#ct transit

Click here for published story on the New Haven Independent 

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- As technology is continuing to improve and develop, so is that of buses. With the new parts and machinery constantly being updated, more time, money and hours have to be spent on maintaining buses.

“Once upon a time the bus was a plain vanilla vehicle that had a diesel engine and old fashioned technology with no other electronics on it,” said CT Transit’s General Manager in Connecticut, David Lee. “Today buses have more sophisticated engines. Engines that have to comply with environmental requirements.”

Lee said now all buses have electronic controls for diesel particulate filters that are designed to reduce the black smoke seen from most diesel vehicles, which shows the complexity of the vehicles compared to what they used to be.

“The cost to maintain a bus today – even a brand new bus – is partly a reflection of how complicated the technology is and that is also reflected in what you are seeing in the trend,” said Lee.

Michael Volpe, CT Transit’s New Haven maintenance supervisor, said meeting the Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines and laws is challenging to meet the requirements.

“We have more hybrid models now and they are very complex to work with,” Volpe said.

            Adding technology is helping to improve the environment, but Volpe said it creates more complex maintenance work for him and his team.

            Another challenge for the maintenance workers is that public agencies are required to go through competitive procurement, which means CT Transit writes a specification for what they need and they have to put it out for bid and the lowest bidder wins.

            Although it seems as though this would make it a cheaper and easier process for CT Transit to go through, it does have its own problems.

“Bus fleets go through stages of having some bad buses,” said Lee. “Because they are not all made equal, so it could have been that we had some problem children in the fleet.”

            This rule means that CT Transit has to train mechanics to maintain different bus manufacturers and new technologies.  

The company will also need to have different parts in stock for the several manufacturers they use, which makes it more expensive and harder to maintain than if everything was fairly uniform, according to Lee.

The inspections for the CT Transit buses have become much more rigorous with the buses coming into to get checked every 3,000 miles, said Lee.

Volpe, however, said the buses are being inspected every 1,500 miles in New Haven.

The increase in cost on vehicle maintenance in New Haven from 1991 to 2012 was almost $4.3 million. However, the total budget has also increased every year since 1996, except from 2009 to 2010. Therefore, the total percentage of the budget spent on vehicle maintenance has remained fairly constant.

            For example, in 1996, 22.2 percent of the total budget was spent on vehicle maintenance, and 19.1 percent in 2012. These numbers show that while the numerical cost has increased significantly in these years, the percentage of the total budget spent on vehicle maintenance has actually slightly decreased.

The cost of maintenance has increased from 1996 to 2012, but the total percentage of expenses of CT Transit has not. Part of the reason for that is that between 2004 and 2012, the fleet got bigger, according to Lee.

“But put some strings on that such as the useful life of a bus being 12 years,” said Lee. “So, in theory, every bus that you see on the streets is less than 12-years-old. But often buses have had to be kept in service longer.”

Lee said that currently the oldest bus in the fleet, that just about to be retired, is a 1996 vintage bus. This means it is 6 years older than the predicted useful life of a bus. 

All buses in the United States are purchased with 80 percent federal grants and the state has to come up with the 20 percent match.

            “This automatically requires more maintenance,” said Lee. “Spending the most money on old buses and maintaining them because the cost of new buses is not in our budget. Because that’s a capital cost, not an operating cost.”

The New Haven green was cold and dark. There seemed to be a surplus of benches when there was no one around to crowd them.

I sat on one of them closest to the street –light as I waited patiently for the B bus to arrive. I had no idea when the next one was due, but I knew there was at least one more for the night after spending all day downtown.

Rush hour had come and passed so the number of buses dwindled to every half hour or hour.

As I tried my best to keep out the cold by curling over – while still sitting on the bench – the cold found its way down the back of my neck.

“Where are you bus? It’s freezing,” I thought to myself. A sound may have escaped from my mouth, as the thought of sitting in the bitter November wind for much longer seemed painful.

Through my self-loathing I heard a shuffling noise in the distance become louder and louder, until it stopped.

Looking up from my crunched position I saw a woman continue her shuffle to sit on the bench directly opposite me – despite every other bench being completely empty.

I became slightly tense when I heard that she began to speak – or rather mutter under her breath something indiscernible.

I peered at her over the top of my scarf, which was pulled up over my nose, expecting that she was directing her mumbling at me.

I quickly returned to having my head down in my scarf once I realized she was not attempting to spark up a conversation, as she was quite happy talking to herself.

After waiting for 20 minutes, the B bus arrived and I jumped out of my seat as I had never felt so happy to see a bus before.

I noticed the mumbling woman did not get on the bus and I wondered if she was even waiting for a bus at all.

As a cold November air blew through downtown New Haven, the Starbucks on the corner of Church Street and Chapel Street offered a brief sanctuary and a warm caramel macchiato to heat my numb fingertips.

After buying my drink and regaining some of the feeling back to my hands, I turned towards the door because all the seats were taken.

Desperate not to return to the brisk outdoors yet I stopped just before the door and turned to look at the room.

“Why don’t you take a picture of me?” said Robert Donnally, seeing the camera hanging from my shoulder.

