Alexander D. Mitchell IV of Baltimore is a rider of the city's Charm City Circulator, but he wasn't at all charmed by what appeared to him to be a decision too suspend Purple Route service with little notice. Here's what he has to say:
PHOTO BY ALEXANDER D. MITCHELL IV
I talked with the city Department of Transportation and here's the deal. Last night the bus stop at Mount Vernon was closed and the route detoured onto Calvert Street for the event. But it is easy to see how a rider could interpret the sign as indicating the entire Purple Route was closed down.
The same conditions are in effect tonight for the holiday lighting ceremony at the Washington Monument. The same Purple Route bus stop will be closed between 5:15 p.m. and 8 p.m., and buses will divert off Charles Street onto Calvert. The Orange Route is not affected.
I know the city is relatively new at the transit business, having launched the Circulator a little more than a year ago, but it is doing a subpar job at communicating with riders about diversions to the routes
When I contact the Department of Transportation's public affairs route about the closings, it turned out the people there had been left entirely out of the loop. Adrienne Barnes, the deparment's spokeswoman, had to sift through several rounds of misinformation before getting what we hope is now the correct story.
"We are looking at doing a better job of advance notification to the public when things are happening," Barnes said.
Good idea,