DDOT poor bus services

[Chicago48]

I had noticed that DDOT's services wait time had increased under this new Director and Mayor instead of decreasing as promised. It was said that Gary Brown once had control over the bus system and ruled over the new director. The 15 minute wait time for particular lines from the hours of 6am to 6pm is no longer intact. Many people have to wait for more than a half hour for a bus during rush hours in the morning and afternoon. I should had known that this new director wasn't going to do much especially when he had taken a picture leaning on his nice shiny car while a DDOT bus was in the background being repaired. Where is the outcry? Customer service doesn't tell anything but take your name and number

Could it be because of a labor [[lack of) and maintenance problem [[no working busses)?

[professorscott]

Could it be because of a labor [[lack of) and maintenance problem [[no working busses)?

More than anything else, parts. The published schedule is a work of fiction because there aren't nearly enough buses in working order to operate that schedule.

The problem became catastrophic a few years ago when City Council decided that [[1) only "critical" vendors would be paid, and it turns out that [[2) vendors of parts for buses are not critical. So for quite a time DDOT just couldn't convince anyone to ship parts, as those who did weren't likely to get paid timely if ever.

Mayor Duggan seems to recognize the problem, and hopefully he and the various people in charge of purchasing and DDOT will start to understand that you can't repair buses without parts, and you can't get parts unless those supplying them can expect to be paid in a reasonable fashion.

Meantime, the maintenance folks deferred and cannibalized to the extent possible, and this is the result: long waits on all lines much of the day.

[thoro]

No. The problem is management. I ride the Woodward bus and oftentimes there's a long wait and then two, sometimes three, buses come all bunched together.
Dispatching the buses at set intervals is not rocket science.

[Wesley Mouch]

It should not be a surprise that things are getting worse. Doesn't mean Duggan's not doing the right things. [[Also doesn't mean he is.)

You're only as strong as your weakest link.

DDOT has plenty of weak links. I'm sure the vendor payment issue is a big one -- but fixing that alone doesn't do anything. Fixing procedures doesn't do anything. Fixing fareboxes doesn't do anything.

Improvements will only occur when EVERYTHING has been fixed to a reasonable level -- and there are no weak links [[like no busses, no drivers, no dispatchers, no farebox, etc.).

Quick fixes are usually not lasting. This one may take a few years.

So that leaves the question of whether Duggan's doing the right things. On this I have no idea.

[Hermod]

No. The problem is management. I ride the Woodward bus and oftentimes there's a long wait and then two, sometimes three, buses come all bunched together.
Dispatching the buses at set intervals is not rocket science.

There is a statistical theory on bunching and gaps in a flow that was expounded on in a book called "Why Do Buses Run In Threes".

[Wesley Mouch]

There is a statistical theory on bunching and gaps in a flow that was expounded on in a book called "Why Do Buses Run In Threes".

Thanks so much for that comment. This forum provides opportunities for thought, and for challenges to my ideas. I would never have thought of this -- but it is so obvious. Thanks.

[313WX]

No. The problem is management. I ride the Woodward bus and oftentimes there's a long wait and then two, sometimes three, buses come all bunched together.
Dispatching the buses at set intervals is not rocket science.

Yep to the bolded.

You have someone who doesn't have a clue as to what they're doing [[Gary Brown noser) that was appointed to a position where they're running shit through nepotism.