NY1635

Ronkonkoma: Get's service increases after the Third Track is completed. Babylon Branch: The elimination of Express Service to Penn Station and All Local in Queens. Service East of Amityville gets reduced. Oyster Bay Branch: Reduced to a Mineola-Oyster Bay Shuttle during Peak Hours, no express service to Jamaica West Hempstead: Extended to Jamaica with transfers to the Long Beach and Far Rockaway Branch at Valley Stream eliminated. Montauk Branch: Between Amityville-Montauk with Jamaica Trips during Peak Hours and Special Services Only. Belmont Park Branch: Outright Eliminated in favor of giving the Mainline and Hempstead Branch special stops at the New Station being slated to Open in 2021. The LIRR would rather solve the crisis by building a terminal similar to the one at Mineola. They wanted to make Bus Terminal over at Great Neck but the Mayor rejected it out of fears of the traffic it may bring around Great Neck Road at Station Plaza.

I'm used to Command Bus Lines, Jamaica Bus Lines, and Queens Surface, and LIB's old color scheme. The new color scheme looks good during the day but doesn't show well at night.

Any route that operates out of GWB. It's just so nice and pleasant.

I've heard that there were protests in Buffalo this week among the Car People who want the Governor to lift the lockdown. This is despite Mayor Deblasio getting flanked for his tone deaf idea to hold a parade in NYC for Nurses. The Governor is too reliant on Trump to tell him what to do and the Mayor is a day late and a penny short of managing the city thru a crisis.

LIRR ridership has dropped following the Covid-19 Outbreak and Nassau is one big health hub. All the Health Care Workers go to Mercy Medical, LIJ, North Shore University Hospital, Winthrop, South Nassau Hospital, St. Johns Hospital out on Far Rockaway and all the other Care Centers spread out on Nassau and Suffolk

Public Transit will Survive the Covid-19 crisis. It just needs paper pushers and data entry workers to make it out the crisis. I've been making guesses because the MTA is supposed to be restructuring their entire operation. I can only guess that the railroads, buses, and subways are competing against each other for resources to keep the city afloat. My case is that I do have a good idea what's going on, but the Governor and Mayor fighting over everything really makes it hard for me to figure out what's wrong with present day New York.

This seems like a normal day in New York to me. I've been complaining that I can't really rely on my New York instincts to work and really need to plan things ahead of time thanks to a lot of rule changes made over the past 25-30 years. The Governor pretty much got flanked by a Queens Native, a Bronx Resident, a South Brooklyn Native all running for office in Washington. I didn't factor in John Liu becoming State Senator though. The point remains that New Yorkers are very hard workers and the concept of appealing to Albany (a capital city with a history of corruption) was never going to work.

The biggest problem with New York is that all the "Good" Mayors tend to work better under an economic crisis and pull out all the stops to keep the city running. Cuomo Jr. is a bad governor in the sense that he has an economic crisis that threatens the city's future and Deblasio is useless. Lindsay would've have a plan ready for Covid-19 while figuring out what to do for after the shutdown. Cuomo's flaws are becoming more apparent with each conference where he's too reliant on Trump to get him out of the shutdown. He pretty much alienated the people who would be of use to the MTA like Byford, and Lhota, and Helena Williams. They're not coming back to rescue the MTA for a crisis it created.

I kinda figured that when I saw youtube clips of NJ bus drivers counting bills while driving on the Holland Tunnel and NJ Turnpike at high speeds.

Nassau bus riders tend to be disrespectful to their drivers to the point that they had to hire security to guard the n6, n31/32, and n16 heading to Social Services at Hempstead Transit Center to stop passengers from fair beating and assaulting bus drivers or put dispatchers at Roosvelt Field to catch the farebeaters on the n22/24 bound for Jamaica. LIRR tends to hire motormen and conductors who look like street punks to intimidate suburbanites into paying the fair. I think the n40/41 drivers are the only ones who shrug it off as the customer having an attitude problem and just keep driving till Hempstead, Mineola or Freeport and don't stop anywhere. SI takes disrespect to a whole different level where they will outright disrespect the bus driver and destroy the bus in a fit of rage. I can see why the MTA is to reluctant to send buses down there. SI is full of aggressive hotheads. I do apologize for bringing up Nassau, but a lot of Nassau drivers would've pretty much start driving fast on the Gowanus/BQE on a SIM bus if customers start being disrespectful. NICE has the meanest bus drivers in the entire state.

