CommentsRIDERS HAVE RIGHTS TOO-Ridership on Metro Buses is declining rapidly and in large percentages. Metro is in a tailspin. To reverse this decline, the mindset of Metro and the cities the buses pass through must change. Some of the changes must be directed to the routes, how often the buses run, how early and how late. Thinking must also shift to what occurs outside the bus when riders are approaching or leaving a bus stop, how well placed the stop is, how comfortable the stop is for the rider, and the experiences riders have when boarding and exiting a bus.
Riding the bus since 1992, I have experienced and continue to run into obstacles using bus stops. This is called the “client’s experience” in using the system. It is the gold standard of customer data, something scrutinized obsessively by businesses to improve their sales and work for their client’s return. But this is a concept that seems completely alien to bus companies and cities, whether it be accidentally or on purpose.
From my understanding, establishing a bus stop is a two-step process. But the two actors involved -- the bus agencies and the cities -- do not seem to be in communication with each other as to how bus stops service and affect bus riders.
Step One. Metro and other bus agencies decide where a bus stop is needed. I do not know the process or this. The placement of stop is regulated by safety issues, traffic concerns, and proximity to other bus stops for transfers. The mechanics used for placing a bus stop are complicated, taking into account the needs for a particular route and how it functions within the total bus network. Once determined, the bus stop is marked with their signs on a pole listing the route(s) serviced at that particular stop.
Step Two. The cities accept the bus stop and decide what street furniture -- benches, trash cans and lights (if any) -- will be placed at the stop.
Where Metro and bus agencies place bus stops and how cities treat those stops must involve more proactive assistance for bus riders, not only while they are at the stop waiting for a bus, but also when they are approaching or leaving the bus stop, and boarding or exiting the bus.
For Metro alone there are 170 lines and 15,000 stops. There are numerous other bus routes and stops in other LA County cities which have their own bus agencies. My bus riding experiences do not come close to being comprehensive in the number of bus routes I’ve ridden or stops I have used. However, my experiences riding the buses of Metro, Culver City and Santa Monica as well as throughout the LAX Area, Culver City, West Los Angeles, Mid-Town, Mid-Wilshire, Santa Monica and Downtown Los Angeles, lead me to believe that the bad client experiences I go through are shared by other bus riders throughout Los Angeles County.
These bad client experiences are a large factor leading to the decline in ridership.
I will give examples of obstacles I face at bus stops whose placement may serve the needs of Metro and other bus agencies and fulfill the mechanics necessary for those stops, but do not meet the needs of bus riders.
Sidewalk trees. I am a tree hugger. I love trees. The city desperately needs more trees for shade to cool the higher temperatures triggered by global warming. Trees beautify cities. They offer shelter for people to escape the hot sun, and offer some protection against rain. Trees are critical for birds to survive in a harsh urban environment. But at bus stops where there are sidewalk trees, they can be a hazard and an inhibition to bus riding, particularly when exiting the rear door or both back doors on the longer articulated buses.
Rear door exits are crucial in enabling buses to run with speed. When passengers insist on exiting through the front door they run into those boarding, creating a log jam as people stop and squeeze by each other, wasting time, and slowing travel.
One example is the northbound Culver City No. 6 stop at Venice Blvd. This bus stop in the City of Los Angeles has a grass parkway and a tree in the center.
Exiting at this stop using the rear bus door, the rider may encounter parkway grass that is wet from morning dew or from rain or from sprinklers. This creates a hazard of falling. And it is worse when the sprinklers are on because the bus rider steps onto wet grass and gets sprayed by a sprinkler – a very bad client experience.
When using the back bus exit here, the doors swing open and a tree is in front of the rider. There is a step down from the bus to the ground. Sometimes a rider’s foot will step off the bus and lands on a large root which throws him off-balance. The rider may slip or step into dirt or mud. This can be a very awkward exit, nothing like the smooth exits from light rail trains and subways.
The back bus doors close automatically after a few seconds, so when a rider is confronted with a tree and its roots, it takes a moment to assess the situation, but then the doors close in his face. The rider must yell to the driver to reopen the doors. This wastes time.
Twisting, turning and sliding, the rider must maneuver around the tree, its roots and the dirt, all while holding the doors open so they won’t close automatically on their own limb. This is another very bad client experience and can lead to strained limbs. I know this from my own client experiences.
