Why I think our Rochester, NY bus system (RGRTA formerly RTS) SUCKS big time!-
Since I've had car problems I've had to take the bus. It has been a horrible experience! You really need a car to get around Rochester.
Exposed To The Elements. - I know that we have some bus shelters in Rochester, but have rarely seen any. You can be exposed to the rain, snow, wind etc, just waiting for the bus. If your fond of colds the bus is for you!
I Have To Walk In The Street. - Rochester doesn't have sidewalks in some areas. Also if it's winter the snow plows just pile up the snow on the sidewalks. Therefore, you have to walk in the street with ice, and snow, or wet with rain which can be slippery and dangerous. One time I fell on the ice and injured myself. Thank God a kind woman saw me, and gave me a ride home.
The Buses Don't Always Run Where, or When You Need Them - The buses only runs about once every hour, it can be hours apart on weekends. Some places they stop running before 11:00PM at night and resume at 6:00AM. If you work evenings and take the bus, then your out of luck. Many evening shift jobs end at 11:00PM. Therefore, if you can't get out early you will miss your ride.
Also if your destination is only a few miles away, you might not have bus service to it. It doesn't sound bad until you have to walk in the rain, or snow in the slippery street for three miles (one way) sometimes wearing snow boots. I've had blisters on my blisters. Now try carrying groceries all that way!
It's Expensive - They reduced the price to $1 per bus ride, but have more transfers, so it's more expensive in the long run. You can give them $3 to ride all day. But if you ride every day it's $21 for the week. I can do the same traveling spending $5-$7 a week on gas for my car. So riding the bus is much more costly.
I sometimes got the wrong information. - I carefully mapped out my destination on-line, then I called RGRTA who confirmed it. I wrote it all down carefully on paper. When I went to my bus stop I found out from another driver that bus #such&such no longer stopped there. The route is an old one that had been discontinued. The information is sometimes unreliable.
On another day I talked to a ditsy man. I told him where I was, but not my destination. He proceeded to tell me then a bus was coming. He didn't care where I was going, just wanted to inform me of the next bus to my apartment complex. Hello? Anyone home? I finally got him to understand that I had a destination in mind and got some directions. Of course I called back to get a confirmed by another non-ditsy person. Gosh!
It's extremely time consuming. I traveled about 4 miles one way and back the other day. It took the bus one hour to get there. We zigzagged all around, stopping at every mall in the aria, and sometimes waited several minutes for people to show up. The short trip took two hours to and from, and that was a simple one bus trip. It would have taken me about 15 minutes in my car.
It's sometimes crowded like sardines. - Not all the buses seemed crowded, but some buses are smaller then others. When some bus is full, I felt like a sardine in a can. The isles were narrow, and I was crunched in next to the heavy person seated next to me. We were shoulder to shoulder, and I had trouble moving.
It's difficult to see out the windows. - Some buses have advertisements one the windows so it's hard to see out the side windows. They are coated with ads. It makes it difficult to see your location and get off at the correct street.
If you live in Rochester it's best to invest in a car and skip the bus!
