Where are the New Schedules?

An aside: Code orange predicted for today's air quality... again. Along with 90 degree temps and higher humidity. Sounds like a not-so-nice day. But the bus' air conditioning will feel good!

As noted in Saturday's post, new schedules come into effect this Sunday. I hope we'll start seeing the schedules this week. So far I haven't seen one... on the bus, or in a library. I have checked the online schedules for the buses I ride most often, and don't see much change. That despite DART's assertion that there would be "minor" changes in schedules for those routes that had been planned for the move from Rodney Square to the now-abandoned (one hopes for good!) Shipley Street location. The reason given for these changes is that they are supposed to "reduce the number of buses at Rodney Square at one time."

Given the huge pileup of buses that occurs at Rodney Square during rush hours, mostly around a quarter to and a quarter past the hour, I'd guess it would require more than "minor changes" to fix that problem. (A problem that was, obviously, created by DART itself.)

Saturday afternoon, at my local library, I looked for new schedules and saw none. Still the old ones. On the bus, no schedules at all. I don't get it. Not everyone has easy access to the internet, or even knows how to use it. Dart schedules are in .pdf or humongous Excel spreadsheet form, so that you can't just load 'em up on your smartphone. How are people who regularly commute by bus, and have no access to the online schedules, supposed to plan their trips prior to a service change? Libraries all have schedules, but they are never changed out until AFTER the service change has taken place. Big help.

DART needs to make these service changes easier to negotiate for non-computer-owning riders. Have points across the community where people can go pick up the NEW schedules at least one week, preferably two or more, before a service change takes effect. Riders all know that even small changes in schedule can make the difference between catching and missing a bus you need to ride. A change of as little as five minutes can necessitate a big change in a rider's schedule. Maybe he'll have to catch an earlier bus, to be sure he can make a needed transfer. This is a matter of great importance to riders who need to arrive on time for work or medical appointments.

I've seen riders at Rodney Square going from bus to bus at service changes, asking drivers if they have schedules for a specific route, and not finding them. Your bus may have schedules, but as often as not, they are not for the route you're on. Yes, the Wilmington library across the street from Rodney Square maintains a rack of schedules, but are they updated before the change, allowing people to plan ahead? Are they even open in the morning before 9:30, when most people are making their morning commute? (No to both.) Please, DART, make printed schedules available well before planned service changes.