Report: Buses Late Half The Time

by Thomas Breen | Oct 15, 2019 1:44 pm

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Posted to: State, Transportation, True Vote

New Haven buses were on time for only 54 percent of their trips last year, according to newly released data that underscore just how inefficient and inconsistent the city’s public transit system remains. That On-Time Performance (OTP) statistic is included in 12 monthly reports put together by H.N.S. Management and provided to the state Department of Transportation (DOT) regarding how city buses fared over the course of 2018. H.N.S. (or Hartford, New Haven, and Stamford) Management is the sub-corporation of First Transit that operates the state-owned bus system in its three namesake cities. The state DOT released the reports to the New Haven Independent in response to a Connecticut Freedom of Information Act request. The December 2018 report shows that, for the year in total, New Haven buses left their scheduled stops no more than five minutes late only 54.8 percent of the time. That was more than 10 percent worse than Stamford buses (65.3 percent OTP), more than 12 percent worse than Hartford buses (67.4 percent OTP), and more than 3 percent worse than New Haven buses performed in 2017 (58.0 percent OTP). The data is in line with what city bus riders have long known and with what a recent state-funded public transit study confirmed: that the New Haven bus system is a bit of a mess, with outdated routes and schedules. Click here to download HNS’s 2018 monthly reports. State Public Transit Administrator Dennis Solensky explained that a number of factors contribute to city buses departing from stops more than five minutes behind schedule. “Buses operate in mixed traffic and are subject to the same delays as other road users,” he told the Independent by email on Friday. “Drivers on routes that are longer often have difficulty staying on time because there are more possible delays.” Also, he suggested, the blame for buses running more than five minutes late nearly half of the time is due not just to traffic or inefficient routes with too many stops and a hub-and-spoke structure that funnels all riders downtown whether they like it or not. The blame in part, he said, belongs to passengers. “Aside from traffic and roadway issues, drivers need to wait for customers to use the farebox. When customers use cash, it slows down the route. Drivers need to wait for slower moving customers to be seated. They also need to assist riders using wheelchairs and leave their seat in order to tie down the wheelchair.” Solensky said that on-time performance is measured through GPS bus tracking, rather than by the former method of tracking manually when a bus hit a number of predetermined “timepoints” distributed throughout a given route. GPS tracking devices were installed on all New Haven city buses in March 2017. “Prior to the introduction of GPS bus tracking,” he wrote, “on-time performance was checked manually at timepoints. Now that on-time performance is collected continuously along the route, any time a bus falls behind schedule is noted, even if the bus reaches the final stop on the route on-time.” The city bus system’s worst-performing month in 2018 in terms of OTP came in September (51.3 percent) while its best-performing month came in March (69.9 percent). The 2018 HNS reports also reveal that city bus accidents per 100,000 miles increased by nearly 10 percent from the year before, from 6.1 to 6.7. That’s significantly higher than Hartford (4.4) and significantly lower than Stamford (9.8). The amount of diesel fuel consumed by New Haven buses, meanwhile, decreased by over 8 percent, the number of miles per gallon increased by nearly 10 percent, and the number of quarts of oil added decreased by 37 percent. CT Transit New Haven provides bus service for nearly 10 million annual passenger trips a year with its 15 fixed bus routes, one intercity express bus, and two shuttle services, according to the 2017 “Move New Haven Move” transit study. [Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly used the words “especially the handicapped” in describing Solensky’s explanation of passenger-caused bus delays. DOT spokesperson Kevin Nursick emphasized Thursday that the time required to stow wheelchairs does not have a disproportionate influence on bus delays in comparison to other explanations cited.]

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posted by: Belgi85 on October 15, 2019 2:12pm NHI,

I think it’s time to get a new photo to use with these CT Transit/bus articles. That poor man in the monster energy hat has had his face splashed across the front page of this publication more than anyone else in New Haven.

posted by: anonymous on October 15, 2019 3:22pm 5 minutes really is not the best metric, given the circumstances mentioned in the piece. Short delays are also unlikely to be harmful. Did they measure any of these things?

1. How many buses are 15 minutes late

2. How many buses don’t show up at all (just those at the end of the day, or in a period where there’s not another bus for 30+ minutes, of course)?

