One Transit Rider's Pet Peeves

Having spent the last, oh, 11+ years using public transit to get places I have had my fair share of experiences and interactions. While the majority of these experiences have been positive, or at least neutral, I have also picked up a few pet peeves over the years. So without further ado, here is a listing of some annoyances that seem to occur regularly.

• Food: Okay, I honestly don’t care if you want to snack on something simple during your joyride through the hinterlands on one of our awesome buses or hip looking trains while you’re headed to work, school, chainsaw shopping, etc. But seriously, remember there are other people riding with you! So please, keep it neat, quiet, and avoid the smelly stuff.  Having a granola bar? Awesome. Can’t wait for your destination to dive in that large deep dish supreme with extra anchovies and garlic? Next time eat in.  Whatever you do, please no sunflower seeds. If you need to satisfy your inner squirrel, and tend to spit those shells, please do so somewhere besides my ride home.

• Phones: Yeah that new smartphone you got really is cool. And I’m very happy to hear that your toenail fungus treatment went well, and will keep in mind that your ex is a complete jerk. Next time though, could you maybe text that information instead, or perhaps wait until you get home or someplace private to call? On a side note folks, there’s this thing called identity theft going on, so it’s probably best to avoid shouting your social security number, credit card account info, or similar tidbits into the phone while riding on public transit.

• Music or other prerecorded entertainment: Earbuds, headphones, the cone of silence, use one of them please!

• Socializing: If you want to talk (quietly) with your friends while riding, that’s great. If you’re getting on the vehicle though and your friends are on the platform or sidewalk, please don’t just stand with one foot in the door while you try to catch up on the highlights of the past week.

• Hey could you... : NO! I will not hold up an entire train of riders, including myself, for “just a minute” while you get off and buy the ticket you SHOULD have bought BEFORE you boarded. We have places to go, transfers to make, appointments, etc. The next train is in ten to fifteen minutes.

• You don’t matter: Yeah, that’s the feeling I get while sitting on the train for a half hour at a station, with absolutely no explanation for the delay. I don’t need all the details. Just a simple heads up that there is an event down the line causing a delay of at least 15 minutes. This would be greatly appreciated.

• Language: Yo, for real! NO ONE is thinking you’re cooler or funny cause you cuss away like some rock star, or my friend’s Granny when someone cuts her off in traffic.

While these things will not change overnight, I’m sure that there are many transit users who would enjoy a better ride if these behaviors went away... someday.

Building of Interest

Like most folks, I generally don't go around looking specifically for architecture and building styles when I'm out and about. Nonetheless there are still some things that will catch my eye. For me any building with a decent amount of color or shape will capture my interest.

One building that recently caught my eye was the office building located at 1185 North Concord in South Saint Paul, MN.  It's nothing spectacular, but the way it's built into an area surrounded by a steep hill or bluff, and a not so spacious gap between the road and this bluff, makes it sort of interesting. The colored tiles on each end however really make it stand out.

1185 as viewed from across Concord Street looking south

Currently the building appears to be partly empty. I'm guessing at one point however it may have been a thriving office building. Also of particular interest with this building was the custom bus shelter across the street for northbound riders.

The bus shelter across the street is painted to mimic the color tiles on the ends of the building.

Bus shelters that are specifically built for a business or company tend to be rare in the Twin Cities outside of downtown Minneapolis. This particular shelter structure appears to have been around a while, and was likely added back in MTC days. It is still served by Metro Transit route 71, although I doubt this stop generates as much ridership as it might have previously.

 What the future holds for this building is unknown. However it is an interesting sight. 

Greyhound Express: A Review

Last week I had the opportunity to travel from Minneapolis to Chicago using the Greyhound Express service. I have previously traveled between the two cities in past years using Greyhound, but had not yet tried the new "luxury" Express version. Overall I was impressed. Here is a brief overview of the experience.

