Originally Posted by lawleypop

The 52s and the 5E's (and any other that comes down main, excluding the 10). I don't have a habit of looking at the bus number, I just take the first one that takes me to Fortinos or East Sides.

It's happened easily over 5 times and it's even more of a pisser when it's cold like it is now.

And as I said, it's not like I sit on those little bench things right along side the building... I stand ON the curb.

Next time, I suggest writing down the bus number that's on the back of the bus (near the licence plate). It's possible that it's the same bus driver(s), and maybe they don't know that they are supposed to stop there. I know sometimes the 10 bus drivers don't stop where they are supposed to because they don't have the route memorized. And they will drive by people who are waving down the bus if they think they aren't supposed to stop there.

If you write down the bus number, you can call the HSR hotline and tell the customer service assistants. My guess is, if this was happening enough, people other than McMaster students would be complaining. I'm guessing you just keep getting one or two of the same bus drivers who don't know the route. I don't think any of the bus drivers are not picking you up on purpose. They know you could easily call the HSR customer service and get them in trouble.

Originally Posted by casey.park

under the light of constant attacks

so the guy on Student Council probation is gonna fix Hamilton's Transit? lol

Sorry I'm a little late to the party. I was doing Thermo, and JUST discovered how entertaining these passive-aggressive comments could be. As a result, I've given up a good hour of homework time to get myself reasonably caught up on the conversations that occurred in this thread and Mr. Park's facebook group.

Though it's likely no one will care about what I think and will likely skim over this post, there have been a few comments that I feel prompted a response.

Originally Posted by Kathy2

5 minute early busses are considered a problem? Anyone who rides the bus will tell you that you should be at the stop 10 minutes early. I think the HSR website even says that.
Maybe your watch is off, or there was traffic. Jeez, that's expecting a little much, in my opinion :/

When buses come in 15- or 20-minute intervals, a five to ten minute variance in arrival time makes quite a difference. Also, I base my departure times off the bus check time, so it's by no means a problem with whatever timetelling piece I use.

I'm only in second year, but I've lived in Hamilton my whole life and I must say if you have two years of busing experience on me, then consider yourself blessed as your five instances of buses being unreliable are nothing short of a godsend.

Of course being 10 minutes early to the bus stop could remedy any of our HSR-related problems, but it's really hard to be any less efficient. If I recall correctly, the website only asked us to be two minutes early, which I often am. I can't find the quote on the site right now, so feel free to disregard this entire paragraph.

I also feel like mentioning a pet peeve related to the HSR that I have no expectations for anyone to fix: There are three buses that run through Mac. Why does it seem like they all come within a two-minute interval of each other? This isn't a problem so much as it is an annoyance, but...yeah.

Originally Posted by A.Marlowe

However, I'm not sure how effective lobbying would be to fix this situation. I'm sure the city doesn't intentionally screw up this service, and if they had a solution to the problem I'm sure they would implement it right away. So my question is, what specifically would you be lobbying for? What do you want the city to do to fix this issue?

Hey Andrew,

Though of course the city doesn't intentionally mess up the service (I hope!), there are some things that could be fixed. Having all clocks on the HSR synced could help quite a bit, and more importantly, have those synced with the time that the Bus Check number reads out. Too many times have I called the bus check number to be told I've got four minutes to make a transfer, only to see the bus I was planning on transferring to pull away right in front of me.

Also, I find it very distasteful when a bus is idle at a red light and refuses to open their doors to latecomers. I've only been victim to this once or twice, but when it's an elderly person who just wants to get on the bus, I assume it must be disconcerting to be told (via hand gestures) to walk to the next stop when there's obviously no way she'll make it before the bus.

I sense that I'm doing more whining than anything though, so I'll force myself to stop here. I could voice all my complaints to the HSR directly, and have done so on the rare occasion, but I have a feeling that someone who represents a population would have more of an effect on the HSR's actions.

With respect to the somewhat-old argument of music choice, Welcome Week, and Engineering: I'm aware that not all people have similar belief. But like someone already said, if we were to be safe and design Welcome Week to entice the lowest common denominator of people, then it would get dry pretty fast. I think the people who attend Welcome Week have full knowledge of what they're getting themselves into.

While the engineers' Demotivational Speech was one thing that did surprise me last year, I found it absolutely hilarious. I found the use of strong language use to be representative of the freedom I was about to experience in the years to come. I should mention that I'm quite conservative by nature too, as I can honestly say I'm part of the handful of people who doesn't swear (well, I do, but there are things I refuse to say) or has never been drunk. I think there were only a very small minority of people who were truly offended. In this day and age, it's simply difficult to live in a G-rated world.

