Dear BoltBus(ron.gejman.com)
ron.gejman.com
Dear BoltBus
http://ron.gejman.com/blog/2010/12/16/dear-boltbus/
15 コメント
This is a nice feature request, but can we try to get out of habit of proclaiming enhancements as "trivial" without knowing anything about the architecture? We all hate it when our customers/clients/bosses do this to us, right? Let's lead by example.
Being able to see delays via a mobile app might be enough to get me to try BoltBus and Megabus again.
In my experience, BoltBus and Megabus have extremely poor customer service. I've had multiple bad experiences with them and as a result I refuse to use their services any more.
Last month I waited an hour and a half in 40 degree weather for the Megabus from NYC to Philadelphia. Throughout that time, none of the staff on site had any idea of what was going on, or if they did no one told us what the problem was and when we could expect the next bus to arrive. We heard later that both buses scheduled during that time had broken down.
In my experience, BoltBus and Megabus have extremely poor customer service. I've had multiple bad experiences with them and as a result I refuse to use their services any more.
Last month I waited an hour and a half in 40 degree weather for the Megabus from NYC to Philadelphia. Throughout that time, none of the staff on site had any idea of what was going on, or if they did no one told us what the problem was and when we could expect the next bus to arrive. We heard later that both buses scheduled during that time had broken down.
You can have dirt-cheap or you can have customer service. The east coast intercity bus lines are very clearly built around the former.
But you can have dirt cheap and provide information - that's really the service that people want. They don't need a massage, free food, live entertainment etc... Information can be cheap - put a transponder on all the buses and push out a kml feed.
It's not that hard to do this and the service it provides is great. I currently live in Princeton, where they have the TigerTracker:
http://princeton.transloc.com/
And I know that, for instance, the Swiss railways can also be tracked in real time: http://www.swisstrains.ch/
And I know that, for instance, the Swiss railways can also be tracked in real time: http://www.swisstrains.ch/
I've been in this same situation before. Campus busses at my university do this; why can't a company that only does buses do it too? In fact, I'd even pay an extra buck to see the info. They could use GPS data plus a phone app to improve their ticketing system too. i.e. use your phone to check in when you're in front of the bus and it gets verified on their site instead of handing the driver a piece of paper and an ID.
I live in Boston.
When I saw Salt in the theater, there's a scene where Evelyn Salt, in disguise, rides in from DC to New York. The audience laughed when they saw her on the BoltBus.
When I saw Salt in the theater, there's a scene where Evelyn Salt, in disguise, rides in from DC to New York. The audience laughed when they saw her on the BoltBus.
The site's down. Does anyone have a mirror?
Sorry, no mirror that I can find. Basically the author was describing his experience needing to wait outside in the cold for a late BoltBus. He didn't mind so much that the bus was late, but wished he knew how late it was going to be.
He then wrote the company saying they should install GPS tracking in the buses so a customer would know exactly when it was going to arrive and could thus seek shelter in a coffee shop until the last minute.
He then wrote the company saying they should install GPS tracking in the buses so a customer would know exactly when it was going to arrive and could thus seek shelter in a coffee shop until the last minute.
Why wouldn't they do this?
Well I'm assuming someone has probably already pitched something like this to them but as it's a budget service they do not want to add any more to their cost structure. I'm ball-parking that tech company would probably sell this to them for about $80k for the development plus a couple thousand a year in maintenance. Maybe they could add $1 to their ticket price as a premium service and if it was widely popular they could just add it into price structure (with some margin).
(side note - is this a common business concept or term, for adding premium services and then just adding that into the price later with the services included?)
Could a savvy hacker whip something like this up fairly easy? Possibly, but they would need to find this person first.
(side note - is this a common business concept or term, for adding premium services and then just adding that into the price later with the services included?)
Could a savvy hacker whip something like this up fairly easy? Possibly, but they would need to find this person first.
[deleted]
There are a few reasons. First, the Wi-fi only works about 70% of the time even though the buses are new. Second, these fleets have hundreds of buses. It's not clear that mapping a given bus to the schedule it will run is a trivial problem. Clearly that information is already in the dispatchers' and drivers' heads, but is it in a computer system?
Finally, Megabus already has a system that's supposed to send you a text message if the bus is delayed. It never works.
Finally, Megabus already has a system that's supposed to send you a text message if the bus is delayed. It never works.
This hasn't been my experience, but I've ridden BoltBus less than a dozen times. Every time I've had smooth sailing WiFi from beginning to end. In any case, this can be solved via an independent data plan.
I'm not sure how their scheduling works, but certainly they do have some sort of computerized scheduling system. When I called the operator at 8:35 today she put me on hold for ~40 seconds while she, presumably, looked up the status of the bus. I wonder if they don't already have an informal internal service for keeping track of bus status?
I'm not sure how their scheduling works, but certainly they do have some sort of computerized scheduling system. When I called the operator at 8:35 today she put me on hold for ~40 seconds while she, presumably, looked up the status of the bus. I wonder if they don't already have an informal internal service for keeping track of bus status?
I can say that I had my share of boltbus, megabus and the chinatown bus companies and although most of the time the wifi works, when it doesn't it's mostly useless to complain. They even have a sign saying that "the driver doesn't know how to fix it".
In spite of this, it's my favorite way of traveling between cities, right after the train system, although I rarely use the latter, since the prices are outrageously high in the US.
In spite of this, it's my favorite way of traveling between cities, right after the train system, although I rarely use the latter, since the prices are outrageously high in the US.