BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I usually, as a rule, give bus drivers the benefit of the doubt as a driver and bicyclist. I can't imagine a more frustrating job than driving all day in an enormous bus through the horrible traffic in this city, so I sympathize with them.

That said... this guy is obviously too psychotic to handle such a vehicle and should be demoted to cleaning the seats at the end of the route if not locked up. I'm sorry you hand to endure such a hostile and embarrassing incident. I'm glad you and your bike came out unscathed. I hope that Port Authority will take action against that piece of shit.

While you're thinking about it, do you have a physical description to back up the driver number? Age, hair, complexion, etc. It might help if anyone tries to question that you were able to get an accurate driver number from outside the bus.

Definitely post any follow up that PAT does, or if there is none.

I'm wondering why incidents with drivers go to PAT cops. You're on a city street, why can't city cops take a report? Is there audio on the cameras on busses? What are the chances that PAT cops could be pressed into reviewing the footage?

Although, now that I think about it, it is a bus route, you could always just hang out at the same time and location tomorrow and verify the bus and route number then.

I know a city detective, if I remember I'll try to subtly ask him quizbot's question.

If I were you i would contact the local media. Behavior like this is completely unacceptable.

Email SBland@portauthority.org with your story.

I have emailed him about two incidents I have had with PAT drivers who were wreckless. Who knows, maybe it's the same driver.

Many if not most buses have almost-full-motion video cameras. Six frames per second, IIRC. Not sure about the audio quality. The one nearest the driver, pointed out the door (and hence useless, in this instance, in terms of video) would have picked up at least the audio of one side of the conversation.

Should you cause management to pursue an investigation, they will at the very least be able to verify how the driver handled the situation. What they do with that info, who knows.

Yeah it would be really hard to have (maybe) a high

school education, be backed by a union, make like

60k a year and be able to be offensive and dangerous

while not threatening your job security. Sounds like

a rough life.

more like 80-100k after overtime...

hmmm. good point...

i've worked worse jobs for far less pay. never found the need to threaten anyone

You could twitter this link to them too, @pghtransit

A couple of PR people respond to the tweets. I'd say drivers cussing out pedestrians and threatening to run them over for no good reason is a PR issue that should be dealt with.

I don't think the quality of the job or the inherited stress gives you the right to threaten someone's life. I know air traffic controllers, pilots, surgeons, and OB-GYN's who all have stressful jobs--if they acted like that they would be fired and sued.

It's not just offensive, it's a crime. This stuff won't stop until people start pressing charges.

I think buses are consistently among the most dangerously & aggressively driven vehicles on our roads. I was rear-ended by a bus while sitting at a red light years ago. Since then, I've had numerous "close encounters" as a pedestrian trying to get across the street and as a cyclist who has nearly been run over or sideswiped by buses.

The other day I was heading toward Grant Street from Sixth & Smithfield when a bus sped through a red light (the light on Sixth was green in my favor) and the bus would have taken off my front wheel had I proceeded from a stop.

Calls to the port authority don't seem to accomplish anything. I don't know what I expect; I've asked the operators what happens and they tell me the complaint is sent to the manager at the garage the bus operates from. This doesn't seem satisfactory when my life has been threatened by a careless (or reckless) "operator." Most of the time I can't get through to the hotline and give up.

Several weeks ago, I tried to report a bus going through a stop sign that would have hit me head-on had I not stopped. This occurred while I was traveling up Bryant Street in Highland Park. I was on hold for more than five minutes before giving up.

Maybe I should start wearing my helmet cam all the time. It's weight is a bit distracting on my helmet, though.

I just recently got into an argument with a bus driver…while on the bus. He had, in the course of my time on the bus, aggressively challenged three cyclists and I had had enough.

So as I got off the bus, I asked for his employee number, which he was naturally reluctant in giving and asked why. When I explained that I thought he was driving recklessly, he called me out on using a student ID and not paying for transit anyhow, so I have no room to criticize. (?) There was a brief exchange, and not any more negative than that, but definitely resistance.

Also, just tweeted a link to this @pghtransit. I agree PR is the best way to take care of incidents like this. I've had too many dead-end conversations with PAT police.

