Main Street MAX

[dangerboy]

I agree that requesting a stop is a pain.  That's a big way MAX falls short of "rail on rubber."  Making riders request a stop is not a good way to give them a rail-like experience.

Also, I thought it was odd that there were no ads on board.  I would have expected some visitor-oriented ads, especially for attractions and businesses on the route.

[sethyg]

Also, I thought it was odd that there were no ads on board.  I would have expected some visitor-oriented ads, especially for attractions and businesses on the route.

Probably gotta find out how many passengers they'll average before places will be willing to pay whatever rates are charged.

[ignatius]

I also rode it today.  Was fast from Plaza to Crown Center, about 10 minutes but it took another 15 to get from CC to the Market.  It was standing room only from Plaza to CC.  I'm beginning to agree that there are too many downtown stops and that it should go straight down Grand or Walnut.  Maybe they'll re-route after the major construction is complete.  The bus arrived on time when departing the Plaza (countdown timer was correct) but was 10 minutes late when leaving City Market.  An ATA guy was there and told me that 2 buses already broke down because of too many people on it and with the high heat, they overheated.

Have several suggestions I plan to email to the ATA....
- Digital signs on bus should always show name of current stop until bus is moving away from stop.
- When bus starts pulling out of a stop, the voice should announce the name of the next stop.
- The voice is not loud enough and sounds muffled.  It should also repeat stop name twice.
- If requesting bus to stop, the sign only says, 'request for stop' but should also show the stop name.
- The busses need better control of the street lights as there were some long waits at red lights.
- The line termination points should have an extra bus waiting for the next run.  There should always be a bus there ready to depart at scheduled time.
- The digital signs at the stops should also show how many minutes til next connecting buses.

All in all this is a big improvement and I saw a lot of people that looked like they've never used KC's transit.  I hope the success is significant enough that the ATA continues to make improvements, add more frequency or even another line sooner than later.

[dangerboy]

I think the only control the bus has over traffic signals is the ability to hold a green light that's about to go yellow.  I don't think they can turn a red light to green.

[tat2kc]

just remember this first few weeks will be more of a "shake down" interval than anything.  do they have a suggestion link on the website or a place to send comments on what worked and what didin't?  It sounds like a lot of the issues are more related to getting something new up and running.  The issue with the stops downtown seems to be the biggest.  It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, and defeats the whole concept of "rapid".

[KCBoom]

I rode the MAX from City Market to the Plaza on Sunday.  The firt leg going south to the Plaza took 25 minutes . . . all in all it wasn't bad, other than those problems already noted in this thread.  However, the ride from the Plaza to the City Market took 45 minutes!  Why?  Stopping multiple times at non-MAX bus stops, some were not even regular bus stops.  Stopping and waiting 5 minutes for some kid to figure out how to put his bicycle on the front of the bus.  The MAX busses should not have bike racks--take 'em off! 

I've taken mass transit in cities such as Washington, D.C. and New York City, but this is the very first time I've used any type of mass trasit in K.C. and I lived here my entire life.  This is very good to see, but I got extremely aggrevated with the unnecessary waiting.  I was extremely encourage by the level of ridership on the first day, but if the ATA doesn't get MAX refined very quickly it's going to be dead in the water.  As of right now, I would not ride MAX again because of the unnecessary delays.  There is no assurance of taking MAX from downtown to the Plaza over lunch and it not taking an hour and twenty minutes just in commute time.  I would only consider riding MAX again strictly as a convenience item when not restricted by time.

[scooterj]

I was going to ride it yesterday just for the hell of it but got tired of waiting on the blazing hot sidewalk for a bus to ever show up so I gave up.  Then I was going to re-try today but I overslept   and couldn't risk the delays.  So, tomorrow will hopefully be the day I lose my MAX virginity (as well as my bus virginity in general).

Apart from all the unscheduled stops, am I also correct in inferring from the reviews above that the buses will blow right on by the actual correct MAX stops unless you specifically tell the driver you want off?    I don't want to look like an idiot by requesting a stop if I am not supposed to but I also don't want to have the bus just blow right on by my stop and turn a short trip into something approaching an hour.

