As a first time Dokomi goer... can someone explain to me wth is up with the buses?
Hello! I went to Dokomi for the first time and, being from a much bigger chaotic city like Rome, I have a inherent trust for German public transport (except trains, I know DB lmao) compared to where I live, since the Roman bus structure is notoriously a machine built for torture.
Well... I was really shocked to see what happened during the convention days, so I want to ask you local people why these things happened and if it's normal, or if I misunderstood:
The 722 line is the only line that from the center goes in front of the expo area. Yes we should have picked the U-Bahn instead (and we did later) but still it seemed like bus service was not enhanced at all. Here when there's a big convention they add more buses to critical lines. In Düsseldorf it felt like they didn't, some German people said also that the buses were just the same as usual. What also didn't help was the German driver whining in german on the loudspeaker... but I digress: were the bus lines left to die like this, no effort?
Still on the 722 theme, returning, with the con closing at 20:00, we tried to get a bus back by 21. It was too crowded but the driver said "there's another one coming"... well, he lied, no more buses. Does the service shut down at 21:00? Because the Rheinbahn app also just had buses disappear at 21. What the hell is up with that? We waited 1hr then went to walk to the u-bahn, no way to figure this out beforehand either really. Maybe the small "text for ants" paper schedule on some of the stops. Weird.
Is it just me or opening the con at 13:00 is complete insanity? You have everyone just pile up in the middle of the day and collapse public transport. Normally cons open at 8am so the crowds are diluted (early goers get in, cosplayers need time to prepare so they go at different intervals, it's much better). Of course the con opened earlier on the other days but 10 am still feels dumb.
how tf do restaurants in dusseldorf not recognize the massive profit loss from shutting down at 21 when the con closes at 20? I was almost never able to eat. You can't plan a single dinner unless you just abort the con early, which you're not really going to do if you can only access it so late in the day... seems wild to just let that much cash burn, to me. It'd be wiser to close for lunch and have an extended dinner schedule. It's forbidden by law I guess?
This is more for the Duisburg people... wtf is up with Lapadu closing off half the parking areas with no warnings by like 8pm!? We couldn't get out and had to improvise, it doesn't appear to be written anywhere...
And that's all. Just curiosity really. Thanks for tolerating such a huge con messing with y'all schedules!
