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12 hours ago, BrooklynBus said:

If there are so many great alternatives to the B15 to JFK, then why was it extended to JFK in the first place? 

The service planners, at the time, projected that the extension to JFK would, at worst, pay for itself.  And, at best, make the then B10 a more productive bus route.  And it worked like a charm.  There are a significant number of Bed-Stuy residents who currently work at JFK based on the O/D survey results that were released in the BkBNR Existing Conditions Report.

But, yes, I favor the B15 AND B55. We should have our cake and eat it too.

Does anybody know the details of the bus schedule changes for September?

On 4/19/2023 at 8:13 AM, BrooklynBus said:

I went to the Pop up session yesterday at Sheepshead Bay Station and stayed for the entire three hours. First the team stationed themselves in a corner of the entrance near the employee bathrooms away from all the foot traffic with two signs hanging on the bathroom doors. I asked them to move where they could be more readily seen. So they moved outside the station which was an improvement, but still in effective because of they thousands entering and leaving the station entrance in the three hours, they only were noticed by about 100 people and only about 12 stopped to speak to them. One from Government Relations told me she went to one of the bus stops to speak to 12 more since people weren’t talking to them at the station. She said she met their goal of having two dozen quality conversations at these pop up events. They did spend 20 minutes speaking to some people, but it would have been impossible to explain the plan to them without any handouts such as maps. 

So speaking to 400 riders at these events and another 600 at the virtual workshops, or 1,000 bus riders out of the 625,000 daily Brooklyn bus riders or 0.1% of bus riders is considered effective and adequate public participation. Even if they speak to twice as many riders, that would still be only 0.2%. If one of the goals is to make riders aware of the changes, wouldn’t it make more sense to set up a table on the closed E 15 Street outside the station to distribute several thousand one sheet summaries of the proposals for the area with a map on the reverse? The only handout was the MTA website which doesn’t help seniors who are not computer savvy. They also could have used a megaphone to get people’s attention instead of just waiting to be approached. One was angry at me for criticizing them. So do you really believe they are interested in what you have to say?

What I am asking for really isn’t that difficult. This is what the sheet could have said with a map on the back.

“Brooklyn Bus Redesign highlights for Your Area

Swap of B49 B68 Southern Terminals to the B49 goes to Coney Island and the B68 goes to Manhattan Beach.

Terminating the B44 SBS at Coney Island Hospital following the existing B36 route and no longer serving Emmons Avenue and Knapp St.

Rerouting the B4 around Coney Island Terminal instead of serving 86 St.

Shortening the B82 SBS to 25 Avenue, no longer serving Coney Island.

Rerouting of the B64 from Harway to Cropsey Ave.

Discontinuing the B2 and B49 Limited.

Ending Saturday express bus service.

Elimination of many bus stops.

We would like to know what you think of these ideas or if you have any of your own.

Additional details on our website.”

Is that too much to ask? 

 

0.2% is a poor sample.

Philadelphia is calling their redesign Bus Revolution.  Their intent is to reach at least 5% of the overall population.  And each and every outreach event have had at least 100 people attending.  Due to the political climate in Pennsylvania, SEPTA is proposing it to be budget-neutral.  But the people at SEPTA have been honest with the public at each and every step.

This is in contrast to the MTA, which have wanted us to guess what was going on.  We will not be deterred.

On 4/19/2023 at 9:51 AM, Q43LTD said:

There is that B57 that's being proposed for Downtown Brooklyn and Jackson Heights 

Q33 riders currently have a seamless transfer at Jackson Heights.  And this will not be sacrificed.

The B53 is proposed to have overnight service.  This would give the MTA the excuse to cut back the B46 from Williamsburg Bridge Plaza to Woodhull Hospital and the Q24 from Lafayette Ave/Patchen Ave to Broadway Junction.  This opinion could be taken both ways.  In fact, the community is divided on this issue.    The MTA may take advantage of the situation.

But if the B15 is left alone, as requested by the community, there may not be enough room near Woodhull Hospital to effectively turn buses for the B46 Local.  If so, some suggest that the Q33 could absorb, and be linked to, the northern segment of the proposed B53.  But Q33 riders, in Jackson Heights, currently enjoy seamless transferring between the bus and subway.  And this will not be sacrificed.

