Resort Busses - New Wait Times Monitors

[goofy4tink]

People.....this is vacation time that we're talking about! Geez. I don't need, or want, Disney putting in a really accurate system because my room rates will go up even more. Do we really need to know exactly what time the bus will get there? For crying out loud...it's pretty accurate now. It changes based on what's going on with the bus...not so much traffic or no red lights? The time will go down. Hitting more red lights, or traffic? Time is going up.
It's just not that big a deal. We're not talking about brain surgery here!!!

 

[MillauFr]

Disney putting in a really accurate system because my room rates will go up even more.

Actually the cost savings from these improvement will allow Disney to run more frequent service with less buses. Having the buses sit in traffic and run on inefficient routings, wastes time, increases pollution, and leads to disgruntled guests.

 

[goofy4tink]

Actually the cost savings from these improvement will allow Disney to run more frequent service with less buses. Having the buses sit in traffic and run on inefficient routings, wastes time, increases pollution, and leads to disgruntled guests.

I doubt it. You can't have more frequent service with fewer buses. There are specific routes that buses use now....routes that allow for less time on the roadways. Disney isn't stupid. They truly want as few buses on the roads as possible. That makes financial sense.
Disgruntled guests? I go to WDW about four times a year. I use the buses. I really don't see many unhappy people. Yes, there are some people that don't think they should wait more than 5 mins for a bus...that's unreasonable. They should rent a car.
Everyone has different expectations. Disney transportation does a very good job of transporting huge numbers of guests around a large, spread out area.

I will say that the times I've been in a car, going to parks, the travel time was almost the same as with buses! It's the wait time, for bus arrival, that takes time. The only way to fix that is to double the number of buses...then you wouldn't wait very long. But...that cost has to be made up somewhere.

 

[Disneylvr]

We've stayed at Pop our last three visits, so I've yet to experience the bus monitors.

When is POP getting the monitors? I will be staying there for the first time in May.

 

[Disneylover99]

When is POP getting the monitors? I will be staying there for the first time in May.

Someone just recently posted a picture on the Pop resort thread of the monitors being put in right now.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Disney should be able to predict delays due to traffic congestion. They have travel times signs on many of the freeways here and street here that do a pretty good job at predicting travel times. As far as loading... The system would have to access the security cameras they have at the bus stops to predict how long the bus will dwell at the stop. The is no reason it couldn't be able to determine if there was a large number of scooter, wheel chairs, strollers, etc.

It is great that Disney is trying to improve the bus experience. Next they need to reserve lanes just for the buses on all of the roads around the resort.

It is not posible to track traffic congestion, and traffic though lighte intersections all the time and perfectly. All it takes is a bit of unexpected traffic like outside buses, or someone delaying a bus at the light, etc,etc....all causing delays without notice.

As I said if WDW or any other transportation system could do that, they would not need the.monitors just put up a sign.

AKK

 

[CheeseMickey]

First time poster, had to register just to comment on this. Please be forgiving.

I love the idea of monitors. If Uber can tell me when my car will be here, why not Mickey? What they truely need is monitors at the parks as well (maybe someone posted about it already being there). My last two trips during the Not So Scary Halloween Party was a nightmare trying to catch a bus on the way back to PoP. Was only the lower end resorts that had the issue but would have saved so many people headaches of standing around wondering when another bus was coming.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

First time poster, had to register just to comment on this. Please be forgiving.

I love the idea of monitors. If Uber can tell me when my car will be here, why not Mickey? What they truely need is monitors at the parks as well (maybe someone posted about it already being there). My last two trips during the Not So Scary Halloween Party was a nightmare trying to catch a bus on the way back to PoP. Was only the lower end resorts that had the issue but would have saved so many people headaches of standing around wondering when another bus was coming.

Frankly a Uber x AR is alot easier to.move though traffic then a bus or double articulated bus. That is why it is easier for a Uber to get there on a predicted time.

AKK

 

[goofy4tink]

First time poster, had to register just to comment on this. Please be forgiving.

