IAlam

6 hours ago, 7-express said:

Practically every QM2/20 MCI bus I end up on has the driver blocking the first row with their belongings.  Only on certain buses someone sits up there, usually people the driver likes to talk to.  It hasn't been an issue with the buses I've been on though because they're either carrying less than 25 people or a person is already occupying the seat.

Go those drivers can be some of the worst. All of the NE Queens express buses come from the same pool of bus ops but the rudest end up on the QM2/20 somehow.

I just stopped using it all together and switched to the QM4 even if it is further away for me.

22 hours ago, jaf0519 said:

I have a question. In the draft plan, both the old and new ones, there is a bus that travels the length of 73rd Ave (the QT87 or the Q73). So clearly, they believe that 73rd should have bus service the entire length. But I noticed there are now speed bumps on 73rd west of Utopia Pkwy. Would they remove them if they routed a bus down the street, or would they likely reroute the bus? There is no reason to have the bumps either, since there is already a speed camera on the same block and a traffic light that cars would have to slow down for. This is just one example I have noticed where the city is making driving worse for people, similar to the traffic lights placed at 188th St and 64th Aves traffic circle. If an QM5 was serving Fresh Meadows, the route went from just looping around the traffic circle and making the stop, to having to deal with FOUR traffic lights. 

They bus would probably just go over them, I do suspect the Q73 has a really high potential for a new route but it needs adjustments. 

On 9/7/2022 at 9:15 AM, 7-express said:

Not an issue but a slight pet peeve...the LCD screens on the newer Prevosts are extremely bright.  It's quite noticeable during night time hours when the screens are still set to daylight brightness.  It's even worse when the driver turns off the overhead lights so people can snooze but the display screens are crazy bright in your eyes.  Just something to consider in case others have similar complaints and you want to bring this up to the tech teams.

I usually sit a row in front of the screen so I can avoid the light but yeah it desperately needs a night mode.

20 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I had an interesting experience on the QM5 last night (Tuesday night). I was going to catch the 8:10 PM QM5 to Queens, which I often do on Tuesday nights. There's a big line of passengers waiting at my stop, and I see two QM5's, one right behind the other, on Bustime. I first think it's a glitch, but then I see them both continuing up the route.

First bus comes, and I see it's the usual B/O (Asian guy), and bus is nearly SRO. A whole bunch of people get on and now the bus is nearly full. So, a few of us wait for the next bus, which comes along with only a few people on it. Thank god for this second bus, or I'd have been squeezed in or standing on the first QM5, which has happened before because a lot of people take the bus at that time.

Now, this second QM5 has a smart B/O who takes the QMT to avoid the horrible traffic due to construction on the bridge. When we get to Main Street, I check the tracker and we beat the first QM5 by 18 minutes!

So, I'm first trying to figure out why there were 2 QM5s at the same time (was the second bus really the 7:40 bus very delayed?

Second, can we request the MTA have buses after, say, 7 pm take the QMT instead of the bridge to avoid traffic? It made such a big difference last night. That construction is going to be going on for quite a while from what I can tell.

Honestly, it been pretty bad to the point I'll just pay peak fares on the LIRR now, also with school staring today who knows how bad it'll get. But I've also tried to use the QM21 some late evenings to avoid Queens Blvd and even that saves time over the QM4/5/6. 

On 9/7/2022 at 12:35 AM, RSMG106 said:

Here's something weird. I decided to head to Woodhaven, and went to the first pick-up on the QM12 route (Metropolitan Avenue-71st Road). I waited for the 10AM final trip into Manhattan. When it came time, it didn't arrive at it's time. At first I thought it was slightly delayed, but suddenly the QM12 bus into Manhattan was on the opposite section of the avenue. This means that I wasted this trip for nothing, and I didn't get a chance to ride the express via Yellowstone. As a result, I went back to Woodhaven Boulevard, and took the QM15 back into Manhattan. Based on the schedule, the QM12 that goes into Manhattan starts at 71st Road. I'm assumed that the B/O didn't see me, even though I was at the stop, or that he seemed to didn't care at all, and skipped me. This was the first time that I had this issue when a run skips the first stop on it's route. It is rare, but express operators should pay attention to the schedule, and stop at the first pick-up before going to the other stops, if there is someone at the first stop.

That reminds me of the X63,64,68 picking up at the taxi stand further up the road instead of bus stop at 1st Ave, it seems a lot of express lines have weird quirks that you don't know if you're not a regular, which isn't great for infrequent riders.