I use a rolling attache case to carry heavy books I use in teaching. Trying to maneuver myself and the attache out of the back doors of the bus and around the tree is a very bad client experience, and is sometimes impossible. Exiting safely around a tree takes time and slows down the bus. It takes even more time if I see that using the back door is impossible; I have to holler to the driver to wait at the stop while I make my way to the front bus door to exit. If the bus is crowded, this is a long, difficult process and slows the bus even more. Another bad client experience.
This is a situation where Metro and bus agencies must work in tandem with cities to decide when and where to plant sidewalk trees. The sizes of buses are fairly standard, so before planting trees cities must include in the planning process the knowledge of how many feet it is from the bus sign, and where the bus should stop. They should measure from the front door to the back door of the bus, and then plant a tree at least ten feet further down from the back door spot.
Businesses near a bus stop. On the Venice Boulevard Eastbound Metro Rapid 733 stop just east of Sepulveda Boulevard, and around the corner from the Culver City No. 6 stop mentioned above, is a bus stop in front of car wash. There are some trees there which offer shade but there are hazards connected to the car wash, creating a very negative client experience. There is so much noise from this car wash because cars and trucks are detailed immediately behind this bus stop. The workers spray chemicals on the vehicle bodies and tires, and it stinks. Who knows what is being used or how poisonous it is when smelled and inhaled.
Crosswalks. Crosswalks are crucial in assisting bus riders to safely cross streets to get to bus stops. In many intersections there are only three crosswalks, serving three of the street corners, and the bus stop is at the far side of the intersection. This may be a benefit to drivers, but it is detriment to pedestrian bus riders.
When a bus rider approaches a bus stop and is on a corner across the street where there is no crosswalk for direct access, the rider then must use two crosswalks to get to the stop, making a “U” pattern instead of simply walking across the street.
Here are two examples of a three-crosswalk intersection: the southbound Culver City No. 6 and Rapid 6 stop at Sepulveda and Centinela Boulevards, and the southbound Santa Monica No. 3 at Lincoln Boulevard in LMU Drive. Bus riders must take twice as long to cross the two streets to get to the stop. I have experienced both of the above crosswalks and have had a bus pull up to the stop and leave before I could safely cross. Had I been able to cross using only one crosswalk, I would have made the connection.
When this happens I get frustrated because I miss the bus by seconds and will have to wait between twelve to over thirty minutes for the next bus. It seems the three crosswalk situation is there to placate drivers, but it does not help pedestrians. I am certain this situation can be found repeatedly throughout Los Angeles County, creating bad client experiences.
The sidewalk situation. It is no secret there are miles of broken sidewalks in Los Angeles, and much digital ink in City Watch has been spilled about this. These are hazardous for all pedestrians, and all bus riders are pedestrians. This creates another bad client experience.
Another difficult situation arises when there are sidewalk cut-outs for cars to enter and exit properties. Sometimes the bus back door opens above a sidewalk cut-out and the already high step from bus to sidewalk now requires a giant leap. The young may take this leap, or, along with not so young, hold onto the door handle and slowly let themselves down from the bus to the ground. Or, the rider can retreat, yell at the driver to not drive off, and waste time slowly walking to the front door where the gap between bus and sidewalk is not so deep.
This sidewalk cut-out gap is made worse when it is raining and the gutter is filled with water. When the sidewalk is flat, the gutter water flows between the curb and the bus and can be stepped over. But when the door is above a sidewalk cut-out filled with water, the only options are to get your feet soaked or yell at the driver to not drive off and walk to the front door. More time wasted -- and yet another bad client experience.
Bus benches, trash cans and fire hydrants. As with sidewalk trees, both the bus agencies and cities must calculate where bus riders will board and depart buses from front and back doors, and keep the street furniture far away. Bus benches, trash cans and fire hydrants are obvious necessities for bus riding and maintaining a good urban environment, but when a bus rider is blocked with them while boarding or exiting a bus, they become obstacles -- more examples of bad client experiences.
Bus stops and Metro Rail: On the Sepulveda Boulevard Northbound Culver City No. 6 and Rapid 6 is a stop for the Sepulveda Expo Station. This is excellent bus stop placement: it is in front of the station, the TAP kiosks and station entrance. However, the stop for the Southbound Culver City No. 6 and Rapid 6 for this Expo station is at Pico Boulevard, around fifty yards north of the station. This is not good, as it takes minutes to walk from the station to this bus stop, enough time to miss a bus.
