TCAT

On March 10^th at 5:10pm, I was at the Risley stop. The bus #30 (driver claimed his number as 417) coming from downtown was already 15 minutes late. The bus came, two people got down but the driver refused to let me in claiming shortage of space. It was raining so I was forced to rely on the bus to go home. The bus #32 came behind. I took the bus to get into the triphammer and hanshaw road intersection. I told the driver of 32 to tell 30’s driver to stop, which was just in the other side of the street. We shouted, showed signs but he refused to stop as well. I waited for another 15 minutes for the next #30.
I reported this to the Mayor as well.
TCAT — Please stop treating passengers like animals. We are not riding for free. We are paying the fare.

I love TCAT! It gets me to where I need in Ithaca, and also has reliable vehicles on my commuter.
I don’t use TCAT on weekends though, because they limit service so much. On the weekdays, I take route 40, but on Weekends, I take the 74, and it just gets me to Ithaca Mall, which means I need to take a 70 down to downtown Ithaca. I feel like they should improve their weekend service quite a bit.
I also feel that some routes are not necessary, like the 8:30 route 13 trip to stewart park, and the 5:10 40 leaving from Ithaca should use a mini bus because it isn’t popular. Other than that, they have great service.
TCAT overall is great, but they do have some room for improvement.

Pretty good most of the time. Most of the drivers are awesome but a few are surly and some are just jerks. Some of the drivers seem conflicted.
In Cornell parking lots most drivers will stop and pick you up or wait for you if they see you running for the bus when they are about to leave the bus shelter, or if they have already started moving but are still in the parking lot. A few of the nasty ones will actually hurry up and leave before you get a chance to get to the bus shelter — unless you’re one of the passengers they like to chat with while ignoring the road.
TCAT will tell you that for safety reasons it’s their policy to only stop at bus shelters on the Cornell campus, so I guess they think that gives them the right to be discriminatory. But come on, we’re talking about a parking lot — not merging into traffic. This is not a safety issue and most of the drivers understand that and will stop and pick you up. It’s not like we’re in some big metropolis where there’s a ton of traffic and a small delay will throw off the schedule. The buses that service the big Cornell parking lots have a 3 minute delay built in (they wait for at least 3 minutes at the parking lot when running on time — often they are there 5 minutes early), so it’s not like the extra 15 seconds it takes to pick you up will make a difference.
If TCAT could sideline some of the bad drivers and have a fixed policy of leniency in the parking lot (which is not a safety situation) they would get 5 stars.
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2÷20÷15 — downgrading to two stars because TCAT will not be bothered to answer concerns presented to them via email.

Last Thursday, April 25, I got on the # 13 to go to Lake St. near Boynton. I was carrying heavy groceries (having shopped after working late) and an inflamed tendon was causing me a lot of pain. I hadn’t known that the # 13 that leaves at 7:00 pm goes only as far as Aldi’s. There was also another person on that bus who was a bit compromised. He also did not know that the 7:00 pm bus had a shorter route. In any case, when the driver, Jacob (Jake) learned that neither one of us had known about the shorter route of the 7:00 pm # 13, he nevertheless took both of us all the way to the stops that we needed. This was exceptionally kind and gracious of him, and I hope he is valued by the TCAT management. His behavior is the sort of thing one hopes for in a small town but does not always see.

I depend upon the TCAT bus system when I am in Ithaca for work. The drivers are friendly, the buses are clean and 99% of the time the buses are on time. The Tcard is great and hope that other regional bus systems take a hint from TCAT on how to properly run a bus line.

The TCAT makes it easy to get around Ithaca without a car! Since I am a Cornell Freshman, I have a free bus pass, and I am enjoying it! I am a frequent rider on the 30, 70, and 15. The buses are not always on time, and I have waited in the freezing cold for at least 20 – 30 minutes with no buses passing on several occasions, but that is all part of the experience, haha. The bus drivers are friendly overall, and some are so nice that they let you pack in like sardines on the weekend when every Cornell kid goes to the mall because there is nothing else to do in Ithaca, so you don’t have to wait for the next bus for 30 minutes! Initially, being from the SFV of Los Angeles, I was surprised at the crazy driving of bus drivers and the routes that loop through residential areas. Then, I considered that Ithaca is rural and most of the streets are residential, and there are few main streets. So that makes sense. Still can’t understand the crazy drivers, but I have gotten to my destination safely every time =)

Pretty decent bus system. Several crazy drivers, but many of them are quite friendly. The buses are very clean, and there are some very useful lines (30, 10).

Do these bus drivers even know how to smile? I sometimes take the 10 route in the mornings from University/​Stewart and get this old white-​haired guy with a chip on his shoulder. Even when I say good morning and thank you, this guy is stone cold and gives attitude if your ID card doesn’t swipe right. One time he didn’t let me on because the bus was full, even though the back was spread out and the biggest girl on campus had just gotten off at the stop. It’s sad that he’s not the only disgruntled driver, though the younger ones seem friendlier.
In addition to learning some proper manners, TCRAP could beef up their technology a bit. They have a decent website, but who gives a crap? How about adding something useful, like GPS to the buses with a mobile app that tells you when the next bus comes? I bet in three years this still won’t happen here.
I think they know that when it’s sub-​zero outside you’re probably gonna take the bus regardless of friendliness.