Why doesn't riding the trolley have the same stigma as riding the bus? (San Diego: price, buses)

[djxpress]

Curious... Thoughts?

[ColeUSA]

Light rail is neater, doesn't take up street space, slow down interstate movement, and is arguably cleaner. Light rail systems in major California cities are on average applauded for relieving street congestion, which buses are a part of.

[Jehjeh]

The trolley is on a dedicated track and doesn't have to deal with traffic. It stays pretty much on schedule and doesn't have the lurching stop-and-go that buses do. It can get up to pretty good speeds, too.

Buses have to stop constantly -- first they stop at a bus stop that's right before a stoplight, then they move a few feet to get back in the lane while waiting for the light to change, then they travel about a half a block before having to stop because of traffic, then they stop at a light, then they stop five feet later at the bus stop after the light.... You get the picture.

So the bus seems like a slower, less efficient method of transportation, which probably brings it down in the eyes of a lot of people. The drivers try to deal with traffic as best they can, and MTS is improving route times (I still marvel over the 10 to 15 minutes or so that they were able to shave off the 44's travel time from Clairemont to Old Town a few years ago). But the trolley still seems like a faster, less frustrating ride, which probably elevates it in people's eyes.

[oddstray]

I never thought much that riding the bus had any stigma (but maybe that's because in Chicago that's what we regularly did). I did notice, though, that the trolleys and Rapid bus were much more pleasant than, for example, the route 20 buses. Newer and cleaner. I usually don't ride when it's crowded but maybe that's another advantage to the Rapid buses.

More spacious - that's it. The buses have less open space inside them.

[malcorub16]

Because "I wanna ride the bus with you" doesn't have the same ring to it.


Trolley with You - we are MTNS - YouTube

[aboveordinary]

The trolley is so much better than the bus. The trolley is much faster, mostly always on time, and uses cleaner energy to operate. There is a lot more room on the trolley too.

The bus system in San Diego sucks. They are late frequently. Like another poster mentioned, they have to deal with traffic and stop lights. They also contribute to the air pollution that trolleys do not. The bus route times are ridiculous! I took the 105 bus from Old Town transit center to UCSD a few times to visit a friend and it took about an hour! In a car it would take much less time than that! Then there are unruly passengers on the buses. It doesn't happen on the trolley very much. I was riding on the 7 bus from downtown to La Mesa and the bus driver had to pull the bus over because some woman was arguing with another woman with a small child who claimed she was harassing them. The bus driver told the woman to get off, but she told the bus driver that she wasn't doing anything and refused to get off. Meanwhile the rest of the passengers are telling her to get off the bus because they have places to be. After 25 minutes of arguing and yelling the woman finally got off the bus.

The trolley is by far better!

[Jenkay]

I know plenty of folks that commute via bus to professional jobs downtown. No stigma there.

[CNYC]

My weirdest experience on a bus in SD was the #30 bus which goes on a major highway. I said to myself how insane is this ?

Otherwise my only gripe with the buses are that they are a little slow. You guys have to cover way too much ground to make that system work. What I do appreciate though is the ability to text your bus stop number and get a reply as to how far the bus is from your stop. This was priceless to me when I visited Coronado Island and wanted to use the bathroom before I got on the bus.

[djxpress]

Speaking of buses. The new Rapid service that goes from inland North County to downtown seems to be a major failure. I'm always seeing empty buses in the carpool lane on the freeway. I can't imagine how long that trip takes considering it detours through Clairemont Mesa on the way down the 15.

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by djxpress

Speaking of buses. The new Rapid service that goes from inland North County to downtown seems to be a major failure. I'm always seeing empty buses in the carpool lane on the freeway. I can't imagine how long that trip takes considering it detours through Clairemont Mesa on the way down the 15.

Ha ha ha. Just because nobody's riding it doesn't make it a "major failure". This is San Diego, the bus is never going to be popular no matter how efficient/clean/fast it is.

It looks like it has 3 stops on Clairemont Mesa blvd. I can't imagine that adds too much time to the trip. My boss takes it to work in escondido from normal heights, and I'm planning to give it a shot when I go back to work. It looks like it will take about 55 minutes for what is normally a 40-minute drive, (and according to my boss that's pretty accurate) plus me biking to/from the start/finish points which are each actually about a mile from my home/office. That part's actually a bonus