On 8/30/2022 at 8:00 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I did reach out today to my folks about this because I've been boarding a number of the old express buses where seats are blocked with personal belongings, which should not be happening. Will continue to monitor.

How has service been in terms of the QMs running on-time?

On 8/30/2022 at 8:33 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

There was a very late QM5 to Midtown (the 7pm). Not sure what the story was.

A couple weeks ago I had a friend take the QM5 to the city on a Saturday (Around 4PM). The bus arrived to the terminal in Queens a little late but still had enough time to make an on time departure. However the bus left over 30 min late to the point I had to tell my friend to go to Union Tpk and take the next QM6, which ultimately beat that QM5. So basically a 90+ min gap in service. Looking back now I probably should have said something then but I was more focused on getting my friend into the city since they we're already 30 min late. 

 

10 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Took long enough! I agree, having the different apps is a real pain

Interestingly, Ive recently spoken to monthly riders who still prefer paper tickets so they can sleep and leave the tickets out so the conductor doesn't bother them

This is what I do, I hate having to wait around for the conductor and just stick it in my seat, and occasionally they don't even collect the ticket.

20 hours ago, Calvin said:

https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/pokey-and-schleppie-awards-these-are-nycs-slowest-most-unreliable-bus-routes?utm_campaign=www.audacy.com%2F1010wins&utm_content=1659979805&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_term=WINS-AM&fbclid=IwAR10Disp9kXxf1XNjSbutP0DCTQcb02n_z6umjHeXgJEVNAVVTz9oG4yuFA

Ranked slowest routes in the NYC Bus system: M102, Bx19, B35, Q32 and S48

Unreliable routes in the bus system: B12, Bx3, Q58, M100 and the S78

16 hours ago, Mtatransit said:

Surprising to me as well, but not totally unbelievable. There is always traffic on the Queensboro, around 59th Street, and in Jackson Heights particularly between around 74 Street - 81 street you have double parked cars/trucks everywhere

Q58 may be unreliable but because of its frequency, I never noticed it

I'm guessing the slowest is done by each boro. I can see the Q32 being the slowest in Queens but not top 5. 

As for the Q58 I recently had wait 40 minutes because of how poor the service was running. It doesn't help when I constantly see packed local Q58's bypassing stops followed by empty Limited buses seeing what's happening but not caring. The really need a dispatcher to be present at Flushing.

On 8/1/2022 at 5:14 PM, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Perhaps some of it might be because of operators calling out sick, but the other thing that tanks reliability is traffic near the GWB. Fort Washington Ave from 181st Street to the bridge can be a real chokepoint, and buses can often get stuck there for long periods of time. It also builds traffic up north of 181st Street on multiple occasions too, making it even tougher for buses to head back down from Cabrini Boulevard. Some days its manageable, but other days it's just downright brutal. 

On 8/1/2022 at 6:45 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

They can't keep using bus operators calling out sick as an excuse. I've been following this situation closely because they've been short operators going back to 2019, which was before the pandemic, when they decided to enact a hiring freeze. That said, they have said that they are on target in terms of hiring more bus operators, so that means that we should be seeing fewer cancellations overall, not more. I don't know what the story is with the local buses in general in terms of how bad it is, but I have heard of quite a few people complaining about excessive long waits.  The other issue seems to be that they don't have enough manpower to oversee operations to address insane gaps in service. How quickly they are addressing that is anyone's guess. There are things coming down the pipeline that I'm not going to discuss here that should better protect bus operators in general, so if they continue with that and take other measurs to mitigate drivers becoming ill, perhaps that will mean even fewer drivers being out.

I might start keeping my eye on that line the next couple of days, it's been more than a year since I've last used it but I wonder how it's doing now.
 

16 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

If anything, the M98 should be re-extended back to 34th Street. It clearly serves a purpose.

20 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

I rode an SRO M98 before N/B in the peak direction, so cutting it might not go over well with its ridership base. I think the route has its purpose because none of east side subway lines go to Washington Heights. 

Even with HRD traffic the M98 is probably still quicker to the heights from the east side vs taking the train to the BX13, BX11 or BX35.

I'd say either 2 things that make the line more useful.

Either cut it to 125th and treat it as a shuttle between the Lexington Ave Line and Washington Heights maybe some midday and weekend service could be added too.

Or just running it back to 34th Street. On a side note it's too bad the MTA didn't consider adding a bus terminal to the Penn Redevelopment project, it'd be nice if there was a proper place for Midtown buses to terminate, there could've been a proper terminal for the Q32, M4, M5, and possibly an M98 that actually ran to Midtown.