The problem with NICE stems from them not being sure what to do with the n70/71/72. The route was created under the LIB to be pretty much a Hempstead-Newsday/Sunrise Mall/Babylon route. Under NICE the n70/71/72 is pretty much the Hempstead-SUNY Farmingdale/Airport Plaza at Conkin and Sunrise Mall route. NICE reverted the n22/n24 back to LIB service levels without the 22A/X/Limited or splitting the n24 at Roosevelt Field. I suspect that after the country is reopen, they will just opt to make the n20 one route with short turns at Roslyn like it was in the 80s, and just get rid of everything east of Roslyn for the school period. I've been told by older residents that Hempstead Turnpike as once a massive highway akin to 110 but the it's been narrowed down around Elmont and Franklin Square, or around NUMC to allow Pedestrians to Cross and reduce crashes. As for fleet, NICE's problem stems mostly from getting rid of the Orion Vs in favor of the Orion VIIs, and now trying to get rid of the Orion VIIs in favor of New Flyer. Nassau is the same county that complains about using school buses when the JFK Flyer was just a school bus with different colors. Suffolk will at least maintain the Gilligs and use them past the expiration date. That statement is meant to be serious because Long Island is home to car people who own a car from the 50s, 60s, and still drive them on the road.

A lot of Teachers in New York State have a Masters Degree to teach. They've taken issue with Mayor Deblasio and the Chancellor for putting them at risk. I think Dr. Phil was the only one who spelled out that it's not fair that the entire country is shut down because most of the cases are coming from the New York and New Jersey area. He pretty much stated that people's lives were ruined by a one size fits all plan when only two states and the surrounding areas had the most cases of Covid-19.

Didn't Andy Byford just up and quit the MTA because the Governor kept trying to play hero? I don't know how Public Transit in NYC will survive. The point I was trying to make in other boards was that people's traveling patterns have changed over the past decade and so has the city. It's actually hard to pretty much come up with something resembling a back up plan in case one of the subway lines or bus lines shut down because there's more focus on streamlining with little to no turns. Schools are closed and it's hard to find a teacher who is willing to go back to work because they don't want to be glorified baby sitters with schools as a day care center. I've tried looking for a College Professor but it's just STEM, Common Core, and Power Brokers. This crisis is every Economists and Political Scientists worst nightmare. Not so much for the Social Studies, Math, and History teachers. It's now a test to see who's been paying attention during Social Studies class and not listening to talk radio.

NICE really wants to bring the N36 back. They're more concrete about using 30ft buses for the route as opposed to 40ft buses. The N25 is no longer laying over at Broadway and Langdon, it, lays over at the Station Plaza. That's what I meant. I bought up the n24 and n51 because the biggest trip generator in East Meadow is Nassau University Medical Center and Nassau County Correctional Center. The problem with both routes is that NCC once again changed the way buses enter/exit the campus. It's now enter at Charles Lindbergh in Both Directions, serve Student Union, Bradley Hall/Bookstore, the Endo Loop (That's what they call it now), and exit on Endo Blvd. Most Old Maps I found shows the N51 staying on Merrick till Stewart Avenue, then traveling west on Stewart to enter Roosevelt Field. Both aren't too far out. Far out in East Meadow would be going all the way to Newbridge just to serve the shopping centers.

I'm not ignorant, I just don't know how the MTA in general is counting ridership in general. I have to guess they are using computers but aren't using people to double check their math or rounding. It's hard to be accurate nowadays and all the MTA seems to want to do is make neat and clean images.

No, I've seen and crews get off at Jamaica on 179th Street or Parsons Archer after they finish their run with the intent of going home. Considering both lines have homeless people sleeping on subway cars, I don't blame them. In the 's case, the MTA really wants to keep it as the Jamaica at Hillside and Parsons Local/Express to Lower Manhattan. I forgot they got rid of the R-32s in March, the one subway car that can pretty much run from Jamaica to Lower Manhattan without any trouble. Those new Subway cars made it too easy for the homeless to sleep in.

Why is the MTA using Microsoft Office and Windows Vista to announce stops and do busing? I am convinced that people don't want to work in the city because they don't want a video conference with the MTA on top of the meetings in their offices. All this does is Vindicate the RTS GMCs with their simple signs and basic seating. Can't they at least go for a simple Clever Device and voice recording? Any sane bus drivers will start announcing stops at major intersections. I'm convinced that the bus drivers for the MTA either went to NJ Transit or SCT because the MTA is too reliant on the internet.

How is the B32 gaining ridership? It's the only new route that seems to gaining riders in the area it was intended to serve. I am not concerned about the X27 and X28, and B37. Bay Ridge Residents have said that they dislike the train as a means to get into Midtown or Lower Manhattan. I don't think they'd care much if the X27/X28 gained more hours while the is reduced not serving stations south of 59th Street after 9pm...

