Shuttles

It would behoove them to seek assistance from a consulting firm that specializes in transportation engineering to come up with a solution to maximize the efficiency and routes of their shuttles.

That shuttle looks like

There is no route efficiency to improve upon.

The guest shuttles are on demand. They do not run a route, anyone that sits and waits for a bus to show up at a location doesn’t know how to use it. You pick up a phone (or press a call button at newest stop by premium RV sites) and you tell operator where you are and where you’re going. Dispatch sends out a call, the closest of the drivers with availability on their bus, will call back and take the pickup. The driver then decides the best route with the stops he has for the people on the bus.
There are the following stops:
- Hotel Breakers
- Main Gate
- Marina store
-CP Shores
-Resort Gate
-Lighthouse Point Store
-Lighthouse Point pool
-Lighthouse Point restroom/ Sandcastle

The fastest route from point A to point B, is whatever point B happens to be. Not some imaginary route that is fouled up by traffic and congestion.

lol: "there is no route efficiency to improve on" says the guy who, without a touch of irony, outlines the very inefficiencies I noticed before making my suggestion. There are buses constantly circling the island, transferring employees. All of these buses run with additional capacity. It is the very definition of "inefficient" to require a bus to leave the breakers, pick up a guest at the front gate, and drive that guest back to the Breakers every time a guest makes a call. It is especially inefficient considering that Cedar Point already has 3-5 buses circling the park all day any of which could offer a ride to a guest at the front gate seeking to go to the Breakers. Predictably, responses have taken a turn toward the absurd.

What’s absurd is thinking they need an outside consultant to “improve” efficiency, IROC really did a great job with efficiency.

You oddly think they send a shuttle from the back of the park every time someone wants to go to the main gate, they do not. The park did a lot to reduce the need to go to the main gate (renewing/getting passes at any ticket window instead of season pass center) there’s now very little if any reason to go to the main gate from the resorts. The shuttles are there mainly for resort/marina guests.
To think a route based system would be effective for guests is ridiculous given the natural traffic congestion on perimeter road.
It’s even more ridiculous to suggest putting guests with employees in the same busses.

I think in the end it comes down to the simple fact that the park, or any park for that matter does not want guests using the same shuttles as employees because it would simply be poor customer service and a step down in the quality of experience they want to provide. No matter how "inefficient" it may be.

And the park has deemed that the current shuttle set up/schedule works. The reason they don't have a consistent guest only shuttle looping the perimeter is the fact that there is probably little need as stated before to have it. If there was a need for it, if there was a demand for it, it would exist.

It's like public transportation. When I was growing up, my town had a bus that looped the city, going between the major commercial and industrial areas and looping through the residential. Every stop picked up every 30 minutes. Then it was reduced to every hour, then every 2 hours. As demand dwindled so did the service until it was finally canceled about 5 years ago. This was a service that ran for almost 60 years. But now, there is no need. So like that example, I'm sure they evaluated their need and decided it wasn't needed and the best and most efficient form of shuttle service is an on-demand service.

edit: I live in a suburb of about 25,000 people, so not a large city by any means.

Urumqi said:

All of these buses run with additional capacity.

That does not mean that there is a more efficient solution. For all you know they are already at peak efficiency, even with "spare" capacity. After all, trains are efficient in part because they prioritize timing ahead of capacity.

But again, all of this "efficiency" talk is moot. The fact (that has been pointed out numerous times) is that having guests sharing rides with employees is a terrible idea.

djDaemon, your statement that I am assuming that the park is not running their buses at peak efficiency is one of, if not the only, true statements made above. I am, in fact, making that assumption. The inverse, however, is also true: we do not know that the park is running their buses at peak efficiency.

And, unlike a few of the experts above who apparently "know" Cedar Point's motivations for why it makes particular business decisions, I do not know if it is a "fact" that Cedar Point is adverse to having guests and employees commingle on buses, that it determined doing so would somehow diminish the brand, or that it decided allowing such commingling would decrease the value of a guest's experience. What I do know, however, is that I would personally not mind sharing a bus with staff and cannot imagine how doing so would decrease the value of my experience.

Urumqi said:

...we do not know that the park is running their buses at peak efficiency.

Why would you assume they don't strive for efficiency? And as I said above, you have an incorrect, narrow view on "efficiency". You are assuming the most efficient solution is to maximize utilization; for this type of transportation, it's not.

The most efficient outcome is to maximize guest satisfaction by providing expedient and comfortable shuttle service around the property. Stopping to pick up some exhausted, sweaty employees is not in any way helpful toward that goal, especially because that inevitably results in guests not being able to board a shuttle that is now occupied by employees. It's a terrible idea.

...I do not know if it is a "fact" that Cedar Point is adverse to having guests and employees commingle on buses...

Right, that's why Disney has an elevated, illuminated platform where they have cast members hauling trash and restocking stores, and also why they encourage the guy in the Mickey costume to just take the Mickey head off, like, whenever. Because guest immersion is not a thing..

djDaemon said:

The most efficient outcome is to maximize guest satisfaction by providing expedient and comfortable shuttle service around the property.

