Get a clue




  • Some commuter busses have doors that open like this:

              steps    | 
    ---------\/   \/---+

    Some commuter busses have doors that open like this:

              steps    |
    ---------      /---+
                  /
                 /

    You would think that anyone who rides the bus on a daily commute would be able to figure out where to stand when the bus pulls up in front of you, so the latter door type doesn't open right into you.

    You would think.

    I'm at the bus stop waiting to go home with only one guy in front of me (a regular on this route), when the latter style bus pulls up. Because of traffic, the driver stops with the door right in front of the guy. The guy is standing right on the curb, pretty much guaranteeing the door will open right into him. He doesn't move. The driver, realizing the imminent collision, just nudges the door open a few inches (to coerce the guy into moving). The guy doesn't move. The driver nudges the door open a few more inches, essentially pushing the guy - by his nose - out of the way.

    The driver, and pretty much everyone on the line behind me is laughing.

    Sheesh - buy a vowel and get a fucking clue!



  • Was traffic so tight the driver couldn't just pull up a few feet (1 m for you international folks)?  The usual rule with any type of machinery is to not hit people with it.



  • @frits said:

    Was traffic so tight the driver couldn't just pull up a few feet (1 m for you international folks)?  The usual rule with any type of machinery is to not hit people with it.

    There were some police barricades set up so the driver only had a 3 foot opening to work with.


  • I would like to commend you for your beautiful ASCII diagrams.

    (Also, was the guy lucid or in otherwise a sane sort of mind?)



  • When I was a bus driver, we had a few stops where we were required to only open the rear doors of the bus.

    There would usually be people standing there, waiting for the front doors to open, and you'd have to wave them to the back. No big deal if you're not familiar with the rule, but there were some people who stood there every (weekday) morning at the same time, waiting for the same bus. They'd stand there and wait for the front doors to open, as though they thought maybe this time would be different than the last hundred times.



  • @Someone You Know said:

    When I was a bus driver, we had a few stops where we were required to only open the rear doors of the bus.

    There would usually be people standing there, waiting for the front doors to open, and you'd have to wave them to the back. No big deal if you're not familiar with the rule, but there were some people who stood there every (weekday) morning at the same time, waiting for the same bus. They'd stand there and wait for the front doors to open, as though they thought maybe this time would be different than the last hundred times.

    This kind of people only learns from experiences that involve getting a candy or receiving an electrical shock.



  • [quote user="Renan "C#" Sousa"]

    This kind of people only learns from experiences that involve getting a candy or receiving an electrical shock.[/quote] 

    Or both. At random.



  • @snoofle said:

    Some commuter busses have doors that open like this:

              steps    | 
    ---------\/   \/---+

    Some commuter busses have doors that open like this:

              steps    |
    ---------      /---+
                  /
                 /

     

    You know, I've never really understood those swatting doors.

    Here in Hollandus, Proud Province of Europia, we have the former type, which is good, but the second single-door type slides to the side rather than slapping people in the face.

    Ex:

              steps   |
    ----------     ---+
    ------


  • @dhromed said:

    (...)but the second single-door type slides to the side rather than slapping people in the face.

    Ex:

              steps   |
    ----------     ---+
    ------

    But where's the fun in that?



  • @dhromed said:

    @snoofle said:

    Some commuter busses have doors that open like this:

              steps    | 
    ---------\/   \/---+

    Some commuter busses have doors that open like this:

              steps    |
    ---------      /---+
                  /
                 /

     

    You know, I've never really understood those swatting doors.

    Here in Hollandus, Proud Province of Europia, we have the former type, which is good, but the second single-door type slides to the side rather than slapping people in the face.

    Ex:

              steps   |
    ----------     ---+
    ------

    Here in Austria, we have an even more sophisticated way of opening bus doors:

          steps   |
    --------------+
    
    >
    
         |steps|  |
    -----\     /--+
    

    What a shame that you don't live in a country with such awesome door opening systems.



  • @Shimmy said:

    What a shame that you don't live in a country with such awesome door opening systems.
     

    Oh, I forgot. We do have those. In fact, ours go --------|      |---+ which is obviously SUPERIOR.

    It's really dependent on bus brand and model.

     



  • @dhromed said:

    @Shimmy said:

    What a shame that you don't live in a country with such awesome door opening systems.
     

    Oh, I forgot. We do have those. In fact, ours go --------|      |---+ which is obviously SUPERIOR.

    It's really dependent on bus brand and model.

