Broward County Transit's Thorough Disregard for Schedules

Yesterday, I had a meeting which required me to take the incredibly horrible route 10.  I left early to make sure that connections were not an issue and that I might have a chance to arrive at the meeting without being furious or stressed from having to deal with Broward County Buses.  The 10 bus was due at the stop at 1:47.  At 1:57 customer "service," after telling me the north bound 10 bus was across the street…ya know…heading south …(duh!)" hung up on me while trying to locate the north bound bus.  I spotted the replacement driver and asked what she knew.  She said, "The bus is only 10 minutes late."  ONLY???  REALLY???  What blatant disregard for getting people where they need to be WHEN they need to be there!

  The attitude with regard to the respect for riders' schedules is appalling and is a strong part of the culture at Broward County Transit which is under the supervision of the Broward County Commission which is apparently helpless to get control over the behemoth beast that is Broward County Transit.  (To give the replacement driver credit, she did make up time on the route.)

I remain,


Condemned to Broward County Transit

Bus 55 Unhelpful Driver

A Broward County Transit driver has again demonstrated Broward County Transit's  dedication to good "service".  A war vet and firefighter of 29 years tried to ask the driver of the departing 12:35 55 bus  at NE 41st a simple question, but the driver refused even to acknowledge him. Nice!

I will grant that the man was loud and a bit repetitive, but a "service" organization should be all about providing "service". Drivers of Broward County Transit should have an adequate knowledge of routes and connections to provide all riders and potential riders with the information they require. However, that's not really the point; the driver wouldn't even ACKNOWLEDGE the gentleman.  Was he deaf?  If so, are deaf people allowed to drive public buses?  I suspect he was just an arrogant, SOB who couldn't be bothered.

Drivers are the on-the-ground representatives of Broward County Transit, but many of them act like they're doing the riders a favor just for showing up. I guess the culture at Broward County Transit is less about "A job worth doing is worth doing well" and more about, "Hey, I'm just here for a paycheck so leave me alone."  

Well, any year now, I may actually hear back from Timmy or Chip with some answers, but I'm not putting any money on it.

I remain,

Condemned to Broward Transit. 

Broward County Transit's Bus 55

This morning I needed to catch the normally reliable 55 bus in order to make a connection. The bus was late and nowhere in sight. When the 11 pulled up, I made the scary decision to take the 11 and hoped I would get my connection on that route and at the right time. It was a good decision.  On the way two people at the back of the bus were going back and forth about how unreliable the 55 has been. The man stated that he was stuck waiting for his bus for over an hour and a half. The woman said she was at her stop for the 5:25 the previous evening, but a bus didn't arrive until 6:40.

The man went on to say that he's going to have to get up at 4;00am just to get to his job on time. The woman said that she had worked two shifts yesterday and just wanted to get home. She suggested that Broward County Transit was changing drivers on the routes. 

Why would that be a problem?  Is this the first time drivers have changed routes?  Is there no procedure in place to assure buses will be on time to get people to and from work or school even with different drivers???!!

This is not the first year this "service" has been in operation.  How are these routine changes able to bring so much pain to the people it supposedly "serves"???  It's disgusting.

Broward County Transit and everyone who works in any sort of management position should be shamefaced when discussing this "service" or even admitting that they work there.

Also, where's the "advocacy" of Chip LaMarca??  So far, I'm not seeing it as I have not heard from him nor his office staff, AND I still have not received a response  from Timothy Garling regarding my letters that I sent to him well over a month ago.

Until next time,  I remain,

Condemned to Broward County Transit

The Poorly Run Broward County Transit

Yesterday, I got to Bayview and Sunrise at 2:45 which left plenty of time before the 2:58 was due to arrive.  In fact, that bus never arrived.  It turns out that someone on that bus relieved him/herself inside the bus.  That's not Broward County Transit's fault.  Patiently I waited for the 3:18 which never showed up which is the fault of Broward County Transit and its lack of sufficient contingency planning.    The 3:31 arrived at 3:35.  I filed a complaint with a call-back request for the driver of the 3:18, but the complaint I wanted to file for the supervisor of operations had to be done online.  Why?  Anyway, I filed the complaint online and wondered if I would ever get a reply.  I did.  They sent me my complaint with no response…just my original complaint.  Amazon, Apple, and every other venue that has a comment section sends a confirmation of an order, comment, or complaint.  Not Broward County Transit, they send you your original complaint.  What is that??  Here's what they sent me:

       -----Original Message-----

       From: DoNotReply <DoNotReply@broward.org>

      Sent: Thu, Oct 31, 2013 4:27 pm

      Subject: Broward County Transit Commen

      I want to file a complaint against the Department of Operations. When there is an issue on the routes, there are no contingency plans in place to make sure people get to where they need to be. I want to be contacted about this situation!

A lot of issues do fall at the feet of  Broward County Transit's operations…even this pathetic "response."   Why wasn't there a contingency plan in place to get people picked up?  Someone peeing on a bus is not an anomaly.  Why is nothing in place when problems arise?  Why do the consumers of this "service" have to bear the brunt of common issues?  I was late for an appointment as a result of the failure of operations at Broward County Transit.

I remain,

 Condemned to Broward County Transit.