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It's very simple. No one is complaining on the local bus side to initiate real change and have people held accountable. That is why I started my group. I got sick of having no bus service to get to work and having to scramble to get home after a long day in the office. If they can get away with not filling trips, they will, which is why I petitioned the City Comptroller for an audit on the express bus side, but they should he audited on the local bus side too. No one is checking to see that the figures that they release about service provided and on-time performance on the local bus side is even accurate. 

Meanwhile, they continue to cut on the operations side because the riding public on the local bus side either stops taking the bus or just takes it in stride.

This it's really sad how poorly some local route run. ie. M98 there are days we're multiple trips just no show back to back with wait exceeding over an hour and maybe a little a 1-2 trips running altogether in the off peak direction on some days. 

Ok so I was looking at the service status of the  and on the suspension of service to Jamaica I noticed this paragraph on the bottom 

Quote

LIRR will cross-honor MetroCard at Atlantic Terminal Accessbility, Nostrand Av Accessbility, East New York, Jamaica Accessbility, Hollis, Queens Village Accessbility, St Albans, Locust Manor, Laurelton, and Rosedale Accessbility. Click here to check LIRR schedules.

https://new.mta.info/map/21841

Has anyone tried to do this yet, especially for trips past Jamaica?

19 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

From what I know they do, but doesn't mean people aren't missing their stop. What is happening with the passengers is they absolutely don't hear the chime when the stop is requested. As an example on my bus last week, someone rang the bell in Manhattan after the last pick-up. No one is paying attention to any bell then, as sometimes people ring it by accident. Turns out this lady wanted to get off in Manhattan (not a regular rider - been noticing people trying to take the express bus a few stops and then get off quite a bit lately) and I guess she didn't know that the next stop wasn't until 230th & Broadway, so we're going along after she went to up the front and asked. Now we're on the Deegan approaching the first drop-off stop. People start ringing the bell. Nothing is indicated on the screens that the stop was already requested and once you request the stop the first time, there is no chime or any noise to tell you after that, so now people are getting up frantically hitting the button thinking the bell is broken. I had observed all of this and just made a mental note since people had been complaining to me about it. The screens continued to play and display ads and everything but show that the stop had been requested. What's really annoying is they don't display anything until you are literally right at the stop. By then you could very easily miss your stop if the driver forgets. What happens is people get up and run to the front thinking their stop will be missed. Any bus that stops short... Forget it. People may go flying. I've seen this a lot lately where people and running up front with the bus still in motion, sometimes not holding on either.

I got a response over the weekend that their tech folks would work on this to reprogram the screens. I have no idea how long that will take, but it is definitely needed. My concern is that one of them is leaving this week, but hopefully the work will continue to fix this mess across the system. Common sense isn't so common, that is that the minute someone requests a stop, the screens should display the alert and keep it up until the stop is made.

As for the removal of bus stops, I expect more of them to be removed that are still actually stops, so if people could get me photos, that would be appreciated.

I'm not surprised it's causing confusion but I do know that a couple do have a bell, I just don't recall where they're based out of. It's been months since I've last been on one so I'm still shocked to here a lot of these buses still don't have one. That being said I wonder why they got rid of it in the first place. Like I'm aware on the earlier version of the prevost ppl didn't the bell because of how loud it was, but I'm surprised they went the radical route of getting rid of it all together. I'm glad I caught on quickly but I guess that shouldn't be expected for most people especially if those screens aren't working like they're supposed to.

12 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Additionally, multiple commuters have complained about the new express buses and the Stop Requested issues. The Stop Requested bell was removed on the new express buses and the screens are supposed to display that information, but are either cycling off or cycling through ads and not showing the Stop Requested alert, leading to passengers missing their stop. The  has been alerted and is currently working to fix this tech issue across all of the new express buses. To my knowledge, is not an issue for any of the older express buses.

Don't the drivers have a light on their dash still? I thought the reason it was eliminated was because the drivers didn't need the big sign in the front where there's a stop request light on the dash that's supposed to light up.

16 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Apologies to @lornaevo and any other CP B/Os on here who are good, hardworking folks trying to do their jobs properly, but...

 

I am FED UP with these CP express B/Os and their bulls*it games of turning off their destination signs and skipping stops. Once again, it happened today in the rain during morning rush hour to Manhattan. B/O of bus 3399 on the QM35 is about to get a complaint. B/O turns on "next bus please" even though I see lots of open seats as he goes by, and he purposely moves into the passing lane so there is no chance of flagging him down. What an a**hole. 