Having PAT police has just the same positives and negatives as the college police: keeps embarrassing incidents away from public scrutiny, but allows for a greater familiarity with operations than the pittsburgh or state police may have.

Just received a call from Brian Duce at the Port Authority confirming that I had called in a complaint and also seeing that I had blogged about it (I guess he saw wotjy's tweet). He asked if I had the bus number or route and I said I didn't I was focusing on remembering the one number that identified the driver specifically. He indicated that he world be faxing the information over to the Harmar and that I might be contacted later.

A bus driver saying that "you dont pay for transit" is insane. Google the lump sum that pitt pays PAT

so all students can have a bus pass. It is a HUGE

amount. It is not free, it is built into your ever

increasing student fees.

Im sorry, after riding around for like 18 years in

the area, I hate PAT. It is not unfounded, it is

just a build up of horrible horrible experiences.

wotjty, why does it matter that you were riding using a student ID. Do you think the Port Authority lets students of certain universities ride as a gift to the school?

I doubt that driver (or 80% of Pittsburghers) would have a job if the universities weren't here.

Since I'm on some goofy grant here at Pitt, they report all my "fringe-benefits" on my paycheck as taxable income. The "Bus Pass" line reads $22.50. So if I understand that right, the university is paying PAT the equivalent of $22.50 for every employee (and student?) they issue an ID to, every month. When I was a standard, W-2 employee it didn't show up as all, because I guess they just pay it and it isn't taxable.

$270/yr doesn't sound very free to me.

I would think the union would also want to address cases like this. As much good as unions have done historically, one jerk like this denigrates their whole cause. And if it comes down to it they would probably support this idiot. No common sense.

The driver is just ignorant. Like steevo said, the bus pass is not free, it's paid for with tuition. Let's also not forget about the drink tax and all of the other ways PAT is funded.

I think this is a common issue with public jobs. I think people forget where their salaries come from.....(cops).....

It's the same stupid argument that cyclists don't pay for the roads. That would be if the roads were paid for by the gas tax alone.

even then, many cyclists are multimodal. most prolly still own a car or have one in their household. So even they would pay the gas tax.

Every instance that i have had with a bus driver i have reported the route and # to customer service and steve bland and have never heard back from anyone. I wish i had a record of all the times I called or emailed. Sad, because now I no longer take the bus. Id rather ride than support them.

I followed up With Steve Bland on a year old email with a new complaint and received a follow up. Didn't go passed the, I got it and will investigate it stage however.

I think the best way to deal with these is to make them public-- it forces the Port Authority to respond.

The local news would probably love a story about a bunch fo bus drivers threatening to run people down.

Here's an interesting article from January about a bus that struck a deputy sheriff. Anyone who spends an hour in downtown can observe the dangerous operation of the buses. I would like to see the post-gazette write a story about how complaints to the customer service line are handled; I wrote a letter to the pg but so far, no story.

Deputy struck by bus is OK; investigation continues

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Allegheny County sheriff's office is investigating an incident Tuesday in which a sheriff's deputy was struck by a Port Authority bus.

Sheriff William P. Mullen said the deputy had parked his car along the curb and partly in the bus lane in the 2400 block of Fifth Avenue near the Birmingham Bridge to serve a warrant at about 2 p.m. The bus approached and the driver sounded his horn.

Sheriff Mullen said the bus stopped briefly then lurched ahead, briefly pinning the deputy, Richard Manning, between the bus and his cruiser. The bus continued and two deputies gave pursuit using their lights and siren.

They stopped the bus a few blocks away. The driver, whom Sheriff Mullen declined to identify, has not been charged pending further investigation and consultation with the district attorney's office.

Deputy Manning was taken to a hospital for X-rays and an MRI and advised to take a few days off to recover from minor injuries, the sheriff said.

Port Authority spokesman Jim Ritchie confirmed that there was an incident but would not elaborate.

