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US cities pay too much for buses

(www.bloomberg.com)
355 points pavel_lishin | 2 comments | 26 Sep 25 13:57 UTC | HN request time: 1.476s | source
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SoftTalker ◴[26 Sep 25 14:23 UTC] No.45386831[source]▶
Not sure why transit agencies are still paying for custom paint schemes or colors when they just turn around and wrap the whole bus with advertising. Just buy a plain white bus.

The article didn't mention corruption but I would not rule it out. Follow the money. Whose pockets are being filled when one transit agency is paying 2x what another one does for the same bus.

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gjsman-1000 ◴[26 Sep 25 14:44 UTC] No.45387093[source]▶
That already exists in MetroTransit in Minnesota. The only company that was seriously interested for several years was Planned Parenthood.

https://www.startribune.com/the-drive-birth-control-bus-ad-s...

This did not improve public sympathies for bus service broadly speaking.

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PaulHoule ◴[26 Sep 25 14:57 UTC] No.45387259[source]▶
It's a pet peeve of mine that buses in my city have wrap-around ads for a car dealer an hour's drive away. (Turns out all the car dealers in this area are owned by the same people) Then there was that bus which had a supergraphic that made the whole bus look like an MRI machine advertising the medical center.
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gjsman-1000 ◴[26 Sep 25 15:02 UTC] No.45387329[source]▶
Personally, I'm not opposed to bus service; quite the opposite. Especially if I could bring an eBike.

However, buses can and should feel safe for everyone, whether you're 5 years old or 95 years old, a US citizen or a visitor from Japan, whether it's 2 PM or 2 AM. In the United States, they absolutely don't. This can be fixed, but nobody has the political will to be perceived as a little mean.

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PaulHoule ◴[26 Sep 25 15:05 UTC] No.45387357[source]▶
In my town all the buses have a bus rack in the front that fits up to two bikes or e-bikes.

I perceive buses in my town be very safe. I definitely see emotionally disturbed people downtown and near the homeless colony behind Wal-Mart, but I don't see them on the bus.

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1. bluGill ◴[26 Sep 25 15:20 UTC] No.45387524[source]▶
I hate those racks. 2 bikes capacity means the transit agency needs to ensure they are not well used since they will fill up fast if people actually use them. Also the time it takes to put a bike on/off them is time robbed from everyone else on the bus who is now 30 seconds latter to where they want to be. They just are not worth it, and cannot be. Either take the bike on the bus (good luck even getting it to fit, much less doing this in a reasonable amount of time for reasonable effort), or lock them up at your stop.

I find buses are safe too. I don't understand the worry myself. However buses in the US normally run terrible routes that make them useless for getting around and so people who want to seem "green" need to find some excuse and not understanding the real problem blame safety and not that the route is useless.

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2. PaulHoule ◴[26 Sep 25 15:53 UTC] No.45387920[source]▶
In Ithaca we have crazy hills so it is a good plan to take the bus up and then ride down although E-bikes change that equation.

In Ithaca we have great bus service between the Ithaca Commons, Cornell and the Pyramid Mall. Before the pandemic we had a bus every 15 minutes at the mall which was great -- it's still pretty good. There are 5 buses a day during weekdays to the rural area where I live. These are well timed for the 9-5 worker at Cornell and I'm going to be taking the late one back today because I'm going to go photograph a Field Hockey game over in Barton Hall and the timing is right -- it's OK but we did have more buses during the pandemic.

Bus service is not so good to Ithaca College. When I've tried to make the connection with my bus I've concluded that I might as well walk up the hill the IC rather than wait for the bus.