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I already asked about express ride and was told it's completely excluded but, there still isn't any information about transferring between express buses and local buses/subways. It'd be much nicer if there was more information on the edge cases so people understand how it works.

Makes me wonder, especially with the timing of the order with the original bus redesign plans, if they we're expecting to downsize the fleet.

Q32 This bus seems to always be near many destinations I typically go to in Western Queens and Midtown. It may not be the most reliable but it is definitely the most convenient route for me.

Oh boy I have a lot to unpack here First let me mention when I "suggest" these changes they really aren't changes that I want implemented and more of things that I thought they missed. The reason I said the QT31 should have gone to QCC is because QCC can serve as a minor hub and provide more connections within the neighborhood and QCC is one of the bigger ridership generators in Eastern Queens as aside from a place like that may students aren't just going to and from Flushing or Jamaica, They could just as easily want intermediate destination that aren't served by the existing routes, in an area like this the purple routes are not just subway rushers but also local buses because the MTA neglected to add a local variant of these route. I have other issues with the QT31 but I'm not going to get into them as more against the plan as a whole. Also routes like the QT71 has other issues where it avoid major ridership generators in the south. Ie Green Acres. Routes like the QT64 & QT65 really won't be pulling much ridership north of the LIE. While I would say their existence is completely a bad thing, What is bad is that there is no alternate route to Flushing. Essentially forcing everyone at to either go to Jamaica walk a long distance to another bus, make an extra transfer, or take an inefficient route than what they have today. The additional time spent walk and waiting for the connection will often negate any time saving you'll have. Also I haven't seen a single line in my area with majorly improved frequencies or service hours or run time. Which is what I thought the whole plan was trying to improve. Yes while you're right there are many places without redundancy there is nothing wrong with adding it. While you're also right about a delay on Kissena affecting the branch portions. You're over looking that some branch portions can recover faster than others College Point route already has reliability issues on a normal day combine that with a delay the whole corridor is screwed over. No lets say you have the Mitchel Gardens branch too. While at first it's screwed over too, it will recover much faster than College Point and riders on the Kissena corridor would be as screwed over as one of their lines are able to run. Unlike having one route where not only is the branch screwed over but so is the corridor. Additionally reduandancy can take the form of 2 separate routes taking different paths to ultimately get to the same destination. Where an issue on one route doesn't affect the other. Especially when we live in a day an age where drivers are short all the time, and it might take years for this to recover, having different route run by different depos can make a big difference. Frankly I don't even know why all the express branches got shoved down 46th Ave as that street is congested enough as it. If anything they neglected streets like Booth Memorial which generally run traffic free. As for the subway redundancy that was just an example of why redundancy is useful to exist. Also I have issues with the QT75 ending at Bryant Park but like before I'm not getting into specific routes because I have an issue with the plan as a whole. Yes and it get's worse when its a green and blue route. *Cough* Main St. *Cough* and when you have routes the like QT51 no good alternative and peak only. This has been the biggest issue so far. Also thank you @Cait Sith and @B35 via Church for making a lot of my point for me albeit, in a much nicer response than what I originally intended to say. You both mention how being shifted over from the to the should be that big a deal, but it neglects shifting from the to the that's a bigger deal. You can easily go from to but not from to . Maybe bringing some form of the Q42 back might help but since the plan came without it those people would be have more annoying trip. But the thing is if you miss the SIM4X/SIM8X you can just take the regular SIM4/SIM8, that's not an option for a lot of these buses the local version doesn't take you to the end of the route like the express versions do. While that does exist on some lines under the current system this takes that issue and makes it a whole lot worse. Also I know the bus time thing didn't start with you but bus time is not a solution to this problem. It is an already existing tool not something new that will change how we ride the bus. If the bus routes had a structure that resembled lets say: Destinations: A-------B-------C-------D-------E C is a subway station o means a bus is stopping x means a bus is skipping G for Green, R for Red, P for Purple Route 1G (A<->C): A-o-o-o-B-o-o-o-C-------D-------E Route 2P (A<->C): A-o-o-o-B-x-x-x-C-------D-------E Route 3R (B<->D): A-------B-x-o-x-C-x-o-x-D-------E Route 4G (C<->E): A-------B-------C-o-o-o-D-o-o-o-E Route 5P (C<->E): A-------B-------C-x-x-x-D-o-o-o-E This would be a lot better because you still receive service towards the ends of the routes, maybe run less frequently run on some of routes towards the further ends, but you are not sacrificing coverage and connections while creating new ones. Going back to this I think NICE bus should be apart of this redesign as many queens riders connect to their service and these changes interact with people connect with their services. Especially considering we have Queens buses that already go into Long Island and the MTA wants to add more.