[sethyg]

Yes, you need to request a stop... just to be on the safe side.

[dangerboy]

Yes, you have to request a stop.  Unless of course someone happens to already be waiting at your stop.

[ignatius]

Hmmm.. I was going to use MAX this afternoon for lunch but just found that it only runs 15 minutes during lunch hours?  That's not acceptable.  Needs to run every 9 on weekdays for people to regularly use it over lunch.

BTW, the ATA email addresses are....

metro@kcata.org
max@kcata.org

[scooterj]

Yes, you need to request a stop... just to be on the safe side.

Is there a button to push or do you shout out that you need off?    Sorry for being such an ignoramus. 

[KCBoom]

Is there a button to push or do you shout out that you need off?    Sorry for being such an ignoramus. 

There is a yellow cable located on each side of the bus and a couple of push buttons that say "stop".  Just pay attention to your location and make the request a block or two before the stop.

[GRID]

Well, a group of us went down to catch a MAX bus to go to the River Market for lunch.  There were two delivery trucks parked in front of the MAX stop and the bus blew by.  Nice.  We went across the street to the mall for lunch.

MAX, your not helping me promote you.

[tat2kc]

I wondered about parking near the stops, and in the dedicated lanes.  Its a problem on the regular bus lines, we shouldn't wonder that it is a problem with Max.

[MidWestSider]

I just seen a MAX bus whizz by me on US-71 SB at 59th.  Looks like the Side Display said.. Charter??  Im kinda curious.. what the occasion would be?

[enough]

Now that MAX is in operation, wouldn't it be appropriate to move all posts beginning with July 24 into a new "MAX Operation" thread?

[Critical_Mass]

I rode MAX on Sunday and took it to work today.  Both times going from downtown to near Westport (39th + Main).  I don't see how it's "rapid".  Seems like "same service, new paint job".
I would have expected the drivers to learn the routes before it began operating.  Coming back downtown from 39th + Main on Sunday, the bus nearly drove by four of us waiting for it.  It was coming fast so we waved it down.  The bus stopped in the middle of the street, so we had to cross a lane (luckily no traffic) to get on the bus.  Then the driver proceeded to tell us that this wasn't a MAX stop.  Well, then why is it on your map?  At least he was nice enough to let us on.
I'm sure all of these little problems will work themselves out, what with people wanting off at the old, non-MAX stops, but in the end, this is barely an improvement. 

[cdschofield]

IMHO requiring stops to be requested is a big mistake for MAX. The whole point of MAX is to make riding a bus palatable to the tourists, convetioneers, occasional riders, etc. and they will not be comfortable with having to figure out how to request a stop. For that matter, most the time they'll barely know which stop to get off at. The MAX should announce every stop clearly and stop or else it will intimidate new riders. Requesting stops should not even be an option on MAX. The MAX stops at all MAX stops period, no exceptions.

The city, KCATA or police need to get Nazi-like when it comes to parking in the bus lane otherwise it will be no different than it has ever been. There was no parking in the lanes during rush hours before and putting up those tiny signs is not sufficient. I was expecting those lanes to be marked like HOV lanes.

I hope this is start up glitches because just last week I had come to terms with what MAX was going to be and started thinking that it could be a great system especially for visitors to the city because of it's high visibility and seemingly ease of use. From the reviews it sounds like business as usual with new buses and fancy stops. If they want to sell it as "just as good as light rail", they need to operate it like light rail.

[KCPowercat]

well they will be working the bugs out.  It's up to us the users to tell them how to make the service better.

I'm still pushing to get evenings/nights/weekends to free rides.

[staubio]

The city, KCATA or police need to get Nazi-like when it comes to parking in the bus lane otherwise it will be no different than it has ever been. There was no parking in the lanes during rush hours before and putting up those tiny signs is not sufficient. I was expecting those lanes to be marked like HOV lanes.

Well, the city is doing its part.  I saw some cars parked in the MAX lane on Main around 43rd.  They parked and were being towed about 15 minutes later.