Three weeks ago, a fed-up bus commuter composed a passionate complaint about city bus service in general and the #13 line in particular, emailed it to the Maryland Transit Administration and got this robo-reply:

“Thank You for contacting the Office of Customer and Community Relations. The information you provided regarding transit services has been forwarded to the appropriate MTA Department.”

Brian Levy was given a five-digit “Feedback Number” and an 800 number he could call to continue pursuing his complaint through the MTA’s process.

He decided instead to forward the original email to a host of elected officials and to The Brew. And we turned Levy’s email into an op-ed that got more than 130 reader comments.

On Friday he got an email from a real person at the MTA who said the agency was  sorry.

“We understand that public transportation at times can be problematic,” wrote Patricia Guiles, deputy director of the MTA Office of Customer and Community Relations. “MTA apologizes for not meeting you service needs.”

In response to Levy’s complaints of chronically late and overcrowded #13 buses that often left him and others behind, Guiles said, “We regret you have been subjected to such a frustrating series of events.”

She told him that the Office of Service Quality (OSQ) has been alerted “and will conduct a Route Study.”

The MTA, she said, “is always exploring opportunities to improve,” and told him about some other initiatives that “may allay your concerns.”

She mentioned that they are looking into the possible use of articulated buses to deal with #13 overcrowding and said “over the next five years, projects such as Bus Stop Optimization and the Bus Network Improvement Project” would “have an enormous impact on customer service, operations and scheduling.”

Sympathy from One Councilman

Levy, a legal fellow with the Office of the Public Defender  who recently moved to the Midtown-Belvedere neighborhood, said he was “impressed” by the discussion his op-ed prompted on The Brew and “encouraged” to have finally gotten this reply after the Brew highlighted his experience.

Of the local, state and federal officials he contacted, hardly any bothered to get back to him.

Newly-appointed Councilman Eric T. Costello was the only one to answer from Baltimore. (No replies from Councilmen Nick Mosby and Carl Stokes or from the Mayor’s Office.)

“Brian, sorry to hear of your frustration,” Costello wrote. “Have you received a response from anyone in the State Delegation?” Levy told him he had not, and Costello asked to be informed of any MTA follow-up.

Levy said he also got a reply from the office of U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski. “Her office essentially told me that this was a local issue and that I should contact my local representatives.”

Waiting for an Op-Ed

The Brew got some responses from the MTA and published them here and here, mostly addressing the #13 line, various studies they are conducting, fixes being considered.

But in our conversations with them they also promised a formal op-ed from MTA higher-ups – presumably to address the larger issues, detailed customer complaints and angry sentiments on display in the reader comments.

MTA spokesman Paul Shepard seemed concerned that we might not give the agency’s response proper display and asked if we would bury it in the comments section.

We assured him we would run it in the same space as Levy’s piece.

Three weeks have passed but we’re keeping an eye out and will publish whatever we receive. (Since Levy’s op-ed was published, a new governor has been elected which, as one commenter pointed out, could account for the delay.)

And, of course, the truly meaningful follow-up would be tangible improvements to the #13 and all the other lines.

Have bus users noticed any changes?