M42 Nostalgia Bus Schedule

[Cait Sith]

It's typical of the to just throw their hands up and do nothing instead of being active.  So they had a schedule previously and the buses were late... So now they give you NOTHING and you just stand there like an idiot waiting to see when one will show up in the freezing cold.  That sounds even worse to me.  Running anything like that will surely turn people off from even bothering.  Times have changed and the should evolve with the times, yet the consistently do the complete opposite.... The more inconvenient you make things for people, usually the fewer people will turn out.  I don't see this situation being any different.  I will say kudos to the people willing to stand out in the elements and wait for one of these buses to show up.  Better them than me. lol

 

Which brings us back to the point involving the senior drivers that want/don't want to pull them out, which also caused problems because if they didn't pull them out, people would be waiting for nothing.

 

The only people(outside of busfans) that actually ride them, are really M42 commuters. The idea of those buses coming as a surprise seems to get people more than running an actual schedule(which didn't work out for both sides).

 

The interesting quip of it all is that since they got rid of the schedule method, there hasn't been much complaints at all in general in regards to the vintage buses in service.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

The interesting quip of it all is that since they got rid of the schedule method, there hasn't been much complaints at all in general in regards to the vintage buses in service.

Yeah but how many people actually know about them running? Had this not been posted here I wouldn't have, and I'm sure your average wouldn't either, so yes, it's always a surprise to see them running. 

[Cait Sith]

Yeah but how many people actually know about them running? Had this not been posted here I wouldn't have, and I'm sure your average wouldn't either, so yes, it's always a surprise to see them running. 

 

Let's be honest, outside of the news media and their own website, the MTA doesn't post anything about the Nostalgia Trains running...and people know about them or find out from a surprise visit of sorts. I'm sure people know, but don't want to waste time waiting for them or riding them since it is 42nd Street, and the corridor has traffic problems 90% of the time.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Let's be honest, outside of the news media and their own website, the MTA doesn't post anything about the Nostalgia Trains running...and people know about them or find out from a surprise visit of sorts. I'm sure people know, but don't want to waste time waiting for them or riding them since it is 42nd Street, and the corridor has traffic problems 90% of the time.

Perhaps.  Then again we also know that subways take priority over buses these days....

[DetSMART45]

Not going to clip all that I'd want to to solidify my point, but all you MTA defenders/fans are proving the point that the program should just be scrapped.

 

It's quite obvious that the MTA really DOESN'T want to do this program, and completely misses the marketable opportunities for ITS OWN Transit Museum and the whole preservation program they seem to pride themselves on every other month out of the year.  Why else would so many of you cite reason after reason of failures in the program and seem to justify them, and at the same time come up with every excuse under the sun why how the program currently operates (or in reality, DOESN'T) shouldn't be tinkered with toward some sort of being a success?

 

This program should be a well-planned and executed showcase of the MTA and how things have changed regarding public transportation, not only in New York but throughout the country (since the MTA is the only agency with this type of program operating under its auspices) -- and they should FIRST AND FOREMOST be selling it to their own region.  If they're not even willing to do THAT, then there's even more reason to question all of the funding allocated to the museum/preservation programs period.

 

And maybe that's just what SHOULD happen.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Not going to clip all that I'd want to to solidify my point, but all you MTA defenders/fans are proving the point that the program should just be scrapped.

 

It's quite obvious that the MTA really DOESN'T want to do this program, and completely misses the marketable opportunities for ITS OWN Transit Museum and the whole preservation program they seem to pride themselves on every other month out of the year.  Why else would so many of you cite reason after reason of failures in the program and seem to justify them, and at the same time come up with every excuse under the sun why how the program currently operates (or in reality, DOESN'T) shouldn't be tinkered with toward some sort of being a success?

 

This program should be a well-planned and executed showcase of the MTA and how things have changed regarding public transportation, not only in New York but throughout the country (since the MTA is the only agency with this type of program operating under its auspices) -- and they should FIRST AND FOREMOST be selling it to their own region.  If they're not even willing to do THAT, then there's even more reason to question all of the funding allocated to the museum/preservation programs period.

 

And maybe that's just what SHOULD happen.

I have to say I agree.  I mean this is an example of how they could be working to turn around bus ridership in general.  They need to start somewhere.  We have a new generation of people coming up that are literally turning their backs on buses, and the hasn't stated how they plan on addressing that.  As a kid I certainly remember being taken to some of the bus events in Downtown Brooklyn and even was taken to the nearby museum.  It's nice to look at buses, but we need people to actually ride them too.

[R10 2952]

Not going to clip all that I'd want to to solidify my point, but all you MTA defenders/fans are proving the point that the program should just be scrapped.

 

It's quite obvious that the MTA really DOESN'T want to do this program, and completely misses the marketable opportunities for ITS OWN Transit Museum and the whole preservation program they seem to pride themselves on every other month out of the year.  Why else would so many of you cite reason after reason of failures in the program and seem to justify them, and at the same time come up with every excuse under the sun why how the program currently operates (or in reality, DOESN'T) shouldn't be tinkered with toward some sort of being a success?

