Friends of reliable, punctual bus service:

So, here is a brief (?) description of my travels (travails?) yesterday morning.

I rode my bike to Lincoln Fields T.W. station, and grabbed a #95 to Lebreton, arriving 7:40 a.m.

Got off, checked the schedule in the shelter, next O-Bus due at 7:45 a.m.

So, five minutes to wait, or so I thought (hoped?).

At 7:52, an O-Bus finally showed up (already 7 minutes late!) (Artic # 6395 - one of the most recent ones - this is important to note, due to what happens next.)

15 people got on, not counting me, since I am simply an "observer".

The rear door of the artic would not close.

Driver had to come back and beat on it to close it.

Arrive Preston @ Carling @ 7:57 - Five minutes from Lebreton - The O-Train would have almost reached Carleton
U in the same time.

7 get on, 1 off.

Arrive west side stop @ Carleton U @ 8:04 - so far, we have travelled for 12 minutes - O-Train would have reached Greenboro.

1 on, 14 get off.

Go around under O-Train bridge to east side - notice large High Rail truck with crane on bridge placing new ties.

Stop at Carleton U. east side stop - this is just north of the traffic light at the heating plant, where the sidewalk bulbs out, so the bus is stopped in the through lane - no bus bay.

1 on, 4 off at this 2nd stop in Carleton U.

Then the rear door jambs open, won't close.

Remember, we are in the (only) through lane, not in a bus bay.

Traffic behind is effectively STOPPED COLD.

Driver comes back to wrestle with door - no luck.

I offer to wiggle it while he goes back to the front, and works the valve - still no luck.

Finally driver tells us to get off, and get the next bus, which he says is coming around behind us.

I walk behind bus, and motion to waiting motorists to go around the stalled bus - remember, it can't move
with the rear door open.

Which is not too onerous, since this is summer, right, school is not busy, and traffic coming the other way
is light - what if this were mid-September?

:>)

After a couple of minutes, driver remembers to activate his four-way flashers, to help those behind realize he ain't
goin' nowhere.

A couple of other buses, #4's and #7's go by.

@ 8:13, the next O-Bus South Keys shows up.

9 get on, including some (4 or 5?) who got off the stalled bus.

Did not note the time when we arrived at the #4 stop on the Bronson off ramp @ Heron road, but 7 got off there.

One guy getting off asks driver about "WHEN will the train be running again?" and driver tells him about all the
work theye are doing on the line, and bridge, and to look for it upriver the next time he is on the O-Bus crossing the
Rideau.

On Data Centre Road, opposite the Heron T.W. Station, 1 gets off.

We squeeze around the corner from Data Centre Road onto the access road to the Transitway at the west end
of the Billing Bridge bus parking area.

As the rear wheels of the artic mount the curb, with the articulation joint at full lock, I get a better appreciation
of how "flexible" buses are, and why the joints on these buses have caused so much "trouble."

:>)

We cruise south past the O-Bus stop at the Heron Transitway station, with no one getting on or off.

Same at Walkley - 0 on, 0 off.

Arrive Greenboro @ 8:22, 30 minutes after starting out from Lebreton.

The last passenger gets off there, leaving only me to ride on to South Keys.

As I thank the diriver, and get off he says "LOOK - FREE munchies, coffee, etc!"

I had inadvertantly arrived in the middle of an OC Transpo "Customer Appreciation" event!

Grabbed a danish, and crossed to the other side, where I bumped into one of the supervisors of
the OC Transpo Gestapo.

He says, "Don't I know you?" and I reply, "Yes, I'm Tim Lane."

Did not have the heart to remind him that I was one of the subversives who crashed the "Welcome Back O-Train" event that Larry O'held at Carleton after the strike, holding up banners that insulted the Mayor.

I think that's where the Security guy remembered me from.

:>)

Anyway, waited for the next O-Bus heading back to Lebreton from S. Keys.

@ 8:34 (did not check if this was the scheduled time) an artic, signed O-Bus Lebreton shows up.

It's bus # 6395. (GULP!)

The driver tells the Security guy that he is having trouble with his back door.

15 people get on, including a wheelchair.

Once they are seated, the driver , instead of using the P.A., turns around, and yells back, "Please
don't get off by the rear door. Use the middle door."

Since the people at the back of the bus couldn't hear him, I walk back there and repeat the message.

@ Greenboro 11 get on @ 8:35.

@ Walkley, 3 get on.

@ Heron T.W. Sta., 1 gets on. @ 8:38.

@ Data Centre Road, 0 on, 0 off.

@ Heron Road, 1 gets on.

@ Carleton U stop #1 @ 8:47, 9 get off, including the wheelchair.

That's about 12 minutes, Greenboro to Carleton, and only the 1st stop at the University.

The O-Train would be at Bayview by then.

@ Carleton U stop #2, @ 8:50, 2 on, 4 off.

@ Carling @ Preston about 15 get off, could not see clearly to count them all, @ 8:58.

@ Lebreton, 2 get off @ 9:04

Total travel time, Greenboro to the Transitway @ Lebreton, approx. 29 minutes.

Total people carried southbound trip - 28.

Of course, this # is not accurate, since it was spread over two buses, so might be more or less.

Total people carried northbound trip - 32.

So, if this is an average ridership, during the peak, there is no need for articulated buses on this route.*

There is also NO WAY that this bus is carrying 5,000 people per day.

About half that # would be closer to the truth.

:>)
Tim
* I rode it Wednesday morning, as well, and about 30 passengers was the total load.