Orbit Bus System – City of Tempe

First time I’ve used it. The bus is was not even close to on time and they decide to shut it down for the asu game. Wtf?! Idiots!

To start, I must say it’s tough to get too critical with free bus service but them again this is Unilocal so here’s the good, the bad and the ugly of Orbit. By the way, we lived on the Earth Orbit so my comments are my personal observations from many rides to and from Downtown Tempe. The good: normally on time, some drivers with go out of their way to stop or wait for you if you are running to a stop, the Downtown End Stop is at the Light Rail and Bus Stops so you can make very easy transfers. The Bad: Some drivers drive like they have a hot date to get to, buses will arrive at a stop and me marked full, if not one gets off, you wait 15 minutes more. The ugly: Homeless seem to use the service for more than transportation, going from one bus to the next. The system is a casualty of a problem that society seems not interested in addressing. All in all, we keep riding and enjoying the fact that we don’t have to navigate Downtown Tempe and find a space to park.

As I was driving behind one orbit bus a second one was on my right side. I was in the farthest left lane and the guy on my right almost hit my car. I had to slam on my breaks to avoid being hit. This was by tempe marketplace that I was almost hit. He could’ve waited until he passed the light to get over and not almost hit me as there was no room for him to move over but he almost hit me to move over. HORRIBLE DRIVERS!!! Almost causing a major accident as it was with tons of traffic around. They suck!

I ride the orbit everyday. I wish to some higher power that I didn’t because there now have been many times that I’m calling my employer that I will be late because each driver leaves at their own time and that’s when they choose not when your trip planner says or when the route is supposed to leave. When this happens I sure hope your not the one trying to catch another bus because you will miss it and hey there won’t be another for 20 – 30 min. Depending once again on your driver… And don’t waste your time calling and making a complaint NOTHING WILL CHANGE!

I love the Orbit!!! It is a great free service for Tempe residents. As a full time ASU student, this service saves me so much money in parking or transit fees.
It definitely has its pros and cons… but can you really complain when it is free and useful?
In addition to using it to get to and from ASU, we have also used it for Mill Avenue and Tempe Marketplace.
The schedule is frequent but not necessarily consistent. It would be nice if it would run later it the day.
It is a bouncy ride, so hang on.
It is quite the diverse group of riders. People watching is never short of interesting.
The drivers, for the most part, are friendly and helpful.
Overall, I love this free service and am very thankful it exists!

Ghetto. Occasional Strange people and smells.

The Orbit is an undeniably valuable service for commuters to ASU like myself. I’m saving almost $ 1000 a year by not buying a parking pass, and I don’t have to spend $ 100 on the student bus pass, either. That said, some things do hamper my enjoyment of the buses.
Scheduling is somewhat inconsistent. They’re supposed to come every 15 minutes, but sometimes I’ve had to wait much longer than that (probably close to an hour) when trying to come home on Mars during the busy 5 or 6 pm rush. At that time of day, sometimes when the bus does come after a long wait it says «Bus Full» and doesn’t even stop. I’d be willing to pay a few cents as a fare if it would guarantee more consistency in the scheduling and more buses during busy times.
The ride is not particularly comfortable. The bus is rickety and shakes and makes noise going over bumps. The seats are squished together and you’re likely to be rubbing thighs with your neighbor. The center aisle is also very narrow and lacking in handholds, and for some reason people refuse to stand in it; instead they cluster at the front of the bus and create an impasse when you try to exit.
The etiquette on the buses is also somewhat lacking. Most drivers are plenty friendly (if appearing a bit weary), but one cantankerous driver yelled at us that we needed to be at the stop 5 minutes early after I jogged to catch the bus as it was about to leave. How can I be there 5 minutes early when there is no schedule arrival time??? The other riders are a mixed bag; some polite folks who are just commuting, some grungy kids who seem to be riding for fun, some super ghetto people who are often loud or rude, and the ever reliable homeless dudes who can stink up the ENTIRE bus. They should add a rule about deoderant and sleeveless shirts to the one about shoes…
It is a free service, so take my whinging with a grain of salt. Overall its a viable option for getting around for fun/​commuting; I would be willing to pay a small fare if it improved the experience, though.

I love anything that’s free! The orbit picks up right in front of my house and goes down to Mill Ave and all over Tempe. It runs every 15 minutes which is super convenient. I’ve never had to wait longer than that too which is nice. My one complaint is that it stops running too early on the weekends. They would save a lot of college kids DUI’s if they would run until the bars close. Hey, I would take it!

Because it’s free it’s helpful. But the routes are to long and winding. One gets car sick. The ride is rough and the windows constant loud rattling is insane. Routes stop to early for most during the heat season. Paying even.25 for this service as irecently propsed is in general a waste of money for most.

FREE way to get around SOME of Tempe. My daughter lives south of the US 60 and there is NO ORBIT there. I really don’t understand why this system only serves some parts of Tempe, but NOT others.
Tempe is now planning on spending MILLIONS of dollars for a slow motion trolly to run down part of Mill AVE, why not expand this terrific ORBIT system to the rest of Tempe instead of caving to a few greedy merchants along Mill AVE???
Now that I have that off my chest, I take the ORBIT a few times per month for shopping and trips to the library. I have seen a lot of students taking the ORBIT to or from school and people getting to and from work.

