Thanks for locking us out of the Apple Valley Transit Station this morning MVTA. While I’m so very thrilled that you have teams working ever so diligently on a $20 million transit station we do not need, you do still have a while yet where people will be utilizing the current one. Locking riders out of the building in single digit temperatures for 10 minutes at a time is not cool at all.
I suggest that Beverly Miller and Elizabeth Kautz be at the AVTS tomorrow morning handing out personal apologies while they stand outside in the cold themselves. If they don’t, well, it would be exactly what I’d expect from the two “upstanding” leaders of the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority. Mayor R.T. Rybak was greeting us as we got off the bus why can’t you apologize as we get on?
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December 14th, 2009 at 7:59 am
MVTA Owes Riders a Personal Apology! http://tinyurl.com/ye23a2z
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
December 14th, 2009 at 8:30 am
RT @SouthMetroNews: MVTA Owes Riders a Personal Apology! http://tinyurl.com/ye23a2z
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
December 14th, 2009 at 9:44 am
I would call the MVTA and ask them WTF? Our tax dollars at work once again, exceeding customer expectations whenever possible.
December 14th, 2009 at 9:48 am
I am unsure that my complaints would be heard. It’s not exactly if the people who work at the MVTA really give a shit what I have to say. They have proven that they treat the general public differently than those they deem important (traditional media, government, etc).
I still want to see Beverly Miller handing us handwarmers and apologies tomorrow. She needs to come down off that pedestal and appreciate that by wasting our tax dollars heating and lighting a locked building is unacceptable.
December 14th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Some like to complain, I know this. I like to do so as well, but if I haven’t been shot down, I do try to see what’s up.
A e-mail to the MVTA and their response about your problem today:
TO: mvta@mvta.com
A friend rides MVTA each business day and told me that the heated transit building was locked so that everyone had to wait outside this Monday morning. Could you let me know what happened? When are these doors normally opened? When are they normally locked?
The answer:
Note the lack of information on when the doors should open and should lock. Perhaps mine was not the only e-mail.
December 14th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Robin is wonderful at dodging the issues presented to her.
December 14th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Why wouldn’t you have a backup system in place and have a key to the doors, say, in a lockbox at the station. Door locked? Radio the busdriver with the code to the lockbox to unlock the door manually. It does not have to be an expensive solution, and is “greener” than having a supervisor drive over from wherever the offices are to unlock the doors. The buses are going to the station anyway.
December 14th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Did you note the apology Bill? I suggest those keep in mind it is a bus stop, and that this is Minnesota. Thus it is always possible you may have to stand waiting for a bus from time to time, and you may also be cold doing so. Certainly it is extremely irritating to see a warm area being unused simply due to a door that is locked and shouldn’t be, but that isn’t exactly the worst that can happen to a public service.
I think bus drivers are in a union, so my guess is it isn’t that easy to have them tasked with unlocking doors that aren’t supposed to be locked in the first place. And if you want to be super green (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y2ulN7Ti6Q) you wouldn’t be wasting carbon credits on heating and lighting a building at all.
I guess my point is that the MVTA doesn’t exactly hide. If you’re a regular rider, I’d keep their contact info handy and if stuff like this happens again, give them a call. If you find their communication ineffective, then that might be something to bitch about.
p.s.. noticed the google voice number…. I love google voice.
December 14th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Mikeh,
I don’t want Robin to “apologize”, I want Kautz and Beverly Miller to apologize–in person. Robin is a flunky who just acts as a mouthpiece to protect Beverly Miller. I have complained about their lack of communication to the general public while happily providing the news media w/whatever their hearts desire.
—
I don’t care for Google Voice. Don’t really see a use for it other than to provide people a place to send me SMSs (I disabled them on my iPhone because, well, I don’t believe you should have to pay $5/month for something that’s transmitted free anyway) or leave me hate filled voicemails instead of hate filled e-mail :)
December 14th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I use google voice as my business number, prevents me from having to give out my personal number, and it’s free. Love.
Bill, somewhat related, what do you think of the extremely orderly way that people on the 477 line up for the bus, both at the station and downtown? Just curious.
December 14th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
If this is the first time it has happened, I think you should give them a break. You can’t anticipate every potential failure in a system, and they may not have even known there was a problem right away. The people who run the nuts and bolts are like you and me; they probably do their best.
I empathize with the probably extreme discomfort of you commuters, however. Not the best day for this to happen! If it happens again, THEN all hell should rain down!
December 14th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Actually, the bus drivers should have the keys on them. At least Metro Transit drivers have a variety of keys they are required to carry at all times. They get them into all kinds of places across the metro, including bus shelters.
December 14th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Kassie, I’m sure that they do. I have seen them use the restroom at the AVTS numerous times. I would guess that the union would ensure that they’d be able to do that.
December 15th, 2009 at 7:03 am
Metro Transit drivers are unionized, but MVTA ones are not. They may still have keys, though.
Now, the facility should be open and available for people to use, I agree. But honestly, I have little sympathy for people that had to wait in the cold for ten minutes, since I do that every day I take the train (including yesterday). Those dinky heat lamps and wind screens on the platforms don’t do jack, after all. And when I take the bus from near my house to the train station, there’s not even that — I just stand on the corner exposed to the elements. Of course it sucks to wait in the cold, but a lot of people do that every day who ride the bus or the train. Us suburbanites get soft fast. :)
December 15th, 2009 at 7:31 am
[...] When I finally get outside I am no longer greeted with an orderly line, mentioned yesterday by dawnmarie, as there is no room for one. Everyone is bunched up and confused. There is no longer any room for [...]
December 18th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
LOL
We don’t NEED this station! Why are we spending tax dollars on this!? Waste of money! Waste!!!
Hey! I can’t wait inside this morning, waaaaaaaaaaaa :-D
Seriously though it is silly to have it locked when people could be using it.
I agree with Tim, the LRT platform “shelters” are useless. I know this because I’ve usually have had to wait at one of the LRT stations for 10-15 minutes in the evenings lately. The bus I’m on always seems to pull up just as the train I need is pulling out. Grrr