"We are aware of a situation involving one of our drivers and will not discuss any details out of respect for the investigation" by the sheriff's office, he said. The operator passed standard drug and alcohol tests and was scheduled to return to work, he said.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10007/1026500-100.stm#ixzz0p3MqxGWZ

I'm with Surly Jason. Port Authority bus drivers are consistently the worst drivers on the road. I routinely feel threatened by them. I gave up on calling to complain years ago- nothing ever happens, and usually the call only makes me feel more angry, because the person I'm talking to clearly doesn't care.

Twice, I've tried talking directly to drivers at stop lights. (I'd try stop signs too, but they so rarely actually stop at them.) On both occasions, the drivers told me point blank that I didn't belong on the road at all. On the second occasion, I was in the bike lane on Liberty Ave at the time of the incident.

My favorite maneuver is one that I see about once per week from the 86B on Penn Ave through the strip. The bus will come up behind me, then pass too close for safety on my left, then before the rear of the bus has even passed me, stop in front of me and open the doors, discharging passengers into my path. This happens when I'm slowing down for a red light. It'd be much safer and easier, and no slower, for the driver to simply proceed behind me to the light, stop there, and discharge the passengers.

I'm sure someone will tell me that I should call and complain, but why should I believe that will do any good? It sure didn't the umpteen times that I did before.

I was really bummed when the alcohol tax was passed a while ago, not over the price of drinks, but because I was really hoping that PAT would go bankrupt and get out of my life forever.

JZ, as a frequenter of Penn Ave, I see this all the time. I have tried to communicate several times with the drivers, only a few have gone well.

@pghtransit tweeted back at me that they are looking into it, but who knows.

That said, do make sure if you witness the oh-so-rare good bus driver, remember them just as well. I've had a few 91A and a few 54C drivers in particular that I remember yielding, giving extra room, waving on, etc in the past. As best I can, I try to go to the comment form and send in a positive one. The system needs to realize they have a few good role models that show how it works.

My argument with the driver was about the fact that they DO get money from the whole thing. Granted, he did bring up the fact that it was after graduation and my ID expires in the fall. (I neglected to tell him that I had graduated a year earlier than that… my current employer pays PAT for passes as well, but they are a pain to get, so I figure I will use the easy way for now and PAT still gets there money)

It really is a shame that there is such a movement for car-free lifestyles, yet the two of the major players in these modes are not on the same page. Is this something that ACTC can help out with? Bike PGH?

My 2 favorite PAT moments:

As a messenger maybe 2006: I am going straight on

smithfield, bus is turning left. I proceed as I have

the right of way. Game of chicken ensues. Bus comes

within inches of hitting me while the driver looks

me in the eyes and mouths "f.. you".... Me on

the bike, and him in his seat, we are at about eye

level, him about 6" higher. awesome!

#2 Riding 837 towards becks run. Bus passes me too

closely. It has TONS of smoke pouring out the

rear. As soon as it gets around, I just crash. Oh

it was leaking TONS of oil. I get up quickly, not

wanting to die, and am covered in oil. I walk my

bike around the corner (where pages is) and the

bus has pulled over. I talk to the driver, he

tells me to call PAT number. I call the next day

and they have no record of it. NO RECORD OF A BUS

BREAKING DOWN!?!?!?

Oh and these are just the two that I literally

thought that I might die. Im sure there are probably

hundreds (thousands? I was a messenger for like 7

years) of times i felt threatened.

Just saw this on an activities calendar, seems like an outstanding place for people to show up and voice concerns and see if something can be done, even though it's a county issue;

"On May 27, speak with Councilman Patrick Dowd at Council to Go, his mobile district office. Councilman Dowd and his staff will be available to hear your concerns and ideas, provide news on issues in Council, and help you access city services. Council to Go will be held from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at Enrico's Tazza D'Oro Cafe."

Do drivers do the same route frequently? JZ, I had an encounter with an 86b on Penn Ave as well.

I've had instances on Penn through the Strip, Liberty through lawrenceville/Bloomfield, and 18th street in the slopes where buses slow down behind me and coast to the stop, instead of hastily passing and cutting me off.

So... just sayin'. Ya'll should still go to Dowd's Council-to-go.

