Mtatransit

And people who vape as well. They don't think any rules apply to them either

Forced demand is exactly what I would call it. And I experience that personally. Rather than risking a transfer at Mineola, I would just stay on the n24 to get into Queens (NICE bus is horrible at coding their transfers, so bad that during the start of the n20 split, I was routinely double charged on the NYCT side, so bad I started adding $2.00 on my Metrocard just for NICE and paying the rest with coins and requesting a paper transfer instead. the paper transfer still codes wrong bus, but at least I have something) The only passengers transferring at Mineola going westbound are probably those who got on in Westbury and heading into Queens or somewhere along Hillside, and even then, the n22/24 is interchangeable. people going to Mineola proper will probably walk, and people at RFM will wait for the 24 I think for a while NICE had the n22 Limited go through Glen Cove route instead of through Herricks/Mineola. With the current split, I wouldn't mind if half the service go to Mineola and the other half go to RFM through Glen Cove Rd. It should be popular considering the fact that the other alternative is to take the n24 The n22 ending at Mineola always doesn't seem right to me, from my experience pre-split, the n22 was always the "long distance" route, carrying passengers from Queens/Subway out to Mineola, RFM and as far out as Westbury versus the n24, which a higher amount passengers use locally along Jamaica Ave/Jerchio than the n22. Sure there is still the interchangeable effect but, people going to Queens prefer the n22 (or atleast I used to prefer the n22 over the n24) Well maybe abysmal is a bit of an over exaggeration, but from the looks of it ridership declined significantly for that station since LIB days (though you can argue that for all NICE routes). On many n22/24 trips there are no boarding from Mineola IC. I wonder what happened to all the Mineola - RF trips. It seems like they all but disappeared. Could be due to the pandemic, I don't know RR - Bus connection is overall non existent there (the only routes I do continue to see this happen is the n23) . This is a trend that started well before the pandemic. Since NICE began it seems like, the LIRR and NICE had been more so of a competitor than LIRR - LIB was with express routes here and there. The station layout doesn't help matters too. not just from construction, even after the construction there is concluded there seems to be fence/barrier blocking you from walking directly from the bus terminal onto the platform. I'm not sure that Wantagh will ever warrant two routes again. The way I would have the buses serve that shopping center on Woodbury Rd will probably be a rerouting of the n80 up there, or rerouting the n48/n49 away from Broadway Mall (I mean commons) and serving that area instead Regarding Syosset, I would have a route go down Jerchio Tpk and Rt 106 instead with maybe a deviation to SUNY OW and Jerchio Quad or something then continue on to Hicksville' But overall that area is very car dependent and I would imagine would garner very low ridership

SIGNIFICANTLY more reasonable once you cross the city line, same thing with MNR, much more reasonable fare from Fordham than GCT. Zone 1 (and even Zone 3 for LIRR) tickets are horrendously overpriced, and doesn't even provide free subway transfers as extra sweetener. (Before COVID you could take a bus trip all the way to Boston if you book in advance for the price MNR wants to go to New Haven). The price for Stamford- Fordham is half the cost it is to GCT. What I like to do when fanning SCT is to take the bus to Babylon, and buy an intermediate Babylon - RVC ticket for $3.25 and take the n4/ the rest of the way into the city. if you take it one stop more to Lynbrook (ignoring the fact that a lot of Babylon train skips it)it will cost almost double the $3.25. Never really sure why Lynbrook is in Zone 4 when the rest of Babylon/Long Beach is in Zone 7/9 I wouldn't try to transfer to anything SCT related without a huge buffer or an alternative travel plans. The schedules are laid out way too tight (probably because haven't changed since 1980s) Made the mistake of trying to catch the PJ Ferry using SCT. What was intended to be a 10 minute layover turned into a minute and a half sprint to the ship Regarding the n79, its a shame, I used to use that route to fan SCT northern routes out to Smith Haven etc, now I primarily go through Sunrise Mall, and once through Farmingdale State

Yeah I rarely see operators radio requests anymore. SCT is starting to have less of a small town bus feel to it especially compared to 10 years ago The 15% increase, not sure if its already approved? That is assuming the county increases it contribution, which I am not sure they are willing to do. If not that means there will be a 15% cut in route mileage/service hours to make up this increased runtime

I am sure 90% of New Yorkers won't believe you when you tell them the subway system runs on a schedule That being said, the MTA can't even deliver on the current 12 minutes frequency on most of the B Div routes, instead it comes every 15-20 minutes, and worse as it gets later Not sure moving equipment around is going to get service out faster. We need more operating crews. I have always argue that weekday service should be scaled back slightly to boost weekend service back to acceptable levels I normally have no issue with homeless since that has been a daily sight on the even before the pandemic. What I do have a problem with is the increasing amount of homeless/non homeless, smoking god knows what in the subways cars/in stations. Nobody wants to smell cigarette/weed on their way to work/home. Find my self moving cars multiple times because of it.