I love the idea of monitors. If Uber can tell me when my car will be here, why not Mickey? What they truely need is monitors at the parks as well (maybe someone posted about it already being there). My last two trips during the Not So Scary Halloween Party was a nightmare trying to catch a bus on the way back to PoP. Was only the lower end resorts that had the issue but would have saved so many people headaches of standing around wondering when another bus was coming.

Welcome to the DIS boards, and to Transportation more specifically!!! Nice to have you here.
Allow me a few comments. You will find that Uber drivers are going to be able to get to you a lot faster than a bus. That's just a fact of life. And monitors in the parks aren't going to make a bit of difference. For instance...if you got to your bus stop, after the party, and saw that a bus would be there in 15 mins, what would you do? Or, what would you do if there were close to 2 buses worth of guests waiting...that arriving bus, with the time shown, isn't going to fit all those people on it, so the time isn't going to be correct.
As far as the lower end resorts having this issue? Nope, not true. I've had better bus service at Pop and AoA than at any other resort. I routinely stay at BWV.....while bus service has gotten better there, it can still take a long time to get back to the resort after park closing!! That has been my experience at every moderate and deluxe resort. Because the value resorts have so many guests, Disney does tend to run more buses to these resorts.

 

[spleuchan]

It is not posible to track traffic congestion, and traffic though lighte intersections all the time and perfectly. All it takes is a bit of unexpected traffic like outside buses, or someone delaying a bus at the light, etc,etc....all causing delays without notice.

As I said if WDW or any other transportation system could do that, they would not need the.monitors just put up a sign.

AKK

Google maps currently does this, so it definitely is possible. They use people's cell phones for the info. Sure, a bus being a few minutes late might be explained by lots of red lights, but not 25 minutes. An accident might cause a significant delay, but that would be a rare occurrence. The OP said the bus arrived about 25 minutes late and this happened almost half the time.

If the times are off 25 minutes or more 40% of the time, then they really shouldn't bother

 

[spleuchan]

For instance...if you got to your bus stop, after the party, and saw that a bus would be there in 15 mins, what would you do?

Some people have a car, so if it accurately said the the next bus comes in 25 minutes, maybe they would choose to drive instead. If accurate, it would be very useful.

 

[joelkfla]

Some people have a car, so if it accurately said the the next bus comes in 25 minutes, maybe they would choose to drive instead. If accurate, it would be very useful.

The reply to which you are replying was specifically in reply to a suggestion that bus departure time boards would be helpful at the parks.

If someone's at the bus stop at a park, it's too late -- they've already left their car at the resort.

 

[spleuchan]

The reply to which you are replying was specifically in reply to a suggestion that bus departure time boards would be helpful at the parks.

If someone's at the bus stop at a park, it's too late -- they've already left their car at the resort.

I was replying in context to the thread. The OP specifically mentioned monitors at resorts.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Google maps currently does this, so it definitely is possible. They use people's cell phones for the info. Sure, a bus being a few minutes late might be explained by lots of red lights, but not 25 minutes. An accident might cause a significant delay, but that would be a rare occurrence. The OP said the bus arrived about 25 minutes late and this happened almost half the time.

If the times are off 25 minutes or more 40% of the time, then they really shouldn't bother

Does Google run some 100 bus routes?...with all the same traffic issues of a major city? Not cars.....buses! Add it multi stops on each route.... many stops loading and unloading?...often with a high % of passengers in wheel chairs, scooters, monster sized strollers?...unknown until they are in line and takes sometimes up to 15 minutes to load each one and can put off 1 stop by 30 minutes????

This is just some of the issues Disney transportation has to deal with......all things considered Disney does pretty good.

AKK

 

[joelkfla]

The OP said the bus arrived about 25 minutes late and this happened almost half the time.

If the times are off 25 minutes or more 40% of the time, then they really shouldn't bother

Apparently you misread the OP:

This happened to me nearly 40% of the time over the past week. Sometimes the creep was 5 minutes all the way up to 20 minutes on one occasion.