My first new car was rear-ended by a bus while I was stopped at a red light. The bus just plowed into the back of me and pushed my vehicle into the intersection. There was hundred of dollars in damages and I, too, was told to call some phone number.

I recall that I submitted paperwork to pat and, having not gotten a reply in a week or so, called the phone number again. This time I spoke to someone who asked me some basic questions and then admitted that my paperwork was on his desk, would be processed immediately and that I'd have the check by the end of the week. Amazingly, a check arrived two days later.

Like any organization, there are rotten apples among the good ones but my experience is that, overall, the operators are ignorant, arrogant, dangerous and resentful of the public they serve (the riders) and the pedestrians, cyclists and other road users that are encountered. "Customer service" seems to be, on the whole, nearly inaccessible, uncaring and unresponsive.

I was intentionally pinched into a curb last fall at 40th & Penn outbound by an 86B. I sincerely believe that calls to the PAT cops may as well be made to a black hole in space... still wondering why the city doesn't have jurisdiction over these d-bags.

Might be helpful if someone who plans to go to Dowd's thing emails him before hand, outlines the situation, and lets him know this will be a major issue that people will want to discuss, if that is possible. It would probably be more constructive if he has some prep time, so he isn't hit with it cold. Just thinkin.

the drivers are the same at the same time on the same route, from my experience. I had the same driver daily in the morning in greenfield

I usually have the same driver (at least 4/5 days) if I take the same route at the same time all week. They swap places two or three times a year, and you often get a new person for the next few months.

The current morning 56U driver in Greenfield is very nice when I encounter them on my bike. They've waved me through stop signs and wait patiently behind me until we are past the Greenfield bridge and I get a bike lane, where it is safe to pass.

Not my experience with every bus, but there are nice drivers out there too. I usually submit a gold star note or whatever they call them on the PAT website, but it is equally a black hole. I'd be surprised if anyone reads customer feedback at all.

If someone goes to the Dowd thing remind him he has this on his website.

http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/district7/html/09_cyclists_honor_the_fallen.html

Not to beat a dead horse, but, also from Dowds site;

"August 11, 2008: Mayor Ravenstahl and Councilman Dowd Announce Bicycle and Pedestrian Initiatives"

“With the help of the Mellon Foundation, Bike Pittsburgh and what we know will be a fruitful partnership with the Port Authority of Allegheny County, we expect that Pittsburgh will soon be known around the country as the most bike and pedestrian friendly community in the America."

!!

He needs to own up and do something about this situation.

I have only one consistent peeve with my local PAT drivers. I come into the Bellevue business district from the north on my commute in to work in the morning. As we enter the business district, we are on a flat, but I will have come up a hill a few blocks back, which gives buses a chance to catch up with me. Then, for about a half mile through the business district, we will play cat and mouse. They'll pass me, go half a block and stop to pick up passengers. There is no room between the on street parkers for them to pull out of the traffic lane, so I need to stop quickly and sit there sucking diesel fumes, or go around them. I go around them. Then they RUSH to pass me, only to stop a half a block ahead of me, and the whole thing is repeated. When they are behind me, they can SEE that there are people waiting to get on the bus a few yards ahead (bus stops are no more than 2 blocks apart here), so why speed past me, when they know that they have to stop in a few seconds anyway. It drives me NUTS. I ride one of these same buses on days when I don't ride my bike in, so I am pretty familiar with the routes and stops, and I understand that they have a schedule to keep. However, this is such a STUPID and ANNOYING game to play..... for both of us. Some drivers are better than others, of course, and a few are real gems. Some, well, I wish they would "pick" another route....

Sara: take the lane. The full lane. Heck, even take the left side of the lane.

