Spoiler: It’s NOT the routes, the schedules, the drivers or the buses.
The problem with the StarMetro bus system is that it does nothing to engender the trust of it’s riders.
Storytime:
Once the route I used to take to and from work (the Forrest “F” route) was facing some major construction on a throughway. The road was going to be closed down and so the route was changing temporarily, something we all (riders) expected but had no idea when it would go into effect. The morning driver started driving the alternate route two days early, that is, two days before the road actually got closed off, and there we were, on the bus, the driver turning away from our destinations with nary an explanation. A quick check of the StarMetro website and the DigiTally app gave zero info, no status updates, no “news you can use”. Eventually, when one woman started yelling about missing her stop, the driver explained.
In fact, the website was not updated with the route changes until several days after the change.
I know this because I also had to get home using the same route. Since there was nothing online explaining where the afternoon pickup had changed to, I walked over to the regular but now-blocked-off stop to see if there was a sign there telling me where the alternate stop had been set up. Nothing. So, I took a risk and hiked down to a corner where, long ago, the “F” route had once been redirected due to other construction (there is a lot of construction going on in and around Florida State University, just so you know). There was a temporary bus stop sign there, so I figured I was in the clear.
But no. The driver of the bus I was waiting for took an even older version of the route (I have ridden this route for years, okay) which traveled a block over but not by the temporary bus stop I was at. I stood there in shock watching as my bus went by. (Yes, I eventually got home, but only by calling a close friend to break off her dinner date and come pick me up; I was nearly in tears by that point, did I mention it was summer and the temperature at 5:30pm was still, with heat index, over 100F degrees? Because it was.) And yes, I was at the correct temporary stop, because that was where I caught the bus for the rest of the week.
Now, it is easy to read those kinds of story and go: foul on the website manager for not posting updates; foul on the bus stop maintenance team for not posting a sign at the old stop; foul on the driver for taking the wrong route. Sure. All of that is true.
None of that is the PROBLEM, though. The problem is that StarMetro does not act like an organization trying to instill trust in its users.
I have, actually, plenty of stories like this – drivers randomly taking alternate routes, buses sitting in the downtown station for 15-20 minutes past departure time for no discernible reason, buses flying by stops five+ minutes early, buses never showing up at all, route changes never announced or announced after the fact, bus stops mysteriously moving overnight.
But my frustration and grumpiness is not the point, here. The point that a public transportation system does not run on rails, tires, or schedules: it runs on trust.
Because of experiencing so many similar situations as the above story over the last 10 years, I have zero faith that StarMetro can get me anywhere in a timely manner, even when the schedules suggest that they can. I must have backup plans, since I know the buses might be wonky (how wonky, I never seem to expect). I rarely use the bus for personal appointments like doctor visits because I can’t afford the risk of missing the appointment, unless I know I can take the whole morning to get there and back.
I would not ever recommend anyone with kids try to get them to school and then get themselves to work using StarMetro. I would never recommend to anyone whose job relies on showing up in a timely manner to depend on StarMetro. I do not recommend that anyone traveling to a doctor’s appointment use StarMetro. If you absolutely must be somewhere at a very specific time and have any other options, do not use StarMetro.
I don’t say this because I hate StarMetro, or that I feel the buses are dirty (most aren’t), or the drivers rude (few are), or the schedules impossible (well…). It’s because the system is not dependable.
Storytime:
On some buses, there have popped up signs announcing, “Free WIFI on board!” And indeed, my phone keeps trying to connect to “Talgov WiFi” when I’m riding those buses…and then is immediately disconnected. The signs do not say if there is a password I need to use to confirm connection, so I have asked multiple bus drivers about it, who all looked very confused by the question and say variations of “no one told me anything.” I have for the last month checked the StarMetro website regularly to see if there is any information or announcement anywhere about the newly-offered wifi services, but nothing is there. It’s honestly not worth my time to call customer service about it. I have to conclude either the service is showboating only, that is, StarMetro wants to say they rolled it out in fall of 2016 without actually being able to roll it out; or that they don’t want people using it for fear of bandwidth costs. Or both? Who knows…least of all, StarMetro.
