ART, Have I been doing it wrong?

[MIChessGuy]

I have been using the ART this week and found it to be pretty reasonable. The text2go feature for my particular stop does not work; it always results in a 'no data for this stop' message. However, I can get data for the stop immediately preceding mine, which does the job for me despite leaving me baffled about why it can't report my stop directly. Also, in case anyone finds it useful, the Motel 6 sells ART cards over the counter in the lobby. I bought one there this week. (The ART vending machine at the Disneyland transportation center seems to be out of order.)

The one thing that annoyed me was the way the route numbers are not displayed on the buses. For example, I have been riding the Disney Way line all week. This is Stop 8 at the Disneyland transportation center. Yet there is no "8" anywhere on the external displays of the bus. Why not? Also, each numbered stop at Disney is just the number on a pole, with no route map or any other data of any sort. Just struck me as very strange. On my first park day this week, I got off at Disney and then stumbled back 13-ish hours later and couldn't remember which stop number my bus used.

 

[felice]

We've also never had any major problems with the ART service either, from Staybridge Suites on S Manchester Av.

Sometimes they can be a bit later than the advertised time, but at least they do appear. Guess breakdowns happen from time to time too as happens with public transport in other countries, but even despite this, the service has usually been very good, with helpful drivers too.

 

[kikismom]

I had a horrible experience with ART last time. I'm very experienced with busses in the Seattle areas which are not known to be great. One time we waited at the shuttle area outside Disneyland for 50 minutes. No busses for our route. The entire time we were there the texting didn't work or gave us incorrect times. It said our route didn't exist. We paid for the 5 days or so and only used it a couple times. I won't stay anywhere I can't walk or doesn't have a designated hotel shuttle anymore.

 

[bardays]

Used ART on our last trip and it was terrible! We watched buses drive right by us more than once on Katella. Reliable on the way back to the hotel as we had many options going up Harbor.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Used ART on our last trip and it was terrible! We watched buses drive right by us more than once on Katella. Reliable on the way back to the hotel as we had many options going up Harbor.

Do you use city buses in your day to day life?? If you are standing at bus stop which has multiple routes, you have to FLAG DOWN THE BUS. This is normal procedure / normal public transport etiquette.
If there are more than one route using that particular bus stop, the bus driver will not assume you want their particular bus. They will only stop if you stick your arm out. The bus drivers are not mind readers.

I do this automatically at every bus stop, whether there is just one bus route or multiple bus routes using that bus stop.

 

[B3rlingirl]

Do you use city buses in your day to day life?? If you are standing at bus stop which has multiple routes, you have to FLAG DOWN THE BUS. This is normal procedure / normal public transport etiquette.
If there are more than one route using that particular bus stop, the bus driver will not assume you want their particular bus. They will only stop if you stick your arm out. The bus drivers are not mind readers.

I do this automatically at every bus stop, whether there is just one bus route or multiple bus routes using that bus stop.

Flagging the bus down isn’t normal procedure everywhere in the world...it definitely isn’t in Berlin. Here the buses stop at the bus stop if someone is waiting. They even stop if you just sit on the bench without moving towards the bus...but if you don’t look at the bus and don’t react to the bus at all or wave him a “no” and no one want to leave the bus it might drive on...
I’ve actually never “flagged down a bus” in my live and up to this point it always worked...maybe I just look like a “dumb tourist” who doesn’t know about flagging down buses when I am abroad so they all do me the favor of stopping regardless...
But thanks for the tip!
I’ll definitely keep it in mind when traveling outside of Germany! I’ve honestly never even thought about it...(because we don’t do this in Berlin) but it does make sense...
If I’ll need it for the ART next time I’ll remember your tip!

 

[BadPinkTink]

Flagging the bus down isn’t normal procedure everywhere in the world...it definitely isn’t in Berlin. Here the buses stop at the bus stop if someone is waiting. They even stop if you just sit on the bench without moving towards the bus...but if you don’t look at the bus and don’t react to the bus at all or wave him a “no” and no one want to leave the bus it might drive on...
I’ve actually never “flagged down a bus” in my live and up to this point it always worked...maybe I just look like a “dumb tourist” who doesn’t know about flagging down buses when I am abroad so they all do me the favor of stopping regardless...
But thanks for the tip!
I’ll definitely keep it in mind when traveling outside of Germany! I’ve honestly never even thought about it...(because we don’t do this in Berlin) but it does make sense...
If I’ll need it for the ART next time I’ll remember your tip!

It is something that has stuck in my mind to tell people to do as many years ago one of my dads friends was a bus driver. His first few years with the bus company he was driving buses in Dublin city , where everyone sticks out their arm and flags down the bus. He then transferred to their long distance city to city bus routes. Outside of Dublin, where there is just one bus route between towns and cities and the buses are maybe only once an hour or once every 2 hours, people don't flag down the bus. If people are standing at a bus stop, the bus driver will stop.

My dads friend got a huge amount of customer complaints in his first week driving the long distance buses. He wasn't stopping at the bus stops as people were not flagging down the bus ! He was used to people flagging down the bus in Dublin city and when people didn't on the long distance routes, he assumed they were waiting for a different bus!!

So now , wherever I am I just automatically flag down the bus, that way I make sure the bus stops and I don't get frustrated at a empty bus not stopping.

 

[bardays]

Do you use city buses in your day to day life?? If you are standing at bus stop which has multiple routes, you have to FLAG DOWN THE BUS. This is normal procedure / normal public transport etiquette.
If there are more than one route using that particular bus stop, the bus driver will not assume you want their particular bus. They will only stop if you stick your arm out. The bus drivers are not mind readers.

I do this automatically at every bus stop, whether there is just one bus route or multiple bus routes using that bus stop.

I have taken the city bus at home and never have had to flag down a bus. One time the bus drove by us two lanes away. All the flagging in the world would not have helped. But I will keep that in mind if I use ART again.

 

[MIChessGuy]

I need to amend my prior remark about the lack of a route listing at the Disneyland transportation center. Walking out on my final day last Friday, I noticed that indeed there is a display for "Anaheim Resort Transportation Route Map" (or words to that effect). However, it appeared to be blank, at least on the side I was looking at. At least that was consistent with the non-working ART ticketing machine nearby.