yet another UTA special (kinda long)

[smileyeagle1021]

wow, in just one day I've seen all these on UTA (and I still have one more ride to go today when I get off work, so I may have more to add later)

Don't argue with the bus driver... pt1

ok. I'll admit, Salt Lake's fare system is a bit convoluted (but still not hard to learn). The buses that go to and from Salt Lake Central Station are all on a pay as you board/pay as you exit system... if the bus says "to salt lake central station" then you pay as you board, if it says to "(any destination not salt lake central station)" then you pay as you exit (this only applies to routes that go to salt lake central, all other routes are pay as you board only)

on to the story

teenager is boarding, reaching for his wallet
bus driver- (covering fare box) it's pay as you exit
teenager- no, I have a transfer, i'm not supposed to have to pay.
bus driver- no, you just have to show your transfer, but do so when you exit

they actually went back and forth for a while... seriously dude, it's not that hard of a concept to understand.

don't argue with the bus driver... pt2
ok, the bus routes were changed in august, if you don't know this already sucks to be you. yelling at the driver of the 550 that he should be taking North Temple into downtown rather than I-80 won't get you far, because he's been taking that way sense august, he isn't going to take a different route just for you... if you were unsure about the route you should have asked when you boarded, at which time the driver would have very nicely explained that all you have to do is get off at redwood, cross the street and board the 217 and that will take you on North Temple towards downtown.

don't argue with the bus driver... pt3

I don't know how these people do it. I was taking 217 back out from downtown out to where I work, at Redwood and North Temple we picked up the most belligerent arsehole I have seen in a while. It is pay as you exit at this point, there are passengers trying to get on the bus, he barges his way on past them, drops his token in the fare box... oh and he didn't have a shirt on. Of course driver yells at him not to barge past exiting passengers again and to put his shirt on. And the beautiful part... he got off before me... the driver made him pay again... it is pay as you exit after all... anything you put in the fare box on entry is free money for UTA (and if he weren't such an ass I'd feel bad for him )... so thank you shirtless asshole for helping to subsidize my ride.

do me a favor TRAX driver

next time a pedestrian is stupid enough to dash out in front of you... please just hit them and do darwin's work... it would be a much preferred alternative to you slamming on your breaks causing those of us standing at the end of the train with our bikes to end up in one big pile on the floor... also, you are bigger than them, when you are halfway through the curve from 4th south onto main and you've already stopped for one, when you see a second thinking about dashing you don't stop again and waive to them, you blast your horn and use the PA to tell them to stay the fuck off the track.
(and yes, I am blaming the pile up on the stupid pedestrian... I'm blaming missing the connection I wanted... thank God I left myself extra time... on the idiot driver who doesn't enforce the rules about no pedestrians on the train tracks).

and I hate the UTA engineers who designed the trax extension

OK, I know that for going down 400 west you had a lot to work around, you needed to maintain left turn lanes at intersections and you had to maintain travel lanes and there wasn't much space to work with... but your predecessors were able to do it on 400 south without feeling like a roller coaster ride getting thrown around the train... perhaps you could have too... oh and I don't know if this is poor design or poor scheduling, or both but having trains blocking the intersection of 200 south and 600 west while waiting for Salt Lake Central Station's platform to clear just doesn't seem smart.



All this, and I still have to get home tonight... I'm seriously thinking that I'll just bike straight to trax rather than using a bus connection... trax doesn't seem to have as many idiots populating it.

[smileyeagle1021]

oh... another one did happepn, more funny than anything else though... on my way home last night I had a JW offer me some of their literature... the song that was on my iPod was Jesus Christ Superstar... I know, I'm easily amused, but seriously

[Evil Queen]

You're a certain kind of Special, Smiley.

[rerant]

I'm always amazed at the ways some cities work their fare system.
Paying on exit seems strange to me, and I can't think of any reason why it would make sense.
Would the fare be higher past Salt Lake Central?
I know here you have to pay again once you go above a certain street, but I think that means you only have to pay again if you're transferring to another bus route.

The Toronto transit system is possibly as simple as you could ever get. I mean, look at our subway map for goodness sakes.
It's idiot proof.

[unclejampuff]

Buffalo almost has a pay-as-you-leave policy... if you're in zone 1, you pay $1.50 when you get on. If you get off in zone 2, you pay an extra $.25 as you leave. Zome 3, an extra $.50 as you leave, so on and so on. I figured it out pretty damn quickly the first time I took a ride to a zone 2. Heck, any question I've ever had about the NFTA system has been easily answered by common sense and/or their website.
It really surprises me how so many people get confused or lost when they have: a website, an automated phone number, fliers, signs EVERYWHERE, and updates sent by email and/or text message. So the next time I have to near someone bitch about how OH NOES their trip to the Galleria was messed up because they had no idea the 32 was rerouted...

[smileyeagle1021]

I'm always amazed at the ways some cities work their fare system.
Paying on exit seems strange to me, and I can't think of any reason why it would make sense.
Would the fare be higher past Salt Lake Central?
I know here you have to pay again once you go above a certain street, but I think that means you only have to pay again if you're transferring to another bus route.
.

it's not a different fare amount (the only time there is a different fare is local vs express), what it is is the stupid fare free zone. If you are going into Salt Lake Central then you are outside of the free fare zone you must pay, if you are going out from Salt Lake Central then it is possible that you will exit before the end of the free fare zone so you only pay at exit if you are outside of the free fare zone... yeah I know confusing, but actually does kinda make sense. Yeah, and with UTA you don't actually pay a one way fare, you are buying a 2 hour pass... when you board if you ask for a transfer it is good for 2 hours... even as a return trip on the same route.

oh and I have a new favorite trax operator... the guy who operates the train that departs Temple Square at 10:46 is a Utahn at heart... you see, we all know that the maximum safe operating speed for a Siemens LRV is 55 mph, but don't let that stop you intrepid trax operator... we know that is only a suggestion, feel free to go 60 to 65 mph (i stand at the front of the 2nd car and on the older ones they use analog speedometers you can see how fast the train is going).