The QT18 like many other routes in the proposal has a terminal in a bad location. The could've easily gone to QCC and had it terminate there and provided service to the both the college and school that's near by as well as create more of an appeal to ride towards the end of a the line and have more connections and provide more one seat rides. Same with QT31 is should've also served QCC. On top of that routes that go through a major town center ie Flushing, Jamaica, QCM... all are subject to reliability issues. The Q20/44, Q25/34, and Q65 all suffer from major reliability issues right now. These buses get stuck in traffic so they end up leaving Flushing late. Most of the time because of the number of ppl getting on and off at Flushing buses tend to catch up and start bunching. The solution for routes like the Q20/44 was to add a bit of a layover in Flushing, but now if you have a day where the bus is early it'll just sit there and annoy anyone who is just crossing through. But routes like the Q25/34 are so unreliable that the Q17 pick up most of the slack. You can easily tell when people will usually line up for the Q17 when they see no bus on Main St. With a route like the QT81, there is no way it would be reliable going down Roosevelt and 108 so for Q19 riders they now get a slower route than what they have now. I wish we could petition to bring back the X51 that route is would be extremely useful for me today as the former stops are very close to me But nowadays there is a shift towards the appeal of going to/from Flushing as much has changed in the last decade. More so that I honestly It'd probably be stay afloat today if it still existed and maybe have enough to support off-peak service. Maybe even a downtown version would be able to work too. With how crowded has gotten today it's impressive how everyone just gets dumped there to the point where during peak hours train would leave there with no seats. But there aren't many alternatives the QM3 service is abysmal and doesn't even serve Flushing proper for some reason. It'd maybe be nice if there was a stop at Main and Union to provide alternative service. On top of that the LIRR service to Flushing and nearby stations was just terrible during the morning peak hours. pre covid you'd have to wait more than 30 min for a train to the city. I'm definitely seeing a lot more ppl taking the LIRR to/from Flushing than I used to especially after the city ticket launched, so there is a demand for premium service to Flushing. It's just too bad the X51 was eliminated when I was still in grade school so I never got a chance to ride it. My biggest issue with this redesign is that they went to prioritized a grid network over a hub network. Because of how the bus network operated for decades brining in people to places like Flushing and Jamaica. These places became destinations within themselves, growing beyond the subway connections they provide. Not everyone going to Flushing or Jamaica is going to the station. There are many intermediate destination before getting to the station or even after the station that people want to go to. A lot of these non green lines will take you out of the neighborhood before making its next stop. Also are smaller town centers that would create excellent mini hubs and transfer points. There are routes like the QT64 that might not have been as useless if it served 188th St Fresh Meadows. Then you have routes like the QT14 which would be more useful extended to Fresh Meadows, rather than being combined with the Q10 and having the QT11 do it. Instead you get the QT87 which looks like it only exist to fill in the gaps. (Like a lot of the 70-80's routes.) In NE Queens the some of the major town centers are: These are the routes than need more than 1 or 2 stops to serve the town center. - Flushing - Jamaica Moderate town centers: These can be served by at least 1 stop but any bus in the grid system should not bypass it and instead divert there if nearby. - Fresh Meadows (188th St & LIE) - Bayside (~Bayside LIRR or Bell & Northern they're close by) - Queens Village (~Queens Village LIRR) - Green Acres (Not in NE Queens but relevant for some routes.) - Great Neck (Great Neck LIRR LIRR) - Yes I know this is Nassau but if the MTA want's to serve North Shore all day there is no reason the MTA can't cut a deal with NICE and replace the n20G which is mainly utilized by Queens residents. Minor town centers: Nearby routes should try to serve it or terminate if reasonable. - College Point (20th Ave from College Point Blvd to Whitestone Expy) - Bay Terrence - QCC (Includes Springfield & LIE) - Queens Village (Springfield & Hillside) - SJU (Union & Utopia) - Queens Village (Springfield & Hillside) One of the other my other grips are the way stop reductions are being handled. While I don't mind having some stops eliminated to speed up service what makes it unbearable is when they then combine it with stop reductions in the express (LTD/SBS) services as well and then offer a reduced frequency. In corridors with the Blue routes the stops are so far apart that most people would have to take the local if they aren't lucky enough to be by a major transfer point. But these local are are operating with terrible headways or are non existent in some cases. This makes it extremely difficult to make local trips within your own neighborhood. If you're child or a senior citizen trying to make a short trip it becomes very difficult especially now that your service is less frequent and probably doesn't stop where you need to go. It seems like most of the frequency is being poured into super limited buses which the elimination of both local and limited stops disincentivizing anyone that needs to make a short trip. Public transit it for everyone and not just those that are going across the boro. Another issue is the lack of redundancy, if anything this plan thought us why different variations of each service exist in the first place. Having an express and local version of the same route isn't a bad thing whether it's called the same route or not doesn't matter. But what does is when you eliminate most if not all redundancy you just create a huge potential for disruptions to be even worse than they are now. If there are road closures, accidents, lack of BO's, etc... on one route another can pick up the slack. When I see express routes without local counter parts it makes me question what are the people that are too far from an express stop are supposed to do? Especially when that express service is peak only with no local counterpart. During other hours of the day these people are more or less stranded or forced to take a very inefficient route that they'd otherwise not have to make under the current network. Any gain from speed increase from less stops is basically eliminated when a passenger has to then transfer. Not only that a bus route can provide redundancy for a subway line. If either the QBL or Flushing line get disrupted the only alternative for a lot of ppl is the bus. Routes that parallel the subway not only provide a local service to a "limited service" but can sometimes be the only back up when all else fails. See like lack or redundancy in the network it just makes you question do they think that every bus will be able to run the exact route on time without any issues?

