Back to car commuting

So, the office is moving to the north end of the DTC in a couple days now. I've scoped out what a public transit commute would entail, and I think, for the time being, I'm better served by driving in. It's a 30 minute difference, assuming the *worst* drive-time that Google Maps shows, and could be even better if I get lucky.

So, this blog will be going on the back burner again for the foreseeable future, though I have a post that I haven't published yet that I may still put out.

Happy commuting!

To enter or exit the train...

This week's been interesting. Apparently, starting Monday, the W Line's doors don't automatically open except at the end of the line. There is an announcement  ("to enter or exit the train, press the door button when lit," or something to that effect), but it's not unusual for that to play before the train's stopped.

The timing's not always great.

It's also not unusual for folks to not know what they now need to do. I wonder how many missed trains have happened as a result...

Emergency vehicles and light rail crossings

On occasion, I've wondered what happens when an ambulance or fire engine needs to cross a light rail line. Today's morning commute reminded me of that question: as the train was pulling in to one of the Denver stations, a fire vehicle was needing to get across.

I wasn't sitting far enough forward in the train to see details, but the fire vehicle crossed the tracks before the train crossed the road, so I'm assuming that the train operators have some way to release or shut down the crossing gates.

What's the most disconcerting thing...?

Waiting for a train, with a larger-than-normal crowd (guessing there was a Rockies game), and having only one car show up...

That'd be my pick, for now...

RTD's Lost and Found…

Not long ago, the older daughter thought she'd lost her bus-pass. The one that her college issued to her. It's not like it's all that expensive to replace through the school, but it's time-consuming and inconvenient, so I offered to check in with the RTD office to see if it'd been turned in, since I'm only a couple blocks from that office at work.

I was kinda surprised, though, when they told me that the lost and found was at the other end of 16th Street Mall. I didn't have the time then to go all the way to the other end of the Mall, dredge through whatever they might have there, and make it back before my lunch-break was over, so I went back to work, planning to make the longer trip the next day.

Turns out it wasn't needed, though — The missing bus-pass was located at home, and all was well with the world.

Fast forward to today. While I was heading to my train home, I happened across an office key-card lying on the ground near the ticket machines at Union Station. It had a name and photo on it, so it wasn't borderline-impossible to at least try to figure out how to get it back to the owner, hopefully sparing them the trek to the other end of the Mall, and the dredge through whatever piles-o-detritus might be there.

So far, I've not had any luck, though — I found the owner on LinkedIn, and have reached out to them there, but haven't heard back from them since. I also looked them up and found what seemed to be a viable address, so I figured I'd at least make the effort to take it there directly, but with no luck (admittedly, that's only been a few minutes now, so it's just a wee bit soon…).

We'll see if they get back to me.

Some riders…

For various reasons, I found myself in need of taking advantage of the Call-and-Ride service that RTD offers on a regular basis from the Federal Center Station to home today. Nothing major, just a matter of inconvenient timing and ridiculous heat outside.

Having boarded the vehicle, I spent a few minutes chatting with the only other passenger, who advised me that the bar-and-grill place I mentioned to the driver as a landmark "used to have a great burger-fries-and-a-beer" deal. He didn't strike me as an unpleasant fellow.

That made his parting shot at the driver all the more surprising. He wasn't particularly aggressive about it or anything, but (as I submitted to the RTD customer feedback site)…

[The driver] was told by a fellow rider that his attitude was not good, and that customer service was lacking. While I cannot vouch for the time before I was on the vehicle, at no time after I'd boarded did I see any evidence of either.

 It took both myself and the driver by surprise:

[The driver], when faced with the accusation, behaved quite professionally, and even after the other passenger had gotten off at their destination, he handled it calmly and professionally.

Now, maybe something happened before I got on. Obviously, I have no way of knowing. But the driver was unfailingly polite in my presence, so I can't imagine what what the other passenger was thinking.

Still, in all fairness, I felt I had to weigh in.

Bushfire underway

So, I'm sitting here on the afternoon train, and the driver just announced that there's a brushfire at or near the next station. That happens to be the station I get off at as well.

So we get to sit for a few minutes while that gets sorted out.

Whee!

Six years later, and more of the same

Six years ago today, amusingly enough, I wrote about the number of people who were asking the driver on my bus back home about that bus destination.

Today I observed a lot of the same sort of behaviour, but with a light-rail focus. A fair number of train-passengers, many of whom ran to catch the train, asked if the train was going to Golden.

Apparently the signage isn't sufficient for them. Or maybe it was just Friday-afternoon brain-farting. I dunno.

Broken train?

As mass-transit technologies go, trains are among the oldest. The basics of trains running on tracks date back to sometime in the very early 1800s. In that light, it feels kind of surprising when a modern train breaks down, though it probably shouldn't: wear and tear, gremlins and bugaboos... they creep into all human efforts, given enough time.

Today I experienced a train breakdown that didn't stop it from being "drivable," but was still significant enough that it stopped and commuters had to transfer to another train. I'm not honestly sure what the issue/failure was, but I gather it was some sort of pedestrian-related safety system thing.

