Transport                              

  SUNDAY, MAY 18, 2008                             Shopping for Wheels?
Loyal readers are probably aware that we bought a car a couple of months ago. Somebody requested that I post our car buying experience in India. How did I miss that? The experience was definitely blog-worthy .... so here it is!

Buying a car in India is very different than buying a car in the US. The fact that every major manufacturer (ranging from Hyundai to Rolls Royce) has a dealership out here and cars have turned from luxury items to necessity, there is a huge market out here. Couple this with the service orientation of Indian businesses and you have a car buying experience that you would cherish.

Once we had selected the make/model, we called the two major dealerships in town. A sales representative was at the doorstep of our house within 24 hours with a car for a test drive. I test drove the car around the house after which we were given a complete run-down of features, costs etc. ... at the house! Auto dealers making house calls! Visit to the dealership may actually be optional. We went just to check out the different colors etc.

After we had decided the exact car we wanted, the negotiations were done on the phone. All paperwork was brought to my office to be signed off and the car was delivered at home with a red ribbon tied around it!


        

                                                BURKINAMOM BETH     Bileductland  

Our trip here was quite interesting. When we boarded in Burkina, security was good but not over the top. They open bags and wave the wand and on you go. Paris was another matter. They were in full pat-down mode. Not a sort of desultory, symbolic tap about the ribs and ankles, but a top to botttom touchy-feely that was frankly not nice. As I stood in line and watched a nice elderly lady get 'the treatment' I thought: 'The terrorists won. Thanks George. We are all doomed." I guess I knew that already, but this really drove it home.
At least they weren't subjecting the children to it, thank God for small favors.
Anyway, we flew from Ouaga to Niamey and then sat on the runway there for two and a half hours, waiting for lightening storms to abate.
Then on to Paris, where we rode their delightful little shuttle buses around and around and around. We left about an hour late and were worried about our connection in Detroit. There are only a couple of flights per week between Detroit and Lincoln. But the security in Detroit, despite being strict, went really, really quickly. They processed a huge amount of people in a fraction of the time it took in Paris. They were saving time by not feeling people up, which was nice.
But the connection ended up being a non-issue. Thunderstorms kept us on the ground and the flight left late. We easily amused ourselves visiting the airport shops and being amazed by all the stuff. We bought a People magazine (Special Wedding Edition) and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. God Bless America!
Now here we are, in the Heartland of America. (I wonder which state is the Bileductland of America? They sure keep quiet about it.)
 

Saturday, June 16, 2007                               Airline Efficiency?     Pervez


I have been doing a fair share of flying while in India and have been very impressed at the ability of all airlines to minimize ground time. Planes land, passengers de-plane, new passengers board and the aircraft is back in the sky in less than half hour. But before you start giving a lot of credit to the process efficiencies, 6-sigma and ISO-9000 programs within the airline companies, I believe that most of the credit needs to go to the passengers.

As I have mentioned in a couple of my postings before, Indians do not like to wait. Earlier this week, I was observing passenger behavior sitting at the Hyderabad airport. Even before the plane has landed, passengers are already crowded close to the gate. As soon as their plane lands, more passengers huddle around. As soon as the first boarding announcement is made, ever passenger is up, in line and pushing ahead to board.

Of course, getting off the plane is no different. You can sense the urgency among fellow travellers to tear off their seat belts and lunge for their hand luggage the moment the aircraft touches down. Despite pleas by the air hostesses, folks are up and getting ready to de-plane before the "Fasten Seat Belt" sign has been turned off.

So - much credit to the passengers for the increase in airline efficiency (and profitability!)

Pervez

June 18, 2007  ex 007 in Africa

               Bea      Turkey: Istanbul Mayor Demeans Bus Riders
Bus Transportation in Istanbul is labeled as the transport choice of "lower-income" by the city's mayor, Kadir Topbas. Due to particular routes under threat of attacks to both drivers and passengers, buses will soon be outfitted with hidden security cameras. I applaud his efforts but not the patronizing attitude.