     

    In this case it's probably more superior drawing skills than a superior door opening systems, as actually a lot of countries in Europe do have that cool stuff Americans don't have.



  • @Shimmy said:

    In this case it's probably more superior drawing skills than a superior door opening systems, as actually a lot of countries in Europe do have that cool stuff Americans don't have.
    Where I live, we don't even get public transportation, much less buses with cool doors.  In fact, the only time I've even seen a public transportation system was when I visited some museums in DC. 

    (Still better than living in Europe! :P)



  • @Xyro said:

    (Still better than living in Europe! :P)

    Filed under: better than living in a city anyway

     

    Some European countries also have public transport (with or without cool doors) outside cities. Blows your mind, I know.

     



  • @Xyro said:

    Where I live
     

    Where's that?

    Antarctica?

    Peru?



  • @dhromed said:

    @Xyro said:

    Where I live
     

    Where's that?

    Antarctica?

    Peru?

     

    Peru has decent public transport, including a very cool train that runs to Machu Picchu. So I figure he lives in a more backward country.



  • @b-redeker said:

    So I figure he lives in a more backward country.
     

    Given a time zone of -5 and a mentioning of a trip to DC, this must be upper east USA.



  • @dhromed said:

    @b-redeker said:

    So I figure he lives in a more backward country.
     

    Given a time zone of -5 and a mentioning of a trip to DC, this must be upper east USA.

    Which is what I said.



  • Central Pennsylvania, somewhere between the cows and the corn.

    :-\



  • @Shimmy said:

          steps   |
    --------------+

    >

     |steps|  |
    

    -----\ /--+

    What a shame that you don't live in a country with such awesome door opening systems.


    Ours open like that too (Alberta, Canada)



  • @Xyro said:

    Central Pennsylvania, somewhere between the cows and the corn.

    :-\

    I used to live in Central PA.  Cities are precious few in that span.  Even Harrisburg was more of a gathering place than a city.



  • @belgariontheking said:

    @Xyro said:
    Central Pennsylvania, somewhere between the cows and the corn.

    :-\

    I used to live in Central PA.  Cities are precious few in that span.  Even Harrisburg was more of a gathering place than a city.
    And yet Philadelphia and Pittsburgh totally control the state government and our federal representatives.  It pisses me off to no end...



  • @belgariontheking said:

    @Xyro said:

    Central Pennsylvania, somewhere between the cows and the corn.

    :-\

    I used to live in Central PA.  Cities are precious few in that span.  Even Harrisburg was more of a gathering place than a city.

     

     Wait, you're telling me that people live in the turnpike scenery?



  • @Xyro said:

    And yet Philadelphia and Pittsburgh totally control the state government and our federal representatives.  It pisses me off to no end...

     

    That's because you get one vote per person, not acre.  Except in Philly, where you get one vote per person, plus one dead relative's vote.



  • @frits said:

    That's because you get one vote per person, not acre.  Except in Philly, where you get one vote per person, plus one dead relative's vote.
    Hey that's better than in Chicago, where you get one vote per person per polling place.  On election day, the dinner discussion is "How many times did you vote today?"



  • Our doors open like this:

         steps     |
    _______________|
    
    >
    
         steps     |
    _FUCK     YEAH_|

    So you can see, they are by far superior. Also, all our buses have bike racks on the front. That fold up when not in use. And some have wi-fi.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    Our doors open like this:

         steps     |
    _______________|
    

    >

     steps     |
    

    FUCK YEAH|

    So you can see, they are by far superior. Also, all our buses have bike racks annoying flimsy pieces of crap that people can't figure out how to use on the front. That fold up when not in use when they feel like it. And some have wi-fi.

     

    FTFY.



  • @belgariontheking said:

    @Xyro said:

    Central Pennsylvania, somewhere between the cows and the corn.

    :-\

    I used to live in Central PA.  Cities are precious few in that span.  Even Harrisburg was more of a gathering place than a city.

     

    Small universe. I'm heading to central PA for a two week business trip in a couple days (almost dead center where the I-180 loop meets US 15).  Nice geography but I don't think I could ever live there - and I've spent quite a bit of time there over the past 5 years on this project.

    And speaking of strange taxes in PA: I am to no end amused by the fact that your state has an "Occupational Privilege Tax".



  • @Someone You Know said:

    @blakeyrat said:

    Our doors open like this:

         steps     |
    _______________|
    

    >

     steps     |
    

    FUCK YEAH|

    So you can see, they are by far superior. Also, all our buses have bike racks annoying flimsy pieces of crap that people can't figure out how to use on the front. That fold up when not in use when they feel like it. And some have wi-fi.

