Mayoral Response

I took the opportunity to share my thoughts on the bus system with each of the mayoral candidates in the upcoming Fresno election, inviting them to read this blog.

Henry Perea and Ashley Swearengin

I emailed Henry using the email address listed on his website on August 26th.

I don't recall the exact date I filled out the Voter Survey on Ashley's site, but it was sometime between 8/15 and 8/22.

(I did look for a similar response system for Henry the same day as I filled out the one on Ashley's site)

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a personal email from Ashley, telling me that she enjoyed my blog, and agreed with some of my thoughts!

I have yet to receive a response from Henry Perea.

I hope if he is elected Mayor of Fresno, he is more responsive than this.

Mayoral Candidates and the Bus System

A question has occurred to me after reading the columns by Bill McEwen about the plans for the local bus services by the two mayoral candidates in the quickly approaching November election.  One thing is missing in their plans: How they plan to change the perception of the bus system.

A little background... I started riding the bus regularly in March, when my only vehicle broke down in a big expensive way.  I both live and work near bus stops, so it is not an inconvenience for me to use the system, as it might be for someone that lives 5 miles from the nearest stop.  When my coworkers first discovered that I was riding the bus daily, they were horrified.  I work in a professional environment, at a regular 9-5 job.

See, I have discovered that many people have a preconceived notion that the bus is for "dirty, low-income" people.  They will not accept my argument that there are others like me (professional, average paid people) riding the bus.

What I have realized is that people are afraid of the unknown aspect of the bus system.  We live in a city where the car is king.  We are not accustomed to using a public transit system as a way of life, as many people in big cities are.  Here in Fresno, we are used to hopping in our car to go to the grocery store a block away.  We drive to the sandwich shop across the street from our office instead of walking.

Yes, there are times that riding is difficult or inconvenient.  Waiting 20 minutes at a transfer point in 106 degree weather is unpleasant, and gets further unpleasant when your bus arrives only to find that it is standing room only and the air conditioning is not working properly.  But, that is the exception, not the norm.  Nearly every day, I step on a bus that is 60 to 70 percent full, where I can easily find a seat, and get to enjoy great air conditioning -- better AC than my 10 year old car has.

Yes, there are often some strange people on the bus.  But, have we as a society become afraid of people that are not like us?  Will sitting next to someone for 20 minutes that makes less money than you do adversely affect your life?  Are you afraid to come into contact with a Vietnam veteran on his way to the VA hospital for a checkup?  What about a transgender male?  The only affect these people have had on me is opening my eyes to the diversity of this city.

People have asked me, now that my car is fixed, do I plan on stopping riding the bus.  The answer is, probably not.  You see, not driving my car all summer has had positive effects on my life.  I've saved innumerable amounts on gasoline during a season of record oil prices.  I've lost weight.  Walking to and from the bus stop each day is a great way to burn off those extra 15-20 pounds we all have and hate.  I've had a small part in reducing pollution in our city.  I don't know how much one car coming off the road will affect the smog levels, but, every little bit has to help.

So, for our mayoral candidates to truly have an impact with the bus system, they need to think beyond faster buses and expanded routes.  They need to reach the minds of non-riders and show them there is nothing to be afraid of.

Really?

I saw this sign on the fence surrounding the new library at Fresno State. It cracked me up!

Teachers vs. Legislators

In my opinion... the people responsible for teaching our children, shaping the future for them, should be paid more.

It shocks me, that we pay our state legislators more than three times the salary of a starting teacher.

Yes, these same legislators that can't seem to pass a budget, earn three times the salary of a starting teacher. This doesn't include the extras that these politicians have access to (i.e. state paid travel, etc). I know that my company does not pay for me to get to and from my office. Why are these people entitled to this benefit? And I don't think that teachers are paid to get to and from their school each day.

What if a teacher decided that (s)he didn't do a major portion of their job for 50+ days of their work-year? Would the state consider that acceptable performance of the job duties? I am sure the answer would be 'no'!

References for notes above...
Job Postings for Clovis Unified School District - starting salary listed at $39,370
Salary for Mike Villines - salary listed at $133,638.96

(Note - I am not related to any teachers or legislators... just my personal opinion on the matter. This is not a personal attack on Mike Villines, he happens to be the legislator that represents the Clovis area.)

Ahh... the return of political season!

I actually find political season very interesting... I know many people hate it!

Why do I find it interesting, you might be asking.

I find it fascinating to see the city wallpapered in signs for the candidates. Well, let me clarify that a bit. I find it fascinating to see which candidates can't be bothered to remove their signs after the election is over.

The candidates spend lots of time talking about how important it is to clean up the city, and I have great respect for those that remove their signs soon after the election is over. However, the candidates that leave their signs to rot in the sun for months to come should be ashamed of themselves.

I was pleased to see that the two mayoral candidates that are having a run-off this November promptly removed their signs after the June election!

Also, I found it heart-warming that after Andreas Borgeas won in June, he (or someone on his committee) added tasteful "Thank You" signs onto some of their large signs!

I got an answer!!

So, after nine business days of waiting for an answer, I finally got one! I got a phone call from a nice man named Ken that was able to answer my question.

I've held off on posting what my actual question is... now that I have gotten an answer, I'll post the question.

Hi!

I regularly ride the 30 bus, southbound, getting on at Blackstone and Shaw. I can not figure out why, for what is supposed to be a 15 minute service 6a-6p weekdays, there is no 5:45pm Blackstone and Shaw bus.

I usually arrive at the stop (from my connection) about 5:42pm, and am forced to sit and wait for the 6pm bus, which is usually a bit late. Meanwhile, I see two northbound busses pass in front of me each day, as they have busses stopping at Blackstone and Shaw at 5:46 and 6:01.

Can someone clarify this for me?

Thank you!

So, the answer I got from Ken is -- budget. They send the Northbound bus back to the yard after it reaches the end of the NB line at Blackstone and Nees. They don't have the budget to send it back SB.

I didn't really understand this, as the bus has to go south to get back to the bus yard. Ken explained that it is a much quicker trip to just send the bus directly back, instead of making a full trip.

This seems a bit silly and wasteful to me. They are expending the gasoline to drive the bus back to the South end of town. But, I can understand that the labor costs would be higher.

He seemed to understand my frustration that there were two north bound busses that pass in front of me every day, while I wait 20 minutes for the southbound bus. I also explained that the southbound bus is usually extremely full when it arrives at Blackstone and Shaw at 6pm. Yesterday I boarded the bus with 15 other people.

So, any thoughts on the bus system that you want to share?

Still trying to reach a competent FAX employee!

Called main FAX office again, to see if they got my second online contact form. Apparently the online contact form doesn't really work. The lovely attendant that answers the phone at the FAX Administrative office will "talk to the IT guys" and have them call me.

Asked for the name of the supervisor of David, the Transit Supervisor, because apparently he does not return phone calls. She didn't know that either.

Why is this so difficult?