In Today's Zaman article about these new security cameras, they also pointed out that some bus routes will now be cut short and no longer pass through certain problem areas due to recent Molotov cocktails being hurled at buses.

I expect the mayor also believes these places rank with the lower-income and thus, undeserving of city services.

I have to wonder what message Mayor Topbas wants to send to Istanbulites who use daily transport as a way to survive the massive traffic jams and lengthy commutes. In a town like Istanbul, people sit more in idling cars and buses than they do in actually getting to their destination.

I expect that now millions more people will buy cars just so they don't have to bear the scourge of Topbas' lower-income insult. The millions who use city transportation on a daily basis and bring billions in revenue each year to the Turkish government have nothing to do with lower-income. It does, however, say something about the person spewing such abuse.

Even though, there are millions who routinely take buses and other public transportation in Istanbul, the city should be encouraging people to commute more by collective means no matter the method.

At a time when Turkey seeks to attract more tourism and business deals, the mayor of one of the largest cities in the world should take note:

Laud city residents for using public transportation.
Provide incentives to frequently board public transportation.
Decrease traffic accidents, and thus commute time, with well-trained and motivated traffic officers and properly functioning street lights.
Follow the lead of other countries. Implement cost-saving and effective strategies to reduce the number of cars on the road and see a decrease in commuter time, traffic accidents and air pollution.
Mayor Topbas, stop the insults and take positive action to promote this beautiful city! Thank your residents for supporting both local and state government through their responsible act of selecting public transport over personal use of their cars.

  Bea 

March 23, 2007         ex 007 in Africa         (VERY)  CANDIDE GIRL
Some musing on the Bus system in DC


My morning commute really influences the way my day unfolds. Today for example, I waited twice as long for the bus. When it came, there were 3 buses going in the same direction, in a row. Then, when I got on, I heard a person berating another passenger who was trying to board the bus and find a seat. She wasn’t having any of it and defended herself in a no-nonsense kind of way (I wouldn’t have had the guts so I was mentally cheering herself on).

It got me thinking about how driving a bus is really demanding work. It’s so much more than just driving and stopping in the right places.

A bus driver has to
-help handicapped persons board the bus and get settled;
-make sure mothers and elderly people get priority seating in the front;
-ride the bus with a crowd-full of people hovering around the front door;
-mediate physical and verbal disputes (I have seen this happen often);
-deal with strange people talking to/at them while they are concentrating on driving;
-avoid pedestrians and people running in their direction, desperate not to miss the bus;
-keep cool when a passenger is ranting about the voices in his/her head.

There are so many common courtesies that passengers don’t respect. I think a good media campaign on politeness wouldn’t hurt.

My pet peeves
-People who refuse to move back and crowd the front of the bus. As a result, the bus gets really packed in the front while people in the back just chill out;
-People who get annoyed at you for going around them to reach the empty back of the bus;
-People who are so big they take up two seats (OK that’s not really being rude but it still annoys me);
-People who board the bus in a combative mood and feel the need to start of fight with somebody;
-People who shout into their phones, convinced that everybody else in the bus is fascinated by their drama;
-Bus drivers who are annoyed when you say “good morning!” to them and thank them as you are getting off;
-Guys with attitude who splay their knees open and don’t give you any space next to them to sit.

I know the DC transit systems has been poor in the past (and present), but they really need to spruce up the way they work. I easily spend $100 a month to ride the bus and the metro and therefore feel entitled to make the following recommendations:

My suggestions
-Have more express buses that stop every three stops instead of at every single stop;
-If your bus is 2/3 or fuller, don’t pick up any more passengers. This would presumably help alleviated the clumping phenomenon (see entry);
-Stop your bus and check whether passengers have moved ALL the way to the back of the bus. They will learn soon enough not to crowd the front;
-Create a media campaign on how to behave on the bus. Diffuse these messages on TV, in the newspapers, in metro train, in buses and in elementary schools;
– Post all bus rules on bus walls;
-Implement a Zero Tolerance of trouble-makers policy. This would include no tolerance of passengers who repeatedly and with all seriousness ask you to suck their d*** (this has really happened); passengers who start fight with others, passengers who are too loud and disruptive; and passengers who try to bring in their shopping carts, oversized handbags and foldable table.