If it follows the Q32, the MTA would complain about its duplicity with other services.  That is why the B53 may only be the northern segment, with no overnight service.  Greenpoint riders could be shafted.

I hope that this could be resolved.  What do you think?

The MTA claimed that 22 of the 258 stops removed were reinstated.  But that was after a few months. The NYCDOT originally removed approximately 400 stops.

The MTA also claimed that bus speeds are faster.  But what about passenger travel time?  IMO, that has not significantly changed.

And service gaps still exist.  The Baychester Ave Station is still a transit desert.

Inaction speaks louder than words.

Does anybody have an update, as that the Connectli and SCT websites have been down for a while?

7 hours ago, Cait Sith said:

That would make a lot of sense if the Q7 wasn't a thing anymore, along with the neighboring Q109, which covers what the Q51 basically skips.

 The gaps aren't terrible with the Q51. It's far better than what was proposed in the original draft. The gaps between stops doesn't get noticeable until Guy R. Brewer.

 

On top of this, most residents along Linden Blvd don't even want a bus running along there(much like how most people didn't want the Q41 running along 109th Avenue, but the MTA said screw them), so the gaps between some of the major stops isn't all that surprising.

I feel sorry for those residents, because it would be a boon for the surrounding areas. It would decrease passenger travel time between 15 and 30 minutes per direction, depending on the time of day. It would also make bus service more convenient to use.  The status quo has got to go.

1 hour ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

Which they will. 

Not according to the stop list.  The proposed Q51 would only serve major transfer points.  Though going to the Gateway Mall, I think that the Q51 should also serve local riders east of the Rockaway Blvd Subway Station.

But I won't fret, as that it's early in the process.

7 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The  is still taking feedback on the latest draft plan and will be for some time. There is no rush to implement this. I spoke with them yesterday. I told them that there needs to be more outreach on their end. Far too few people actually know that this Redesign is happening and the turnout for the remote meetings was very poor. Almost half of the people at the Zoom meetings were with the , more than the actual public. I was told that there will be in-person meetings coming soon over the summer. Whoever is concerned about the draft proposal needs to be providing feedback TO the . Posting here is not going to do anything if you haven't provided feedback to the  at meetings or via the Queens Redesign website.

I hope that the MTA would have further outreach. But they have said nothing so far.

37 minutes ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

 

That was a separate NYCDOT project. It wasn't part of the Network Redesign because the Redesign hasn't happened yet. 

Yes, it was a separate project.  But this is an indication of what it could happen to the rest of Queens.  The MTA and NYCDOT must be stopped before it's too late. 

5 hours ago, lornaevo said:

10 stops were removed on the Q66 along northern Blvd laser year. 

...and a few on 35 Avenue.

NYCT has to realize that their base is local riders.  If local riders are alienated, NYCT has no hope for their plans to have support.

The proposed Q51 is a no-brainer, except that local riders should be served within Queens.

Remember that express bus service was, is, and will continue to be designed to complement the subway, not compete with it.

I think that when we submit counterproposals they should be practical, user-friendly, and simple and easy to understand. 

By the way, during one of the virtual workshops I read a segment of the MTA New York City Transit Service Guidelines Manual regarding how express bus service is designed.  The moderators tried to shut me down.

When I give an opinion I usually do my research.  I wish to give facts in order to back up my opinions.  I then let people draw their own conclusions. 

In Philadelphia the average distance between local  bus stops is 500 feet, and in the Center City as close as 450 feet.  According to their Choices Report average bus speed is less than 12 mph, approximately 40% faster than NYC. 

Frankly, to claim that the that the distance between bus stops should be more in line with our peers is wishful thinking.

Different cities have different needs.

BTW,  I did my own analysis of of bus stops within Queens.  Solely based on the distances between them, I infer that 95% of the bus stops are fine exactly where they are.

The people of Old Howard Beach and Hamilton Beach want more bus trips.  Unfortunately,  it would mean that their local bus service would become isolated. 

In Howard Beach, people use the Q41 to access Jamaica and Eastern Queens.  The problem is that the Q41 operates mostly on streets that are too narrow for effective service.  After all, the Q41 is one of the least reliable routes in the borough.