Schedules are posted under Jan2 changes https://new.mta.info/article/mta-bus-schedule-change-2022

One thing so many people overlooked are the service hours and frequencies. Once you start to look at the map with the route frequencies and what service looks like during off peak hours you being to realize how screwed over NE Queens is getting. These purple routes also force you to go to the city center which is not helpful in areas like Flushing where may destinations are not located in the city center anymore. A lot of these purple routes are also peak only with no off peak alternative, or if the did have an alternative it was to a different town center. On top of that the walks to these stops on some of these lines are outrageous to the point I really wouldn't even bother riding these lines to get to the places I normally go. Currently my area is served every 5 min or less during midday, with the proposed map if I wanted to take the bus my nearest stop I'd have to wait nearly 30 minutes midday. This plan created so many issues for me and I have every right to bash it, I loose many one seat rides, or I'm now forced to go via Flushing for most trips, and I'm not gaining frequency increases on any of the lines/corridors I use. At best there was really only 1 improvement for me but compared to everything else I loose there's no way I could support this. Queens is like Staten island most people are riding to and from town centers, because these are typically are where your subway connections are located. You can't really say a route is doing terribly once it branches out towards the end and there's less people. The one thing the MTA isn't looking at as much as they should is the number of riders at the peak of the bus because unlike the other boros Queens doesn't have much turnover on their routes. 30 people getting on one trip of the Q46 will look completely different than 30 people getting on one trip of the B46.

