Kilometers: 80.0
Start Time: 11:20
End Time: 16:20
Temp Out: 95
Temp In: 99
I decided to use the local bus system operated by the Morongo Basin Transit Authority (MBTA)to get to the new Walmart Supercenter in Yucca Valley to see if it could be a practical alternative to driving. I have used the service to go between my home and Palm Springs several times but had never used it for local travel. This turned out to be an interesting experience but not one I may want to repeat too often, especially in summer.
The trip requires 2 bus rides, the first leaves a stop on Adobe Road about 3/4 of a mile from my front door at about 40 minutes after the hour and goes about 2 miles to the 29 Palms "Transit Center". The second leaves the Transit Center on the hour and travels to Yucca Valley via Highway 62 with a number of stops en route. After an aborted attempt at 9:30 I caught the 10:45 bus on Adobe and made the transfer and got to Walmart with no problem at about 11:40. I did my shopping, got a bad meal at the McDonald's in the store and still had about 20 minutes to wait for what I assumed would be the 1:10 bus back to 29 Palms. I got a so-so haircut at the hair salon in the store the walked out to the bus stop which is on the outer edge of the parking lot with a few minutes to spare.
The bus did not come as expected and after discussing the situation with several people I finally figured out that the east bound but does not stop at the store (nobody seemed able to tell me that directly). This meant I had to wait another 1/2 hour then ride the westbound bus into the Yucca Valley Transit center and then wait for the eastbound bus back to 29 Palms. This was a bit perplexing to say the least. I returned to the store to get out of the heat then caught the bus to Yucca Valley and was able to stay on it for the 10 minute wait before starting the return trip at 3:00.
We got to the 29 Palms Transit Center at about 3:45. It was warm out (at least 100 I found when I got home). The bus back to my original stop pulled in about 3:50. After everyone got off the driver shut the door in my face and left me standing around in the heat while he went over and had a BS session with other drivers under a tree. I suppose that is standard operating procedure but I found it somewhat annoying. We left the Transit Center at 4:00, I got off at about 4:05 and walked home in about 15 minutes.
At first I could not believe that the eastbound bus did not stop at such a major destination but after seeing how they had modified the route to accommodate the new Walmart location and considering the fact that the route between 29 Palms and Yucca Valley has to mesh with several other routes at both ends I understand why it is the way it is. I also noticed that one can walk about a block west from the Walmart stop and catch the eastbound bus at a stop on the highway at about 5 minutes after the hour. This gives 2 options for returning to 29 Palms which helps. If I had understood the situation I could easily have caught the 2:05 eastbound bus and been home an hour earlier. In my defense the published schedules only show a few of the more significant stops and I saw nothing on the web site to indicate there was anything unusual about the Walmart stop. In fact I did not know there is a stop at Walmart until I asked the driver. I half expected to be dumped out on the highway to walk some distance to the store. In hindsight I could have asked the driver if he stopped at the store on the return but it never occurred to me that he would not. The MBTA web site says service to the new Walmart will be initiated in the summer of 2013 but it does not indicate what the service will be or is.
In summary this in not the worst public transit experience I have had. The positives are that it cost $3.00 for a day pass as opposed to $5-10.00 (gas only, it is a $28.00 at the IRS car allowance rate) to drive and it is marginally better for the environment along with being an interesting adventure of sorts. The negatives are that it is a 4-5 hour trip, there is much more exposure to the weather, one is limited to buying what he/she can carry and it is probably not practical, at least in summer, to deal with cold or frozen items.
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