Donnally is a New Haven resident who was sat in the corner at one of the high tables, without a drink.

“Want me to give you a reason why?” he said.

Before I could say a word, he told me he was famous. He then told me the second reason I should take a photograph of him was because he was rich. He told me he could prove it -- although we never got around to that.

After speaking with Donnally briefly, I sat down at the table with him.

I told him the camera I had was not to take pictures of the rich and famous, but to take pictures of people on the bus and learn about their stories.

“I think the buses are better up north than they are down south,” he said. “Here I can get to Hartford and back.”

“It might take me three hours,” he said, laughing, “but at least I’ll get there.”

Donnally lives on Dixwell Ave and uses the bus and his bike to get around the city.

If he could change anything about the bus system, he said he would make it free for everyone to ride the bus.

After being released from prison for drug possession, Jonathan Conroy said now he takes the bus to the drug rehab program on Congress Avenue.

“I used to do lots and lots and lots of opiates and it cost me everything,” said Conroy. “I’m almost 40 and I’m starting over.”

He commutes from the far end of Chapel Street to the New Haven green. Then Conroy said he often has to wait, as the F buses are every half hour.

“I don’t know, it just sucks,” he said. “I used to have it all. You know I used to own my own business?”

Conroy said he owned his own home improvement company where he had three trucks and several crews working with him.

“You’re getting handed money left and right, all under the table,” he said. “I was making like five or six grand a week, but money is power. And I don’t care who you are, if you have that much power, it goes to your head.”

Lost it all, in the blink of an eye

Since the age of 16, Conroy has been involved in drugs. He doesn’t have a job or a permanent place to live. He currently stays with his brother on Chapel Street.

According to City-Data, the unemployment rate in 2013 in New Haven was 12.4 percent, while in Connecticut it was 8.4 percent. 

Conroy spent three years in prison after the person he would go “boosting” with got caught and set Conroy up with the police

“Boosting” is a slang term for stealing to support a drug addiction, according to No Slang.

He said he never liked doing it because he liked to work for his money.

“My boss at the time won tickets to Cancun on Kasie 101 for a month,” he said. “What am I supposed to do? – I have a drug habit.”

His partner was caught stealing from a house without Conroy. In order to get PTA (promise to appear), without a physical arrest, he set Conroy up with the police.

“I bought 100 bags of dope,” said Conroy. “As I’m walking back over Kimberly Avenue Bridge, I get caught by the police.”

After breaking the rules of his parole, he was sentenced to six years, but only did 50 percent of that, he said.

“I’m just a guy who had a rough life and is trying to make it,” said Conroy.  

Some perks 

Food stamps and a free bus pass are all a part of Conroy's life now, but he said he doesn't like to abuse the system.

"When I have money, I don't use this," he said as he pulled out his 31-day free bus pass from Logisticare, with only four fingers. 

"Don't mix heroin with power tools," Conroy said about his missing finger.

After his mother died rapidly from cancer, and his father, who lived with HIV for 20 years, also died before Conroy reached 23-years-old, he said he has basically been on his own. 

Despite his struggle, Conroy said he has never had any issues using the bus and that he is very polite to everyone.

One experience he had on a CT Transit bus line, left him questioning the bus driver's morals, he said.

A man on the bus began to have a seizure, and Conroy sprung into action to help the man in need, he said.

Everyone watched as he jumped down and stuck his fingers down his throat, so the man didn't choke on, or bite his tongue.

"No one was doing anything, not even the driver," said Conroy. "He just said 'we’re going to have to get him off the bus at the next stop.'"

“I had to call 911 from my own cell phone while these dudes [bus drivers] have an 'effing' radio,” he said. 

Anthony Scott said he has seen bus drivers throw passengers off the bus on the D line from the New Haven green to Quinnipiac University.

“Sometimes people on the bus argue with the bus driver, but the customer is always right,” said Scott who works as a cook in the kitchens at Quinnipiac University in Hamden.

“Why do you go back and forth with the customer?” he said. “Just don’t say anything and next time just don’t let them [passengers who argue] on your bus.”

Scott said he has never been involved in such an altercation, but has seen it happen many times.

His experience on CT Transit has been favorable, depending on who is driving the bus, he said.

“I don’t know them by name,” said Scott, about the bus drivers, “but I know them by face.”

The bus he takes to work everyday is direct and drops him off right by Quinnipiac, he said.

It's not always so simple

CT Transit New Haven, however, is not quite as straightforward for those who are not already based in downtown New Haven. All the bus lines lead directly in to the city center, therefore most commuters are required to take two buses to get to their destinations.

Photo courtesy: CT Transit

The need to make a transfer can add an extra hour or two to commuters travel time, according to Google Maps. 

Despite his easy commute, Scott said he thinks attitudes need to be better from bus drivers and passengers alike.

“I’ve seen it happen many times,” he said, “[when] someone is acting a little ignorant on the bus, instead of trying to calm things down, they [the bus drivers] might stop the bus and not go anywhere. And we have to wait until the cops come.”

He said CT Transit could improve its service to the public by ensuring that the buses get passengers where they need to be, on time.

“Don’t just throw people off you bus like that or stop the bus,” said Scott. “Other people have to go to work.”