I’m just sayin’.

 ex 007 in Africa
March 16, 2007
 

  by  carpetblogger

                                                        An Open Letter to AeroSvit, Ukrainian Airlines   
Dear AeroSvit, :
It's over between us
I had become quite fond of you over the last year. I liked your no-hassle approach to security (none, pretty much), your cheap fares to Istanbul, your fast check-in and minimal delays. I could always locate your counter in Istanbul's cavernous departure hall by searching for the particular hair color and footware choices of your typical passenger.
I defended you to my friends who thought you were just another shitty BabyFlot full of drunks vomiting in the aisle and applauding wildly at touchdown. You were better than "not that bad." You were "pretty good for this part of the world."
But it's, as they say, all over now.
In most consumer relationships there are a couple of principles that are generally adhered to. Based upon the behavior of your staff on January 7th, some of these principles might have been omitted in the most recent edition of your customer service manual (is written in Russian? It's ok. You can tell me):
· If someone gives you money to enter into an agreement, you uphold it;
· If you cannot, you make amends;
· The response "It's not my problem" does not fit into either category.
When I showed up at Borispil with 200 kgs of dogs and luggage, the correct reaction was not, "Only one dog per flight! That's our policy." 'Cause, really, that only made me mad.
Not only was this a buttfaced lie, I had a reservation in my hand, issued by your downtown ticket office, indicating these dogs were indeed scheduled to be on this flight. You said this was not your problem because those tickets were issued by a ticket office. I'll admit that it was hard for me to respond to that logic.
I lost my temper; about this I had a momentary twinge of regret. I realize that had I behaved suchly in countries where the terrorists have not yet won, I might be writing this from a secret prison in Poland. Can you blame me for losing my composure when you said I would have to pay to change the tickets that you fucked up? Can you blame me for being angry that I had to spend two more days in your country, for which any remaining goodwill I held was depleted by this incident?
As is usually the case, something else was going on that night. It had nothing to do with how many dogs can fit in the cargo hold of a 737 and everything to do with your management system, which I believe was developed based on the book, "The 7 Principles of Highly Effective Post-Soviet Management: Lying, Cheating and Stealing." What was in that cargo hold anyway?
Your goal was to run down the clock, to wait until 40 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart so you could shut down the counter without resolving our issue, thus making us someone else's problem. You pretended to be working on it, but admit it. You were updating your glamor shot on UkraineBride.net. And don't go accusing me of not treating you right. I offered you a little sumpin sumpin in honor of the new year.
Should Ukraine continue on a Western, rather than Eastern, trajectory (certainly not a given at this point, given the unabated rise of the banditocracy of late) your airline might one day lose its protected status. Kyiv's strip clubs will be clogged by British stag parties but they won't be flying in on AeroSvit. Borispil will be swamped by airlines with even worse service than yours, but offering tickets at 1/3rd the price.
I shall not mourn you. You suck.
Hugs,
CB

 

                                                   Modern Trains in Romania  Romerican
Gerar 4th, 2007
If you haven’t been on a Romanian train lately, you’re in for a pleasant surprise.

CFR has been working respectably hard at replacing a good swath of those old, slow trains you’ve ridden in the past with sleek modern speedsters than rival most of Europe.

At long last, the ancient practice of handwriting train tickets on triplicate sheets or those cute little cardboard squares has finally, finally, finally given way to the greater efficiency of digital print-on-demand systems that speed up the ticket lines.

And, much to your shock, you’ll find there’s no smoking allowed on board.