Whatever it was, it amounted to a 5 to 10 minute delay. Nothing major, though I had to wait for the next bus at the train station, having missed my connection by a scant few minutes.

…and then there's these guys…

The large station that is the transfer point for me from my neighborhood bus and the light rail is RTD's Federal Center Station. It's basically a big loop around the associated parking-area, with a train-platform along one edge:

The entire area along that side (by the map-pin in the picture) is supposed to be for buses only, and has a posted low speed-limit (10mph).

Despite that, it's not all that unusual for me to see someone driving through the bus-only area. Usually it seems like they just missed the turn to get into the parking (middle left side), but a few times I've seen people drive to a bus-stop and wait there to pick someone up from the train or a bus or drop them off. About half the time they don't seem to care how fast they're going through the area. I've seen (once) someone going about 30mph through the area.

And then there's these guys that I saw while waiting for my bus back home last night:

Parked on the sidewalk on the platform.

Engine off, not even idling.

Really?

Holiday Schedules Revisited

I mentioned in an earlier post that the older daughter once nearly got stuck without a bus to take to school because of the observance of New Year's Day and the Sunday/Holiday schedules for the day as a result.

As I'm writing this, it's five days out from Memorial Day, and buses (and trains, presumably) will be running under the same schedule. Odds are good that the older daughter doesn't need to go to school that day (I suspect most college campuses are closed).

I, on the other hand, may have to go into work, at least for a while, on Memorial Day (such is the glamorous life of working in the IT industry, and for a small company to boot). I'm hoping that it won't be necessary, but planning ahead for the possibility.

I digress: If I have to go in, that's gonna be a bit of a pickle for me.

My normal commute is to take the line that comes closest to my house (within a couple of blocks) to one of the larger train-stations on the line. There are three such along the route, and one at each end. From there, it's one train-ride downtown, and a walk of a couple blocks to get to the office. Even if my normal morning bus runs late for some reason, I'd be able to catch the next train after a 15-minute wait.

On the Sunday/Holiday schedule, though, that first bus doesn't even go to that train-station. It doesn't even go as far along that part of the route to get to my normal bus-stop. The only "reasonably" quick way I can find to get to the same train line (at the next large station along it's route) is to take my normal route in the other direction, then transfer to another bus to get to that station. From there it's pretty much business as usual, at least. Getting to the bus isn't going to be horrible either, but it's maybe a quarter-hour walk as opposed to a three-minute one, and the tipple effect of different times and routes means that I'll be spending close to 2½ hours commuting if it comes to that.

And buses only run once an hour on the Sunday/Holiday schedule. Hopefully I won't miss the first train, because it looks like it'll be running every ½-hour, and the window to get from the bus to the train may be pretty tight.

On further reflection, it seems to me that my house is right on the edge of a black hole for public transit service on weekends (well, Sundays, at any rate) and holidays.

What's wrong with this picture?

Working in downtown Denver means that, often, you're never too far from the 16th street mall shuttles. That, in turn, means that it's a relatively quick jaunt to most anywhere else downtown, provided that the shuttles aren't too packed to hop on to.

I took a break today around lunchtime to go to a place called City Pop. They do popcorn and various candies, including a nice variety of sourball candies (orange, cherry, grape, watermelon and green apple flavors at a minimum). It's just a bit further than I'd like to walk if I want to be able to leave for home at a good time, so I took the shuttle both ways.

That's when I saw this sign:

What's wrong with this picture?

Taken from the inside of the shuttle.

Crises on trains...

This morning's ride was somewhat eventful. A passenger's phone started burning at one of the stops. A Samsung,for anyone who's interested.

The reactions of fellow passengers was mixed and interesting. Some bolted, most just got out of the immediate vicinity. The train stayed at the station for a few minutes while the smoke cleared.

Had it happened while the train was in motion, I find myself wondering how things would've played out though. Or, for that matter, if it'd been a "real" fire. That prompted me to look for and ask about the emergency buttons on the train.

For reference, on the Denver RTD light rail trains, they're over the doors.

Not just a flat tire after all…

While waiting for the train this morning, I noticed one of the mountain-route line's buses had what looked like a flat. On closer examination, it turned out that it wasn't just flat — it was off the rim!

Two questions came to mind:

1. How are flats (let alone something like this) actually dealt with on a running line?
2. Does the driver have any notification in the cabin when something this drastic happens?

I know buses can be towed — I've even seen it happen once or twice. But with an active (and in this case, express) line, what's the fallback? There will be people waiting, presumably, for that bus, and it's not going anywhere with this tire.

I gather, from talking briefly with a rider from that bus, that there's either no notification, or that it's easily missed. That rider mentioned that the driver said they didn't know when it happened… It's, admittedly, a jump to a conclusion, but it feels like a pretty safe jump to me…

What happens when a bus is REALLY late?

The evening bus tonight was running a full schedule-interval late. This particular route runs, like many here, on a 30-minute cycle, and was basically 30 minutes behind. There's some communication available between buses, judging by side chatter overheard, so at least it's not a complete vacuum from that perspective.