3. How many buses break down and end up out of service or causing the issues above? (because that would be basically due to lack of investment and insufficient replacement rates for equipment…. P.S. Thank you Obama for finally replacing many of our buses starting in 2009)

4. How many buses are late to the transfer point and cause people to miss their transfers? It would also be good to show which routes are usually running late. Some of the shorter or more modest routes seem to be much more reliable than others. Hopefully the mayor will lobby for greater transparency from DOT/HNS going forward, and ultimately more resources for our buses. They are good, but they could be dramatically improved.

posted by: alex on October 15, 2019 3:24pm Buses are run by the State, not by the City and our Mayor. Worth keeping in mind. Senator Looney, you are the most powerful State Senator in Connecticut. You can’t get State buses to run on time in New Haven? Representative Lemar, you are leading the fight for tolls in our state. But the buses aren’t even on time half the time, and the trains don’t even go to Hartford between 8am and 9am. How are we supposed to support another tax on hard-working residents when the money we currently spend on transit at the state is wasted? Senator Looney, Representative Lemar: I am a constituent. This goes out to Rep. Dillon though too because the bus problem is killing jobs and property values in the neighborhoods she represents too. You all need to get your act together. You don’t hold a candle to Mayor Harp, none of you. I am not neutral on your re-election. As it stands, I’m against it. Do something for once.

posted by: Belgi85 on October 15, 2019 4:38pm I do wonder how much on time performance is affected by the ill timed light cycles on new haven streets? It often takes me 15 mins to drive eight blocks down Elm Street from Broadway to the 91 ramp. Every single light is red as soon as you get up to it. It’s almost comical. Same situation on Trumbull Street, Whalley Ave, Whitney Ave, Chapel Street, Frontage, State Street approaching Union Station. I recently drove around New York City and was blown away that I was able to move 10+ blocks in one light cycle. Like clockwork, my light would turn green, traffic would start moving and then the next light would turn green, and then the next light, then the next light, etc…

posted by: Carl Goldfield on October 15, 2019 5:23pm I’m amazed at how often the fare boxes are not working. On the one hand I feel badly because I know the system is cash starved; on the other it always feels great to start or end the day with a free prize - bus ride.

posted by: ADAK on October 15, 2019 6:16pm Get a better bus app while you’re at it. The app doesn’t even tell you if a bus is gonna be late! Can we not use GPS to tell where exactly a bus is at before people go wait in line for a delayed route?

posted by: Guillermo798 on October 15, 2019 6:44pm “State Public Transit Administrator Dennis Solensky explained that a number of factors contribute to city buses departing from stops more than five minutes behind schedule.”

“The blame in part, he said, belongs to passengers. Especially the handicapped.” Mr. Solensky do you seriously want to lay the blame, in part on a handicapped persons making their way in life using public transportation? One year ago I was in the hospital for 26 days. I had to learn to walk again. I graduated from a hospital bed to a wheel chair, to a walker, and after a stint in a rehab hospital I take care of myself. It took about three months. Today, I can even assist a person in need. Perhaps you should consider sensitivity training. Try getting around for a week in a wheelchair. Try looking at your internal system inadequacies. Fix those first then lay the blame on the people you serve.

posted by: CityYankee on October 15, 2019 6:49pm @Belgi85—— how many thousands did we spend on the traffic light timing study??? What was the result of that??

posted by: mcg2000 on October 15, 2019 8:36pm The new fareboxes are slow to use even when you’re using bus passes, especially if need a transfer. So it’s disingenuous to blame passengers using cash. Plus, during the weeknights and on weekends, buses are held downtown by dispatch and cannot move until dispatch says so. These holds delay buses for more than 5 minutes.

posted by: missthenighthawks on October 15, 2019 10:57pm While he could have said it differently so it didn’t come out the way it did, its a fact that handicapped passengers slow down the system. That should be accounted for. Handicapped passengers deserve access to public transportation just as much as everyone else and no one should be upset if they have to wait a couple of minutes for them to board. If it is a major source of schedule error, don’t blame the handicapped, adjust the schedule to take it into account. I think most people would like an accurate schedule more than one that is constantly late.