Anyone who has read more than a few posts here knows how I feel about buses. Today I had another less than pleasant encounter with the brain trust that is the MTA.
For reasons I haven't bothered to figure out buses in Baltimore seem to always be stacked. It is rare that I come upon a single bus on a route. Most of the time there are two and occasionally three or more. This morning I somehow managed to end up between two, so I had one breathing down my neck (at one point it had pulled close enough behind me that my shadow on the road was obscured by the bus') and one belching soot into my face.
Thankfully I had some movies to drop off at the post office and I dumped off the road a little early.
Showing posts with label buses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label buses. Show all posts
Monday, September 8, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Another reason why buses are evil
Most of the talk about the surprise attacks motor vehicles like to pull on cyclists is centered around the right hook. For those unfamiliar (are there any?) the pic below illustrates the right hook in all its glory.
Simply put, a right hook happens when a cyclist (either in a bike lane or just riding to the right of the road) is passed by a car which then makes an abrupt right turn, leaving the cyclist with few (and no good) options. This picture takes you to a nice bit from Commute Orlando! on what drivers should do to avoid hooking cyclists and I'm not going to cover it in any more depth. I want to talk about the pinch.
This happens, primarily with larger vehicles (vans, delivery trucks, and especially buses) when the driver in question passes the cyclist and then either drifts or cuts towards the right, leaving an ever-narrower gap for the cyclist that ultimately can only be avoided by slowing down to the point that the driver is far enough passed for the cyclist to take the lane. Sometimes it happens because the lanes shift and the drivers just aren't paying attention, and sometimes it happens because the driver is an arrogant MTA bus driver (yeah you, route 40, bus number 06008) who is apparently offended that a cyclist is on his road (at least that was the look he gave me when I came around to make a turn while he was stopped at the light).
The full story: As I got to the major intersection (where President St. becomes the JFX, around the flag in the map) I pulled out and took my lane (2nd from right, far right is turn only) because there was a bus loading up a short distance back and I know they like to crowd. As the light turned green I paced the van in front of me across the JFX slowing a little around Frederick to prep for the turn at Gay. The driver apparently was in so much of a hurry to offload some passenger (depsite there already being a bus at the stop, where the bus is visible on the map) that he started pulling over to the curb before he had fully crossed Frederick. That pinched me between him and the sidewalk, as he was passing me at the time. I ended up having to stop and then pulled out to the left while he was stopped at the Fayette/Gay light and went around (I turn right at Gay). As I went passed the driver the look he gave me was somewhere between being asleep and "you're lucky I didn't pull all the way over, @$$hole".
Just one more example of why buses are evil and I am a strong opponent of cycling on roads used by mass transit. Too bad in Baltimore you're more likely to find a rodent and roach free abandoned building than a road more than two blocks long without a bus line on it.
Simply put, a right hook happens when a cyclist (either in a bike lane or just riding to the right of the road) is passed by a car which then makes an abrupt right turn, leaving the cyclist with few (and no good) options. This picture takes you to a nice bit from Commute Orlando! on what drivers should do to avoid hooking cyclists and I'm not going to cover it in any more depth. I want to talk about the pinch.
This happens, primarily with larger vehicles (vans, delivery trucks, and especially buses) when the driver in question passes the cyclist and then either drifts or cuts towards the right, leaving an ever-narrower gap for the cyclist that ultimately can only be avoided by slowing down to the point that the driver is far enough passed for the cyclist to take the lane. Sometimes it happens because the lanes shift and the drivers just aren't paying attention, and sometimes it happens because the driver is an arrogant MTA bus driver (yeah you, route 40, bus number 06008) who is apparently offended that a cyclist is on his road (at least that was the look he gave me when I came around to make a turn while he was stopped at the light).
