The other day I watched as the teenage daughter of a friend tried to cajole a ride from her friends to get to the mall.
The mall was only a couple miles down the road, and I suggested she take a bus.
I was a little surprised by her response: “Yeah, and get mugged.”
I asked what she meant.
“Those things are gross, and the people who ride them are crazy,” shesaid.
I asked if she had ever ridden a bus other than a school bus, and she said she had not.
Her impression of buses is the same as many; it?s based on stereotypes and the class system that still seem to exist. Taking the bus is not even a last resort for a lot of people.
My friend?s daughter would have stayed home and not gone to the mall if somebody hadn?t volunteered to pick her up.
The pecking order seems to be: Car, Metro rail, taxi (because of the expense) and then bus. I didn?t forget walking or bicycling, but those are not options for some people because of the distance to be traveled.
Transit marketers, take note: You have a lot of work to do to change perceptions if you want to get more people to take the bus, especially at times other than rush hours along well-traveled routes.
Buses need to be clean and “friendly.” The image of the smelly guy asleep in the middle seat needs to be erased from our collective consciousness. The bus is never going to be a big party on wheels, but people need to know they are safer and cleaner and the routes easier to figure out than most now think.
Of course, if problems exist, then they need to be corrected.
The bus as a transit option suffers more from an image problem than anything else, except maybe for the amount of time people have to stand in the cold waiting for one to show up.
Brighter future hoped for MTA
Now that Lisa Dickerson has tendered her resignation as administrator of the Maryland Transit Administration, the hope is the position will be filled by someone with a good background in transportation, someone who should understand and care about the people who take transit.
From most accounts, MTA has been spinning its wheels for the past few years with the exception of some handicapped transport issues ? and it really needs someone to give it a good jolt.
Transit generally doesn?t have a positive image ? see above ? but with the proper leadership, chances are good that at least some of the negatives can be erased, and more people will find transit a viable option.
There are number of good things and good people at the MTA.
Hopefully new leadership can bring out the best in everyone and everything.
Questions, comments, random musings? Write to [email protected].