He said he has come across nice bus drivers and thinks that, generally, people need to think before they act.

I spent this summer taking CT Transit buses to and from my internship at the New Haven Register on Sargent Drive. The experience left me deflated and ready for a new way to get around the city.

I discovered Zipcar, a car rental service that is a step up from taking the city bus, but it’s far from perfect.

I thought Zipcar would save me from the commuting hassles, but soon realized there are different problems associated with the car service. 

Where CT Transit left me stranded once, and waiting several times, Zipcar once charged me $50 for returning a car 20 minutes late. 

<strong>Taking the bus</strong>

To get to my internship at the New Haven Register, I caught the D bus on Dixwell Avenue. The bus comes roughly every 10 minutes. I could catch any D bus to get downtown for my connection. 

 Once downtown, I had to walk two blocks to catch the Z bus to Sargent Drive. The bus comes every half hour. 

On a typical day it would take me about an hour. But if I miss the D bus, it could extend the commute by a half hour. The times I was able to get a ride to the New Haven Register, it took approximately a 10 to 15 minute drive, depending on the traffic.

The $1.50 bus ticket has a two-hour transfer time, so the need to take two buses doesn’t affect your bank account the same way it affects your journey time.

 When it comes to a persons daily commute, time constraints seem to outweigh the cost of having a car. The bus may be cheap, but it’s certainly not convenient.

 Toward the end of my time at the New Haven Register, I left my house one afternoon to catch the 11:44 a.m. bus.

The long, uphill walk from Pine Rock Avenue in Hamden to the bus stop on Dixwell Avenue, in my work clothes, was tolerable only because I knew there was a Dunkin' Donuts waiting for me at the top.

 As I stood in line I looked out the window and I saw the D bus arrive, then leave without me. Luckily, my internship at the New Haven Register was flexible with my hours. Otherwise, I would have been breaking into a sweat running out of Dunkin' Donuts, without the coffee.

 I didn’t have to wait long for another D bus to come along. The 11:54 a.m. arrived not long after I made myself comfortable on a dented metal bench.

 I fumbled around my slippery coffee cup, my phone and the $2 I needed to get on the bus. CT Transit doesn't give change for the $1.50 fare.

 There were no seats available when I peered around bodies and scanned the back of the bus; only several pairs of eyes stared back at me.

 The connection bus stop on Chapel Street was also crowded. Buses came and left frequently. 

 The J, O, M, and G buses seemed as though they were taunting me, as I remained standing. After almost an hour, the Z bus had still not arrived.

 By 1:30 p.m., I was still waiting for the 12:40 p.m. bus. So I gave up and walked to the nearby Starbucks to use the wifi to get some work done. 

Thank you, Zipcar

After experiences like that, and knowing that I could not buy a car, I searched for other options and stumbled upon Zipcar.

 It is an organization which allows members to rent cars by the hour for that quick trip to the grocery store or picking a friend up from the train station.

 It was the perfect solution to the inconvenience of CT Transit.

 With the university sponsored plan, it is $25 annual membership and you are then charged an hourly rate of between $8 and $10, depending on car and location. Each car has its own gas card, so I don't have to pay for gas on top of those fees. 

 First you have to become a member by paying an annual membership fee that varies depending on how you apply and having your driving records checked. Once you have been approved, you will receive a Zipcard in the mail.

 The card becomes like your car key as you use it to lock and unlock the car you have reserved.

Here's the sensor where the Zipcard is held against to unlock the car.

When your time is almost up, you have to return the car to same parking spot you found it in. 

Two cars that are available in SCSU's West Campus parking garage.

A Zip trip to New York

This is where the convenient and cheap Zipcar becomes an expensive race to be back on time.

 The excitement I had at my new found freedom, led me to offer my services to pick up my friend from JFK airport in New York, as she was returning from her summer at home in Spain.

 I booked the car from 6:30 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. the next morning, which gave me some extra time for flight delays.

 As I left the airport to return home, my phone battery died.

 No GPS to get me back to New Haven.

 As we drove around trying to find a familiar highway, I couldn’t take my eyes off the clock.

 Midnight hit. Still lost. 

 Finally, as I was driving through a street in who-knows-where, I spotted a sign for I-95 North. North. That’s all I needed as I darted onto the highway and stepped on the gas.

 As the 1:30 a.m. mark arrived, we were still 45 minutes away and I couldn’t log onto my Zipcar application to extend my time, because my phone was dead.

 So, after the tense and hectic drive home, the following day I received an email from Zipcar informing me that I had been charged a late fee of $50 in addition to the $68.50 I had paid for the reservation. The trip cost me $118.50. 

 A shuttle bus from JFK to New Haven would have cost my friend only about $70. 

Back to square one

 Both CT Transit and Zipcar require lots of planning before my commute. But Zipcar gave me more control over when and how I get where I need to go. 

 The bus service is fine when you are not on a strict schedule. But for the majority of the working world, work starts at a certain time.

 A daily commute to work would be impossible or at least excessively expensive with Zipcar. For the full day it costs almost $70, and the car has to be returned to the exact same spot it came from.

Not a minute late.