I was thinking about something like this This routing would cover most of the old N95 and connect it with the Hicksville LIRR station. It would add purpose to the n78 other than being a "n79 short turn" Would not have it serve the WW shops though, want to keep it focused on serving these industrial parks It would also add a connection to the S1 which I'm sure is the reason why some passenger uses the n79 to get into Suffolk today.

I'm not sure the idea of bring the n21 back into Flushing is a good idea, ridership is not usually between n21's unique portion and Flushing, but more so of between Roslyn/Great Neck and Queens in general (not necessarily Flushing) I do support however, having some new Roslyn short turns skip Great Neck LIRR and running it directly into Flushing. Ridership loss, seem to be especially drastic for this segment, when the split occurred. Still wouldn't have anything going over the Northern Blvd Viaduct skipping the Clock Tower though That being said, the old n20 had a really poor OTP and was extremely unreliable. Not sure if it had to with the general NICE bus during that era, or the traffic/length. Probably both The n24 main ridership are those in New Hyde Park/Garden City. Hard to see a n24x catering to these riders. That being said, I could see some Queens - Nassau border stops eliminated for this route Regarding n22x, from my experience riders usually use it between Queens and New Hyde Park Rd. If they are not off by that point, they are most likely traveling to Mineola and east. (A testament of LIRR's ridiculous overpriced service) I think the n24 should be the Mineola bus and the n22 should be the RFM bus. I would even go as far to say that maybe some n22 should skip Mineola completely and operate the old n22A routing via Glen Cove, and have the n24 do the segment between Mineola and RFM via OC. There is some ridership from Westbury on the n22 going to Mineola AREA though, otherwise I would prefer all the n22 to go through Glen Cove Rd. Probably the reason why NICE split the n22 at Mineola vs RFM. I find Mineola IC/Bus Terminal's ridership abysmal these days for the n22/24 (at least on the days I rode it). Most of the ridership there seems to be on the n40/41.

Welcome to New York City

SCT really need to redesign its schedule when the redesign is implemented. I took two buses and both of them were late. I don't know how the driver does these tight turnarounds day in, day out S40 the trip into Babylon arrived at 4:28, with a 4:30 departure. The trip out to Patchogue arrived at 5:29! with a departure out of Patchogue at 5:30. The S61 arrived in PJ Ferry at 6:28, with a 6:30PM scheduled departure. On paper most of these routes have a 5-10 minute layover, but the schedule is usually extremely tight. One bad traffic, or one wheelchair passenger can mean the bus will miss all of its connection at Patchogue or Babylon. Its good to see that SCT has some sort of transfer system at Babylon and Patchogue where most of the buses leave and arrive at close to the same time (although I am sure they will not wait for any late arrivals so not exactly a pulse system)

That area is very residential, so there would be significant pushback from the community. I was thinking maybe a moving passageway (you know like the one MTA took out from Court Sq) would work better. Its not too long of a walk between the end of the mezzanine area for the QBL (at 73rd St and 71 Street for the new station (Although it is a guarantee that the station next to the BQE is closer to the 69th St Station on the ) So either an overpass to 69th Street over the BQE or a tunnel to connect the mezzanine of the QBL

Queens to Bronx train. Sounds great to me,if they can get the station built that is. Although I would prefer Northern/51th as well. Now if Metro North doesn't classify that Queens station as a zone 1 station, it would be even better, since it could potentially open up significant reverse peak potential up to Bronx/Westchester/CT (more so than Queens-Penn Station)

If you were to ask me, I would prefer most of the Hillside bus routes to end at the current terminus at Parsons Archer with a couple of routes going crosstown along Hillside/Jamaica Avenue, ending at Sutphin Blvd instead of terminating them at 169th. Of course these routes will still serve the stations. The way they can go about it is to have all the purple routes terminate at 169th/Parson Archer, and have one red (frequent bus) cross Jamaica. Like combing the Hillside with the Sutphin bus instead of combining the Hillside and the Merrick Bus The current network except for a couple of routes, serves the subway pretty decently, but not Jamaica proper.