There are many times I exit the Expo Line at this stop to take the Southbound Culver City Bus and the bus pulls away just as I approach it. Then I have to wait for next bus. Depending on the time of day and day of the week, the wait can be from twelve up to fifty minutes. I assume the stop for this southbound route is not in front the Expo Station because of the right turn lane on Sepulveda Boulevard; a stop there could slow traffic in that lane. As a bus rider I say, too bad -- bus riders should be given more consideration. I do not know if this is an issue with Los Angeles or with the Culver City bus line, but it is a bad client experience.
On Santa Monica Boulevard westbound at 14th Street is a stop for Santa Monica Bus No. 1. It has a stop with two of Santa Monica’s round, blue bus chairs and between them is a fire hydrant. When the back bus door opens on this -- which it nearly always does -- a nearly unsurmountable obstacle awaits the rider upon exiting. Again, a bad client experience.
Covered Bus Shelters. This is a thorn in my side. I have written extensively in City Watch about the need for more covered bus shelters, particularly along Santa Monica Boulevard in West Los Angeles. This is issue involves the complaints of locals who do not want advertising to be placed on the shelters along the boulevard. They claim it will destroy the character of their neighborhood. I have written much about this for years but the westbound bus stop at Santa Monica Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard remains without a covered bus stop. This is an issue the city refuses to address -- a very, very bad client experience.
If Metro and any other bus agencies are going to gain back riders (clients) there must be more covered bus shelters. A city cannot claim to support bus ridership when it purposely withholds this kind of amenity to the public.
Combining Bus Stops and Extending Lines. In my bus travels on Metro I encounter one of the dumbest placements of a bus stop there is, along with the city’s ignorance of the line’s potential. The line is Metro 217, and the stop is southbound at Center Drive at the Howard Hughes Center, just south of this intersection. The sign is hidden under a tree. I’ve seen Metro drivers drive right past this hidden stop and suddenly realize they missed it. Then they have to make a severe turn into the curb to pick up riders. This stop is so close to the intersection that, at times, the Metro bus will block the intersection.
Yet, close by, southbound down Sepulveda Boulevard, is a bus stop for the Culver City No. 6 and Rapid 6, which is clearly visible with a covered bus shelter. Why does Metro not move their stop and combine the two to give some visibility and shelter to the riders of Line 217?
Line 217 is a route which completely wastes it potential. Whether it is the fault of Metro or the City of Los Angeles, it illustrates a mindset in which the thought process is locked deep inside the box.
Route 217 is from the Red Line (subway) Hollywood/Vine Station to mainly the Expo Line La Cienega Station. Only during day and late afternoon hours, and about once an hour, the line extends south into the Howard Hughes Center in Westchester.
This line could be a tourist gold mine because it goes to mythical Hollywood and Vine, passes through Hollywood, the Grove and the famous and fantastic Farmers Market, and then by LACMA and the Tar Pits. The southern terminus is Howard Hughes Center, about three miles short of the hotels serving LAX along Century Boulevard. These hotels are filled with tourists, many of whom want to get to such LA landmarks but there is no direct service from the LAX area to these tourist gold mines. The tourist-rider needs to take three buses or a bus and two rail lines to get to Hollywood.
If Line 217 were extended south from its current Howard Hughes Terminus to service the LAX hotels and tourists at LAX waiting during long lay-overs and if its hours were extended late into the night and with frequent service, the city and Metro could provide excellent client service to travelers who want to spend money, as well as locals who want to reach these places. A bus with “Hollywood and Vine” on its marquee passing by hotels filled with tourists would be like a magical bus offering a way to the Promised Land.
Why the tourist agency of Los Angeles cannot see this or figure it out illustrates how the city holds bus riders in low esteem – missing important tourist revenue. It shows how cities ignore the needs of riders, thinking only about the mechanics of where to place a bus stop -- not of how their decisions affect their client-riders’ experiences.
Anyone worried about declining bus ridership should get outside, take buses, and think outside the bus.
(Matthew Hetz is a Los Angeles native. He is a transit rider and advocate, a composer, music instructor, and member and president and executive director of the Culver City Symphony Orchestra.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
-cw