Very nice service. Gets you where you need to go for free. However, even the scum of the city uses this service as well, so don’t expect roses every time. Some drivers are horrible, some are so sweet it’s painful. Has it’s ups and downs.
Caution: Terrible drivers means TERRIBLE. Had a female bus driver SCREAM at people to hurry, and i mean scream. I’ve even seen drivers refuse to drive until everyone greets them lovingly. Very big roller coaster, but it’s free.

Passed up, again, by an empty bus. I was at a stop. For the most part, I am happy with the service; however, if the bus is in service and is almost empty, the drivers need to stop for people whom are standing at a stop and flagging them down. It has happened once from a Mars and twice for a Jupiter.

Ya know what
i’m gonna be the first and foremost to champion the Orbit bus system
It’s a hero who is drastically unsung
where is your bard oh kind and noble blue chariot? why doth the nightengale sing your praises nought?
For the life of me i cannot, will not see how someone could complain about a bus line that is free! whose drivers are friendly and knowledgable, and whose sole purpose is to serve the community!
You negative nancy SOBs! dont give the orbit anything less than 3 stars! you take those pathetic unwarranted 2 and 1 star reviews back
how dare you!
i dont care how many sweaty hobos i have to sit by!
i dont care how many zonked out crack head overweight very sweaty black ladies w/​no underwear i have to sit by!
i dont care if i have to fucking stand!
THIS BUS IS FREE
but leave it to zonies to piss and moan about everything
dont bogart the love man!
give the orbit some! (not literally metaphorically)

Since I literally live on the Venus line, I think this is a convenient way to travel Tempe. I like that the buses seem to always be clean and running well.
They have not always been consistent for their 15 minutes intervals, sometimes it seems like they skip one or two of the schedules times.
I agree with Mike s. though, they definitely do not run late enough. But I guess you get what you pay for, or in this case, what you do not pay for.

Since nothing at ASU is really free anymore, at least having a free bus system (which won’t be free anymore) is nice to take advantage of. Especially in the summer. unfortunately the orbit, formally known as the neighborhood flash, doesn’t quite make the free part worth it. Sure its nice that it goes to the little areas that you would usually have to walk to, but since it’s free anyone can get on. If you get a good bus driver he’ll probably go the speed limit and stop at the actual orbit stop. Some bus drivers open the doors before they stop as if saying ‘tuck and roll’. I am not trying to get rid of the free service so soon, but if paying a little bit for better service and safety is what it takes… so be it! At least it could fund drivers that won’t be texting and smashing the orbit busses into our brand new light rail system.

I love the Orbit and have been using it more now that the Light Rail has started. It’s a great service, but I really wish the bus drivers would do more to keep obviously drunk homeless people off the bus.
It’s easy, it’s free, and the drivers are mostly accommodating. They just need to start kicking people off when they’re acting a fool.

Since I got back into student mode a couple of weeks ago, I’ve had a chance to get reacquainted with Orbit. Meh.
Here are some observations:
— The homeless drunks still find a way on the bus at 8AM.
— Each driver has their own interpretations of where the route goes, which neighborhoods are flag-​stops, bus capacity, etc. Those interpretations almost never err on the side of good customer service.
— Why so many fuckwads that spend 10 minutes waiting for a bus, only to get off at the next stop? It’s a 5 minute walk. Stop slowing the bus down!
— The bus capacity is listed as 17 seated + 6 standing, and usually somewhere between 23 – 30 passengers will be on the bus as it approaches ASU, depending on the mood of the driver. It is never under max capacity. I have seen literally hundreds of people not get picked up over the past two weeks. They could use full-​size Valley metro buses and they would still fill up.
So, one star because I can’t give it zero, plus one more because it’s free. Though you get what you pay for.

Taking the bus in this land o’suburban sprawl gives me the holier-​than-​thou glee that I can only imagine born-​again Christians must feel when looking down on my sorry soulless ass.
Really. It’s awesome. You can check out routes at
or
.
I take the Jupiter, which runs near my house and drops me a few blocks from the office. And despite others’ experiences, it’s only been sketch-​city once, when I would have sworn a methadone clinic was on my route.
Usually, it’s just ASU students, kooky old professors in orthopedic shoes and a couple teenagers skipping class. And me, the pseudoprofessional sorta grown-​up.
Honestly, I am the scariest person on the bus most days. For serious.
There’s just one drawback, which I’m even loathe to mention, given my far-​too-​earnest desire to have you join me on my route. But alas.
The fucking bus. Won’t run. On time.
Maybe it’s cuz I’m German as all get-​out, but I expect the damn thing to approximate a schedule. And, you know, if there’s a construction detour, it should take the detour consistently, or not at all.
But I’m still giving those adorable little blue buses four stars, in the hopes that you’ll give it a shot.
It’s not bad, I promise. Plus, I really want y’all to support some proposed service expansions, like extending the hours on weekends to midnight or even 2:00 am.
Because at the end of the day, I’m just a drunk looking for a free ride home… and some moral high ground.

I love the Tempe Orbit. The best part is that it is free! Since moving here six months ago, we have taken the Orbit numerous times as it runs right past our condo complex to Mill Avenue. It runs about every 15 minutes, give or take a few minutes… I think we waited once for 20 minutes but it wasn’t a big deal. Even if you aren’t standing at one of the bus stops, you can flag the bus down if you are walking and it will pick you up. Of course since it is public transportation, it offers awesome (and I do mean awesome) opportunities for people watching. In fact, we have even started to notice some «regulars» who are quite the characters.
Minus one star for not running past 10 pm.