     

    FTFY.

    Hey at least they exist. Most cities still don't have bike racks on buses.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    @Someone You Know said:

    @blakeyrat said:

    Our doors open like this:

         steps     |
    _______________|
    

    >

     steps     |
    

    FUCK YEAH|

    So you can see, they are by far superior. Also, all our buses have bike racks annoying flimsy pieces of crap that people can't figure out how to use on the front. That fold up when not in use when they feel like it. And some have wi-fi.

     

     

    FTFY.

    Hey at least they exist. Most cities still don't have bike racks on buses.

     

    Seattle has them.  I'm heading to graduate school in Madison from an internship in Seattle, and I'm really gonna miss the kickass bus system.  Hopefully Madison's will be okay as well though.



  • @DescentJS said:

    Seattle has them.  I'm heading to graduate school in Madison from an internship in Seattle, and I'm really gonna miss the kickass bus system.  Hopefully Madison's will be okay as well though.
     

     Madison has bike racks on all the buses too.  The Metro system is pretty decent (and, if you're a student at the UW, "free" insofar as part of your tuition goes to buy you an unlimited ride pass),  Can't really complain, the buses are usually pretty close to on-time and they're relatively new and well-maintained.  It's a bit annoying with the buses right near campus because a billion college students can't walk two goddamn blocks so they pile on the bus, but only once or twice (in about six years) did I have to wait for a later bus because the bus I wanted was totally full.



  •  Around here we have a bus system that is:

    • Frequently late
    • driven by assholes
    • designed by idiots
    • run on old, outdated vehicles that use natural gas and are loud as hell.

    Basically, there are 40 different routes which go accross various parts of town. bus stops are often seperated by a few blocks either way. The problems arise when there's an asshole driver (there are a few of them) or construction. Construction is frequent here, and we tend to get lots of missed stops because there are lots of oxbows in the bus routes, which get promptly ignored as soon as there's construction anywhere near them.

    Pisser becomes that the bus routes... Are rather odd. Some routes run every five minutes ( And most of those are the infrequently full ones) and others are on the HOUR along MAJOR ROADS. They often fill up on the major intersections. They're also the ones that are the ONLY MEANS TO GO ALONG THAT ROAD.



  • @Indrora said:

    and we tend to get lots of missed stops because there are lots of oxbows in the bus routes,

    Ok, I Googled it. I still have no idea what "oxbow" means in this context...



  • @blakeyrat said:

    Ok, I Googled it. I still have no idea what "oxbow" means in this context...
     

    Imagine the oxbow — a thing with a bend in the middle — as being the route the bus takes.



  • @dhromed said:

    @blakeyrat said:

    Ok, I Googled it. I still have no idea what "oxbow" means in this context...
     

    Imagine the oxbow — a thing with a bend in the middle — as being the route the bus takes.

    So instead of having the route straight down one street, the bus will (for example) go left a couple blocks, stop, then take a right and head back to the same street it was on before? Not very efficient... but I get what he's saying now.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    So instead of having the route straight down one street, the bus will (for example) go left a couple blocks, stop, then take a right and head back to the same street it was on before? Not very efficient... but I get what he's saying now.
     

    You'd do that if there were a lot of passengers getting on and off at some location that's not on the main road. A hospital, train station, something like that. 

    Some transit companies put a ton of time and money into designing their routes to take things like this into account, studying the traffic patterns at different times and so on; there's a whole sub-field of mathematical modeling devoted to it. Other places, presumably like wherever Indrora lives, don't believe that this kind of spending is necessary and will just throw the routes down wherever they can do it the cheapest.



  • Except that the routes are nowhere near efficient. They veer from main road to small side road to main road to ANOTHER main road. Here's an example: Here (PDF, Mind you). The roads don't line up sometimes, and there's routes that have /time/ qualifiers on them ( like this )



  • @Indrora said:

    Except that the routes are nowhere near efficient. They veer from main road to small side road to main road to ANOTHER main road. Here's an example: Here (PDF, Mind you). The roads don't line up sometimes, and there's routes that have /time/ qualifiers on them ( like this )

     

    "Time qualifiers" aren't that weird in general; if you have a stop where you only ever pick up or drop off anyone at rush hour, it doesn't make sense to waste gas driving there during the rest of the day. That "PM Routing" area includes the court office on 2nd Street, for instance.


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