While income does play a role in farebeating, the more society/lack of enforcement allows it, the more prevalent it becomes. On Staten Island, I see people who don't look like they are low income in Mid Island/South Shore fare beating as well. Same goes with any Manhattan subway station. People are so used to farebeating that some go right towards the door expecting people to open it for them. They might as well make the buses/trains free on the entire island and just charge a transfer on the ferry. I can guarantee you that more than 70% of the people that pay, will probably /or already have paid on the subway. The people who ride within Staten Island, they walk right in. Gotta say, it makes the buses go so much faster that nobody needs to dip their MetroCard. Some drivers still do this in Queens to this day. Even saw a couple of students being kicked off the bus for using their Student Metrocard on a holiday weekday. So it depends on the neighborhood. But elsewhere, haven't seen operators do it for a while now. At least SI have local bodegas that do sell Metrocard. In large portions of Nassau the closest couple of machines are at Hempstead Transit Center, and you don't see farebeating anywhere near the rate it is on Staten Island, and the buses still don't take OMNY to this day. Same goes with Bee Line, where there is no machines in the entire Westchester County minus the LIRR/MetroCard machines that sell you a MetroCard with a rail ticket. So I don't really buy that excuse. And people who ride NICE are also not that much better off than people who ride SI locals I see more people not paying their fares in Suffolk than in Nassau. But unlike SI, at least people give a sob story in Suffolk. I mean I am all for expanding the eligibility of fair fares to cover more people, but not the current progressive narrative that people should be allowed to farebeat and suffer close no consequences, or making the MTA "free".

Been trying to get the MTA to do something about fare evasion for months now. Still don't see any action, while 3/4 of the passengers on the bus don't pay in Staten Island. I do like your idea however. But the sense of entitlement I seen in boarding buses for free, makes me tilt more towards harsher fines than just getting off the bus and getting on the next one for free. I guess its better than nothing From my experience, Manhattan has more farebeating passengers than Queens. Could be where I am (Jackson heights) most people transfer to the subway anyways. But even in major hubs, such as Flushing, the amount of farebeating is nowhere to the tune of people not paying at say St George or along 125th Street or at "The Hub". (one of the reason why buses are so slow through Flushing (too many people pay!) versus half the people walking by the driver/entering through the backdoor. I don't understand why race has to be part of the discussion. Plenty of minorities cough up the $2.75 each and every day to pay the fare. If they pay, they won't get a ticket, simple as that. I mean if you really want to catch some "non-minorities" just take the S79 along Hylan Blvd or the S74 south of Eltingville. Fare beating is prevalent down there as well. Honestly I think the entire SI system should just be a proof of payment system at this point. Activate the OMNY backdoor reader, Metrocard/coin passengers board through the front, dip and take transfer which is valid for 2 hrs of unlimited ride within the borough

I suspect Bee Line have a "pulse" or timed transfer for all of its routes (that are still running) at the Trans Center at 10:10PM/10:11PM If you look at the weekday time table for 6, 13, 20, 40, 60. All of these routes converge at the TransCenter at around 10:10/10:11PM. Seems to be the only interval that does this

I am glad Jackson Height residents spoke up. The proposed changes in that area will decimate bus service in that neighborhood. The 74th Street Shuttles works wel as it currently stand, and there should be few modifications to it (except maybe the northern part) - The frequency I had in my mind was every 15 minutes service on the QT88, with the split Howard/Hamilton beach getting service every 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes today - Nope was being sarcastic in how their PR team usually operates - I think the theory from the MTA is that if they do a mass stop removal, riders will only fight to get "some" of the stops back, therefore still cutting, yet pretending to listen, kind of like the 2010 service reduction add backs after the public hearings - The problem with three legged transfers is that people don't know about it. Its not a uniform systemwide policy. The only people that will know about it will be the people that were using the system when the change occurred. Kind of like the CRT tickets in NJ, how many people still use it when transferring between 62 and 48 vs just buying a transferZ? So yeah I agree it should absolutely be universal, or even better timed based. - Not saying every route should be routed through Jamaica, but there should be at least some that do. Not everyone is heading out to the subway there. I was thinking of at least extending some of the express purple routes to the LIRR station from 165th Street. There should be more of a centralized transfer point in Jamaica for passenger coming west of Jamaica to continue onto routes going east of Jamaica, and so forth