@bedmonds, I believe that Patrick Dowd IS trying to make the City more pedestrian and more bike friendly. He's been very responsive to my efforts to date, has let us use his staff in the completion of bicycle counts (so they could learn how the process works), and has bicyclists as key members of his staff. He also bikes to work on a regular basis, and has active cyclists on staff. So, of all the City Councilmen, I think he is one of the "most likely" to get it, and to act on his beliefs. We need to remind him, however, of the Port Authority issues...

if there are people at a stop in front of you and you hear a bus coming up behind just ride down the middle of the road, bus drivers get the point, this almost never fails and it is in no way illegal, if you don't feel safe getting passed by a bus then you have no responsibility to let a bus pass you.

whoa whoa whoa i'm not defending this asshole, just stating my usual stance towards buses/drivers, which i've carried over from other cities with even halfway decent public transit (i.e. better than here). my interactions with drivers here are often regrettable as well... mostly as a passenger.

if there are people at a stop in front of you and you hear a bus coming up behind just ride down the middle of the road, bus drivers get the point, this almost never fails and it is in no way illegal, if you don't feel safe getting passed by a bus then you have no responsibility to let a bus pass you.

this. and it goes for all cars, not just for buses. this is why you take the lane. you, as the lead vehicle, have a better idea when it's safe to execute a pass, so if it's not, don't let it happen.

now, if someone is being aggressive and threatening, i don't advocate taking the lane just to piss them off. best to save your skin, in that situation.

Between dealing with the buses, people opening doors without looking and just assholes in general wanting to scream at bikers and running them off the road it seems safer to just to just leave my bike at home. The one of two nice drivers I encounter a week do not make up for the ones that want nothing more then to see me and my bike laid out all over the road. I love riding to work,the store and everywhere in between but how many close call can a person have before it turns into a so called "accident".

I certainly won't defend this guy or the agency in general (especially for not listening to complaints), but I think all the PAT-bashing here is a little out of control. Most of my experiences have been positive, both as a passenger and a cyclist.

No way they are the "worst drivers on the road" - have you *seen* the people out there driving cars?

They aren't driving vehicles the size of... well busses.

perhaps not the worst, but given the immense weapon they're wielding, it's certainly easy to see them as the most aggressive. i take it as a matter of course that a bus will push its way through, knowing that everyone has to stop or die. it happened on the pedal pale ride, on aiken at centre--a bus pushed its way through a red light between a column of cyclists, who had no choice but to stop or risk being run over.

and this thread is, in my mind, a reasonable place to vent about bad experiences with PAT. there are other places to speak positively of them, and we all recognize the value they provide.

@ Salty:

Buses might not be the "worst drivers on the road" but I'd expect them to be far better than they are. After all, the operators drive for a living -- it's their profession -- therefore, I would expect them to be among the best & safest.

I was going to say something before, and didn't, but since it comes up,

it's entirely possible that this driver shouldn't have a licence,

But he may have been quick to go aggro on kordite because he was seeing any cyclist as a light-running, law breaking troublemaker. We don't like being lumped like that, so we shouldn't do it to "bus drivers" in response. On my daily bus ride, 90% of the time the drivers are super nice, and the riders are really civil, "thank-yous" and "have a good one". It's like freakin Mayberry.

One thing I see repeatedly in this thread is the non-responsiveness of Port Authority to complaints. ACTC has been after PAT for at least 15 years to revamp the way it handles complaints. It used to be that the only way to do it was to phone it in; then it went into a black hole. Since about 2003 you can access the black hole via a website, too.

At the very least, Port Authority owes it to its ridership to become a lot more transparent in its handling of reported complaints. Just knowing that someone read it and did something with the information would improve its reputation significantly, I think.

Behind the scenes, I know they do take things seriously, but getting that back out to the world is something they really need to work on.

Put into perspective, the drivers are protected by the Union, while working for a government subsidized agency that is self-insured and has it's own police force. And they have no competition, so who needs to be customer friendly?

^^^THIS.

You have very little alternative to transit if you don't want to/can't drive. Whaddya gonna do, bike? They'll run you over.

I'm kind of with Salty here, but my commute mostly follows non-bus routes and trails so I wasn't going to comment. However, at 6:00 this morning two friends and I were headed out for our Thursday morning workout. We arrived at the 4-way intersection at Aylesboro and Murray at essentially the same time as the 74A bus. The bus driver smiled and waved us across the intersection even though my experience as a driver tells me she was there first and had the right of way. So I just toss that out as an example of a PAT driver who seems not hate bicyclists.

