One of the most befuddling things I encounter, day after working day as a bus commuter, is this:
Why are the same crowded buses always crowded?
On the flip side, why are the same relatively empty buses empty over the same period?
Naturally, there could be many different reasons why this is so, and they could range from the following:
1) Insufficient bus captains
2) Insufficient buses
3) Inability to forecast commuter traffic (yeah right)
4) Inability to make profits if bus frequency is increased
5) Inability to mobilise and redeploy buses quickly enough to meet demand (despite GPS, satellite technology, mobile networks, and other forms of artificial intelligence)
6) Bus passengers refusing to move to the back (a pet peeve of mine)
7) All of the above
While all the above points are probably correct to some degree or other, they don't really mean anything to the commuter who has just missed his or her bus and is going to be late for work, or has to stand in a thick and smelly crowd.
The most heart wrenching thing is that the lack of seats have resulted in an aggressive and anti-social behaviour amongst tired bus commuters. We have to be reminded to give up our seats, move in to the back of the bus, and to assist the elderly, the young, the pregnant, or the disabled.
An occasional lapse is perhaps forgiveable. But not when it happens day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.
Do you have an answer or a solution to this?Labels: customer experience, customer service, service quality
