There were a lot of issues this evening (most notably the MAX stopping service during President Obama's arrival at the Oregon Convention Center), but my trouble was long before that came into play.
This morning I used Trimet's Trip Planner, as I often do, to determine which bus I would take to work. There were a 12 and a 19 (about equidistant from me) at the same time. I decided to catch the 19 because it would get me to my destination a few minutes earlier than the 12 would. That is, it would have if I had succeeded in catching it.
I began the two block walk 3 minutes before the bus was due, expecting the it to arrive at my stop about a minute after I got there. When I was a block away I saw the bus blow by the stop on Glisan two minutes before the Trip Planner told me it would arrive, according to the time on my cell phone.
I ran down the residential street of which I had reached the corner, hoping I might be able to beat it to the next stop, but I was not so lucky. I immediately called the Trimet info line (503-238-7433) to find out when the next 19 would arrive at my stop. It was supposed to come in 20 minutes. So much for getting to work early!
As the minutes passed a few more riders arrived at the stop. One man periodically stepped out into the street to watch for our bus. As the scheduled arrival time drew near I wondered if this one would be early like the last, and peered down the street. I could see the previous stop and there was no bus in sight. Two 19s going the other way had already gone by.
After a few more minutes the bus still had not appeared. I called the info line again and it now listed the time of the next bus. I hung up and called back, entering the code for service alerts this time, but the recording informed me that there were no service alerts for my bus line. I could tell the other people at the stop were beginning to become agitated, too.
I called the number one more time and this time entered the code for customer service. After a minute or so on hold I got to talk to a person. I explained to her that my bus had been early and that the next one was now 12 minutes late. She said she didn't know of any delays, but said that she would check. It turned out, she informed me, that the overdue bus had never left the garage!
She was able to tell me the expected arrival time of the next bus and also answered my questions about nearby lines and even offered to call or email my employer to explain why I would be late. I must say I was impressed with the customer service I received from the line (I have not yet gotten a reply from Trimet's Twitter account).
I finally reached my destination nearly an hour later than expected.
I expect public transit to have issues from time to time. I know that some delays are unavoidable. I have, however, noticed that buses, especially in the Kerns neighborhood, often leave (or pass) stops a minute or two early. My roommate, who also frequently commutes by bus, has had the same trouble.
Also, Trimet's failure to put information about the bus that never came on their info line resulted in a number of riders (at least 5 at my stop alone) from finding alternative transportation. I could have gotten where I was going much sooner if I'd known the 19 wasn't coming and had walked a couple of blocks to catch the 12.
I don't mind doing the extra planning it takes to commute without a car, but if I can't get accurate information about when buses are arriving, planning is futile.
I think Trimet is far superior to the public transit in many other cities, but there are some things it really needs to work on.
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Update 10/21 (the next day):
Trimet responded to my tweets this morning. They requested details from me and confirmed that the first bus was, by their clock, 1 minute early, and the second was out of service.