( A) I mean if we are going to have a route on 35th Avenue anyways, might as well keep the Q33 and Q49, which both are doing excellent for a route its length. Like I said before, QCM can simply be served by an extension of the Q29 up to Northern/81st. I can see the current Q32 or (QT61) ending at 74th Street. (B ) The issue I see is that the Astoria Blvd bus QT81 doesn't really need to serve 108th Street, especially considering how poor the ridership currently is on the Q48, and the duplicative other service proposed to serve it The QT58/QT6 idea, I agree with the proposal (A ) In my opinion thats one of the better changes in this plan, The demand for Woodhaven local is significantly greater north of the than south of it, both for Q11 branches and Q21. They don't even need to extend the QT83 into Lindenwood in my opinion, it could just end at Pitkin Ave like the current Q11 short turns, that is only IF they operate QT88 with decent headways. I don't mind the routing for QT88 at all, as long as it serves Lindenwood proper and runs better than every 30 minutes off peak. (B ) conveying the MTA's ability to come up with whatever BS they can to justify whatever they want. Took it right from my mouth There seems to be psychologically a huge barrier when it comes to bus transfers, both time and financial. Passengers are much more willing to change trains than buses. Might be because as bad as the is, nothing is bad as waiting for NYC buses, which are slow, and worst of them all unreliable and sometimes infrequent. Force everyone to get out of the station and reswipe into the station to transfer to the local/express, and I guarantee you will see less people transferring between local to express. Especially if you offer them only one free transfer. Something definitely need to change regarding the fare media. Something with the Jamaica Bus network that always bugs me is the lack of Cross Jamaica bus service. Unfortunately this plan doesn't really solves this issue. Its easy to get TO/FROM 179th Street/Jamaica Center from the east but if you want to get further into Jamaica, you'll either have to take the subway a few stops or walk. Just look at the amount of service east of 165 St compared to the west of it. No issues for the purple routes from me. As long as there is a proper local supplement (even with reduced stops), and proper service span/headway. In fact, NICE bus has been doing this ever since they look over from the MTA, all the Nassau routes used to pick up/drop off every stop in Queens, and now NICE only picks up at select Limited stops in Queens. Their stop spacing (esp on the n4 which is getting ridiculous, but it seems like the people adapted, so maybe we can find a middle ground here) Well bustime actually discourage me from using the bus more often than it encourage me to do so especially when you see the next four buses bunched 30 minutes from my stop To be fair, NYC has way too many bus stops, that I wouldn't mind if they cut some of it. Out here on Northern Blvd, there was major stop reductions on the Q66. While inconvenient, eventually everyone seems okay with it. Definitely don't imply having limited stop spacing for every route in the city (which the Q66 in some case do now), but some cuts are definitely necessary

Exactly, that is what I was pointing towards, From my perspective going from Queens to any borough except Manhattan is almost impossible, hell in some area of Queens going to the nearest subway station is a hassle to get to. Many times its faster to go via Manhattan to get to Brooklyn or the Bronx, especially considering the fact that it wouldn't really save anytime transferring at Court Sq because its so close to Manhattan anyways... especially if you just miss a train Other than the there is almost nothing else really connecting the two boroughs, just a patchwork of bus systems Same goes for Brooklyn, passengers currently trying to travel between the lower parts of Brooklyn say on the to somewhere say Bay Ridge, currently have to either rely on a slow crosstown bus that will get them there in about an hour and a half, or take the train all the way up to Atlantic-Pacific and transfer there, also taking about an hour and a half, and you wonder why if people have the means to do so won't take mass transit Mass transit is king in NYC, but only for travel to Manhattan and select subway corridors going towards Manhattan (N-S travel in Brooklyn and Bronx, E-W travel in Queens), elsewhere car is still the best way to get places...

Queens riders and Brooklyn riders don't deserve to ride the ever slow buses crosstown because there is no train heading in the DIRECTION they are trying to get to.. One could argue that Central Bronx has subway somewhat close by, while Queens riders don't have anything closeby. The Triboro could be used by residents to transfer onto the subway toward Manhattan, as well as used as an alternative route, such as when the Culver is down pax can use the West End, to a transfer station where the Triboro can take them to the Culver. A couple of rush hour trains down Lower Montauk is more of a waste of money than the Triboro... not only do you have to activate PTC along that portion of the track, reactivate the signal system, upgrade the tracks, build legitimate stations, etc. Furthermore a couple of rush hr trips to LIC will not cut it. This is Queens, not Dutchess County. "A couple of rush hour trips" will not serve the demand there, the entire current LIRR schedule doesn't serve the demand there. Well maybe those communities do want to go to Queens, otherwise the Q44 would've been cut a longtime ago. The only reason why there is not as many commuter going down there could probably be explained by the complete lack of service to there. People currently drive down because of the lack of mass transit If you ask ANYONE in Queens, not a single person will say they want LIRR service to the Rockaway or Lower Montauk, especially when a peak ticket is 10.25 or something obscene like that. If you use that example, I could say Central Bronx is adequately served by the Metro North? I can not see why you act like its all or nothing. Triboro RX is more realistic than the twenty-thirty of billions that the MTA will pour into the SAS by the time it gets to the Bronx, that is especially considering the fact that the MTA build its current 125 Street Station on Lexington instead of 2nd Ave