Travel tip: This modern intercity train will speed you, in style, between Braşov and Bucureşti in only 2 hours. It’s clean, comfortable, and not overcrowded. At a great bargain price of approximately US$13 one way, you can’t beat that with a stick!

When the conductor comes by, they aren’t looking for your passport (unless you’re on an international train just crossing the border), so stay hip and keep it to yourself. They’re asking you for the bilete, which is your ticket. Most likely you’ll only be asked once, although it’s possible for them to ask several times because they don’t remember if they’ve checked you already. Don’t sweat it.

Many of the intercity day trains have some kind of snack service, where a CFR attendant travels up and down car corridors offering coffee, beer, and other consumables for sale. Night trains going longer distances have quite acceptable sleeping cars which are good enough for some shuteye.

CFR is apparently unable to manage their own IT needs which is confusing because you cannot find scheduling information on their own website. Instead, you’ll have to check for time schedules at a different website belonging to their outsourcing partner InfoFer. After you search for trains that meet your timing needs, look for the “IC” designation for intercity trains.

Unfortunately, you cannot buy tickets online just yet. Put your pencil to use and write down the train number, departure time, and arrival time which will be crucial to making sure the unfriendly CFR representative staring at you menacingly through the ticket sales booth glass window is more likely to issue you the correct tickets.

There doesn’t seem to be a discount for round trip tickets, which are open-ended and require you to check into the sales booth anyway, so I never buy one. However, if you’re chronically nervous about your wallet or purse being stolen during your trip, then paying in advance is the most safe option. (Just don’t keep the ticket in your wallet or purse.)

My recommendation is to take the intercity trains whenever possible. It’s the best bang for your buck.

For those skimping by on a tight budget, you have two alternatives.

You can snag a ride on a shuttle van (called maxi-taxis or ocazie) for around US$10. The journey length varies depending on the stops en route, but it takes around 3 hours or so. It is not a good choice for those prone to car sickness or easily scared by aggressive drivers.

Or you can travel old school by getting a ticket on the “personal” trains (look for the P designation on the schedule), most of whom still retain remnants of the charm of communist-era travel. Here you’ll brush up against a slice of Romanian society — the good, the bad, and the ugly. No need to be overly paranoid, but keep a close eye on your bags.

Your trip will be significantly louder, much more crowded, a bit dirtier, slightly more confusing, and noticeably colder or hotter (depending on the season). But, four or more hours later, you’ll have arrived for only US$4. by Romerican

            kim gjerstad     Tuesday 04 July 2006  

                           Really Out of Order Elevator

  This signs reads "I'm really out of order, please".

I know this elevator for these behaviors:
- works 50% of the time
- when it works, it stops on random floors
- the alarm button doesn't work
- the stop button doesn't work
- when it's out of order, it really is out of order.

 

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 January 10, 2007

                      by Mr. Behy                                        Tehran, The big gas chamber

While Ahmadinejad is making this much noise that Nazi gas chambers did not exist, Tehran itself is becoming more like one, making life so difficult for its residents. As one of the environmental activists said recently, "Living in Tehran is like a group suicide". Thousands upon thousands of old cars using a hell lot of fuel (that is cheaper than a cup of tea in a liter) make the air in Tehran so dense to breath. North of Tehran is better of course for happy and rich guys who can live beside the hills with fresh air. The news says 3600 people died in the last fall as a result of long term effects of air pollution. It is like loosing people in battles! I lived all my life within the downtown so I am pretty much used to it but should I make plans for after my 70s? yahoo...lets spend all the money then....

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     fotoTravelling Beaver                                           Kolkata (Calcutta)                                                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Travelling Beaver   Village

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006  by Chinabounderess

Guys spitting in the bus!!!
Guys trying to grap your ass!!! (happened today)
Guys trying to steal something from your bag!!!
Guys trying to touch you!!!
Guys going frenzy in the bus!!!
Damn guys.
Fucking hate buses

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