And finally, concerning the issue at hand: I'm almost certain I'll vote, but I've yet to actually choose a side to support. My only experience with Casey was at Horizons 2009 as a fellow LD, and although I understand why people would find his enthusiasm obnoxious, I found him to be a likable person. Though I fear that his songs will get him votes from first-years for simply being the "popular one", he is so far the most successful in increasing the voter population and interest in this election, which at the very least we should give him credit for.

tl;dr version: The HSR sucks. Also, I whine a lot, and didn't contribute anything to the conversation.

Originally Posted by Entropy

When buses come in 15- or 20-minute intervals, a five to ten minute variance in arrival time makes quite a difference. Also, I base my departure times off the bus check time, so it's by no means a problem with whatever timetelling piece I use.

I'm only in second year, but I've lived in Hamilton my whole life and I must say if you have two years of busing experience on me, then consider yourself blessed as your five instances of buses being unreliable are nothing short of a godsend.

Of course being 10 minutes early to the bus stop could remedy any of our HSR-related problems, but it's really hard to be any less efficient. If I recall correctly, the website only asked us to be two minutes early, which I often am. I can't find the quote on the site right now, so feel free to disregard this entire paragraph.

I also feel like mentioning a pet peeve related to the HSR that I have no expectations for anyone to fix: There are three buses that run through Mac. Why does it seem like they all come within a two-minute interval of each other? This isn't a problem so much as it is an annoyance, but...yeah.

When you say "I base my departure times off the bus check time", you mean the phone number you can call and it tells you when the bus leaves? The bus drivers don't actually use that. They each use their own watches to tell the time. So their watch could be 5 minutes different from the time on the bus check hotline.

My bus comes at 15 minute intervals as well, but 5 minutes doesn't really make a difference. If I'm not there in time to catch it if it's 5 minutes early, that's my fault. I think being only 2 minutes early is no where near early enough. I am always at the bus stop at least 10 minutes before the bus is supposed to arrive, and I've never missed it.

Maybe I am just really lucky. But I do think, in general, people expect a little too much out of the HSR. There's traffic, there's accidents, there's pedestrians .. they can only be on time to a certain extent.

Originally Posted by Entropy

With respect to the somewhat-old argument of music choice, Welcome Week, and Engineering: I'm aware that not all people have similar belief. But like someone already said, if we were to be safe and design Welcome Week to entice the lowest common denominator of people, then it would get dry pretty fast. I think the people who attend Welcome Week have full knowledge of what they're getting themselves into.

This is unrelated to this thread and has nothing to do with Mr Park. But it is untrue what you just said. I volunteered for 18 days with FYEO during the summer orientation program, was a faculty rep as well as a first year council exec, I have major major disagreements with the way welcome week is run and structured and will completely disagree with the notion that people have "full knowledge" of what they are getting into hence whatever we do with WW is okay. It alienates alot of people and to throw ancedotal statistics at you we have 3000+ first years but only approx a few hundred ever get involved again with the organizations that are in charge of WW.

welcome week ****ing sucks. if casey has anything to do with it, no votes.

http://caseypark.com/2010/02/01/your...ee-evaluation/

Originally Posted by Entropy

When buses come in 15- or 20-minute intervals, a five to ten minute variance in arrival time makes quite a difference. Also, I base my departure times off the bus check time, so it's by no means a problem with whatever timetelling piece I use.

I'm only in second year, but I've lived in Hamilton my whole life and I must say if you have two years of busing experience on me, then consider yourself blessed as your five instances of buses being unreliable are nothing short of a godsend.

Of course being 10 minutes early to the bus stop could remedy any of our HSR-related problems, but it's really hard to be any less efficient. If I recall correctly, the website only asked us to be two minutes early, which I often am. I can't find the quote on the site right now, so feel free to disregard this entire paragraph.

I also feel like mentioning a pet peeve related to the HSR that I have no expectations for anyone to fix: There are three buses that run through Mac. Why does it seem like they all come within a two-minute interval of each other? This isn't a problem so much as it is an annoyance, but...yeah.


tl;dr version: The HSR sucks. Also, I whine a lot, and didn't contribute anything to the conversation.

You come to the bus stop 2 min before...Obviously HSR is going to suck for you:S My bus goes every 30 min and if I miss my bus, I'm screwed. That's why I make sure I'm there in time to catch it.

Originally Posted by lawleypop

And when they don't show up at all, or better yet, they SEE YOU, LOOK AT YOU, but keep driving?

Seriously, stand at the bus stop at Main and Haddon in front of the Mr.Sub.

If my phone could save msn conversations, I could easily pull up my history of how many times I logged on just to rant to someone about the douchebags having a nice comfy job who can't even do it right.

I take those buses all the time as I live right on Haddon. I took them pretty much every day during the summer and I still take them quite frequently. However, I've never experienced a bus driver who drives by you and knows that you're there. Are you sure the bus in question isn't the beeline?

Originally Posted by bluser

I take those buses all the time as I live right on Haddon. I took them pretty much every day during the summer and I still take them quite frequently. However, I've never experienced a bus driver who drives by you and knows that you're there. Are you sure the bus in question isn't the beeline?

