shutting down the competition (a story about buses)

i live in a super densely populated area that results in tons of buses everywhere. the main provider is nj transit. however, nj transit is not without competition. there is a more than decent amount of independently run shuttles and mini buses that compete with nj transit on a daily basis.

a lot of the competition can be sketchy, shady, and most likely unsafe. however, when it's all about just getting where you need to go, fuck it, i'll hop on that sketchy shuttle if it's gonna get me there quicker. and in a way, that's how it should be...i'm the consumer. i'm in the market to buy a ride to get somewhere as quick as possible. most times, i'm willing to hop on the first thing that shows up.

however, a lot of these other shuttles that run against nj transit are probably not in conditions that meet certain legal standards. i don't know for certain, but being in the area for as long as i have, i've heard a whole range of issues such as: no insurance, bus isn't registered, driver doesn't have a lisence, driver doesn't even have a legal form of id. or sometimes the buses are so old and beat up, there's just a ton of shit wrong with them that can get them pulled over.

the drivers of these buses also have a pretty crappy reputation when it comes to safe driving. the reputation is that they'll do dangerous things to get some place quicker (not like i've never seen a njt driver guilty of this either). a lot of people think they suck and ruin the quality of driving around here.

so you roll all that up into one big ball of consideration... it eventually leads to john law getting involved. it's usually in the form of a one day shutdown. they'll catch them all at the start of a major bus line or as they're coming out of the lincoln tunnel and pull them all over, find something wrong with them all, and impound all buses. this spreads to all the other bus drivers associated with them and that in turn leads to a total shutdown of the competition.

now there used to be a time where even though i took full advantage of these shuttles, i'd still think that maybe they were bad. one- they congest the roadways. two- it sorta hurts people who have jobs with nj transit. if these shuttles weren't around, nj transit could put more buses on these roadways and they'd be able to hire more people.

but that would just be a monopoly. i think someone should try to compete with the big, bad wolf of the bus routes. the demand is there. this area is way too populated to ever imagine there could be such a concept as enough buses.

anyways.... today was one of those days where they shut down the competition. there were no other buses available besides nj transit. and it sucked! buses were super crowded. the bus i got on to get to work was late... and i'd soon find out why... it takes forever to get anywhere when the bus has to go to EVERY SINGLE STOP and pick people up.

so while there may be some concern over safety and legality.... i can't help but think that these one day busts are a little counter productive. if there's something wrong with these other shuttles, something you think we should know, why not tell us? start a campaign. buy a commercial. mail me, email me, facebook me.... but when you decide to suddenly take hundreds of buses out of commission for a day, all you're really doing is adding to the misery of the common person who's just trying to go to school, work, the doctor, grandma's house, etc, etc, etc....

on a MONDAY no less!! c'mon!!!

they do this every so often, and every time they do, it reminds me of the upside of the sketchy, shady, dangerous shuttles. it actually cultivates my appreciation for them. they're legality means nothing to me... i didn't make the laws. i'm just a dude trying to get from point a to point b.