I've taken the to and from MSK and I can safely say that it's useless. Your stuck waiting at Lexington Ave and 63rd deep below street level for the R-46 or R-160 Jamaica bound to show up. The problem with the SIM is that the express routes are just short turns or the same route number via a different streets or neighborhoods. The Q46 is a different subject, hospital workers at LIJ don't like the route. I've been up there and a lot of LIJ workers like to joke that the bus is late despite terminating inside the Hospital while the n25 and n26 went to Great Neck and came back. Union east of 188th feels like a chore to get thru for a hospital worker trying to head back into the city. The biggest problem with Queens seems to be traveling north/south on a bus past Hillside Avenue or Hempstead Turnpike that doesn't involve 2-3 buses and a subway. The point I'm making is that Queens residents love to complain about the trip taking 2-3 hours The commute from SI seems to take 3-4 hours without express buses.

The LIRR doesn't care about it's falling ridership or it's riders. They are using the shutdown to pretty much get the Third Track Project as soon as possible before the next Islander's Game, Broadway Show, or the Bars start opening up. Those LIRR have it better than the subways workers and bus drivers in that they have reasonable hours with no complaints about working double shifts. They don't need cars because they don't need to get rid of the coffee and junk that clutters the cars. The Long Islanders are stuck at home driving around their shopping centers to make trips to the market. I am waiting to see how the Governor is going to explain this one to Long Island because news are focusing on the rats of lower Manhattan and Midtown being empty, or homeless in Penn yet no drunk Islanders fans at Brooklyn or Manhattan getting into a brawl on the LIRR. The one good thing the shut down did is get rid of Long Islanders and keeping them on the island with their cars only parkways.

I've worked at MSK on assignment, and I can safely say that hospital workers and patients are the ones who use the Express Buses in high numbers in both Brooklyn and Staten island. The M66 and 53rd/60th Street Shuttles are the only buses they're willing to put up with. Queens has it marginally better in that they would rather opt for the Q32 to at 59th Street or Q60 and 101 when it decides to show up to enter Queens just to avoid the Subway. The city isn't re-opening because the Mayor shut down schools for the year and parents now have to scramble to find a babysitter. They can't leave the child alone to watch television and play video games despite NYC kids being adjusted to do that and go to the park by themselves, come back before 8pm. The Mayor safety proofed the city. I told my employer that I forgot the city banned trans-fats, large soda cups, and greasy foods under Bloomberg. The restaurant industry that I worked in is closed primarily because tourists don't want to be scammed out of paying $15-20 dollars for something they can make at home or buy at Costco. It can be argued that Trump and Bernie Sanders pretty much exposed New York's money making scheme by running for president. In short, New York has been exposed as the city of J. Gatsbys and Circus Ringmasters by the media.

The Rockaways just don't like the subway. The Beach Channel and Far Rockaway side is upfront about wanting the Q52, Q113/114 to get on dry land while the Rockaway Beach and Nesponsit/Rockaway Park side wants the Q53 for Queens and Q35 for Brooklyn. The is more for people on the Arverne by the Sea, Far Rockaway by St Johns/Cornaga, and Long Beach Residents who want the subway. I am saying this because the MTA really wants to make the Q22 more like the n33 (Queens-Nassau local) or the n69 (The Seaside Community Line). It doesn't help that the n31/32 is used more by Queens Residents living Far Rockaway and Lawrence/Inwood more so than the Q113. I am still surprised to see Far Rockaway Residents wait 20-40 minutes for the Q22 to B.116th to get into service post Sandy Rebuilding. They just went from waiting for the bus to show up at B.21 by the terminal to waiting for that same bus to show up at B.20 and Cornaga with the 22 being way behind schedule. The is the only thing in the Rockaways that seem to run just fine.

NJ Transit loves their buses more than their trains to the point that they will keep buses from 2000 on the road till they break down. It's better than the alternative of taking the Train from 34th Street, Newark-Penn, Secaucus, Jersey City, and Newark Airport just to enter the state.

This seems like a route Suffolk would come up with to get people out of the Hamptons and into areas near the border of Nassau County. The problem with Suffolk County is that they love their 2-3 hour bus routes and will give it a Gillig. They leave Speed primarily for getting north/south on 110 or Nichols Road while their east/west routes can take their time going thru the county without traveling at fast speeds. Its on odd inversion of NICE where every route is just rushing to get from point A to point B with the n16, n23 and n20 G/H, and n25 being the only routes I can think of that travels at a slow pace as to not disturb the NIMBYs who don't want the route in their neighborhood. The point I am making is that Suffolk seems to have a massive respect for their routes that Nassau residents at least west of Hicksville don't. This is coming from someone who lives in Central Nassau where people really yearn for the n6 and n70/71/72 to go back to the old days of speeding on Hempstead Turnpike and stopping at Elmont Road, Meacham, and NUMC and 110.

The city simply doesn't want plainclothes detectives at every major transfer point with state troopers on local and state road, red light cameras everywhere, AND NYPD handing out parking tickets. A lot of Bronx, Staten Island, and Brooklyn residents will just destroy the brand new buses faster than the Depots can fix them.