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Felix Salmon is our favorite Englishman in New York. Why? Because he's anything but laconic. He can write a thirty paragraph essay regarding just about anything. For instance, over the last two days, he's written more than 3600 words about buses. That's right, buses. The heart of his meditation is a simple question: would buses move faster if drivers were paid per passenger, instead of a fixed wage. The question comes out of a University of Arizona paper that considers the Santiago, Chile bus system, where many drivers are paid per passenger, and do seem to get where they are going a little bit (up to 15%) faster than their fixed-rate colleagues.
If paying bus drivers per passenger is really so much better, why don't more cities do it? Felix points out:
Do drivers paid on a per-passenger basis get into more accidents? Yes. The report shows that they have 10.03 accidents per million kilometers travelled, compared to just 5.98 accidents per million kilometers travelled on the Chicago-style buses. That's a huge difference, which can't be shrugged off by saying that they are "moving from place to place more quickly". The pay-per-passenger system means that drivers have a very strong incentive to overtake the bus in front of them, and pick up all of the passengers which the bus in front would otherwise get. So they are likely to drive more aggressively, and less safely.
He goes on other potential downsides, as well as ways to improve the incentive system using technology. And that's just in the first post! In the second post, he considers more complex incentive schemes, and whether decreased waiting times for buses always result in higher accident frequencies.
During a visit to Santiago last year, we got to ride their bus system a number of times. The bus drivers compete furiously for passengers. The buses do seem to move faster, but there is a lot of jostling around as the buses dodge in and out of traffic-- and we saw more than a few accidents during the week we were there. Also, the bus drivers attempt to pack as many people as they can into the buses, resulting in a very crowded ride. In short, it's not at all clear to us that this scheme would be good for New York. Do you have a better idea for how to improve bus service? We're all ears.
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Fascinating, but how do our crowded streets compare to Santiago's I wonder. I can't envision drivers competing with each other or driving faster on the M42 or M14 or any other crosstown bus. They can barely move and maneuver as it is.
The solution is a simple one.
The materialist culture is at an impasse. Clearly, bribery is not going to solve all the world's problems and has never been a motivation for any of the greatest achievements of mankind. In this small instance, things are no different.
People, especially civil servants, should work well because of their love of their fellow citizens as well as their country. We must instill a passionate resolve to serve the state in all of our people if we are to survive.
Bus service is bad because in central locations buses get stuck in traffic, while in outlying locations there are fewer passengers so despite deep subsidies service is infrequent.
You need grade separation in a city like New York. Compare the speed of the M15 bus northbound on First Avenue, where an underpass helps at 42nd and the avenue passes under the 59th Street and Triboro Bridges, and Second Avenue, where traffic backs up at these major approaches. To speed the bus, underpasses could be built on Second Avenue at 125th, 59th and 42nd Street, perhaps in conjunction with the Second Avenue Subway.
Pure onanism.
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is probably the near-future answer. The MTA has been studying it for some time now, it's on their web site somewhere. Basically it consists of dedicated lanes, cameras to enforce the lane priorities, and stop lights that can automatically change as the bus approaches (as long as it's reasonable to do so). One of the other big slowdowns is passenger loading, which the Smartcard will help somewhat. Some BRT systems require the fare to be paid before entering the bus, as in a mini-station on the curb with turnstiles.
I know this isn't the most optimal 'social justice' answer, but everytime a handicapped individual gets picked up or let off, it takes about 3 minutes to complete, while the bus misses 2-3 light cycles. If there was a way to seperate out handicapped service it would definitely speed up the busses.
Also, if they had GPS or some other type of system installed on each bus it would help to stem when busses double up on each other and then widen the time gap between the next bus.
I can't figure out if the bus driver is pushing the woman onto the bus or if he is escaping from the bus.
I also think the buses stop far too often. Do the uptown buses really need to stop every two blocks? Even a slow walker can cover two blocks on foot in under three minutes and get a little extra exercise to boot!
'Fascinating, but how do our crowded streets compare to Santiago's I wonder'
Having grown up in Santiago, I'll tell you: "they don't." If you think the streets here are crowded and dodging crows/traffic (depending what side of the equation you're on) is 'bad,' then you're in for a suprise down there. In any case, I love bargaining with Santiagino micro drivers to see how little I can pay to get on and still get a ticket.
'Fascinating, but how do our crowded streets compare to Santiago's I wonder'
Having grown up in Santiago, I'll tell you: they don't. If you think the streets here are crowded and dodging crows/traffic (depending what side of the equation you're on) here is 'bad,' then you're in for a suprise down there. In any case, I love bargaining with Santiagino micro drivers to see how little I can pay to get on and still get a ride stub in case transit police get on.
That is one of the funniest pics I have ever seen! I concur with bus.rider that it's hard to tell whether the driver is escaping from the crowded bus or trying to push the woman in. If I had to guess, I'd say he was escaping because once he pushes the woman on, how will he get back in???
The best way to improve bus service in Manhattan is to ban private automobiles in Manhattan. That is never going to happen, and it will always be faster to walk crosstown than to take a crosstown bus in Manhattan.
Perhaps making "monster buses" in the style of the "Monster Trucks" which seem to make an appearance at the Nassau County Coliseum every now and then and are quite popular with pre-teen males as well as the Bubba and hick set. They could crush all the cars in their way.
Getting back to realistic proposals, congestion pricing in Mahattan, as used in London, would hopefully limit the amount of cars entering the borough, leading to less congestion and faster bus trips.
The second would be to have dedicated bus lanes coupled with traffic signals that bus operators could change in their favor.
And since we are talking about buses, can we get the MTA to stick bike racks on the front?
(I also think the buses stop far too often. Do the uptown buses really need to stop every two blocks? Even a slow walker can cover two blocks on foot in under three minutes and get a little extra exercise to boot!)
I once suggested, in a transit chatroom, having the buses stop every 4-6 blocks rather than 2-3, with the idea that you'd "walk a little farther, ride a lot faster."
I was immediately flamed by an older individual who said "once again the able-bodied fail to comprehend the difficulties of those who have pain with every step."
Many of those who ride the buses are seniors. Then again, as slow as they are, only the retired have time for them.
Hi...
If you do like to read about buses, why don't reach at BUSES WORLD NEWS
"www.busnews.blogspot.com"...
and really you'll be surprised.
Regards