MTA replies to complaints about No. 27 bus route
Getting There reader Jed Weeks recently wrote to complain about service on the Maryland Transit Administration's No. 27 route -- gripes he shared with readers of this blog.
Weeks' constructive agitation brought a response from MTA spokesman Terry Owens. The gist of it, I thing, is that the MTA's going to try harder but isn't promising much. You judge:
Thanks for sharing the concerns of Mr. Jed Weeks regarding the #27 line. Because of his active involvement with our social media team we were aware of the issues raised in your column.
We have been able to document many of the problems he cited through monitoring of the line with our Service Quality team and that monitoring will continue until we are satisfied with the routes performance.
The #27 runs from Reisterstown Plaza Metro Subway Station through downtown to Port Covington. It’s a long route that can pose challenges for our operators in meeting On Time Performance. However, no-shows are things we strive to avoid. As we work to improve our performance system wide we are constantly exploring ways to get the most out of our limited resources.
While we consider every route important we must put greater resources into the lines with the heaviest traffic. We have no plans for the #27 for the upcoming service change in July, however we are studying the line to determine if more trip time is needed to improve OTP.
The MTA regrets any frustration Mr. Weeks or any of our customers have experienced, and hope that they will continue to engage us with their concerns.
Thanks for riding MTA.
Comments
Translation:
we know there's a problem, and we might put padding in the schedule to improve the on-time performance. And that's about all we can promise since more popular routes get all the attention. Sorry for any inconvenience. buh-bye.
Posted by: Bill | June 21, 2011 12:10 PM
That is just the sort of non answer I expected when I saw the original blog entry.
Posted by: Paul | June 21, 2011 12:13 PM
Continue to engage us? I've tried, both through the web site complaint form and phone to complain about nightime no-shows on the 3 line. I always get an Orwellian sort of response: Our records show the bus ran on time, therefore, you are wrong- after I explained that I was at the stop 10 prior to the schedule pickup and waited until the next bus, 50 minutes later. Basically, MTA's monitoring systems for their own performance aren't worth a damn, and they either don't realize it or don't care.
Posted by: Ron | June 21, 2011 5:39 PM
Agreed, Ron. If MTA had complete confidence in its monitoring system, it would allow access to a service like Nextbus - something the City-run Circulator already does, that DC's system does, that, heck, even the Delaware transit system does. That way, we wouldn't have to call when the next bus was coming - we'd be able to see it. I doubt MTA's anywhere close to able to make that commitment, though.
Posted by: Chris | June 22, 2011 8:58 AM
I don't even know what to say. I guess it's nice you got a response for me, since I never did.
Posted by: Jed | June 22, 2011 10:55 AM
I agree with all of the above. Thanks for trying anyway. The 27 is shameful, they really need to schedule it more often in addition to revamping the whole system where it's OK for MTA buses to skip a run if a driver doesn't come in to work. Chris's comment about actually showing the bus runs rings true, but obviously we're decades behind more functional cities. MTA, don't just take the status quo as normal, start now!
Posted by: 27 rider when it shows up | July 4, 2011 10:18 AM