math_avenger (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} math_avenger) wrote,@ 2006-07-24 10:49:00 |
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Tales from the Bus: Art of the Umstieg
Forget trainspotting, it's so 90's. I have something better: the advanced umsteig.
For those in the dark, umstieg is German for "transfer". Usage includes: "I umstiegged up and down Germany in a frenetic week of trains, bratwurst, and Bavarian Creme."
My morning transit requires me to umstieg twice on the bus system of Geneva (TPG). Now any old schmuck can get off one line, wait at the stop for the next bus, and then transfer to another. It's standard fare. Blasé. Ho-hum.
Far more exciting is to see the bus you want ahead of you, not behind. As the bus lurches along in fits and gasps, you watch for the magic moment when your future bus disgorges some of its passengers, forcing it to stop. At this point, you jump off your bus, run forward, and leap onto the new one. The advanced umstieg.
To execute the advanced umstieg requires several things:
1) Foreknowledge of bus schedules to know that the bus you want is the one in front of you (not always a simple matter of looking at the number when different termini have the same line number).
2) Anticipation of the future bus' stop that you may tell your driver that you want to stop (if you are to close to the stop, they will just drive on by).
3) Positioning in the door to optimize descent time. If your bags aren't ready, you are blocked by another passenger, or you are in the wrong part of the bus, your advanced umstieg has little chance of success.
Today I tried a new variation -- one I've been contemplating for a while -- the uber-stieg. When the advanced umstieg gets too easy, you look for ways to make it challenging and save even more time. Consider my morning commute: the 28 arrives at Hôpital-de-la-Tour (HdlT) at 08:14. The 9 (not, note, the 9A) departs for CERN from HdlT at 08:12.
Some would say that to catch this is impossible from the 28. I think it can be done via an intermediary advanced umstieg (a-stieg) onto the 29, which blocks the direct a-stieg from the 28 to the 9. This requires a great deal of awareness, as there are few stops where the lines overlap.
My trial this morning was unsuccessful, mainly because I wasn't on 08:14 28. But as a proof of concept I attempted the intermediary a-stieg to the 29. It failed, but only because the door wouldn't open on the 29, as I ran along side it. Future attempts will not be so thwarted.
The uber-stieg shall be mine.
Forget trainspotting, it's so 90's. I have something better: the advanced umsteig.
For those in the dark, umstieg is German for "transfer". Usage includes: "I umstiegged up and down Germany in a frenetic week of trains, bratwurst, and Bavarian Creme."
My morning transit requires me to umstieg twice on the bus system of Geneva (TPG). Now any old schmuck can get off one line, wait at the stop for the next bus, and then transfer to another. It's standard fare. Blasé. Ho-hum.
Far more exciting is to see the bus you want ahead of you, not behind. As the bus lurches along in fits and gasps, you watch for the magic moment when your future bus disgorges some of its passengers, forcing it to stop. At this point, you jump off your bus, run forward, and leap onto the new one. The advanced umstieg.
To execute the advanced umstieg requires several things:
1) Foreknowledge of bus schedules to know that the bus you want is the one in front of you (not always a simple matter of looking at the number when different termini have the same line number).
2) Anticipation of the future bus' stop that you may tell your driver that you want to stop (if you are to close to the stop, they will just drive on by).
3) Positioning in the door to optimize descent time. If your bags aren't ready, you are blocked by another passenger, or you are in the wrong part of the bus, your advanced umstieg has little chance of success.
Today I tried a new variation -- one I've been contemplating for a while -- the uber-stieg. When the advanced umstieg gets too easy, you look for ways to make it challenging and save even more time. Consider my morning commute: the 28 arrives at Hôpital-de-la-Tour (HdlT) at 08:14. The 9 (not, note, the 9A) departs for CERN from HdlT at 08:12.
Some would say that to catch this is impossible from the 28. I think it can be done via an intermediary advanced umstieg (a-stieg) onto the 29, which blocks the direct a-stieg from the 28 to the 9. This requires a great deal of awareness, as there are few stops where the lines overlap.
My trial this morning was unsuccessful, mainly because I wasn't on 08:14 28. But as a proof of concept I attempted the intermediary a-stieg to the 29. It failed, but only because the door wouldn't open on the 29, as I ran along side it. Future attempts will not be so thwarted.
The uber-stieg shall be mine.