I don't really mind a light rail. Its the infrastructure that is more important than the vehicle. If you don't have enough passing sidings for two way operations, no matter what kind of rail you have, the service will be crap

I would argue that the Triboro Express will help more people per mile spent than the Bronx SAS. Not saying that the Bronx SAS is not feasible or anything, its just that this will have a quicker impact to commuters than waiting 100 years for the MTA to break ground into the Bronx. Plus it gives Brooklyn and Queens something they don't have currently, a east-west train line in Brooklyn and a north-south train in Queens

Then we will be waiting until 3100 And nobody wants to wait that long. Triboro is an option because its easier as the tracks are already there, and there only need to be be infrastructure upgrades (significant ones). Don't underestimate the MTA though, it will still cost 10 billion dollars

Then I see less value in having a direct service. At least not at the expense of 74th St riders. Potential ridership loss north of Roosevelt Ave will far exceed any potential new ridership ridership riding through from QCM/Elmhurst gained through a one seat ride. Maybe they can plow some of their savings from rerouting the QT61 onto 74th Street, into extending the current Q29 up to Northern/82nd so there still remains a one seat ride to QCM for most JH riders. But I have this feeling that the MTA don't want to operate duplicative service despite planning to operating three service on the weakest corridor today (108th Street) All of the routes in the area serves as subway feeders, and they serve their intended purpose, it is like Bee Line deciding to change the 39 Hartsdale Bus (a railroad feeder bus) and combining with another route that serves a whole different purpose. The majority of the currents Q49 bus is east of 82nd Street, closer towards 88th St/35th Av and/or along 89/90 Street, so rerouting the present day Q33 up 35th Ave wouldn't save the current Q49 ridership. The Q49 (future QT74) serves its purpose today, and really doesn't need to be changed, aside from its northern terminus, at East Elmhurst/102 where it provides way too many empty miles along Astoria Blvd. I think that route should be MORE of a residential to subway shuttle than it is today, The Q49 should be rerouted to make a left on Junction from Astoria, and serves northern Junction Blvd and end at where the current Q33 terminates. I am also not wild in having a bus all the way from Columbus Circle into the deep residential areas of JH. Most of the ridership even on the current Q47 (in both directions) is at 74th Street. By having a bus come from Manhattan and dealing with Queensboro Bridge traffic, buses will be extremely unreliable by the time gets 74th Street. I rather they just extend the QT4 up 74th Street instead With the QT34, we can officially said goodbye to the n26 as well as a third of n25's current service. Good for the MTA, really bad for NICE. That I agree with the plan, its good they finally decided to remove the Q32 or QT61 from 5th/Madison, and onto 59th Street. This way passengers can head uptown without going through Times Square When MTA is trying to cut service to duplicate corridor the justification is transferring is good, when they are cutting/combining service the justification is they are trying to serve new markets. Pretty smart reasoning I gotta say

Nope, You didn't get the memo that the subway and buses are now free citywide? People are "so broke" in the city, that its unconstitutional for people with the latest iphones to afford the world most expensive subway at $2.75 because if they paid they wouldn't be able to afford food. He unfortunately made two mistakes, one was either he was high/drunk, and two while impaired made the choice to illegally enter the system. It was unfortunate that he was so young... way too young to go, but he made a mistake, and he paid the ultimate price for it.

Short term I agree, cuts are needed so a consistent schedule could be maintained. But these should be temporary and have an end date. They can evaluate long term ridership over time. But their track record is not promising. For the past 10 years, all there is on the bus side is service reductions, either because a route was converted to artics and cut accordingly, or not met their guidelines so it was cut. And when there are service improvements, there are usually more cuts on other lines. Do we need to evaluate our peak service offering? Absolutely, but lets make sure we don't give the too much leeway to take service and not give any of it back!