I've made this comment before on this board but I've ridden the bus to work downtown from Squirell Hill for 20 years (less frequently since I started bike commuting but I still ride the bus at least once a week--often more during the day to get to meetings)and there are far more of the courteous and friendly drivers than the other kind.

That said, there are some pretty awful ones and

Stu is right, PAT ought to take customer complaints more seriously.

Unfortunately, the old adage of a few rotten seeds ruin it for everyone. While there are horrible bus drivers out there, there are many more drivers that are extremely safe and courteous to bicyclists, pedestrians and the like. With that being said, I would really like to see cops issue tickets to bus drivers driving straight down roads and running red lights, i.e. Blvd of the Allies crossing Grant. While I can emphathize with buses trying to take left turns at non-protected intersections or simply having to dodge pedestrians insistent on crossing when the orang hand signal could not be any clearer, there is no excuse when buses are simply traveling straight down a road. I have seen a few cops on bicyclists, but the prevailing attitude seems to be heading towards an "anything goes" type of traveling experience in the downtown core. PAT does not take complaints seriously. Out of every dozen or so they receive, a certain percentage are completely legit, rather than just a "this guy was rude", etc. There does not appear to be a forum where one can make effective change with PAT.

It only takes one bad seed.

Most of the people who are bashing PAT, are backing up their comments with reasons--it's not like they are arbitrarily saying PAT is horrible.

Considering the amount of mass a bus driver is in control of, I think they are among the most dangerous drivers on the road.

On the other side, there are a ton of reckless cyclists on the road too--however, they aren't in control of 10ton machines.

To generalize cyclists as redlight running maniacs

is not cool.

To generalize bus drivers as sociopaths is. DUH.

Seriously though. As a cyclist, I know that if a car

hits me, crashes me etc, the law seems that I should

be covered by their insurance, I should not have

to worry, that the driver is accountable.

However I honestly feel with a pat bus that a

driver could kill somebody and be driving a month

later. That is scary.

I am pretty sure that a cyclist was killed by Timothy Kish in Oakland last year and he was back on the road a month later....

No one was paying Timothy Kish public funds to drive.

My impression is that, as far as public servants go, bus drivers are fairly insulated from pressure from elected officials.

I'm not even sure what person I vote for is the person to talk to about specific problems with PAT. Stu might know more about that.

More than once I've been on a PAT bus and heard the driver yell at cyclists to "get on the sidewalk where you belong".

One time, a passenger started to argue with the bus driver, pointing out that it's illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk and she (the bus driver) started screaming at the passenger and threatened to throw him off the bus.

I think the best response is to put your phone into record mode and document the conversation(s). You're in a public place and there's no expectation of privacy, so there should be no problem recording the dialog.

Did we ever get a response from PAT? Where is that driver now?

I saw a bike today that had been crushed between a bus and a parked car as the bus pulled right to let passengers off. Very scary.

Whoa. So the bike was on the rack and the driver creamed into a parked car?

No, way worse. Thing the compactor scene from Star Wars. Guy on bike caught between a bus coming over to drop people off and the parked car (stopped car?) on his right.

But there was no reference to a person in the original post. The rider was ok? I hope, but can hardly imagine it could be true.....

Apparently the rider was fine, somehow. They walked into the shop.

I've been sideswiped by a bus around Center and Melwood (I drove up behind him and I guess he wasn't paying attention to his mirrors) but I think the PAT drivers are just a resemblance of the general population. There are a lot of morons, some cool drivers, some really bad, some really nice.

Lot cyclists the try to pass a bus on the right too. Bad all around.

Oh yeah, and I don't get how PAT buses are "more dangerous" than other cars. I mean I guess technically they are because they have more mass, but getting creamed by a bus or a car or an SUV all involves some serious hurting. At least buses are usually slow, loud (so you can hear them coming up behind you) and witnesses (riders) would help avoid any hit and run situations.

buses are more difficult to maneuver and have significantly limited sight lines when compared to cars. it's these same reasons, i believe, that make pickup trucks seem to be responsible for disproportionately many close calls.

I wouldn't count on hearing the bus. There are 26 (soon to be 28) hybrids out there, and they are cat-like quiet.