I don't know where these guys get the balls to do this, but it has been consistent since the start of the pandemic. I'll never forgive them for all the times I got passed by while trying to get to my jobs at the hospitals during March-April of 2020. If not for @Via Garibaldi 8 it would be even worse. And they all still take up the first seat with their personal property as if they are entitled to the seat.

Yep I'm glad I've just been using the LIRR as of late can't deal with this crap anymore.

46 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Ahhh. I misunderstood.  I haven't used a Metrocard in several months, but I can't recall ever being charged $2.75 when I did for the express.

I've seen it happen once on the X17 the driver noticed as the first person got on and only paid $2.75 and then quickly changed it.

4 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Of course not, and why are you putting bad and good in quotes for as if to be sarcastic? You can replace that with professional and unprofessional, which is exactly what it is. The driver's job is to pick-up passengers and let them off, end of story.  From my experiences, Queens has some of the least professional bus operators (don't know about local, but express, especially College Point is horrendous) and it is disgusting to see such behavior in 2022, especially what was happening during the pandemic where drivers were looking to see who was waiting at the bus stop, then changing their sign to NOT IN SERVICE and driving by, purposely bypassing people just because of their ethnic or racial background when they were Asian. They are providing service to the public, whether they like them or not doesn't matter. Just pick them up and drop them off and keep it moving. 

From the sexism I have seen where CP drivers clearly go out of their way to pick up women and men have to basically run into the street and practically be run over just to get drivers to stop, to drivers arbitrarily kicking riders off of the bus at 36th & 6th because they don't feel like going up to 57th St, etc. All of that needs to be addressed. That was another reason I started my group. Everyone should get professional service, especially if they haven't done anything to deserve such behavior, and unfortunately I have seen men (of all colors) treated terribly. I saw a heated exchange between a White QM2 rider and a Black driver at 36th & 6th, and I have had a number of Black CP bus operators imply that they were doing me a favor taking me to the last stop when they are paid to do so. I was purposely requesting the last stop just to see what would happen because many riders were complaining about such behavior, so I took some trips just to see what would happen and was appalled by what I experienced on the QM5 and QM6 especially and was sure to speak with the  about it. My experiences when I have needed those buses to commute to Queens has been better, but there is still this hostile attitude with quite a few CP drivers, and that is because management at that depot tolerates such behavior of passengers. They need to clean house there, from the dispatchers to upper management.

I had an exchange with a Hispanic dispatcher at 36th & 6th. He had us transfer to another QM bus and then gestured in a way to show his disgust with me. It wasn't clear if he knew who I was or was just being hostile because of my background, but either way it was unacceptable, as if to say go over there and get the **** out of my face. Sometimes things are done to try to provoke riders, so as I become older, I have learned how to hold myself and not act out. The younger me probably would've read him the riot act, but since I was riding to see what I would experience, I ignored him.

You have a lot of racism and sexism at the  in many forms.

I've had a saying that I hate everybody equally, but when it comes to dealing with people in person, I treat people with respect as human beings. That's all that is needed. Don't need to love people.

Geez I knew it bad but I never even realized it was to that extent, but some of the thign you mention even apply to the locals as well so many times for both express and locals I'd have to be flagging and waving at them on the street to stop even if it's obvious that I want to get on their bus, they just stop on the left side of the street annoyed that they had to stop for me. A lot for them want to get to the other end of the line as fast as possible picking up the least amount of passengers. Honestly some of these ops wanna do anything but their job. That's why regardless of what these final routes look like anyone that get stuck with CP as the operator of their route looses.

5 hours ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

Remember that MTA Bus drivers represented by TWU are allowed to change depots when their routes move. Would a "bad" driver at CP suddenly become "good" just by picking into BP?

To answer you question VG8 basically explains it (highlighted in red), it comes down to management shrugging off bad behavior or actively participating in it. Many other depos would not tolerate half the thing CP ops get away with. 

21 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

BMs to the B67/B69 seems like the easiest option, however I don't know what the headways are for those local routes towards downtown BK that time of night. OP could also stay on the BMs for a few more stops and transfer to the B103 at Chruch Ave/Ocean Parkway.

7 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

Either he maximizes his express bus options (BM/1/2/3) or limit himself to just the BM3.... The former of the two was the only reason I mentioned it.