100% sure. I'm not a dummy. XD

Originally Posted by jo87

You come to the bus stop 2 min before...Obviously HSR is going to suck for you:S My bus goes every 30 min and if I miss my bus, I'm screwed. That's why I make sure I'm there in time to catch it.

Its also really hard to make plans when you can't rely on the HSR to be on schedule. There should never be a situation where you miss your transfer because the first bus was late, barring an accident or extremely bad traffic (although since buses tend to travel at lower speeds anyways, the last one isn't an issue). You also shouldn't have to spend 5-10 minutes waiting for a bus that comes every 15 minutes.

Also, Steven was pointing out that the site said you only needed to show up 2 minutes in advance, not that that's what he did. I would like to point out though that the GO buses and trains run smoothly enough that you can arrive only 2 minutes early without hassle.

I guess that lobbying for all the buses to run on the same clock could help, but I still remain doubtful that it would result in a better service. Especially when there are problems with buses not showing up at all.

Thank you to Casey and team for getting a blog post up regarding the fees issue.

Looking over my post from last night, I realize that my comments came out much more harshly than I intended. I apologize for that. Like AlienSummer, I was simply frustrated by what appeared to be a lack of attention paid to an important, platform-relevant concern. From my perspective, it looked like you were continuing to knowingly make an impossible promise to students, which would have been dishonest. In any case, I'm glad that my points were taken into account and that the fees-related promise has been modified accordingly.

That being said, I have some questions about your new promise (or is it my new promise?). First off, I would like to know specifically which fees you would ask the SRA to bring to referendum (i.e. which sections of Bylaw 5 - Financial Affairs). Based on your research, which fees are we not contractually obliged to collect? Do you literally mean all such fees? "All fees" would include, for example, the MSU Operating Fund, from which almost all student services are provided.

The basis for my original inquiry (much earlier in this thread) had to do with the sensibility of holding a massive fees referendum without a desire to deviate from the status quo. As I mentioned, referenda are incredibly time- and energy-consuming for the Elections Committee and Returning Officers. Of course, they're fundamentally important to the democratic process, and we shouldn't hesitate to call referenda when necessary. However, I'm just not sure that I see the necessity here. I imagine that you'll encounter difficulty convincing the 2010-11 SRA to call a referendum on this issue if there isn't a clear purpose or mandate for it.

Rather than initiating a burdensome referendum, why not poll students or do more research to see which fees students are in favour of repealing? This would avoid a potentially-unnecessary referendum, and ensure that students' time and money isn't being wasted. If a large proportion of students indicate that they want to see a particular fee repealed, and it is feasible to repeal that fee, then a referendum should be called. I feel like your current plan of action (automatically calling a referendum on all fees) skips an important step.

I very much like the idea of a fee review done in conjunction with the VP Finance and Finance Committee. I certainly understand why most students resent having to pay hundreds of dollars in fees, but I wonder how many of them understand exactly where that money is going, what it is doing for them, and why it is being collected. A thorough report explaining the history and purpose behind each fee would be helpful in ensuring that students are well-informed before opinion polls are conducted or a referendum is called.

What do you think?

I forgot to mention I found the link. They actually recommend being five minutes early, which I usually am, but I've been cutting it closer lately 'cause I don't like waiting in the cold. =\

Originally Posted by HSR Ride Guide

Go to your bus stop four or five minutes before the bus is due to arrive. Get in line if there are other passengers waiting

From: https://www.hamilton.ca/CityServices.../RideGuide.htm

Originally Posted by A.Marlowe

Its also really hard to make plans when you can't rely on the HSR to be on schedule. There should never be a situation where you miss your transfer because the first bus was late, barring an accident or extremely bad traffic (although since buses tend to travel at lower speeds anyways, the last one isn't an issue). You also shouldn't have to spend 5-10 minutes waiting for a bus that comes every 15 minutes.

Also, Steven was pointing out that the site said you only needed to show up 2 minutes in advance, not that that's what he did. I would like to point out though that the GO buses and trains run smoothly enough that you can arrive only 2 minutes early without hassle.

I guess that lobbying for all the buses to run on the same clock could help, but I still remain doubtful that it would result in a better service. Especially when there are problems with buses not showing up at all.

I don't think people should complain if they miss their transfer because one bus was a little late or another bus was a little early. Yeah, it sucks, but it happens. The way the schedules work out, sometimes the transfer bus leaves one minute after your bus is supposed to arrive. They really can't do anything besides try their best. You're not always going to catch that transfer, and there's no one to blame for that.

I agree that having all drivers use the same watch would be a good idea. But other than that, I can't see how Casey plans to fix any HSR problems. I don't know how "lobbying the MSU and HSR" is going to do anything.

This thread has been the most hilarious and wonderful thing I have read all week.
Thank you for making my morning a million times more politically charged, everyone.