And anyway, you can get just as smooshed off of the side of a Smart Car, even if there is a better chance of being seen.

@HiddenVariable NFW. Everywhere I've ever ridden pickups are trouble. The one time I got honked at in Belgium, guess what.

Wow. Passing a bus on the right is a STUPID idea. Their lines of sight are horrible, they often veer to the right, and they have passengers coming out (think of their safety too). I used to see cyclists do this all the time in downtown DC gridlock. Idiotic.

I would never get on the right side of a bus under any circumstances. Even if they were in the left lane. Yikes.

Biking down Carson, if I stop at a light and a bus pulls up to the left of me I just let them go, because without fail they go through the intersection and try to beat me, then purposefully leave like 6 inches of room between their right side and the parked cars opposite the cross street. You are stuck there looking at the back of a parked car and a bus on your left. Lets not even get started on how they stop a block later to let people out, giving you the pleasure of sucking fumes for a minute or two.

I got an email reply yesterday:

Thank you for taking the time to write, Port Authority appreciates it and takes all comments into consideration.

This email and any files transmitted with it are Confidential and solely intended for the recipient(s). If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute, copy or alter this email. Any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and might not represent those of Port Authority.

Warning: Although Port Authority has taken reasonable precautions to ensure no viruses are present in this email, the Company cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising from the use of this email or attachments."

The spelling and grammatical error of the first two sentences show that they were written by an actual person and were not just a form letter. That is, unless their form response hasn't been edited for content.

I also like how the standard footer completely separates anything the unnamed person responding to my complaint says from representing the Port Authority.

i wouldn't so cavalierly write off errors in form letters.

additionally: i think, legally, that disclaimer is worthless. it's the equivalent of throwing a brick through a window with a note attached that says "the thrower of this brick can not be held responsible for any damage it may cause."

and lastly: nice of them to respond, but that's a pretty bs acknowledgement for something so serious. it seems you can rest assured that you will never hear if anything comes of this.

I complained to the Port Authority in May 2009 and in February 2010. The emailed responses I received were identical to each other, but slightly different from yours:

Hello, Steven

Thank you for contacting Port Authority with your concern. We will forward your complaint to the appropriate department.

Thank you for taking the time to write, Port Authority appreciates it and takes all comments into consideration.

This email and any files transmitted with it are Confidential and solely intended for the recipient(s). If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute, copy or alter this email. Any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and might not represent those of Port Authority.

Warning: Although Port Authority has taken reasonable precautions to ensure no viruses are present in this email, the Company cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage Arising from the use of this email or attachments.

Looks like you got the same form letter, but they've made improvements in yours. They now forward "this information" not "your complaint", in case you weren't complaining, and forward it to appropriate "departments" (whereas mine just got forwarded to one single department per email, according to the form letter).

Also, they no longer pointlessly capitalize "Arising" in the last sentence.

Overall, their new form letter is significantly more generic. How very efficient of them.

From Jan 11, and Feb 5 (identical messages):

Hello, Dan

Thank you for contacting Port Authority . We will forward the information to the appropriate department.

Thank you for taking the time to write, Port Authority appreciates it and takes all comments into consideration.

(followed by a bunch of broken HTML warning me not to share the bullshit form letter with others)

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Looks like they have an ad-libs type system going on. They fill in something at the end of the first sentence and you can either send them a complaint, or information. Odd, because I am pretty sure I was complaining both times.

You know what? I'll bet they don't even have this automated. I'll bet they've got three different people typing out the dismissals by hand, accounting for the slight variation. (and their mail system automatically appends the bs disclaimer)

@Lyle, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you're right, though I do not know the details. I do know they hold onto technology for a long time. That, and they let most of their I.T. people go in funding squeezes long ago.

This is the organization whose main computer systems, well into the mid-1990s, were a 1978-era VAX 11/780 for scheduling, a 1980-era Honeywell for business work, and an Apple 2g for map-making.

and an Apple 2g for map-making.

That explains a LOT of the questions I had when I moved here in 1990 and started riding the bus. Questions like "Where do the bus routes go?"