They've tried two-door boarding system in San Francisco and I'm not in really in favor. Even there, where the buses have extra large rear door landings (larger than even the new Metrobuses), people getting on and off the bus still collided with each other regularly. A better, idea idea would be a concerted "exit at rear" campaign to encourage an even flow of passengers on and off the bus. I've seen ads on other cities that have arrows up-and-down the buses encouraging people to exit at the back.

What I did really like on Muni was having two smartcard readers at the front. One on the farebox, and another to the side. It allows people with smartcards to bypass the people paying with cash or are reloading their cards. That really sped up boarding.

by Adam L on May 10, 2012 9:09 am • link • report

Tree cover link is dead.

by goldfish on May 10, 2012 9:14 am • link • report

All door boarding is a great idea. I hate to break it to these MBAs, but it isn't a particularly new idea, nor would it require some new technology. Just add more SmarTrip targets at all doors. Changing bus interior layouts would also help. Better yet would be a full transition to a proof of payment system.

by Alex B. on May 10, 2012 9:17 am • link • report

But it doesn't require new technology, how are MBA students going to get rich? Rather like discussions on performance parking.

Isn't the tree cover just elms dying?

I suspect NYC doesn't need the tourist overage charges since CITI has a massive sponsorship.

by charlie on May 10, 2012 9:30 am • link • report

It does require new tech for transit - an ez-pass device that can be read at a distance.

Of course, this works on cars because you have one reader for each lane looking in a specific small area; not sure how well it would work for a transit bus.

by MLD on May 10, 2012 10:14 am • link • report

@Charlie

Elm trees dying certainly could be a good reason for the loss of so many trees but that still leaves the issue of why weren't they replaced?

I've seen it in several municipalities - it is far too easy for the arborists to have trees removed than it is to get a tree planted and then - most importantly - have it cared for for 2-3 years so it gets established.

The end result is that trees are removed but not replaced. If they are replaced, the sapling is usually dead within a year. Hence, a loss of canopy.

This is, in my opinion, part of the brilliance of Casey Trees. They don't just plant trees, they provide the minimal care the trees need (watering) until they get established. Survival rates increase dramatically with this minimal care.

by Quercia on May 10, 2012 10:25 am • link • report

Yes. Add more SmarTrip targets.

An EZ-Pass type of system is likely to accidentally charge people walking past the bus on the street. There's a reason why SmarTrip and other proximity cards require an extremely close proximity to work.

(Also, you might start wiping credit cards and stopping people's pacemakers if you started using bigger induction coils on the readers. My understanding is that EZPass is a very carefully-calibrated system, because there are only so many ways that a car can drive through a tollbooth)

by andrew on May 10, 2012 10:40 am • link • report

Buses work best if people enter on one door, and exit at the other. In Europe, people enter at the front, so the driver can check that they pay. You leave through the back. In Japan, it's the other way around. You get in the back and the driver checks in the front when you leave that you've paid.

I've never understood why in the US people generally ignore the back door, while entering and exiting through the front door. You guys are so good at queuing and you can't figure this one out? Bus drivers ignore the back door as well. I regularly have to ask to have the back doors opened so I can exit.

by Jasper on May 10, 2012 10:54 am • link • report

The back door/front door problem is also exacerbated by drivers who feel the need to "kneel" the bus at nearly every stop even for able bodied people, or pretty ladies.

by spookiness on May 10, 2012 11:02 am • link • report

Re: bus boarding, I would love to see this become like an unwritten policy like the Metro escalators 'stand right, walk left' one.

Unfortunately there are just some people - for whatever reason - who will NOT exit the back. They could be standing in the damn door well and when the bus pulls up to the stop they force their way through everyone to get to the front. Soo annoying.

by Shipsa01 on May 10, 2012 1:04 pm • link • report

Part of encouraging people to exit via the back door would also be teaching people to 1. move to the back of the damn bus and 2. get out of the way of the back door as much as possible.

Some systems (e.g. Pittsburgh) have a system where during rush hour boarding/alighting downtown is through all doors and then you pay outside of downtown when you enter/exit. E.g. in the morning you pay when you get on the bus and then you exit in downtown by any door. In the evening you enter by any door downtown and pay when you exit via the front door. That's to speed things up when there are large crowds getting on/off downtown.

by MLD on May 10, 2012 1:25 pm • link • report

While the region's homeless population decreased overall, DC has more homeless residents, says a COG study.

Resolved: When the working poor become homeless, they move into the city. When they get back on their feet, they move out to the suburbs.

by oboe on May 10, 2012 1:26 pm • link • report

@ spookiness:The back door/front door problem is also exacerbated by drivers who feel the need to "kneel" the bus at nearly every stop even for able bodied people, or pretty ladies.

Kneeling should be standard practice. Having had a broken foot last year, has made me much more aware of the trouble people can have entering and exiting a bus. You can not see whether I am able-bodies or not. After I got rid of my crutches and supportive boot, making large steps still hurt significantly.

On my bus route, there's a lady who walks difficultly. It is hard for her to get in the bus. Virtually every day she has to ask the driver to lower the bus. Again, you can not judge what goes on under that skirt.

Another pet-peeve from the category of simple-thing-bus-drivers-could-do-to-make-life-better: Buses that stop two feet from the curb.

by Jasper on May 10, 2012 1:45 pm • link • report

I like the multiple smart trip target idea more than an ez-pass system. I was recently in Santiago, Chile, and all the buses in the TranSantiago system have two readers, one to the left and one to the right. It definitely speeds things along, provided you have space for multiple people to enter.

Another good idea is pre-paying. They had a few of these at busy stops, where a section of the sidewalk was cordoned off by railings, and you could swipe your card to get into that section and then board the bus without swiping. The few I saw had TranSantiago employees standing there to prevent abuse, so it might be quite expensive here, but it might be worth investigating at the stops with the highest traffic that potentially cause the most delays (I'm thinking of the X2 stop next to Verizon Center for example, although there are others).

To complete my Santiago after action report, they also allowed musicians to perform on buses, even with sound systems, and collect donations/sell CD's right there on the bus. Perhaps this guy has a future on the 42 bus? http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/dc-songwriter-longs-for-metros-42-bus/2012/02/27/gIQAiDrdeR_story.html

by david on May 10, 2012 2:32 pm • link • report

Protected: Mapping the Past: Washington D.C. in 1951

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by Casey Tree on May 10, 2012 4:20 pm • link • report

No one else remembers when the DC Circulator was "board at any door"? That's why they bought those Van Hools with the extra-wide rear door, designed for use on European POP systems.

Chicago removed the second smart-card reader ("Go Lane") because it was too difficult to call back someone whose card didn't read correctly. Plus, people never quite got used to it and rarely took advantage of the second reader.

Funny to hear that TranSantiago is still only doing prepaid boarding when the stations are staffed. I saw that (two years ago) only at rush hour at the busiest transfer points, and figured it was just a pilot program then; guess they still don't have a proper turnstile setup worked out.

by Payton on May 11, 2012 2:35 pm • link • report