Setting aside the why's and wherefores of what happened to delay it so much, the dance of buses with the same station/stop at a busy location must be something of a logistical challenge. Maybe even a nightmare.

It's interesting to note how varied the passenger reactions are, though... A lot of grumpiness and complaining from people who don't seem to get that public transit isn't 100% reliable. A fair amount of histrionics (thigh- slapping, loud comparisons with other vehicles leaving on schedule, etc.). I suspect that there'll be a fair few complaints lodged, but what the driver could've done differently has probably not even crossed the critic's minds.

Still, I'll get home about on time, so I count that as a win.

Public transport and chaos theory

This last week, I've not been able to catch the train that I've caught for the last... six weeks, I think it's been. I've puzzled over why that would be the case, and my best guess is that a recent change in drivers is responsible.

The driver that's been the regular for most of that time has apparently moved on to another route, or has been sick for several days. He had the knack of getting the morning bus to the train station with a few seconds, up to a minute, to spare, which gave just enough time to get off the bus and onto the train almost without fail.

The newer drivers, for whatever reason, haven't managed that trick yet. Maybe there's an "upstream"delay contributing to it as well, I have no way of knowing. In any event, I've had to wait for the "next" train every day so far this week.

I can't decide if this is a good thing or not yet. On one hand, I'm not having to run too catch the train in at all. On the other hand, I have to wait for maybe 15 minutes to catch my train.

All (apparently) due to a change in drivers. One little change, with a disproportionate impact.

Chaos theory at work in daily life...

Articulated trains...

The trains on the light rail here are "articulated." That is, each individual train-car is "really" two cars, with a flexible section between them that allows them to bend in the middle when making turns. It's a pretty simple-looking arrangement on the outside.

Inside, though, I'm not sure it's that simple. There's a big round section of floor that rotates around the pivot point, maybe 6-8 feet in diameter. There are no seats there, but there are handrails, and if the train is busy, it's not unusual for a few people to congregate there.

It's also interesting (and a little... strange, maybe) watching that section turn with respect to the rest of the car. Not quite a vertigo-inducing thing, at least not for me, but interesting still... It doesn't pivot much, but it's definitely very visible...

Considerate and observant bus-drivers: Thanks!

I was a regular rider on a morning bus during the last couple of months at my old job, and I'm becoming a regular on the same route at about the same time, but going the opposite direction now that I've changed jobs. My morning walk to the current stop takes me past the stop I used to wait at, at about the time that I'd have been waiting previously.

This morning, while walking to the new stop, the driver that I used to see most mornings honked and gestured to ask if I needed to get on his bus. I indicated that I didn't and he went on his way.

It was kind of gratifying that he both remembered me, and that he was paying enough attention to check.

Kudos, Mr. Bus-driver! And thanks!

What happens when you don't have light rail fare...

This morning during my commute to work, I was sitting in the seat opposite a guy who didn't have a pass, ticket or any other fare for the train. I'd never really asked about (or considered) what happens under those circumstances when it's found out by one of the transit cops, but could hear it in some detail, as close as I was.

So, in Denver's system (RTD), it's an $80-odd fine after the first offense, $100-odd outside the city and county of Denver. I find myself wondering how often it happens that the transit cops run across someone without a fare...

Interestingly, they don't boot the offender off the train.

Nice day for a ride...

Days like today, I find I actually rather enjoy taking the bus...

It's 70-80 degrees out, sunny, but not too hot. Just enough of a breeze to keep things comfortable.

Dead car = Back to busses, at least for a while…

Cars… Can't live with ’em, can’t drive them off a cliff…

Between my vehicle having been “officially” totaled last year (though it was still drivable) and the sudden development of a deep engine problem, it’s just not worth spending the money to fix the car. $4,000 or so for a used replacement engine, yeesh…

Add to that some financial uncertainty, so I can’t really justify buying a new vehicle for a while, and the net result is that I’m back to commuting by bus starting next week, after returning a loaner car.

The bus-passes are more reasonable these days, at least — still nearly $100 per month, but that $100 pass can get me to pretty much anywhere I need to go for the foreseeable future. And since my last long stint of commuting by public transport, I’ve moved, and am much closer to an east-west cross-town route that I can use to get to light-rail in one direction and most of the north-south routes going the other direction.

For the time being, my daily commute involves two routes, and about a 30-minute trip. Not too bad, all things considered…

Holiday Schedules...

I've mentioned recently that my older daughter is taking public transport to and from school, now that she's in college. Today will, I suspect, be an object-lesson for her about checking bus-schedules after a holiday weekend. She left a bit before I did this morning, and I saw her at her bus-stop as I was on my way in to work. After I looped around to actually head in to work, she was no longer at the stop, and I assumed that she'd gotten onto a bus and was on her way.

Nope.

Had she checked the RTD website, she might've noticed the announcement at the top of the page:

Buses today were running on a Saturday schedule.

So, no bus at her usual stop. Which means that there was no bus she could take without a substantial walk to get to the light-rail station. And that also means no bus back home from the light-rail station.

Which likely means that I'll be trying to pick her up today.

That's something I'll also have to remember if I end up doing the bus-commute thing any time soon...