The OP said the times were inaccurate nearly 40% of the time, and the inaccuracy varied from 5 to 20 minutes. Never did they say the inaccuracy was 25 minutes or more, nor did they say it was grossly inaccurate 40% of the time.

If what you said were true, then you would be right that the system were failure. But it is not true, variances are usually in the range of 5 minutes, not 25.

 

[spleuchan]

Apparently you misread the OP:


The OP said the times were inaccurate nearly 40% of the time, and the inaccuracy varied from 5 to 20 minutes. Never did they say the inaccuracy was 25 minutes or more, nor did they say it was grossly inaccurate 40% of the time.

If what you said were true, then you would be right that the system were failure. But it is not true, variances are usually in the range of 5 minutes, not 25.

The OP said "So you show up at the bus stop and see that the next MK bus is to arrive at 7:50 and it's now 7:40...ok, I have to wait 10 minutes. 5 minutes goes by and you look at the monitor and it now says the next bus for MK is at 7:55 not 7:50...then it changes to 7:56, then 7:57..and so on and so on. Eventually, the time creeps up to 8:15 and the bus finally arrives at 8:16."

Original estimated time was 7:50, but it did not show up until 8:16. Simple math, 26 minutes.

 

[joelkfla]

The OP said "So you show up at the bus stop and see that the next MK bus is to arrive at 7:50 and it's now 7:40...ok, I have to wait 10 minutes. 5 minutes goes by and you look at the monitor and it now says the next bus for MK is at 7:55 not 7:50...then it changes to 7:56, then 7:57..and so on and so on. Eventually, the time creeps up to 8:15 and the bus finally arrives at 8:16."

Original estimated time was 7:50, but it did not show up until 8:16. Simple math, 26 minutes.

I see your point, but in context, I read that as a hypothetical ... an illustration demonstrating the OP's concept of "creep." Because 2 sentences later, they explicitly say the largest error was 20 minutes -- on one occasion.

But if they did miscalculate, and say 20 minutes when it was actually 26, that's still an isolated incident. It may have been due to a bus breakdown, or multiple buses filling up before completing all stops at a multi-stop resort or a multi-resort run (speaking of which, IMO Disney does not do nearly as well as it should in recovering from full buses not completing their pickups, but that's a whole 'nother issue.)

 

[goofy4tink]

I was replying in context to the thread. The OP specifically mentioned monitors at resorts.

But the reply you quoted was in response to a post about being at the park after a special party...it has no bearing on being at a resort. This poster was talking about monitors at the park bus stops..hence my response.

When the OP says the times are incorrect almost 40% of the time? Maybe so...but I'm certainly not going to quibble about it being off by 4 mins!!! And in all the time I've spent standing and watching those monitors, they have very seldom been off more than 10 mins. Perhaps 15% of the time...maybe. Most of the time, the arrival time adjusts by up to 5 mins. It's just not a huge issue. If someone needs the times to be 100% accurate, perhaps they need to rent a car! For heaven's sake, even airplanes don't arrive exactly on time...and they don't have the same issues buses do. There is no way to be 100% accurate all the time. As I've said before, when that bus leaves MK, heading for BW, the time is 'best case scenario'. But as the bus starts the drive, it may meet up with a clog of traffic on the road....grampa is driving below the speed limit and slowing down everyone around him. So, the monitor is going to raise the arrival time. Then, the bus hits every red light along the way! Adding another 5 mins. But it gets to move along sprightly after it exits the highway...so, take away 2 mins. It's a very fluid system...it gives the guest a 'window'.

 

[ParrotBill]

One reason bus times could jump up 5 minutes is when loading EVCs/wheelchairs. That is not predictable and that easily adds 5 minutes to a route.

 

[MillauFr]

One reason bus times could jump up 5 minutes is when loading EVCs/wheelchairs. That is not predictable and that easily adds 5 minutes to a route.

How is that not predictable??? Video cameras could easily detect how many ECV are at the bus stops. Plus they could use RFID readers to determine which park the EVCs are going to.