Good - I live near 16th/U St NW and the bus bunching on the C53 and the C51 is crazy - they consistently arrive at the same time that literally defeats the purpose of having a corridor-style bus service on U Street.
Bus bunching on the 16th Street Line (D60/D6X) services has gotten pretty bad recently, too. There's been countless times both services show up at the same time and then the next bus on either line isn't for 20 minutes.
Bunching on the D40/D4X has been consistently terrible as well. I think it's a natural result of high frequency service without careful headway management, so with the move to higher frequencies this approach makes a ton of sense.
Granted, I don't ride the D40/D4X often (only when I miss the D60/D60X or don't want to wait) but IME the buses have been pretty spaced out on the line. The route really needs articulated buses IMO.
Yep, same on the 50/50X. It has gotten a bit better with the better bus network but not a lot. Still feels really inconsistent and sometimes there are buses every 10 min and sometimes (especially weekends) 20-30…
Bus bunching has been pretty bad on the D5X line as well but lately we've been having more problems with poor GPS timing and ghost buses. Either BusETA has an arrival that sits on 8 min for 20 minutes or a bus says its arriving, but never does. I would be more excited for this latest WMATA remedy for mediocre bus service around DC if Randy Clarke wasn't proven to have lied his ass off to get Better Bus implemented. But I guess that's just life as a second class citizen in Muriel Bowser's DC.
I've submitted multiple emails to the inbox about BusETA for similar issues. It's never been this bad and I don't know what they did that broke it but it sucks.
Metro has ~13,000 employees, Randy is not responsible for every inconvenience that happens. There's no denying that his leadership has changed Metro service for the better.
There are tradeoffs, for sure. They acknowledge at least two big downsides in the video: the buses won’t adhere to a schedule, and buses may hold at stops more often.
The only way for the buses to go faster is to skip stops which can be pretty infuriating if you're waiting for the bus only for it to pass you by, so probably not
The C21 seems to suffer a lot of bunching but I do not recall that ever being a problem with the W4 it replaced. The frequency seems similar but I cannot be sure.
Headway management is a well established strategy in use in many cities around the world to make frequent buses (that is, buses that run every 15 minutes or better) more useful by making gaps between buses more consistent.
Good - I live near 16th/U St NW and the bus bunching on the C53 and the C51 is crazy - they consistently arrive at the same time that literally defeats the purpose of having a corridor-style bus service on U Street.
Bus bunching on the 16th Street Line (D60/D6X) services has gotten pretty bad recently, too. There's been countless times both services show up at the same time and then the next bus on either line isn't for 20 minutes.
Bunching on the D40/D4X has been consistently terrible as well. I think it's a natural result of high frequency service without careful headway management, so with the move to higher frequencies this approach makes a ton of sense.
Interesting.
Granted, I don't ride the D40/D4X often (only when I miss the D60/D60X or don't want to wait) but IME the buses have been pretty spaced out on the line. The route really needs articulated buses IMO.
Given that the X services are bound to pass the buses that service all stops, wouldn’t they at some point have to arrive one after the other?
Yeah, it will be interesting to see how headway management works with the X routes. I guess you'd still want them to continue as fast as possible.
Yep, same on the 50/50X. It has gotten a bit better with the better bus network but not a lot. Still feels really inconsistent and sometimes there are buses every 10 min and sometimes (especially weekends) 20-30…
Same with the D50/D5X.
Bus bunching has been pretty bad on the D5X line as well but lately we've been having more problems with poor GPS timing and ghost buses. Either BusETA has an arrival that sits on 8 min for 20 minutes or a bus says its arriving, but never does. I would be more excited for this latest WMATA remedy for mediocre bus service around DC if Randy Clarke wasn't proven to have lied his ass off to get Better Bus implemented. But I guess that's just life as a second class citizen in Muriel Bowser's DC.
I've submitted multiple emails to the inbox about BusETA for similar issues. It's never been this bad and I don't know what they did that broke it but it sucks.
C53 to the NW has been so awful recently for me out in NoMa. But C53 SE has been so rapid. Itd be nice to see them more balanced
Someone get this on the D80 route please - we’re waiting 25 min during rush hour and then 3 buses show up all at once
BUT BUT BUT I LOVE RANDY CLARKE! HE CAN DO NO WRONG!
We still do love Randy Clarke…
Did Randy steal your girl or something? Chill man, he’s been good for the system.
Washington Metrorail Safety Commission has been good for "the system." Randy? Not so much.
Metro has ~13,000 employees, Randy is not responsible for every inconvenience that happens. There's no denying that his leadership has changed Metro service for the better.
Yes of course. Randy Clarke is EXACTLY like Dump--the buck stops somewhere else.
Sounds good in theory, but its complicated.
There is a fantastic book The Maintenance of Headway by a British chap who digs into this with some dry humour.
There are tradeoffs, for sure. They acknowledge at least two big downsides in the video: the buses won’t adhere to a schedule, and buses may hold at stops more often.
Seems worthwhile to pilot, though!
Yeah good. Never see a bus go buy unless it’s with like 3 other buses. So it’s either get lucky or be ready to wait 20 minutes for a bus
So they mention that buses may go slow to avoid bunching, but will they ever go faster to avoid bunching???
The only way for the buses to go faster is to skip stops which can be pretty infuriating if you're waiting for the bus only for it to pass you by, so probably not
How could they go faster? They're already going as fast as speed limits and traffic allows.
Dedicated bus lanes, signal priority, etc
That would increase the baseline speed, not enable them to exceed it. So you'd still only be able to move slower to prevent bunching, not faster.
"Earlier" is probably a better notion than "faster" - it's hard to move faster, but easier to leave the origin station at an earlier time.
The C21 seems to suffer a lot of bunching but I do not recall that ever being a problem with the W4 it replaced. The frequency seems similar but I cannot be sure.
I’m sure Randy Clarke is behind this scam
Headway management is a well established strategy in use in many cities around the world to make frequent buses (that is, buses that run every 15 minutes or better) more useful by making gaps between buses more consistent.
A highly talented transit system manager installing an improved system proven around the world? Yes, that does sound Randy Clarke.
Why u hating?