Open Letter to L.A. Metro: Complaints About Bus 268

This is a letter I am sending to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority regarding a negative experience with the 268 bus.  I will update the thread with any responses from the MTA.

16 January 2011

Dear Customer Service Agent,

On 15 January 2011, I was awaiting the 268 bus from Lower Azusa and Halifax, in El Monte, to the Lower El Monte Transit Station.  The bus was scheduled to arrive at 18:22.

The bus was nine minutes late, arriving at 18:31.  Perhaps in an attempt to make up lost time, the driver simply drove past where I was waiting at the stop, despite my signal.  I believe, but am not certain, that it was bus # 7209.

This is, obviously, unacceptable.  The 268 bus is, by far, the least-reliable bus I have encountered in the entire Metro system.  Late, early, and missing buses are the norm, but this is the first time a late bus has refused to stop.  Even if the bus were to have picked me up this time, presuming the driver did not skip any other stops to speed the passage, I would have been nine minutes late to a stop with a 12 minute transfer window.  It is questionable whether I could have made the transfer in any case.

I waited for the next bus, roughly 45 minutes later.  I would like to commend the driver of this bus, # 7023, for his friendliness and professionalism.

Would you please provide an explanation of what happened and a description of what is being done to keep this from happening again?

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7 Responses to “Open Letter to L.A. Metro: Complaints About Bus 268”

  1. Bob Mike Says:

    There may be a perfectly legit reason for this. Was Keanu Reeves or Sandra Bullock driving the bus? Did they look worried?

  2. mcgees.org Says:

    “Embedding disabled by default” — bastards.  So: There’s a bomb on the milk float!

  3. Dave (Site Brother) Says:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaKxRN2LdEI

  4. Hissing Kitty Says:

    We see lots of complains about local transit, especially in larger cities. What is amazing to me is how many big cities have aged and antiquated systems they just leave in place over the years. That being said, this is a decent rant :)

    fyi: +10 cool points for managing to reference “pagerank” in commenting instructions lol
    Hissing Kitty recently posted..Annoying eBay “Where is my item” Emails

  5. mcgees.org Says:

    Received a lovely response from Metro today:

    March 17, 2011

    Dear Mr. McGee:

    I read with the growing concern your recent letter detailing your
    regrettable experiences aboard Line 268 on January 15th.  Please accept
    our deepest apologies for the hardship you experienced as a result of the
    Line 268 failing to service your stop as scheduled.  As you are aware,
    operators are instructed to service every stop along the route.

    Without question this incident was highly unusual and triggered an
    immediate but thorough investigation.  Rest assured that once the
    operator was identified all necessary corrective measures were taken to
    ensure this type of incident does not happen again.

    Additionally, I am absolutely delighted to join with you in commending
    the operator of bus #7O23.  A copy of your letter has already been sent to
    the appropriate division manager who will share your warm words of
    praise and ensure they become part of the operators permanent
    personnel record.

    Thank you for the opportunity to assist you with your concerns and l
    trust that your future travels aboard Line 268 have been the pleasant
    experience they should be.

    Yours truly,

    Tom Horne
    Manager
    Customer Relations

    Bravo.

  6. mcgees.org » Blog Archive » Metro Complaint Response Says:

    [...] received a fantastic response to my previous complaint to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority.  Bravo.  [...]

  7. Ed Says:

    Well….1 + 7 is usually 8….

    Yes, a WONDERFUL response.  Wow…commendations and investigations…  Can’t ask for more than that.

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