Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Transit Mysteries

A mystery to me, anyway:

Question:

Why can’t the M.T.A. do something, anything, to prompt bus riders to exit through the rear door only? I understand that drivers would resist enforcing this (and know they have a strong union and so would likely succeed in resisting), but why can’t M.T.A. start some educational campaign or something? I have to believe that if more people exited properly it would improve traffic congestion significantly, and that if most did so, the improvement would be major.

— Posted by Eric Rudolph
Answer:

Most riders should use the rear door on buses; when they do so it speeds up bus service. There have been suggestions that M.T.A. New York City Transit conduct an educational campaign with posters and reminders from drivers. That makes sense. However, the drivers are not to blame. There are many reasons why riders exit through the front. These include disability and age. Indeed, the seats towards the front door are priority seating for these individuals. Also, it can be plain physically difficult to try and head backwards through densely crowded buses, as opposed to through the front.


I'm assuming it's not "the" Eric Rudolph asking the question.

The mystery is that here in Philadelphia, despite prominent signs in every bus instructing you to exit via the rear door, this is not what bus drivers want. If you try to exit through the rear door you usually have to yell to get them to open it, and often they just motion for you to come to the front.