Does anybody out there have ideas on how to resolve these issues?

What I  do know is that widening the distance between bus stops along Northern Blvd and 35 Avenue has been a disaster. Many are demanding that some stops be restored.  Can others please elaborate on this? 

1 hour ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

 

Thing :

Is there a way to turn buses abound on NSUH property? (I'm guessing not, given that the N26 was extended to Great Neck all those decades ago.)  

 

Thing :

There is definitely no need for both  and  to serve NSUH, and you'll hear nothing by "NIMBY" from folks on Bates Road and Horace Harding Blvd. If anything, maybe extend only the  along the LIE service road (or the LIE itself) between Little Neck Parkway and Community Drive. 

Then, the Q12 could use Little Neck Pkwy instead of Bates Road. 

7 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

• Absolutely not, those two routes (Q38 and Q72) should not be merged, because Junction Boulevard craps the reliability of the existing Q72. Imagine sending it further out as Metropolitan Avenue & Fresh Pond Road, both the intersection and the respective streets, are not a piece of cake. Also, the demand for the type of service you're talking about, just isn't there.

That's because there isn't a layover area at LGA.  But there will be when the renovations are complete.

5 minutes ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

In the Old Draft Plan, the QT85 ran to Bay Terrace, and the QT51 was rush hours only. In this plan, the Q13 and Q28 both run full-time (as they currently do). 

And I don't think that part of 20th Avenue will cause any problems for the Q76. 127th Street in College Point is narrower and they're still going through there for a couple of blocks. 

But if the Q16 would operate via 32 Ave and the Q28 via 35 Ave it would close that service gap.

3 minutes ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

I don't think those streets are particularly narrow. I'm pretty sure in the old plan, they had the Q23 (Or QT11) running down 44th/45th Avenue which are even narrower.

It also helps that they're only making the turn on/off those streets at 111th Street. So they only have to make it through one block and they're good to go.

Or, the Q58 could use 108 St instead.

Electchester off-peak express bus service may have low ridership, but I think that it would remain viable if the QM5 would be combined with the QM4 off-peak hours with frequencies every 60 minutes or better.

Ridership data also shows that Downtown Manhattan express bus service in Bay Terrace and Beechhurst, during the weekday peak, would be viable.  I would call it the QM9.

I would add at least one express bus stop in Beechhurst, as that I heard that the stops at 160 St & Cross Island Pkwy are safety hazards.

The operation of off-peak express bus service at 90-minute frequencies are a violation of the MTA Service Guidelines Manual.  Either operate off-peak express bus service at 60-minute-or-better frequencies, or not at all.

Because of this, I think that the QM2 should use the weekend routing in Queens during the off-peak and weekends.

The QM15 should be retained Saturdays every 60 minutes or better.

The Q83 should be extended into Nassau County, via 115 Ave/ Dutch Broadway, to serve Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital, approximately two miles from the NYC City Limits.  The eastern terminal would be situated at the Blakeman Field Visitor Parking Lot.

Though some may think that NICE should operate the service, MTA operation would be more efficient.

I think that the extension of the service area to serve North Shore University Hospital was a great idea:
 

Q12 – Extend via Little Neck Pkwy, Bates Road, and Horace Harding Blvd to the North Shore University Hospital.

Q88 – Extend via Horace Harding Blvd to the North Shore University Hospital.

I think that the Q104 should be replaced with a streamlined Q63, via Broadway, between Astoria and the Queens Center Mall, in order to close a service gap.  The Q66 could operate via 36 Ave to Roosevelt Island, and the Q101 retained via Steinway St, Northern Blvd, and Jackson Av.

In this scenario, there would have to be a new route in order to maintain coverage via 48 St, and the Q63 and Q101 would be 24-hour services.  Also, the Q68 would have service span similar to the B24 as that there is no need to add service on the Q68 south of Northern Blvd and in Brooklyn.

What are your thoughts?

If the Q63 would operate, via Broadway and Queens Blvd, to the Queens Center Mall there would be neither a need for the Q52-SBS north of the Queens Center Mall nor have all Q53-SBS trips operate north of this point.  What do you think?