The 'Hound Bites Back.

I mentioned in my last post that I would be joining the 83,000 (thanks to my readers) riders who use the Riverside Greyhound station annually as of Thursday night. Well, we used the station, but that's all.

I did everything I thought possible. I picked up my tickets early, we traveled with carry-on baggage only (my standard policy), and we were at the terminal an hour before departure. I have to mention, of course, that the terminal has seen better days. The Greyhound sign has been taken down, the counter no longer serves snacks and beverages, and I'm pretty sure some seating has managed to disappear. Anyway, our 20:20 bus arrived five minutes early.

And the driver came into the terminal and said "I've only got two seats." There were nine passengers waiting for that bus in the terminal that night.

The ticket agent and driver made a valiant effort, but they freed up only two more seats, and Dani and I were not among the four who made it on the bus. The ticket agent then tried to get dispatch to send out a new bus, but to no avail. Finally, we were told that we were being re-routed through Los Angeles, and would arrive in Las Vegas at a bleary 4 or so in the morning. (Our original time of arrival was 00:40, late enough for my tastes...)

I told the ticket agent to refund my tickets, which she promptly did. She said that even this was generally against company policy, and further informed me that there were usually 20 people in San Bernardino that would subsequently be re-routed. (San Bernardino's personnel are working the Riverside station until the station's fate is known.) She also told me that the bus, a 53-passenger MC-12, had 45 people on board upon leaving Los Angeles. That means that the bus didn't even have enough capacity to accommodate Riverside alone, let alone the other stations on the route.

I ended up driving to Las Vegas, tired and in a foul mood, but I'm fortunate to have had the option. Greyhound should be ashamed to allow customer service to deteriorate to such a level, and they should understand that service like this creates a huge PR problem for those of us who would really like to see their service as an integral part of Riverside's intercity transportation.

Joining the 82,000

Tonight I'm joining the 82,000 Greyhound passengers that board or alight at Riverside's station every year. My wife and I have tickets through to Las Vegas, to go see a friend get married.

If it weren't for the Riverside Greyhound, I'd either be fighting traffic on the I-15, or I wouldn't be going at all. We certainly can't afford to fly. Oh, and did I mention I hate traffic?

Save the Greyhound.

Meeting write-up

Okay. So I promised a write-up on the public meeting held at RTA headquarters regarding the coming service cuts, so here it is. No promises on being cheery.

The meeting was run by Scott Richardson, Director of Planning. Two other office-y folks were in attendance, but I didn't catch their names.
Mr. Richardson assured the public of the necessity of cutting service, and the sheer abject poverty facing the transit agency. He explained that transit funding in this county comes primarily from sales taxes, and, since sales taxes are down, so is RTA's funding.

I spoke first for the public, delivering my petition (301 signatures) and a short speech on how public transit is the best deal out there for suffering Riverside County residents. Mr. Richardson acknowledged that I had good points, but also said it didn't change anything.

After me spoke Art Guerrero, ATU shop steward for the operators at RTA. He was concerned that the 14 would be run along the CA-91 freeway. He made a powerful, empassioned plea for the people who rode his route, saying that a freeway routing would bypass several important destinations. It moved everyone there nearly to tears. He was then told that the 14 will remain on Indiana, with no plans for a freeway routing.
I'll also mention that Mr. Guerrero said that there will be 20-30 layoffs of drivers at RTA. As a union rep, I'm sure he knows.

After Mr. Guerrero were two women from the CSU San Bernardino social work program. They'd apparently held a public meeting in Highgrove and asked RTA for additional service to their local community center. (You girls have got cajones, by the way. Even I'm not aggressive enough to ask for MORE service right now.) The RTA drivers on hand said that there was a feasible re-routing of 25 that was available. Mr. Richardson said he'd "certainly look at it."

The aftermath of the meeting was basically this: There's no money. Service is getting cut. The only question at this point is, what service, and the routes under consideration have been identified by RTA as the least-patronized. Mr. Richardson told us all that, if we want to save a route, we should ride it.

That's a good idea...

It's NOT TOO LATE!

If you couldn't make it to the Tuesday night meeting (which was fun, and which I still need to find time to write up... busy week...), you can still comment on the fare changes. All of the official public meetings have passed, yes, but comments can still be submitted via e-mail (to comments@riversidetransit.com), via telephone (at 1-800-800-7821), or by snail-mail, if anyone still uses that (ATTN: Director of Planning, Riverside Transit Agency, 1825 Third Street, Riverside, CA 92507). Furthermore, public comments will also be accepted (per the Agency Director of Planning) at the upcoming RTA Board of Directors meeting on the 26th of February, at 14:00 in the County Administration Center, Board of Supervisors Conference Room in downtown Riverside. (The meeting location has moved, and yes, this move seems to be permanent.)

Tell 'em you want effective transportation in Riverside County.

"Are you the blogger?"

I'm being watched. I walk in to the RTA public meeting tonight (which I didn't see any of you folks at, tsk tsk tsk!) and the director of planning says to me "Hey, are you the blogger?".

Scary.

More on the meeting later, when my grad school applications are finished.

Special Meeting

Riverside residents, heads up! I was on IE Craigslist's Politics section, and I found notice of a special meeting between the City Council and (*yech*)Congressman Calvert. It's at 9:30am on Wednesday the 18th, in the Mayor's Ceremonial Conference Room (that's seriously what they call it), and they'll be discussing, among other things, the Riverside transit center.

I can't make it. No way no how. I've already missed too much of my Japanese class. However, if you can make it, please please please please please be there, and tell them we need a modern, intermodal transit center here in Riverside. Don't let them redirect FTA funding to downtown transit center improvements, which most people say will only work if Greyhound is gone.

Info on the meeting here.

Reminder

RTA public meeting, tomorrow night, 18:00, RTA headquarters.

That's at 1825 Third Street, Riverside, 92501.

If you're on the bus, the 10, 13 (alternate routing via Hulen) and 14 serve it directly, the 13 (normal routing) serves Third and Chicago, a short walk away, and the 1, 16, 22, and 25 serve University and Chicago, a bit longer of a walk away.

Come help tell the RTA exactly what you think of their "service changes."

Edit: You can read my route-by-route analysis of the service changes here.