Switched Keys

I talked about Tyler Transit on an earlier entry. Since then I have learned more about Tyler Transit from some of the other riders. While I was waiting at the transfer some of the long-time riders were expressing their concerns (i.e. complaining) about the transit system. The first thing was how the drivers were always on break referring to the wait at the transfer point. That was not without some truth and clarifications. The Red South bus makes it to the transfer point about 10 minutes before the departure time. The connecting Red North bus is almost always just on time or late. With the 10 minute wait another 5-10 minute wait at the bus stop and maybe a 10 minute walk to or from a bus stop you've waited half an hour not counting the ride itself.

I also got a history lesson. One observation was how when they had 4 buses they ran every hour but with 5 buses then run every hour and a half. Technically it's every 1 hour and twenty minutes for some routes and every 40 minutes for some. I suspect that there were some problems with the initial plan and some changes were made as well as an assumption that the problem was fixed.

In a wealthy city such as Tyler it's understandable that there wouldn't be as many riders as in other cities. Everyone is retired and using their own vehicles. However I've ridden on a few buses that were filled to capacity so there are enough riders to keep it going. In contrast since Tyler is such a wealthy city it seems ironic that they don't spend more money developing the transit system. The supposed traffic congestion problems could be impacted if Tyler had a transit system that better served the city.

I'm not talking about a bus every 4-6 minutes. Routes that run every 30 minutes would be adequate for most riders. I'm not going to guess at the cost of each additional route without some study but you can compare the cost of adding another bus and annual cost for a driver with the millions of dollars we are spending on creating and maintaining our city streets and highways. For the environmentally conscious the fuel savings gained and green-house gases inhibited by having a respectable transit system would also be a welcome sight.

Also discussed by some of the riders was the transit system in Longview. If you take the bus there you might as well get relaxed because you're in for a ride. Tyler may have Longview beat in that area but I think the transit system is far from being the best that it can be.