tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-750357817175490357.post8306858431432292055..comments2023-05-19T08:12:47.216-07:00Comments on Riding in Riverside: CSUSB Loses Transit PassesAllie Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08388778275254352958noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-750357817175490357.post-19204535585598357372012-07-04T23:07:15.689-07:002012-07-04T23:07:15.689-07:00Anon, you're absolutely right. In a perfect wo...Anon, you're absolutely right. In a perfect world, Omni would have beefed up service on those routes. And I know from long experience that the Chaffey routes are really terrible-- and that was before the service cuts. However, most of the time these agreements are negotiated to be revenue-neutral-- that is, the revenue that the agency gets out of the deal is simply the same amount they figure they're getting from students already. (With Omni's pre-existing student passes, they can figure this out without too much trouble.) So, and I don't want to sound like I'm defending Omni here, there really isn't a pot of money that could be used for expanded service. Omni, like most transit agencies, doesn't control its own budget-- we need to put pressure on SANBAG and other regional funding sources to give transit its fair share.Allie Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08388778275254352958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-750357817175490357.post-33770268105313272322012-07-04T01:46:29.367-07:002012-07-04T01:46:29.367-07:00You know, to be honest with you, I resented this p...You know, to be honest with you, I resented this program at the start, not necessarily because students recieved these benefits, but because Omnitrans didn't plan for the service demand increase. Omnitrans (as well as I) assumed that the students that rode the bus to campus were already a subsantial figure and that this would only affect the current student population riding the bus. However what nobody saw coming was the sudden increase in ridership.<br /><br />What I believe Omnitrans did wrong was continue providing the same amount of service to the increased demand. Routes that truly suffered were the hourly 8 & 9 serving Crafton Hills in Yucaipa, the hourly 11 serving CSUSB, the already crowded 1 as the only direct link to Valley College, the hourly 83 to Chaffey Chino and the long, redundant, and poorly serviced routes 68, 80, & 81 serving Chaffey Rancho.<br /><br />Basically, what I am trying to say is that service needs to be improved. West Valley students (and riders in general) shouldn't have to deal with hourly headways, 1+ mile walks, & lackluster weekend service and random crowding; while the East Valley shouldn't have to deal with severe bus cuts, over crowding, and bus bunching.<br /><br />What is even worse is that Omnitrans encouraged full time student use so much, to the point where I would say that 100% of marketing effort went to appealing to these students, which would be fine if there was actually service at levels to meet that demand and they didn't alienate their already steady ridership.<br /><br />PS1. If Omnitrans wants an urban type operation, than the service they provide should at urban levels.<br /><br />PS2. Sorry for hijacking your post, this was just a personal rant that I feel needed to be said.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com