news NICE bus GoMobile app downloaded 6,700 times in two months, officials say

[User]

About 11 percent of Nassau bus riders have downloaded NICE's new mobile fare payment application in the two months since its release. Since its June 3 launch, Nassau Inter-County Express' GoMobile app, which allows customers to pay bus fares using their smartphones, has been downloaded about 6,700 times, NICE officials said. As of July 25, customers have used the app more than 21,000 times, and bought nearly 9,000 tickets, according to NICE. GoMobile has also received strong reviews from users. The app has averaged a rating of more than 4 out of 5 from both Apple iOS and Android users. It's obviously very early and we're still in the rollout phase, but we're really happy with all the numbers and all the indicators," NICE spokesman Jack Kzhous said Tuesday. "It's all about trying to improve the riders' experience and make it easier to travel."

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[BM5 via Woodhaven]

60,000..... Jesus Christ. 

 

NICE has made too many trial and error (mostly coming out as errors) situations with their bus system. Unfortunately, with most service now restored to it's former self, with several differences here and there, ridership is at 60,000, compared to 109,000 with LIB (2003), and 101,000 (2011). 

[NY1635]

As long as Nassau continues to maintain the illusion of being a subrubran county, I'm afraid that nothing can be done in terms of improving the bus service out here.

[Hound]

As long as Nassau continues to maintain the illusion of being a subrubran county, I'm afraid that nothing can be done in terms of improving the bus service out here.

I think the 60,000 figure maybe actual riders,while the 100,000 figure is total daily trips. Even so,I don't think any figure can be accurate because due to low morale & the threat of confrontations or assaults by passengers,drivers more than ever are just letting them ride for free. There's also been confusion with the new app fare-payment system,where drivers are just giving them free passes.

[N6 Limited]

I can believe ridership dropped, the n6 used to be sro all day now it's light mid-day. The evenings doesn't help where every bus is packed and tons people can reliably get flagged between 8pm and 10pm if they're if they're in Queens east of 178th st (even 168th st at times.) 

 

On another note,the comments on the article are so ignorant.

[lupojohn]

Does it even warrant an app? As was said above, there have been so many trial and error situations.

[qjtransitmaster]

Haha:

 

It's over nothing can save NICE with comments like that being made about riders. Question if uber had buses and held trainings for uber drivers to learn to operate buses would they be able to overtake many suburban bus systems since the buses would go to where people are going? I admit the parkway network ain't helping.

[NY1635]

It's over nothing can save NICE with comments like that being made about riders. Question if uber had buses and held trainings for uber drivers to learn to operate buses would they be able to overtake many suburban bus systems since the buses would go to where people are going? I admit the parkway network ain't helping.

 

What are you talking about? The people in the comments sound like they've never ridden the buses before, or think that they're too good for public transportation just because they own a car that can take from one part of the island to another part of the island. I think these comments unintentionally show a darker side of Nassau that the local news is afraid to show. If you want someone to blame, then point the finger at the county government and Robert Moses to a certain extent.

[Hound]

 

My Point on Posting This:

 

The important thing here is that we're down from 100,000 daily riders to 60,000 daily riders. We've officially lost more than one third of the ridership that the MTA left us with. I knew ridership had dropped significantly since they posted 94,000 daily riders after NICE's first year, but I didn't realize it dropped this much. This is perfect proof to send to Nassau County who obviously doesn't care that people aren't going to put up with the terrible reliability of NICE and can stop using the bus system to go to the LIRR. Every other transit system in the area around the city gained ridership last year while NICE is just losing it. They're relying on this mobile app to save their ridership instead of the funding that's needed to actually run the system efficiently.

 

 

I don't think so. Given the drop in runs on several bus routes due to breakdowns left and right, the never-ending decrease in ridership on the busiest routes in the system, and from what can be seen just by looking at the system struggling to survive during rush hour, the statistic goes hand in hand with it. Granted the free rides may account for some lost ridership, the statistic is not far off. Given the drop to 93,000 riders the first year of NICE and the fact that ridership loss has increased dramatically since then due to the terrible maintenance and destruction of service levels, the system is definitely under 75,000 daily riders. Compare it with the increase in service that the LIRR saw last year since that's where most riders went.

I agree. In other words-like I've said before-it's because NICE sucks!

[N6 Limited]

I agree. In other words-like I've said before-it's because NICE sucks!

LOL. Even on Sundays now I'm seeing light N6's most of the day except for the morning and evenings when people are going and coming from shopping or work. The N6 used to be SRO all day but now im seeing light(er) buses outside of rush hour. Choice ridership is definitely dropping. People are either avoiding the bus unless necessary or getting cars/rides, lol.

[NY1635]

LOL. Even on Sundays now I'm seeing light N6's most of the day except for the morning and evenings when people are going and coming from shopping or work. The N6 used to be SRO all day but now im seeing light(er) buses outside of rush hour. Choice ridership is definitely dropping. People are either avoiding the bus unless necessary or getting cars/rides, lol.

I think the decrease in ridership as less to do with the n6 itself and more to do with the routes that it connect to. People simply got tired of waiting 45 minutes to an hour for a bus like the n1, or n35 to come and take them to the n6, and decided to find other ways to get to their destination.

[N6 Limited]

I think the decrease in ridership as less to do with the n6 itself and more to do with the routes that it connect to. People simply got tired of waiting 45 minutes to an hour for a bus like the n1, or n35 to come and take them to the n6, and decided to find other ways to get to their destination.

