The problem with suburban bus service in the USA

[MARC Rider]

Take a look at this:

https://www.mta.maryland.gov/schedule/201

This is Maryland MTA commuter bus route 201. It connects the Baltimore Greyhound station, BWI Airport, the BWI Rail station and Gaithersburg, a Maryland suburb northwest of Washington. Seems like a great route, as it allows one to travel from Baltimore to northwest Montgomery County without having to go through Washington. If you did this by MARC train and Metro, you'd have to ride into DC and change to the Metro. It's mostly freeway, but there are a couple of problems:

1. It departs from the Baltimore Greyhound station, which is not near anything. They could at least have originated it at Penn Station or even Camden Station, thus allowing better connections with local MTA services.

2. The route loops through the BWI terminals, and then goes off on local roads (with traffic lights. And traffic.) to access the BWI rail station.

3. It makes a detour off the MD route 100 freeway to service the Arundel Mills Mall.

4. It makes a detour off of MD route 200 (the Intercounty connector) to serve the Shady Grove Metro station.

OK, so these detours are probably necessary to have the bus stop at places that are convenient to passengers, but it does slow down the travel time in comparison with driving. I've seen some other local bus routes that loop all over the place and are certianly not a direct way to travel, like the MTA route 34:

https://www.mta.maryland.gov/schedule/stops/34

When I was growing up in Philly, it seemed that the buses mostly just followed the main roads and provided relatively direct routes, even if maybe you had to walk a little when you got to your destination. I also seemed to notice this when I was in college and using the CTA buses in Chicago if I was going somewhere not served by the L. Looping around to make sure nobody has to walk very far seems to make bus routes that aren't very direct and which might make someone prefer to drive.

 

[Literalman]

I've experienced this problem many times on Septa, NJ Transit, Washington Metro buses, and more. Slow, circuitous bus routes are not attractive. They don't make me want to drive, but they make me want to walk instead, especially if the bus runs once an hour, or just forget the trip, and sometimes I do.

 

[railiner]

Take a look at this:

https://www.mta.maryland.gov/schedule/201

This is Maryland MTA commuter bus route 201. It connects the Baltimore Greyhound station, BWI Airport, the BWI Rail station and Gaithersburg, a Maryland suburb northwest of Washington. Seems like a great route, as it allows one to travel from Baltimore to northwest Montgomery County without having to go through Washington. If you did this by MARC train and Metro, you'd have to ride into DC and change to the Metro. It's mostly freeway, but there are a couple of problems:

1. It departs from the Baltimore Greyhound station, which is not near anything. They could at least have originated it at Penn Station or even Camden Station, thus allowing better connections with local MTA services.

2. The route loops through the BWI terminals, and then goes off on local roads (with traffic lights. And traffic.) to access the BWI rail station.

3. It makes a detour off the MD route 100 freeway to service the Arundel Mills Mall.

4. It makes a detour off of MD route 200 (the Intercounty connector) to serve the Shady Grove Metro station.

OK, so these detours are probably necessary to have the bus stop at places that are convenient to passengers, but it does slow down the travel time in comparison with driving. I've seen some other local bus routes that loop all over the place and are certianly not a direct way to travel, like the MTA route 34:

https://www.mta.maryland.gov/schedule/stops/34

When I was growing up in Philly, it seemed that the buses mostly just followed the main roads and provided relatively direct routes, even if maybe you had to walk a little when you got to your destination. I also seemed to notice this when I was in college and using the CTA buses in Chicago if I was going somewhere not served by the L. Looping around to make sure nobody has to walk very far seems to make bus routes that aren't very direct and which might make someone prefer to drive.

Good points. I suppose the route planners have to consider where most of their riders are wanting to travel, and weigh the various factors that will be somewhat of a compromise. Serve the most places, without discouraging through travelers, if at all possible…

 

[Literalman]

In transit planning, it's sometimes defined as coverage vs. frequency: whether to serve more places or to serve fewer places but more often. A grid with a bus stop on every corner and buses every 10 minutes might have the most capacity but would require transfers for many trips. All system choices are trade-offs and always have budget limitations. Slow, meandering routes can fail to attract riders because trip times are long and because infrequent schedules can't match schedules and class times for many workplaces and schools on the routes. One Septa bus route I use to reach a regional rail station wanders all over the place, offers a connection to the regional train sometimes and only by chance, runs less often than hourly, may show up late or early, and rarely has more than five passengers on board. For me, sometimes it's faster or more reliable or both to walk 2 miles to a regional rail station.