funds into salaries rather than studies I bet we'd be in a different position.

[UrbanRail]

If transit had two types of bus models instead of the five or six different models currently in operation (think maintenance, technician training, etc), didn't care about repainting the entire fleet for an unnecessary "rebranding," allowed more advertising options on buses and invested more funds into salaries rather than studies I bet we'd be in a different position.

And dont forget many late buses, or buses that dont even show up on the scheduled time.

[Audrey]

I expected service to get better now that the snow is gone, but I'm still seeing only a vague connection between bus schedules and bus appearances. All it takes is a route being missed (no driver? broken bus?) and then the one after it is packed solid, and running late on its own schedule.

I've noticed the 11 and 14 both missing routes entirely, the 2 running stupidly late (sometimes 2 and 2a running in sync, when they're supposed to be 15-20min apart) and the 27/28 often so full that it can't even take new passengers on by the time it hits Douglas and Johnson.

I feel pretty sorry for the bus drivers. They end up with packed buses and angry passengers.

[G-Man]

The 6 has been really bad for the last month or so. I feel bad for the drivers too. Sometimes people are just so rude.

[UrbanRail]

I agree, my beef is with management not with the drivers. unfortunately the drivers get the brunt of the complaints from the public. I was told that BC Transit doesn't allow the drivers to get involved with planning. If this is true, then it has to change. If there is any one qualified group of people (besides the public) that knows what is happening on the routes, its the drivers.

[Mike K.]

The Bay Street crosstown route info page has been updated.

[UrbanRail]

There are some other potential routes that need to be looked at.

Making the current #51 permanent, as in Mon-Sun service, or some similar route.

A route along VMP (Veterans Memorial Prkwy) in Langford. I can not believe that a conventional bus service has not been looked at for this major north/south arterial road.

Service along West Saanich Rd.

Better connecting service to the Airport.

[Jacques Cadé]

I expected service to get better now that the snow is gone, but I'm still seeing only a vague connection between bus schedules and bus appearances. All it takes is a route being missed (no driver? broken bus?) and then the one after it is packed solid, and running late on its own schedule.

I feel Audrey's pain. So while we're speaking of improvements, here's something I'd like to see: signs at bus stops indicating how long you have to wait for the next bus to show up. That way, if they're off schedule, at least you'd know about it.

As Mat noted above, there are a few signs like this on the Mainland. And such signs are common in the UK:



The Helsinki system does one better, by having not only signs but real-time online maps showing the locations of all its vehicles (which you could presumably check on your high-end Nokia cellphone). Watch the map in action here.

As for better Transit service to the airport, I'm down with that. But it's never going to happen until the airport authority is forbidden from cooking exclusive deals with Yellow/Empress and Akal Airporter.