That's an interesting point.

[N6 Limited]

You're correct. The n6 is one of the routes that lost the most ridership since the LIMITED was replaced. Ridership has been dropping ever since on that route and other major routes since the April 8th, 2012 changes.

They should have added the express along with the Limited, The they bypassed most of the ridership at 10 min headways while people were packed in local buses and getting flagged. Did they study ridership AT ALL!!?? Strike 1.

 

They slowly started reinstating stops, but they started with Meacham Ave? Really? The stop that connects to the route which has the lowest ridership of all the connecting routes? Right.

 

They bypass Elmont Road and Locustwood Blvd, as if there are no "reverse" commuters that used the N6 Limited to get to Hempstead. Also, being at the edge of the county Locustwood Blvd benefited from Limited Service in that buses are typically full by the time they reach the stop in both directions, the Limited buses added extra service so that people aren't getting flagged for the duration of peak travel times.

 

They reduced evening service on the n6 to Hempstead and so the buses leave Jamaica packed with flagging as early as 168th street especially if a bus is extremely late or missing like last week.

 

(I got out of the subway just before 9pm and the line is long as hell, the previous bus should have been at 8:45pm so I knew something was wrong. I walked to 165th street and there's like 10 people waiting there. The bus comes, from the terminal SRO. At 168th street the line is is like 80 feet long and people try to pack in, People are left behind and we make a "beeline" for Nassau County because EVERYONE else was flagged. So who wants to wait 20 more mins for the next bus which may or may not pick you up if you're not at the subway station?)

 

It's like they run N6 on 10 min headway all day with seats available because of dropping ridership, and in the evening when people just want to go home from work or school or whatever they have to deal with crap like that, on a DAILY BASIS. If they're trying to be cheap because the load drops off by Meacham Ave then maybe they need to add a short turn.

[Hound]

I think the decrease in ridership as less to do with the n6 itself and more to do with the routes that it connect to. People simply got tired of waiting 45 minutes to an hour for a bus like the n1, or n35 to come and take them to the n6, and decided to find other ways to get to their destination.

The bottom line,unfortunately is-who rides a bus on Long Island if they don't have to?  In other words-captive ridership.

[RtrainBlues]

Is there a link that confirms decrease in ridership in 2013 and 2014?

[lupojohn]

Is there a link that confirms decrease in ridership in 2013 and 2014?

Ask Brett. He seems to be the "expert" on this since he started the thread. 

[N6 Limited]

Seems that this app may have the Real Time Bus arrival information. 

http://www.nicebus.com/Passenger-Information/Nassau-Community-College.aspx

 

 

 

This school year NICE is offering you quick and convenient ways to get to and from the NCC campus. New for Fall 2014:  get to campus quickly with our FREE gomobile App!  It's the quickest and easiest way to pay your NICE fare, get schedules, maps, service alerts, trip planners and coming soon:  REAL TIME BUS ARRIVAL INFO.  Forget quarters or trying to find a MetroCard vending machine....gomobile is the best way to get to class.  For info on gomobilevisit: http://www.nicebus.com/Passenger-Information/Mobile-Ticketing.aspx

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

And on the same page

 

 

 

• n6X – Our  Express route extension from Hempstead Transit Center will provide the fastest transit for students commuting from Queens and western Nassau. The new n6Xpress will depart from Bay 15 at Hempstead Transit and make all stops on the NCC campus. n6Xpress buses will run TO the NCC campus starting at 7:10 am thru 12:30 am, and will run FROM the campus starting at 12:32 pm to 6:00 PM weekdays. PLEASE NOTE, THE n6X will be suspended during winter bread from December 22nd thru January 19th.  For service from the campus to HTC, please use the n16 and n35. n6X Map & Schedule

[1995 Orion V CNG]

Wonder if the MTA will follow suit?

[bobtehpanda]

Wonder if the MTA will follow suit?

 

There are literally dozens of apps that allow you to check the bus scheduling. Why should the MTA waste its time doing something other people are doing for free?

[FamousNYLover]

One lady used GoMobile on my B/O friend's 13:56 n23 Mineola bus yesterday.

[Lance]

There are literally dozens of apps that allow you to check the bus scheduling. Why should the MTA waste its time doing something other people are doing for free?

Also, given the absolutely abysmal results of SubwayTime, I wouldn't have much faith in an in-house BusTime app.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Also, given the absolutely abysmal results of SubwayTime, I wouldn't have much faith in an in-house BusTime app.

SubwayTime is failing because people can't use their phones underground #1, and #2 the lines that you can use SubwayTime for have countdown clocks.  They should've developed the apps for the lines that don't have countdown clocks.

[Lance]

Then they'd be wildly inaccurate. SubwayTime only shows routes that have countdown clocks because only those lines have accurate arrival time data because of ATS on the numbered lines and CBTC on the L. Unless you want scheduled arrivals, the only data that would show up on the other lettered lines is when the next train is arriving at a station. It wouldn't be able to determine which train it is or where it's going because it would be the same system that announces the train arrivals on 8th Avenue and Queens Blvd.

 

My problem with SubwayTime is its multitude of glitches and errors.

[N6 Limited]

I use Transit and it has times for the B division because it goes by scheduled time. Its not always accurate but it's pretty close. 

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thetransitapp.droid&hl=en

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/transit-app/id498151501?mt=8