How well does Campus Cruiser work? We took it for a week to find out.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Log of calls made to Campus Cruiser on Monday evening.
6:18 PM I call Campus Cruiser to get to my 7 p.m. class on campus. After a minute on hold, the music switches to a busy tone. I re-dial at 6:19, 6:20, 6:22, 6:25, 6:28, 6:32, 6:34 and 6:38 until I get through to a dispatcher.
6:38 PM I call, wait for a few minutes on hold, then finally get through to a dispatcher. The ETA for my cruiser is 9 minutes. The call ends at 6:43.
6:52 PM My cruiser picks me up. There’s already a passenger in the front seat. He picks up another passenger after that, and then drives us to campus.
Note: Watch videos with closed captions on.
6:58 PM While on campus at 34th Street, the driver suddenly asks if he can drop me off at some seemingly random corner (later on, I realize he dropped me off at the School of Cinematic Arts). I say yes, get out of the car, and then spend five minutes trying to find the building.
7:03 PM I arrive at class.
Time on phone: 25 minutes
Cruiser ETA: 9 min
Actual arrival time: 9 min
After Class
9:58 PM I call Campus Cruiser to get back home. I get through quickly and am asked to walk to the School of Cinematic Arts on 34th Street, since the old Annenberg building’s entrances are inaccessible to vehicles. The call lasts three minutes. My ETA is 11 min.
10:09 PM I get a call from Cruiser Tracker saying that my vehicle is outside. I don’t see anyone in front of Cinematic Arts though. Two other cruisers pass by.
10:13 PM Confused, I call Campus Cruiser again. I get a busy tone right after I press “1.”
I call in again, and then see another car. I ask the driver if he’s supposed to take someone to my address and he says no. He says to ask the car behind me.
10:15 PM I find my car, a van with tricky doors. I’m home at 10:23 PM.
Time on phone: 6 min
Cruiser ETA: 11 min
Actual arrival time: 17 min
Read More: "Campus Cruiser's Bumpy Ride" here.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
8:53 PM I get out of class an hour-and-a-half early, and am eager to get a Campus Cruiser home as soon as possible. I get a busy tone the first time I call, so then I call back a minute later and spend around 9 minutes on hold. The dispatcher asks if the driver can pick me up at the Hedco Neuroscience Building, even though I’m at Wallis Annenberg Hall. I ask her why the driver can’t just pick me up at Annenberg, and she says the new drivers don’t know where that building is. She then asks if I could be picked up at Tommy Trojan, and I say yes. She says my ETA is 10 minutes.
9:10 PM The driver picks me up in 6 minutes. I ask him if he knows where the new Annenberg building is, because that’s where I was supposed to get picked up. He says no. I ask him how long he’s been driving for Campus Cruiser. He says two weeks.
When we get to the neighborhood where I live, he drives up 35th Street, then asks one of the other passengers what her address is again. She says that they already passed her house on 35th Street. He asks where I live (35th Place) and how to get there. Another passenger directs him to turn right, but that next road turns out to be 36th Street. We turn around and he finds my address. I get home at 9:23 PM.
Time on phone: 11 min
Cruiser ETA: 10 min
Actual arrival time: 6 min
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
7:33 PM I’m on hold for a minute. I ask for a cruiser with a bike rack.
7:47 The cruiser picks me up in front of Tommy Trojan. The driver shows me how to put my bike on the rack in the back of her car, but can’t touch it herself, for liability reasons. Once I figure it out, she picks up another passenger than accidentally drives me to 35th Street. It turns out the dispatcher had accidentally recorded my address as such.
Time on phone: 2 min
Time waiting for car: 9 min
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Note: Watch videos with closed captions on.
7:54 PM I call for a cruiser to pick me up at Tommy Trojan; the call takes four minutes. The ETA is 13 minutes.
8:05 PM I get picked up. The driver has no problem finding my house. I tell him that I’m surprised that he didn’t confuse my address with 35th Street, and he says it’s usually the new drivers who do that.
Time on phone: 4 min
Cruiser ETA: 13 min
Actual arrival time: 7 min
Later
8:30 PM I’m on the phone for five minutes, until I can get a cruiser to take me to the Radisson. My ETA is 10 minutes.
8:42 PM I get a call from Cruiser Tracker saying my car is approaching. I go outside, and don’t see anything. Then a silver-looking van approaches. Thinking it’s one of the Enterprise rental cars that Campus Cruiser is using temporarily, I approach, but the driver turns out to be my next door neighbor.
8:44 PM I call the dispatcher again. 3 minutes later, I get through and tell them my cruiser never showed up. They radio the driver, who arrives right away. He apologizes, “The dispatcher told me you were on 35th Street.”
Time on phone: around 8 min
Cruiser ETA: 10 min
Actual arrival time: 13 min