I just got off there bus system and thought it compared with the two worst in Maryland, MTA , PGs The Bus. They make you wear a seatbelt or you get kicked off the bus. The first time i had to wear a seatbelt out of the hundreds of times i rode a bus. They use El Dorado RE-32s and Thomas TL-960 35 ft buses. They have a weird schedule it goes something like this, every hour for a few hours than every half hour for two hours and so on and so forth. They also leave their main transit terminal at differant times some times at :05 sometimes at :00 some times at :30 its gotta be the lamest city transit schedule in the US right now, no wonder it has a very low ridership. The route structure isnt great either only big loops. I have seen rural transit systems with better schedules and route structures than this, but i cant blame the transit system alone the city planning or lack of has probably been the root cause of the poor route structure. Downtown Amarillo is acres of parking lots with no downtown shopping and a few high rise office buildings. I was sorely disappointed when i didnt find a cafe or bookstore downtown, I didnt even see a Starbucks!!! Even tiny Cheyenne, wy has a bookstore a cafe and a couple of Starbucks in downtown. Amarillo is gonna be extinct soon. Back at the "Transit center" no info booth, only a waiting room, restrooms, and vending machines. I know they probably dont have the money, but IMO i think they need to fix the schedules and routes and this would be a decent little system.
WOW!!! That is one of the worst transit stories i ver heard of seat belts or you get kicked out shoo ill drive the bus not ride it how much is there fare?
the fare is .75 cents
Quote from: djsiknik on December 01, 2008, 04:20:22 PM
I just got off there bus system and thought it compared with the two worst in Maryland, MTA , PGs The Bus. They make you wear a seatbelt or you get kicked off the bus. The first time i had to wear a seatbelt out of the hundreds of times i rode a bus. They use El Dorado RE-32s and Thomas TL-960 35 ft buses. They have a weird schedule it goes something like this, every hour for a few hours than every half hour for two hours and so on and so forth. They also leave their main transit terminal at differant times some times at :05 sometimes at :00 some times at :30 its gotta be the lamest city transit schedule in the US right now, no wonder it has a very low ridership. The route structure isnt great either only big loops. I have seen rural transit systems with better schedules and route structures than this, but i cant blame the transit system alone the city planning or lack of has probably been the root cause of the poor route structure. Downtown Amarillo is acres of parking lots with no downtown shopping and a few high rise office buildings. I was sorely disappointed when i didnt find a cafe or bookstore downtown, I didnt even see a Starbucks!!! Even tiny Cheyenne, wy has a bookstore a cafe and a couple of Starbucks in downtown. Amarillo is gonna be extinct soon. Back at the "Transit center" no info booth, only a waiting room, restrooms, and vending machines. I know they probably dont have the money, but IMO i think they need to fix the schedules and routes and this would be a decent little system.
They are even worse than The Bus. They make The Bus look like WMATA.
Da** that sucks.seatbealt?!?!?!
DJ:
What criteria are you using in rating MTA Maryland as one of the worst you have ridden?
Chuck
My criteria for a decent bus system has to do with scheduling, bus operators attitudes and manners, maintenence, etc. I find that for a large system MD MTA is very low on the totem pole in all catergories. My favorie was the "extra passengers" on the bus(ROACHS). I know Baltimore isnt the richest city in the world with an unlimited budget, but come on get real the only time i liked riding MTA was the light rail and i heard they screwed that up also. We always make fun of PGs The Bus but for big bus systems MTA is the butt of my jokes. I am sorry if i "offend" anyone but i dont have too many positives i can say about MTA. I have ridden many bus systems and most are in the middle of the road, not on the bottom of the totem pole. oh and BTW these opinions are MINE, and you dont have to like them.