METRO's not-yet-express bus service
Seems there's been a bit of a delay in rolling out METRO's much-anticipated Signature/Express/Quickline/Whatever bus service. You may recall back in January METRO's expensive blogger announced the exciting new transit offering:
METRO's Board of Directors approved last month a contract that calls for Signature Bus Service to be on our roads by mid-August. You may be noticing enhanced bus shelters and furnishings, which we're installing this month.
We'll initially offer this Quickline Signature Bus Service on three routes, totaling 18 miles: Bellaire,Texas Medical Center/Palm and Tidwell. Future plans call for 28 miles of Signature service on Westheimer and Gessner.
Fast forward past August, into September, and the Examiner's Michael Reed reports:
Metro had been advertising the Aug. 25 launch — and painted large, circular logos into the pavement along the Bellaire Boulevard route.
There was no notification, though, of the delays (see accompanying story).
One Metro spokeswoman Carolina Mendoza said the delay involved “development issues” involving elements of the special stops and not separate road construction along the roadway, which planners knew about in advance.
She said the line would be running “as soon as some of those issues are resolved.”
Another Metro spokeswoman, Raequel Roberts, also indicated the new bus service had been delayed by “some final construction work and tweaks to the system.
“Once we are satisfied everything is working to our satisfaction we’ll announce the start. Nothing major — just want to make sure it’s providing the service we want and that people understand completely how it works,” Roberts said in an e-mail.
But Bellaire City Manager Bernie Satterwhite received a timetable and a different reason from Metro.
“They say start will be in 30-60 days depending on the progress on Bellaire Boulevard in Southside Place,” said Satterwhite in an e-mail response to an Examiner query about what Metro was telling the city.
Typical METRO. METRO is so unburdened by having to provide quality customer service, the agency couldn't be bothered to notify riders:
Bellaire City Councilman Will Hickman was one Bellaire rider who tried to use the new service. Instead, Hickman complained at last week’s City Council meeting, he ended up on the old Bellaire No. 2 bus to the Medical Center.
It wasn’t the sleek, swift ride he had expected. Hickman complained that it took him more than an hour to get to work.
When he finally got to his office, Hickman said he checked Metro’s website. Sure enough, it said the Quickline service was scheduled to fly.
Metro updated its website Tuesday morning, announcing the new service was “coming soon.”
Good grief! All those handsomely paid people inside the Lee P. Brown Administration Building, and no one thought to update the website??!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/08/08 07:09 PM | Print |
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