The whole process might take decades to complete. By the time Step 2 was completed, the buses purchased for Step 1 would be ready for the junk yard.

It requires large amounts of overlap, redundant spending, and it still is a plan that will require years and years of infrastructure work with no short term benefit, only inconvenience as traffic on every major street across the county is interrupted.

Whereas starting with local trouble spots and popular destination spots solves problems immediately while simultaneously laying the groundwork for future improvements.

Every city that has a viable public transit system operates with a hub or multiple hubs. It's more efficient, allows for significant sharing of infrastructure, and ensures that the most pressing needs are served first. If being first in transit is the goal, it would serve us well to learn from the ones that do it best right now.

Have YOU looked? It ain't no skin off my back WTF you do. Because I already gave you the basic answer: your expectations are unrealistic for a public transit system.

The OC Mass Transit System is not bad. It has a long way to go. It's not the answer for everyone.

A: Take the bus!

B: It doesn't really serve my purposes

A: Sure it does!

B: No, really, it doesn't. It's a fine system for what it is, but it doesn't fit my needs

A: Sure it does!

B: No, there are very practical reasons that it does not

C: The systems not for everyone, stop saying it sucks!

B: I'm not saying it sucks, I'm saying it's not for everyone. We agree.

C: You're just being lazy for your own convenience!

B: Huh? I thought you just admitted that it's not for everyone.

A: In the future it's going to be perfect! Driven by magical fairies and everything!

B: Err, okay, but it doesn't work for me now.

C: It's not for everybody!!!



That about sum it up?

Yes, I thought I stated I looked at the bus for work and both the bus and train for hockey and I could not locate anything that met my needs. My needs are what they are. My expectations are to get from point A to point B in a reasonable amount of time. A 300% increase is not reasonable. Going from 45 to 90 minutes could be, if my needs fit into that schedule. As I said, I can't leave work early to catch the bus to go to games. I also don't have 2.5 hours to take the bus to work and from work.

What is frustrating is the constant harping that mine (and GDs) expectations are unrealistic and then in another post saying the OCTA is not for everyone.

And public mojo for GD. Yes, it does.

It is what it is. It has come a very long way. It doesn't meet everyone's needs yet and may never. I loved the public transportation in San Francisco.

Now that we're all agreed that "it is good, it is better, it is not for everybody, and you should just take the damn bus and stop whining, and why don't you just look it up yourself" I'm interested in the how it could improve discussion.

I'm still caught up on the "a bus every 5 minutes in both directions on every major street" thing but omnimovers being excessive (and that wasn't a serious suggestion, just my way of saying that the proposed number of busses would be ung-wdly expensive). Assuming that they can average 35MPH when they have stop every block that's 25 busses just for the length of Harbor Blvd. Running even at 3 a.m. on a Monday morning.

And if done on every major street that is a lot of busses interrupting car traffic with their light overrides. Even in the Bay Area they're only considering such things on a couple very main thoroughfares. Market Street in San Fransisco, International Boulevard in the East Bay. And even in ultra-hippie friend-of-public-transit Berkeley they can't agree it is a good idea.

Even as much as we relied upon public transportation as teens {and my sis for a total of almost 2 decades} it wasn't perfect. We had to wait long periods, we had to walk many blocks at times to reach our bus stop, even if we were just dropped off from another bus to continue on another route. But, if it is all you have, it is all you have. Or, if it can work for you, great.

Timing, safety, convenience, all of that add up.

Even the school bus system sucks for us. To pick up my son, who doesn't start school until about 12:15, it would pick him up about 10:50.

One more to add:

D: This is the most popular Rank the Swank thread ever. It's the Dark Knight of Rank the Swank threads!

It wouldn't start out anywhere near every five minutes. Probably closer to ten to 15 minutes between buses.

Each articulated bus would probably take 20 to 25 cars off the road. That should more than make up for all the signal pre-emptions.

Cool!