Ideally that would be the best option like B35 said it's just best he maximizes his options, take whatever comes first and transfer to whatever else comes first. It'll take some time for OP to use bus time and be able to predict the best connections to they'll have to experiment for a while.

The only other option I can think of is going over to 5th Ave and taking the BM1/2/3/4 to Brooklyn and then backtracking on a B41/67/69/103 depending on what suits your needs best.

1 hour ago, Matthew said:

My usual commute home involves getting to Port Authority around 9 PM and taking the subway to Prospect Heights, Brooklyn (a few blocks from Barclays Center).

I hate the subway for many reasons. I would like to know if there is any way to get a bus or any form of non-Subway public transport (even if it is more expensive/takes longer).

There's no easy way to take a bus to that area but the eTix app sells one way LIRR fares from Penn Station to Atlantic Terminal Via Jamaica for $8.75 takes about 40 min excluding transfer time.

15 hours ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

So just moving a route can make it run better? What if the drivers move with it?

The QM4 ran a lot better when it was moved from CP to BP. A lot less missing trips and drivers kicking everyone off at Herald.

IMO it comes down to management, if management doesn't care what drivers do they'll do whatever they want. From my experience with a lot of CP routes some drivers actively avoid picking up passengers by any means necessary, this includes hiding behind other buses on the same line, driving on the left lane, and speeding past other buses (or obstacles) at a stop without checking if passengers want to get on their bus. A couple months ago during winter I was getting the Q66 at night and there were these 2 ladies were running for the bus maybe 20-30 seconds away. I stood by the doorway to ensure that they got on and the op was furious with me and yelling at me for that, knowing damn well it was freezing and the next bus was half an hour behind, and he wanted to take off and leave them behind. If a depo is actively making the customer experience worse for passengers it will affect any line it runs. I've had many instances with CS, JA, and QV ops seeing me running or even walking up to a bus and wait for me. I even had an instance with a QV driver waiting for me even tho I was running from a couple blocks away, but I have and could never expect a B/O from CP do the same instead I see them do the opposite.

I'm not saying every driver at CP is bad (I've seen a couple great ones from there), but most of my bad experiences with drivers usually come from CP and any community that gets stuck with them after the redesign won't have reliable service.

23 hours ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

I feel the same way about the Q25 which not only will absorb all Q17/Q27 ridership along Kissena Blvd but it also take a huge chunk of the Q4/Q5/Q84/Q85 ridership along Merrick Blvd which is absurd. 
It is bad enough buses have a tendency to bunch so badly to the point where you’d have a 30 min gap during rush hour and then finally when the bus does come there are about 5-6 buses running back to back. 
 

I rather them keep the Q10, Q23, Q25, Q64, Q112 and etc the way they are versus making them into the mess the MTA is trying to turn them into. 

9 hours ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

Which won’t make a difference if buses are still bunching up. Even with the addition of bus lanes through Flushing and Jamaica, I still experience moments (mainly during the PM rush) where maybe it’s around 6-7pm and I had to wait 20-30 minutes for a bus to show up. 
I think the best thing to do is to have the Q25 run from Flushing Main Street to Jamaica LIRR, remove a few close stops and perhaps add an all day limited service to make up for lack of Q17, Q27 and Q34 service. On the weekends the Q25 is painfully slow during the day because it literally stops at every stop and it gets stuck behind most of the lights. This is why I opt for the Q44 because it speeds along and even the Q20A doesn’t stop at every stop along it’s route. 

The Q25's problem is simply the fact that it operates out of CP, I haven't seen a single CP route that actually runs efficiently. Routes like the Q17/27 have alwasy run better than the Q25/65 with more consist headways and less bunching. IMO the ability for the proposed Q25 to succeed will probably depend a lot more on who operates the line than the route itself. Additionally it seems like the route proposal is designed to be able to accommodate artic buses so I wouldn't be surprised if it would be slated for artic conversion after the redesign is complete.

I wouldn't defend the proposed Q25 but I there seems to be more going on here than what the proposal alone shows. 

Watching all the people complaining about the proposed schedule for the express trains on the Port Washington Branch tonight yet they actively opposed improvements in the past that would allow for more service. Maybe finally the community will allow for improvements north of Great Neck.

But on a side note the PW branch needed a double track line all since yesterday. It amazes me how nothing has been done about it for this long.

Also with the hourly service on each Manhattan Terminal off peak it's basically useless for me to wait for the LIRR unless a train is about to leave in the next 20 min.