The full story: As I got to the major intersection (where President St. becomes the JFX, around the flag in the map) I pulled out and took my lane (2nd from right, far right is turn only) because there was a bus loading up a short distance back and I know they like to crowd. As the light turned green I paced the van in front of me across the JFX slowing a little around Frederick to prep for the turn at Gay. The driver apparently was in so much of a hurry to offload some passenger (depsite there already being a bus at the stop, where the bus is visible on the map) that he started pulling over to the curb before he had fully crossed Frederick. That pinched me between him and the sidewalk, as he was passing me at the time. I ended up having to stop and then pulled out to the left while he was stopped at the Fayette/Gay light and went around (I turn right at Gay). As I went passed the driver the look he gave me was somewhere between being asleep and "you're lucky I didn't pull all the way over, @$$hole".
Just one more example of why buses are evil and I am a strong opponent of cycling on roads used by mass transit. Too bad in Baltimore you're more likely to find a rodent and roach free abandoned building than a road more than two blocks long without a bus line on it.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Mass transit and "green"
I'm going to come right out and say this, but I despise riding mass transit. I don't go near buses and use subways (light-rail, etc) only when I have to. About the only form of mass transit I will use is the train from Baltimore to DC. Mainly this grips is about the over-high concentration of people and the less than pleasant condition of the carriages. (One exception that I have encountered is the light-rail in Portland - the seats were actually spaced apart so that standing people didn't lean on you, there were specific spaces for bikes, all in all a pleasant experience).
Recently, as part of the "cars are evil" push from the mass of the Environmental Movement, mass transit has been pushed as the solution. Get people out of individual cars and into buses. This morning I encountered one of the two glaring flaws in that.
Most mornings when I get stuck anywhere near an MTA bus I slow down to a crawl to let it get far enough ahead that I don't have to play leapfrog at every stop. The bus I was behind this morning was so nasty that I could still smell the exhaust when it was three blocks away. The best part? It had a giant MTA Green ad on the back end. Yeah, real "green".
My other major gripe as a bike commuter with the push to get everyone onto the buses is that all of the near misses I have had in my ~ 10 years of bike commuting are with buses. The drivers either don't care or can't see what's going on around them. Especially in Baltimore there is an definite attitude of road-ownership that you can almost feel anytime you get within a half a block of an MTA bus. They regularly crowd cars, trucks, everyone using the road out of their way, to the point that there is really no benefit in griping since if there was going to be any changes they would have happened long ago.
I understand the Movement's ideals behind pushing mass transit over personal vehicles. I just think there needs to be a little more thought applied. Buses aren't necessarily very green, but they do work great for greenwashing, allowing jusridictions to avoid actually doing anything to cut pollution, while making life significantly more difficult for the cyclists who are legitimately cutting their pollution output.
Recently, as part of the "cars are evil" push from the mass of the Environmental Movement, mass transit has been pushed as the solution. Get people out of individual cars and into buses. This morning I encountered one of the two glaring flaws in that.
Most mornings when I get stuck anywhere near an MTA bus I slow down to a crawl to let it get far enough ahead that I don't have to play leapfrog at every stop. The bus I was behind this morning was so nasty that I could still smell the exhaust when it was three blocks away. The best part? It had a giant MTA Green ad on the back end. Yeah, real "green".
My other major gripe as a bike commuter with the push to get everyone onto the buses is that all of the near misses I have had in my ~ 10 years of bike commuting are with buses. The drivers either don't care or can't see what's going on around them. Especially in Baltimore there is an definite attitude of road-ownership that you can almost feel anytime you get within a half a block of an MTA bus. They regularly crowd cars, trucks, everyone using the road out of their way, to the point that there is really no benefit in griping since if there was going to be any changes they would have happened long ago.
I understand the Movement's ideals behind pushing mass transit over personal vehicles. I just think there needs to be a little more thought applied. Buses aren't necessarily very green, but they do work great for greenwashing, allowing jusridictions to avoid actually doing anything to cut pollution, while making life significantly more difficult for the cyclists who are legitimately cutting their pollution output.
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