Lol, I actually had the idea to share buses as I sat at the marina stop after waiting 48 minutes for a shuttle, making three calls to “customer service” requesting a shuttle back to the breakers because my 6 year old daughter was “in need” of a break, and after watching four employee shuttles pass the bus stop with a combine total of three people riding those shuttles. Haha, where did everyone on this forum receive such conviction with their opinions? I need some of that conviction. As it is, i’m stuck just trying to explain my opinion :(

From my point of view maybe efficiency is not the best word to describe the problem. How about customer convenience. For example, we had a 7:30 reservation at Bay Harbor we go to the Shuttle Stop at Lighthouse Point Restroom at 7:05. At 7:15 we see a shuttle pick up at Lighthouse Point Office. Then the shuttle heads to Breakers. Then at 7:30 we watch a shuttle come back into Lighthouse Point going towards the Pool. We call dispatch to make sure they have not forgotten us. Yep, they have us down for a pick up. The bus from the pool comes by and picks us up. Off to the Breakers we go. Drop off at Breakers. Dispatch calls for a pick up at the Resort Gate. So now we are headed to the Resort Gate. I ask the driver if he is headed to the Marina because we have a reservation at Bay Harbor. He said nope he needed to stop at Lighthouse Point Office for a drop and then he was headed to the Marina. Finally at 8:10 we arrive at Bay Harbor. Very Frustrating.

If you don't see a need for some type of route system to allow guests to have somewhat of an expectation of pick up and arrival times then you don't ride the shuttles often.

Also to note, we had my 85 year old parents and since they have locked down parking in the Breakers and the Marina we have no choice but to use the shuttles.

Thank you Amaze, now I don't feel so crazy. And, I am open to your suggestion of substituting the use of the term "efficiency" for "customer convenience"

All the employees were being shuttled to housing off the peninsula, which means if you were to board those you would be going in the opposite direction of Breakers which would take you just as long or longer to get where you wanted to go. None of the resort shuttles go off property (IIRC, Express and Castaway don't have a guest shuttle, but correct me if I'm wrong). That wait you described was ridiculous. I don't think combining them would solve the issue, there's obviously something like a dispatching issue going on there.

Okay. Let’s assume off of 2 experiences that the park has absolutely no idea how to effectively run their shuttles. Pay no attention to the unpredictable perimeter road traffic and let’s just post a completely unattainable schedule route that says we will be at point A on the hour and point B at :15 after the hour, when there is absolutely no way in hell with the grace of god for them to achieve set schedule and then wait for the complaints.
There is a single 2 lane road that feeds literally thousands of people into the resort and RV area of the peninsula, traffic jams are going to happen when there are that many people driving in limited lanes.
It is beyond idiotic to think you can try and make a scheduled service when there so many traffic variables that can throw off any set schedule.
As far as the reservations at bay harbor; it’s not the first nor will it be the last reservation at any restaurant that was not seated on time, to think that it was going to be devastating to your dining experience is ludicrous in any fine dining establishment. Life happens, reservationists are missed, tickets aren’t filled, orders are misplaced, the world still turns and the sun will rise tomorrow.

You live in your little world. It is amazing how the world has evolved and made things better. For you excuses. It won’t work because of perimeter road. Lol. Glad you are not working in Logistics or Supply Chain.

Evolved and Amazing how?
Tim Cook, one of the most recognized supply chain experts in the world, runs the most valuable company in the world with cash on hand greater than the GDP of most countries and he is unable to deliver iPhones in a timely manner even with all the technologies and evolution that has made things so much better.
The airline industry has been running schedules for their sole business purpose for over 60 years and still rarely hits 80%on time, and that’s with experts on staff and unimaginable amounts of government funding.
And there is Government funded and controlled Amtrak (no need to add anything).

So Cedar Fair, a regional amusement park chain, is supposed to be able to change the laws of physics, solving traffic congestion that has plagued major cities (which have civil engineers on staff) for decades, outperform the airline industry by running a free service bus stop schedule on a single two lane road with thousand of people using it each day?

It is 6:55pm. If able, check out the webcams camera #1. The parking lot is packed to the gills. The Marina lot is full, they parked on the grass near the booths. I can see some Shuttles operating on Perimeter Rd. near Valravn. We left at 3:00pm and the inbound traffic was three lanes back to the Sunflower field. There were several employee busses/shuttles in that bottleneck. Good luck getting on any rides.

When I book an airline flight I have somewhat of an expectation to my arrival time. When I use the shuttle system at CP I don’t. I have come to expect it. Not sure where you missed that... In your little world as GP it can’t be improved upon because of perimeter road. But hey, you can’t reason with anything because you know it all. Must be tough thinking in a little “box”.

Amaze, did you get seated, I hope?

It would be good if you followed up with a complaint about their shuttle service and your reservation. If this is a chronic issue, it would be good for them to follow up and figure out a plan for better shuttle service. I am sure with all CP has invested in making it a resort, they wouldn't want to lose a potential repeat overnight customer with this kind of performance.

jimmyburke said:

It is 6:55pm. If able, check out the webcams camera #1. The parking lot is packed to the gills. The Marina lot is full, they parked on the grass near the booths. I can see some Shuttles operating on Perimeter Rd. near Valravn. We left at 3:00pm and the inbound traffic was three lanes back to the Sunflower field. There were several employee busses/shuttles in that bottleneck. Good luck getting on any rides.

My husband and one of our sons went this afternoon/evening and got their Gold Passes made with the print-off. They said "everyone has Gold Passes" here and it was so packed, even Iron Dragon was over an hour wait. The only thing they rode was the Sky Ride. I guess they just ate and walked around.

Apparently, the Gold Pass sales are going over well.