This kind of problem starts at the top. THE VERY TOP. No, it’s not about bad attitudes on the front lines, sorry, I wish that were true. The excrement does not flow that way, if you get my meaning. It’s not about punishing drivers for taking the wrong route, for instance; it should be about instilling a service mindset where a driver would never consider stranding a rider, anywhere. I get the feeling that drivers cut routes sometimes to stay on schedule, which probably means they get punished if they are off schedule, even if it is for reasons outside of their control. That’s not how problems like this get solved. That is nothing but a bandaid over a stab wound, and worse, it’s punishing the people least able to effect change for problems management has created.
I have worked as a manager for enough companies to know there are a thousand pieces to a puzzle this big but it still boils down to leadership.
It says a lot that I’ve been a regular rider of public transportation in Tallahassee for nearly a decade and I have NO IDEA who is in charge of StarMetro. I mean, sure, the mayor — I like Mayor Gillum, I voted for him, I think he’s a great guy. He’s where the buck stops, so to speak, but he’s not the day-to-day director of StarMetro. Is it Ricardo Fernandez, City Manager? More than likely, not. It’s probably someone who reports to Fernandez, but damn if I can figure out who, based on the TalGov website.
That instills zero trust in me, btw. If I cannot find the management tree, if my ONLY RESERVE OPTION is to go to the Mayor’s office — the office of he who is already super busy with 50,000 other problems — then I know any complaints I make on the customer service line will probably just disappear. I might be wrong (I’m totally not wrong).
Here’s a question for you: does StarMetro upper management ride the buses themselves? Regularly? If so I’ve never seen them, and I would, because StarMetro staff at most levels wear both ID badges and some kind of company shirt (a few times I’ve seen a polos on people who are clearly management, walking around, and once a guy in a business suit with his ID card on a lanyard). Point of fact: They should. It should be required that they do so.
And all this talk of ridership — look, public transportation is not, never has been, and never will be something that grows by asking people to use the service and then adjusting accordingly. That has been proven over and over again, where cities bitch about spending money on public transportation because ridership doesn’t support it, only to have ridership surge when the services people need appear. If management is more fixated on increasing ridership than on reliability, then they are effectively creating their own circle of hell, because that will never work.
The puzzle pieces of things that are wrong only fit together well enough to be fixed if they are tackled as a holistic problem. I don’t even see the point of punishing a driver for not being on time or even driving the wrong route if simple things like bus stop signage and “current route detours” listed online are not updated in a timely manner; if schedules are designed around the needs of other traffic and not the needs of bus riders; and if bus stops are not protected from the elements (this is Florida, ffs, we need shade and rain shelter, people can get heatstroke waiting for the damn bus).
If StarMetro is looking to get more riders and thus more money, their biggest priority needs to be instilling trust in the people who use the service now.
I like using public transportation, and I want to use it more, and I want to recommend it to friends. I actually choose to use it; I mean, not having a car is a choice for me, as it is not for so many others. I live where the bus routes are convenient, and I have a good network of people to help me out when (not IF) the buses fail me. I want StarMetro to be successful but I honestly don’t need it to be. Many others are a lot less fortunate, but I hesitate to even mention that, because I think the fallback for StarMetro management is to think of the service more as a charity than as, you know, public transportation. Hell, maybe that is where the whole problem starts.
Yes, I understand that in a “small” city like Tallahassee, funds for public transportation are limited. I mean, I’m not arguing for light-rail, here. I also believe that most people who work for StarMetro are decent folk trying to do their jobs the best way they can.
What I don’t believe is that StarMetro puts the needs of its current user-base as its highest priority.
Once it does that, management will be very surprised at how fast and hard support for the service appears out of nowhere. That I believe 1000%.
