Brett Kaiser (x002548) Blog

Dear Mayor

As I am sure you are aware the Shuttle Service in West Orange is not all that it could be.  You may or may not be following the day to day gripes and groans that appear on the web log established by Brett Kaiser and submitted by the riders, or non riders as so often is the reason for the posting.  Below you will find my submittal from 11-July-06.  This would look to be just the beginning of what could grow to be quite a problem when the normally lite summer commuting season ends in September.

"The route 1 bus passed three of us by at Forest Hills and Hillside at 7:18.  The driver blew the horn a few times to acknowledge that she saw us, but would not be stopping.  She also passed the person at Birch and blew the horn there too.  I could not tell, but I assume that the bus was full.  We waited and waited, and waited.  If she called for a bus, it did not show.  It became obvious that all three of us would be late for work.

At 8:06 (the last run of the morning) she stopped, and immediately said that she could only take 3.  The four of us looked at each other, and all thought "well I have to get to work, so it won't be me"  As the first of us stepped on the bus, and the driver barked "I ain't guna lose my job, I can only take 3."  Fortunately the police officer who was riding in the back got off the bus and all four of us got on.  As we drove to South Orange, we could all overhear the driver on the radio to the dispatcher and the other drivers, barking the situation, and the fact that there seem to be more people getting on at the stops and filling the bus up.

As the desirability of a shuttle to bring us to the train attracts more and more people, the township needs to keep pace with the requirements, larger buses or buses that allow standees are required.  The town has one bus that allows standees.  It should be placed on the Route 1 starting tomorrow.  Obviously there needs to be a long term resolution to this."

This and other posts are available on:
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/brettk/archive/2005/11/14/8302.aspx

I appreciate your time and assistance in helping your constituents receive the service they have come to expect.




At 05:29 PM 2/1/2006, Mayor's Office wrote:

Dear Commuter:
 
Thank you for your continued patience with the Jitney Service. We are aware of the problems this morning
and  have already taken steps to remedy them. We were a few minutes early on one route and a few minutes late on
another.  The problems dealt mostly with a lack of familiarity with the routes and a lack of synchronizing the exact schedules.
 
Starting today, we will be synchronizing our schedule with the time displayed on cell phones. This is the most cost effective and simple solution at this time. If you do not have a cell phone, the time displayed on any morning news program should be reasonably accurate. We will be upgrading each bus with a satellite clock in the near future.
 
Again, please be patient with these new drivers. It will take a few trips to become completely familiar with the nuances of each route.
 
Sincerely,
Mayor John F. McKeon
 
 
 
ShariAnn Quirk- Mayor's Assistant
Office of the Mayor: John F. McKeon
66 Main Street
Township of West Orange
West Orange, NJ 07052
Phone: 973-325-4100
Fax: 973-669-0238
www.westorange.org
 

Philip J. Altenburg