Record life l Taipei bus with super weird departure logic

It's been a bit of a world-weary thing about all kinds of birds lately, but this bird thing continues to happen in my daily life. I think I can't get rid of it until the day I buy the car, the locomotive.

Since my home is far from work and I don't have a car or motorcycle, I have to rely on public transportation. One of the things I can't stand the most is the Taipei bus.

This is my itinerary for work. After leaving home, I need to take the MRT and then transfer to the bus to get to work. I get up at 6 am every day, go out at 7 at the latest, and get on the MRT at 7:11 at the latest. In this way, you can get off the MRT at about 7:40, and arrive at the bus stop at 7:43 at the latest. As long as I catch the bus between 7:45 and 7:50, in principle, I can almost clock in before 8:10.

Of course, it is said that it is "in principle", which means that there will be "exceptions". The most common exception is the "bus". Sometimes between 7:43 and 7:50, there will be at least one bus passing by the stop where I am waiting, and sometimes it will be delayed until 8:00. And the distance from the previous bus is half an hour away.

I can understand that the road conditions are different every day, especially in rainy days, it is inevitable that there will be traffic jams, resulting in bus delays. I'm also guessing that maybe because there are not enough buses, they need to wait until the return bus arrives before starting a new shift, which is why the interval is so long.

So, I have been researching the schedule of the bus for the past few months, and I found that the phenomenon of "inconsistent bus schedule frequency" does not seem to be caused by the weather or the insufficient number of buses.

The departure time of the bus is very irregular, causing a lot of inconvenience

I observed the departure time of the bus I was on at the starting point. I found two situations: First, the uncertainty of the departure time is extremely high. For example: one day at 7:00 am, then the next one might be at 7:10. The next day, there were no departures at all between 7:00 and 7:10. Then one day, there is only one shift between 7:00 and 7:10. The second phenomenon is that sometimes the bus will "burst". They may start two or even three cars in a row at a certain point, then there will be a long gap in between, and then several cars will be sent in a row.

Then I was full of doubts about this phenomenon, and even felt very angry. The departure time from the starting point is very different, I think it's okay. But I really can't figure out why there is such a long interval in the middle of the "burst" after several cars, and then there is another "burst"?

This is very similar to gathering passengers and then "packing" them away again, and the first bus that often "bursts" must be full, and the buses that follow will become empty. This is super inefficient and the starting logic is super weird. And such a strange departure logic is extremely troublesome for us heavy bus users. As a result, it is difficult for me to figure out when I go out every day. Even if I go out early and arrive at the bus stop early, this "pack and take away" departure logic allows me to arrive early, but I happen to meet their "half-hour interval before the departure", and I still have to wait until very late. In order to get a car, in the end, I can only be made to be often "compulsively" late. Going out early doesn't make sense to me at all, and it completely sacrifices the time I can get more sleep. Second, during rush hour, I think every office worker wants to be in the office on time. The situation of "continuous trains" will cause a large number of passengers who have "accumulated" at the bus stop for a long time to flood into the first train, resulting in a crowded situation. Especially with the recent outbreak of the epidemic in Taiwan, this way of departure is really easy to cause clusters and increase the risk of passengers being infected.

As a passenger, I have done my duty. During my commute this year, I have written several appeal letters to the relevant units. But it is not uncommon for the opinions of ordinary people like us to be completely ignored.

Although it is very helpless, for those of us who cannot afford cars and locomotives, we can only be at the mercy of changes in the environment!

Finished on 2022.04.12