Raleigh Transit Sucks All Too Frequently
Sunday, January 3, 2010 at 10:37AM Sometimes I think that Raleigh must be the little red headed step child that no one likes as far as the whole Triangle Area of North Carolina goes. Seriously, it's like the city wants to try so hard but falls flat on its face and becomes a laughing stock compared to other cities and municipalities that make up the region (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary). My case in point for this discussion is the sorry state of mass transit as run by the city of Raleigh, Capitol Area Transit (CAT).
Raleigh is the capitol city of North Carolina. To me, at least, this means it should have a first rate public transit system in the state to show case how this can help people and the environment. Instead what Raleigh has is a laughing stock service filled with union drivers who don't seem to give a crap about running on time. Running 15 or 20 minutes late? Oh well *shrugs sholders*. That has literally happened to me several times!
My most recent misadventure with CAT was yesterday afternoon. Due to various circumstances I was able to leave work yesterday a bit after 12 noon. For a Saturday this was an excellent development for me! I trotted up to the bus stop a few blocks from work and got there ten minutes before the bus was scheduled to run by. Shortly after I got there a few other riders showed up and we waited for the bus in the rather cold and windy afternoon. After the bus was over 20 minutes late I called CAT to inquire. First the operator told me I missed the bus and that the next one would be there in about 45 minutes. I told her that first, I had been at that bus stop since 12:30pm, the bus wasn't scheduled to go by there until 12:40pm, and that the route I took to the bus stop ran right along the route the bus would take so I knew it hadn't run 15 minutes early. After a loud sigh she said she would call the bus and put me on hold. When she came back she informed me that the 15C Inbound was running 25-30 minutes late and would be there shortly. Certainly a WTF moment!
About ten minutes after the phone call the bus finally showed up running like a bat out of hell! The driver was asking the folks getting on if we were the one who called about the bus. She didn't sound happy about it so I kept my mouth shut and just glared at her. Once I was seated the bus literally took off like a rocket. A couple of guys I know were already there and said the driver was pissed because people had been using their cell phones on the bus to call dispatch and complain about the driver being late and her crazy driving. I've ridden with this driver in the past and I've seen her park the bus on the side of the street and go into various stores for up to ten to fifteen minutes at a time so I suspected why she was running late.
The long and short of the above story is that by the bus running almost 30 minutes late I missed my connecting bus at Wake Med and had to wait another 45 minutes out in the windy cold for the next bus. This meant that instead of getting home around 2:15pm yesterday I got home around 3:15pm. Granted, that was still very early for me getting home on a Saturday but the fact is that if the drivers of CAT took their jobs a little more seriously then I wouldn't have lost that hour of time.
If this was a one off event I could be more forgiving but the sad fact is that this is an almost daily occurrence with CAT. They have a printed schedule and generally one can add anywhere from five to fifteen minutes to the scheduled running times. Daily. Special events around town or not. Last year CAT adjusted all their schedules to add five minutes to the running times of all routes with the idea of improving their service promises. Instead the buses kept running almost exactly the same amount of time late. This is what makes me angry at the CAT drivers! They saw the extra five minutes and instead of running to the new schedules they just added more "stop" time at various points. In over six years of riding CAT buses I've only seen two drivers who did not do the "stop along the route and run into a store or smoke a cig" thing. Only TWO! If you call to complain you get a promise of a call back "within five to seven business days". In six years I've had one supervisor call me back and that was about three years ago and only after threatening to take the issue "online".
Now, when CAT is compared to the other "big" public transit options in the Triangle Area (DATA for Durham, Chapel Hill/Carroboro Transit for Chapel Hill, and Triangle Transit which provides rides between all the cities and municipalities) it falls so short it's not even funny. Durham, for instance, runs almost 24 hours a day, including most holidays. Their buses run from their downtown terminal every half hour and on time for the most part. Further, Durham has a very nice central transit transfer point that is both covered and interior for passengers to keep them warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and dry. The irony is that Durham is seen as the crime and corruption ridden capitol of North Carolina, yet they have one of the best transit systems in the state. Chapel Hill/Carroboro transit might not have a fancy transfer terminal area like Raleigh or Durham but their buses run on time and for free! I lived in that area for almost ten years and never had a problem, ever, with their transit service. If a bus route is too popular and leads to full buses they add a SECOND bus running right behind the first to handle the overflow passengers. Triangle Transit occasionally has on time issues but considering the larger geographic service area they cover I'm more forgiving. That and they will hold a bus for you at your destination if you are transferring! Out of all the transit options in the Triangle Area CAT falls so far behind it's not even funny.
I do not know what could be done by any ordinary citizen to try and fix this problem. I've thought of writing to the mayor of Raleigh, Charles Meeker, but technically I live in Garner and commute to work in Raleigh. Granted, I work in Raleigh and spend a lot of time there, I just don't know if the mayors office would take my complaints seriously.
I do know one thing, I'm seriously thinking about waging an online campaign to get some changes in the policies of CAT!
CAT, Carroboro, Chapeil Hill Transit, Chapel Hill, DATA, Durham, Raleigh, Triangle Transit, pulbic transit in Public Transit
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