 

This program should be a well-planned and executed showcase of the MTA and how things have changed regarding public transportation, not only in New York but throughout the country (since the MTA is the only agency with this type of program operating under its auspices) -- and they should FIRST AND FOREMOST be selling it to their own region.  If they're not even willing to do THAT, then there's even more reason to question all of the funding allocated to the museum/preservation programs period.

 

And maybe that's just what SHOULD happen.

You hit the nail on the head.  But the MTA apologists on these boards will do anything do justify the status quo- it's absolutely pathetic.

[nostalgia]

Let's be honest, outside of the news media and their own website, the MTA doesn't post anything about the Nostalgia Trains running...and people know about them or find out from a surprise visit of sorts. I'm sure people know, but don't want to waste time waiting for them or riding them since it is 42nd Street, and the corridor has traffic problems 90% of the time.

Then run the bus on the M50 which has less traffic.

[Around the Horn]

Then run the bus on the M50 which has less traffic.

The M50 has to go through Rockefeller Center which is arguably worse.

[IAlam]

It's typical of the to just throw their hands up and do nothing instead of being active.  So they had a schedule previously and the buses were late... So now they give you NOTHING and you just stand there like an idiot waiting to see when one will show up in the freezing cold.  That sounds even worse to me.  Running anything like that will surely turn people off from even bothering.  Times have changed and the should evolve with the times, yet the consistently do the complete opposite.... The more inconvenient you make things for people, usually the fewer people will turn out.  I don't see this situation being any different.  I will say kudos to the people willing to stand out in the elements and wait for one of these buses to show up.  Better them than me. lol

 

 

Let's be honest, outside of the news media and their own website, the MTA doesn't post anything about the Nostalgia Trains running...and people know about them or find out from a surprise visit of sorts. I'm sure people know, but don't want to waste time waiting for them or riding them since it is 42nd Street, and the corridor has traffic problems 90% of the time.

 

I won't refer to the other previous stuff cause it's to far back. It's not worth wait 30min up to an hour if you're at a terminal, in the freezing cold for a 20 min bus ride. 

 

It's actually not worth it.

 

People talk about how the holiday train gets a lot of usage, but not the Holiday bus, there is a reason for that. When you can predict where it will be, people can actually make the effort to catch it. However in the case of the M42, it just when it comes. (If it's even running) the current way the MTA is running the buses is so inefficient, the only way I'll ride it this year is if I get lucky at this point.  

[Daniel The Cool]

Then run the bus on the M50 which has less traffic.

That traffic on the M50 is pretty bad during the Holiday Season.

[DetSMART45]

I won't refer to the other previous stuff cause it's to far back. It's not worth wait 30min up to an hour if you're at a terminal, in the freezing cold for a 20 min bus ride. 

 

It's actually not worth it.

 

People talk about how the holiday train gets a lot of usage, but not the Holiday bus, there is a reason for that. When you can predict where it will be, people can actually make the effort to catch it. However in the case of the M42, it just when it comes. (If it's even running) the current way the MTA is running the buses is so inefficient, the only way I'll ride it this year is if I get lucky at this point.  

... or is it because people tired of waiting see a train, say "Fark it, I'm tired of waiting", and just get on anyways?

 

Gotta have some of those type of riders with the way the subway system operates these days.

[nostalgia]

There's complaints about too much traffic on the M42 and M50. There's less traffic on the M66. But then there will be too many complaints it's not midtown. So how about a different route: a truncated M4.

 

From Penn Station, left on Madison, left on 42nd, left on 5th and regular M4 back to Penn. No stop on Madison beyond 40th and no stop on 42nd Street. First SB stop is at the public library on 5th.

 

This route avoids Times Square, the Bermuda Triangle of Traffic. Timekeeping should be better.

[IAlam]

... or is it because people tired of waiting see a train, say "Fark it, I'm tired of waiting", and just get on anyways?

 

Gotta have some of those type of riders with the way the subway system operates these days.

True but that can apply to anything I once had an via 6th ave and more ppl got on compared to a typical train. 

[DetSMART45]

There's complaints about too much traffic on the M42 and M50. There's less traffic on the M66. But then there will be too many complaints it's not midtown. So how about a different route: a truncated M4.

 

From Penn Station, left on Madison, left on 42nd, left on 5th and regular M4 back to Penn. No stop on Madison beyond 40th and no stop on 42nd Street. First SB stop is at the public library on 5th.

 

This route avoids Times Square, the Bermuda Triangle of Traffic. Timekeeping should be better.

All good points, but it's not really going to make any difference.

 

The only reason that the MTA does this is because of a "touristy"-type factor, but they don't really want to do it anyways (just go through all the fanboys' reasons for justifying such crappola outcomes).

 

Even with all of the pitfalls of doing this type of program in Manhattan, the MTA -- somehow -- can't see its own hand in the dark when it's still on the end of its' own arm.  Funny, though, how real "tourist" buses wind their way through Manhattan traffic on a daily basis, have their own "schedule", pull cash in and satisfy their customers (because if they didn't, they wouldn't be out there to begin with).

 

The MTA knows Manhattan (and the other boroughs) very well, and they pay their "planners" very well also.  They just don't want to capitalize on something they'd much rather have sitting idle in a depot or on a museum floor.

 

You get what you pay for.