Technology for Good or Bad

I must say that I am surprised and disappointed that the NextBus system is having such a hard time working here in the region. It seems to me that information is one of the big things that bus passengers need. After all, most bus stops are not covered and they are not air conditioned. Even many of the bus shelters tend to get rather wet when it rains. Knowing whether a bus is five, ten or twenty minutes away is important.

I don't know all of the ins and outs of why Metro's Global Positioning System is not dovetailing with the NextBus system. It seems like it should have been easy. If there was a glitch then it seems like it should have been fixed quickly. Instead, the whole thing was taken out of commission and bus riders are left with just about as much information as they might have received back in 1957.

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I must admit that I kind of like the idea of more advertising inside the Metro system. I find it to be a nice diversion from the rust stains that have formed on the boring concrete walls.  I've always felt like advertising for things like upcoming shows and sporting events particularly added a little vibrancy to the inside of the rail cars and buses. I like the backlighted ads inside the train stations.  I don't feel quite the same way about the ads for the various adult education or computer programming classes.

That's why I am excited to see what Metro and the new advertising media company come up with. I think it will make the platforms more alive and, again, vibrant, if the advertisements there can "come to life."  Washington really does tend to be a stick in the mud when it comes to new ideas and I hope that some of these new advertising concepts can be put into place. These new ads may actually help the system break out of the mold to say nothing of the fact that they might help generate some much-needed cash.

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We've all by now heard of the car-sharing program called Zipcar that allows persons to rent a vehicle in one-hour increments. It has been a huge success here around Washington. I wonder if another program that's been successful in New Zealand might prove as popular; renting bicycles. Goodgear Bikes in the city of Auckland allows persons who have pre-registered a credit card to arrange for the hourly or daily rental of bikes. It' a good idea that has gone to great lengths to make the experience easy, cheap and hassle-free. It also sounds like something that might work very well around here now that gas prices seem to be beyond reasonable to stay.

 

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Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.

Comments

[BeyondDC]

I agree that we need to get NextBus up and working. I use it every day on the CUE system in Fairfax and don't know how I ever lived without it.

I also agree that Metro should have more ads. Tourists are always wowed by our brutalist subway stations, but they're incredibly bland for everyday users. More color, even if it comes from ads, will be welcome. I wish they'd bring back the ad-wrapped railcars.

As for bike sharing, I'm surprised the author isn't aware that both DC and Arlington (the sponsor of this blog) are planning to roll out very large bike sharing systems later this year. It *is* a good idea, and it *is* coming to DC in the very near term. Also, for better examples than New Zealand, check out Paris, Barcelona and Lyon.