Waiting for the bus:

• Minneapolis: Express customers wait in the same general waiting area as everyone else who is traveling out of the Hawthorne Bus Depot. While this isn't as select as having a separate waiting area, it certainly works. Additionally Hawthorne was fairly empty while waiting to board on a Sunday evening. 
• Chicago: Express customers are given a special seating area, at doors 1-6, only available to Express ticket holders. seating in the Express waiting area was not abundant, but still generally available as compared to the other gates.

Boarding the bus:

The Express service does not follow the "every passenger for him/herself", first-come-first-serve, boarding method that regular Greyhound services use. Riders board in groups, 1-10, 11-20, etc. Each ticket comes with a boarding number. Therefore you do not need to line up at the gate until your boarding group is called. This is much nicer than lining up at the gate when getting to the station in hopes of being able to pick a decent seat. This also means you don't necessarily have to show up an entire hour before the bus departs, although it is still recommended.

Once you get to board the bus, e-tickets purchased online will need an ID shown when handing it to the driver, so it is best to have that ready. After turning in your ticket you are free to board, and take any unoccupied seat you like.

Riding the bus:

Greyhound uses new or rebuilt coaches on its Express service, these feature electrical outlets, free wi-fi, and some extra legroom compared to their regular fleet. (After riding I think the first couple rows are still the same for legroom however.)

An example of a coach used for the Greyhound Express service, this is a MCI D4505 unit, and is equipped with power outlets and wi-fi service

Express service is just that, Express. There are usually only one or two stops depending on the distance traveled. From Minneapolis there was one meal stop and then one stop in Milwaukee to drop-off and pickup more passengers. It was the same on the reverse. This was much nicer than some bus trips where it felt almost like riding a city bus because the bus seemed to stop at every corner along the way.

The bus was not very crowded at the times I was traveling. This may vary depending on the day and direction however. Clientele using the service were not exactly the upper-middle class, but they weren't homeless bums and druggies either. Overall it appeared to be decent hard working folks and college students who were riding.

Time:

For this trip, time spent traveling was not excessive considering the mode. It took about 8.5 hours traveling from Minneapolis to Chicago,  and about the same on the return trip. While that is longer than a flight it is also a bit more enjoyable getting to see some of the country along the way. The 8.5 hours also included about 40 minutes of break time while en route.

Price:

This was the best part, $10 round trip between Minneapolis and Chicago. Even a very fuel efficient car can't meet that low price. Airfare? Ha! Now you won't get $10 fare if you want to ride tomorrow, you need to buy at least a month ahead of time for that sort of deal. Still if you want to go somewhere in say, six weeks, and you aren't dead set on driving or flying, Greyhound Express might be a nice option.

A quick look around Winona, MN

Winona, MN is situated on the Minnesota border along the Mississippi River. Population is 27,572 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Winona has an interesting position geographically, with the Mississippi on one side, Lake Winona on another, and some inlets and wetland filling the ends.

View Larger Map

 Winona has a very nice looking downtown district, with some shops and quiet streets that give it a small town feel. 
 


On the outskirts of Winona, there are the usual small city retail outlets including Hy-Vee, ShopKo, Kmart (pictured below), Mills Fleet Farm, and a shopping center. A Walmart Supercenter is located to the southeast.



Winona is home to Winona State University, and does have a bit of college town vibe with lots of students walking around, a fair amount of rental housing, and a lot of cars. One thing that was interesting however, was how calm traffic was around the campus and the city in general. When people were waiting to cross a street, drivers actually stopped to let them cross, instead of speeding up as they do in some places.


Winona also has a transit system, called Winona Transit Service, which operates four bus routes. While the system isn't very large, and only operates small buses, it covers the majority of the Winona area.

