The Observer, February 25, 2005
Volume XXXVII, Issue 19
Greenie issues have remedies
Last week's Observer brought light that students were not satisfied with excessive waiting for a Greenie. Dick Jamieson believes that GPS on the Greenies (an idea for the last five years or so) will let students know how long they have to wait, but unless there are clocks at all the stops, GPS will only help those checking a computer before leaving. Although we are an extremely "wired" campus, I cannot imagine a lot of people doing this, not to mention this does not help people coming from class. GPS may be good for tracking, but it will not solve the waiting problem.
The problem causing students to wait longer than 15 minutes is a logic problem. Firstly let me say there is no "schedule" for a Greenie; the only claim made about time is that a Greenie will come within 15 minutes from the last one. There are two Greenies that run the Circle Link, so imagine the museum as the start and the RTA stop as halfway through the loop. Things run smoothly from 6:15 to about 8:15 a.m., right about when the first wave of students hits Greenie A. So Greenie A spends time picking up a bus full of students, then spends more time dropping them off along the quad. Meanwhile, Greenie B coming from the RTA stop makes minimal if any stops. Greenie B then catches up to Greenie A, since Greenie A was lagged from making extra stops. Now there is more distance that Greenie A must travel to meet the "15-minute-from-the-last-Greenie" deadline. However because it is traveling over more distance, there is more likelihood that people will be waiting to catch Greenie A, therefore making it stop more and lagging it behind Greenie B even more. It will wind up that Greenie B will catch up with Greenie A unless Greenie B intentionally delays at a stop to let the first one move to the other half of the loop. This intentional delay though still slows things such that the 15 minutes promise is not met.
How can this "problem" be stopped? Having the Greenies stop at every stop regardless if people get on or off will keep Greenies more spaced out, but their ability to get places quickly will be sacrificed. Another solution could be to add another bus. How about bringing back the old Campus Flyer and make it run from Northside to the quad, turn around at Fribley and then on to Mather and back Northside? These are just thoughts to deal with the current system. When the routes are redrawn (Here's hoping you keep the RTA stop on Southside. It really is useful.), the time problem probably will not go away. They must either shorten the route enough so Greenie B can take a break and let Greenie A catch up, or get another Greenie, otherwise, you will just run into the same problems.
