Thursday, May 5, 2016

Transit Users Not Pleased - Okay Pissed - This First Week Without Peak Service


If users rated your service a 1.8 out of 5 on your own Facebook business page, would you try to make your service better? If your Guelph Transit the answer is 'no'. It's a paradoxic move for the service even as it moves into council mandated budget cuts for the summer and the loss of twice-a-day peak service. The reaction from the public in the last week though has not been good, as the cuts are being blamed for delays and missed transfers by the City's dedicated bus riders.
Culled from Guelph Transit's social media feeds, you'll notice below a trend of missed stops, full buses, and late transfers either due to traffic pressures or too much idling along the route.  


























I, myself, witnessed such an incident Tuesday on the Route #10 Imperial, when the driver stopped at the West End Rec Centre and told a bus full of people that we would be five minutes late getting downtown to Guelph Central Station in order to save money on milage. When people started to complain, the driver told them to call their councillor because this was in the effort to save money following budget cuts.
The problems are not unexpected. In December, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1189 President Andrew Cleary told council that that the half-hour system "proof of failure" and that "at its best, it did not work 15 years ago." After four days, it seems to be working even worse than foretold. 
Repeated attempts to reach Guelph Transit General Manager Phil Meagher were unsuccessful, but in lieu of that let's consider the issues as outlined above. You may say that these are just a few outliers and that thousands of people take the bus everyday without complaint, but let's consider some statistics from the White House Office of Consumer Affairs. For every customer that complains, there are 26 others that remain silent, and news of a bad customer service experience reaches twice as many people as a good one. 
So the question is, how much longer will Guelph Transit users put up with a service that costs them more and expect less from, and how long Guelph Transit and its managers will keep giving it to them? 

3 comments:

  1. Not at all a reliable source of transportation, and for that all involved should be utterly ashamed with them selves. Fix the time lines and quit pissing people off. This is not at all acceptable and must be changed. There will be large back lashes for this just wait and see. The people will get upset and sometimes not react in the best manner.

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  2. Woah. None of these problems were even a thing until all the construction (I have another name for it) started blocking off major arteries through town. Typical Guelphites want to slander and blame for their petty inconveniences all over town. Go into work early if you have to. Have patience with our road workers, transit drivers, coworkers and employees. Take note that transit may be affected by the poor timing of road maintenance, make some comfort food and take a scented bubble bath, and for God sakes learn to have some respect please.

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  3. I have lived in several different city's and Guelph Transit is horrible. I find it unbelievable that a city this size and amount of people. Service is limited. If you need to take a bus in Guelph on a Sunday your day ends at 6pm ridiculous.

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