Minnesota Transit System Costs Per Ride, a Comparison and Thoughts

Each year, the Minnesota Dept. of Transportation releases a report detailing accomplishments, costs, and ridership for all Minnesota public transit service providers. Looking at the 2011 Transit Report I thought it would be interesting to break down the operating cost and ridership numbers a bit for the major systems. I should note that while the annual operating costs and the ridership numbers are likely a consistent type of data for each system, I am not certain whether the operating costs represent the entire operating cost or just the cost not covered by passenger fares. Nonetheless here are the 2010 numbers, taking operating costs divided by ridership:

Operator	Year	Operating Exp	Ridership	Cost per Ride
U of M Transit	2010	$4,894,272	4,044,192	$1.21
St. Cloud MTC	2010	$5,358,104	2,192,736	$2.44
Metro Transit - Light Rail Train	2010	$25,736,121	10,455,860	$2.46
Rochester Public Transit	2010	$4,933,635	1,520,526	$3.24
Duluth Transit System	2010	$10,787,556	3,023,352	$3.57
Metro Transit - Bus	2010	$236,841,961	66,040,533	$3.59
Moorhead MAT	2010	$1,340,216	358,646	$3.74
Mankato Transit System	2010	$1,418,057	354,445	$4.00
Metropolitan Transportation Services - Contracted	2010	$12,513,375	2,915,286	$4.29
Maple Grove Transit	2010	$3,714,999	752,608	$4.94
Ramsey Star Express	2010	$373,781	55,487	$6.74
Minnesota Valley Transit	2010	$16,359,426	2,386,117	$6.86
Southwest Transit	2010	$7,483,460	1,002,382	$7.47
Plymouth Metrolink	2010	$3,649,014	464,142	$7.86
Shakopee Transit	2010	$1,112,474	116,599	$9.54
Prior Lake Laker Lines	2010	$707,647	50,392	$14.04
Metro Transit - Northstar	2010	$15,591,217	710,426	$21.95
Metropolitan Transportation Services - Transit Link	2010	$7,419,325	286,294	$25.92

 It's somewhat interesting how Saint Cloud Metro Bus has one of the lowest costs per ride, as the Saint Cloud metropolitan area is not necessarily a dense urban place. Metro Bus also charges less fare than other systems, with base fare at $1.00 currently instead of the $1.25-$3.00 others charge. Additionally fare may have been lower in 2010. Also noteworthy, light-rail is cheaper than bus to operate on a per ride basis, when there is enough ridership demand. What many anti-light rail supporters fail to mention is that one train set of 2-3 120 person capacity cars can be operated by one operator, versus 3-5 articulated or coach buses for the same capacity, but with 3-5 operators.

University of Minnesota's campus shuttle service however, comes in first. Fare is free on the shuttles, with all operating expenses paid out of student tuition fees. While the shuttles are well suited to capture heavy ridership in a very dense area with lots of demand, I can't help but wonder, what if a regular system stopped charging fares? Would it actually be cheaper in some cases to have free rides and collect fixed fees from property, business, lodging, and rental taxes? Of course many would object to higher taxes, with the usual phrases of socialism scheme, subsidy, spending "hard" earned dollars, so it would be unlikely to succeed. Still there might be enough savings from not maintaining fare collection equipment, dealing with cash, enforcing fares, etc. that it could be worthwhile.

Supercommuters

A recent article in the Rockford Register Star (Rockford, IL) stated 13,700 residents of the Rockford area commute to and from Chicago everyday. Given that the population of Rockford is 152,871 according to the 2010 census data that is a pretty substantial number. This data was obtained by the Star from a February 2012 report by the New York University Wagner School of Public Service, titled The Emergence of the “Super-Commuter”. 

The "Super-Commuter" is defined by the report as someone who works in a central county in one metropolitan area, but lives outside the boundaries of that metropolitan area. These commuters travel via car, bus, air, or train to reach their workplace as many as five days per week.

Looking at the Twin Cities region, it appears the seven county metro area is also attracting supercommuters. The Northstar commuter rail service, and the Northstar Link service offer a public transit option from the Saint Cloud metro area. A proposed bridge in the Oak Park Heights area would provide more roadway capacity between Twin Cities metro highways and Wisconsin. On the other side, Rochester, MN has some workforce pull from the Twin Cities, with Rochester City Lines offering daily service between the two metropolitan regions.

As the workplace continues to evolve and change in the coming years, vehicles become more reliable, and transit systems offer more choices and flexibility, the amount of workers willing to commute great distances will probably continue to grow. Supercommuters have arrived.