9 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

6033, 6035, 6037, 6039 are all on the Q44-SBS right now. I'm guessing those artics are pretty much fair game for Q44 SBS service regardless of wrap. The SBS artics I'm guessing have a low spare factor and need a break.

Any 60ft bus is fair game on any 60ft line for CS SBS unit pop up on the Q12 regularly and I've seen white and blue's on the Q44's too usually when school lets out.

27 minutes ago, Theli11 said:

 

As someone who takes the M14 regularly, I don't think there's ever been a time where I was waiting longer than 10 minutes for the A or the D. Even before SBS service the M14 might've been slower (especially at Union Sq/4th Av) but never anything unbearable. Yes, there is more Ds then there are As but that's because more people live along Avenue C/D than people that live along Avenue A.  Even when I'm waiting for the M9 (which at times can take 20-30 minutes) at Essex/Delancey I usually decide to walk to the D on Columbia or Wait for the A and walk down 2 blocks. The only times I see the M14A crowded is in the morning going Westbound, outside of that there's not a crowd large enough that warrants you standing on the bus. The 14D on the other hand can be crowded til' 7 or 8 by the time it hits Avenue A

 

Yeah that makes sense I generally only ride the M14 in the evening or late at night, normally the M14A is fairly empty but I've seen some M14D's pretty crowded at night. 

23 hours ago, bobtehpanda said:

What are the Chinatown vans doing these days?

Though, tbh even back in the day going east was kind of a crapshoot. You knew shit was going down if the vans started detouring through industrial Brooklyn streets. LIE gets f**ked up (particularly around Queens Blvd and Corona Park), GCP's f**ked up by LGA, BQE is the BQE, etc.

The Asians in the community take the Chinese vans, which are very well patronized.

They're faster, and cost less, than MTA routes, which is why the X51 failed in the first place. I'm not super convinced that you would be able to convince them to pay more money to switch to slower MTA service.

That is far from true the Chinatown vans serve Chinatown not Midtown like the X51 did. The X51 was doing ok when it ran, it was mainly competing with the LIRR and people taking the Q12  to the . The reason it got cut was the dooms day 2010 budget cuts where the MTA was slashing service left and right to save money they just wanted these people to use the subway instead. 

Quote

The X51, which provided service between Flushing, Queens and Midtown Manhattan, carried approximately 3,000 riders on the average weekday.(typo most likely 340 as stated below.) Average weekday ridership at the 7 line Flushing-Main Street station did increase by more than 500 riders between the fall of 2009 and the fall of 2010. Some of this increase in subway ridership may be previous X51 riders, but this increase may also reflect improved economic conditions.

Src: http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/docs/NYCT_2010_Service_Reduction_Evaluation.pdf (pg112)

From the MTA data along it was carrying ~340 riders a day with 18 trips a day ~19 people per bus. While that wasn't amazing that's roughly on par or better than some other peak routes in Queens.

• QM3         (2019: ~100 per day,   6 trips per day, ~16 per bus)
• QM10/40 (2019: ~280 per day, 26 trips per day, ~11 per bus)
• QM11       (2019: ~370 per day, 21 trips per day, ~17 per bus)
• QM12/42 (2019: ~370 per day, 28 trips per day, ~13 per bus)
• QM21       (2019: ~220 per day, 16 trips per day, ~14 per bus)

Src: https://new.mta.info/agency/new-york-city-transit/subway-bus-ridership-2019

If the X51 was suffering as much as they claimed then they could've easily adjusted it to make it more profitable, ie. reducing the frequency from 12min in the peak to closer to 20-30 min, reducing the service span but eliminating the last trip, and/or combining it the QM3 so that those trips replaced certain X51 trips in order to save money. The MTA eliminated the X51 because it was easier to do so than eliminating former private lines that they acquired. Nothing really changed with the current redesign either. This is a perfect excuse to finally start cutting more express bus lines especially since this time around mess with the former private lines. They want to put more people on the subways because it cheaper for their bottom-line.  

On 6/3/2022 at 11:36 AM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I just took a look at the M14 schedule out of curiosity. They must cut some trips unofficially because there is no way that anyone should be waiting 40 minutes for that bus during the day, which I once experienced. The amount of M14D trips can be two or three for every one, but the M14A is still scheduled to run most of the day every ten minutes or less. I've experienced something similar with the M34 where there was no bus (the M34 runs poorly compared to the M34A) and I just decided to walk since I was only walking a handful of blocks. 

I don't think I've ever had a good experience waiting for any branch of a crosstown route.