Honestly, that park an ride is just in a terrible location, it has poor access to the local neighborhood and can only be reached by using the highway. For most people that would require backtracking going to and/or coming from the park and ride. Then with street parking being pretty abundant in most of the South Shore it's not really hard to make any closer stop into a park and ride. Regardless of whatever anyone proposes, there is no real effective way to serve the park and ride and have cost efficient for what it's doing. Based on it's location the only places that could really benefit from it's existence is the small neighborhood north of Richmond Valley Station and the other small neighborhood by Charleston. It could have been useful for people from Perth Amboy if ramp to the Outerbridge was completed, but that's not there either. Back when there was X22 super express buses there was a slight appeal but even that's gone now, and with the current system, a SIM26 super express wouldn't be much faster than a regular one. Having those additional stops would make the park an ride even more useless as it would eliminate any reason for people to backtrack to the park and ride. At that point you might as well just start the trip at Charleston and serve those residents directly. Then have it hop on the expressway and go straight to Maguire. That way at least everyone has a stop closer to their neighborhood. That park an ride either needs significant improvement with local connectivity or the be shuttered and replaced by a new one in a better location, perhaps on Arthur Kill and the West Shore Express way. There are already so many people going there to catch the bus, drop off someone catching the bus, and transferring. It makes a perfect location for a park and ride. It will even give a reason to have more off peak service in the South Shore by either extending the 4C or maybe even reinstating the 2 to serve the park and ride.

If that's the case I'm hoping they can just remove a row on each side, I think we can all live with 53 seats on each side. At least for the MTAB models. The NYCT ones are fine as is, the seats they use don't make the leg room feel any different than the previous models.

Their service cuts for Queens was never really subtle in the first place. But keep me in the loop for that, they we're way more aggressive with Queens than the Bronx.

Ok I know I haven't been saying much on the forums lately, but I've been waiting to say something about this for a while now. I've had so many issues with those new seats so I started to look into them. Apparently the MTA switched the model of seats they use compared to the previous order. I seems like the seats that they are using can between 17 and 19 inches off the ground. Now I'm not going to be the one to measure but I'm pretty sure the Prevost are closer to the 17in side while the MCI are closer to 19in. But the newer model of the seats also appear to have a slightly lower back than the previous model. Oddly I believe I found the model of seat the new SI Prevost use and it set to 18 inches also has a more curved edge on the bottom rather than the sharp blocky right angle used on the seats of the MTAB Prevost. I think that curved bottom adds a noticeable difference in leg room. Old Seats Model 2005: (MCI/2nd Gen Prevost's) https://www.americanseating.com/product/model-2005 New Seats Model 2095/2096: (MTAB Prevost's) https://www.americanseating.com/product/model-2096 The only difference between 2095 and 2096 is that 2096 has seatbelts. Spec sheet: https://www.americanseating.com/files/2000_Series_Recliner_Rev._2019_.pdf Go to page 4 of the PDF for the side by side comparisons New Seats Sigma: (NYCT Prevost's) https://www.freedmanseating.com/seats/gt/

Flixbus is a fairly large company and is pretty much a greyhound equivalent to Europe, they even operate their own trains there. I’m not surprised they wanted to buy greyhound especially now that First Transit doesn’t want it. Currently their US model is similar to that of OurBus, where they don’t operate the buses themselves but rather sell tickets for smaller companies who would otherwise go unnoticed. What really surprised me is how fast they grew in the US but it makes sense since all the routes they have are not operated by them. Now that they have greyhound, they have their own fleet that’s not dependent on partnerships. So I wonder if this will be the end for greyhound or if Flixbus will leave the brand as is.

Going through Jamaica takes a lot of time but due to the fact that the trains run local after Forest Hills and the fact there’s a lot of congestion in the area. Going to Kew Gardens allows passengers to take both the and the instead of one. Additionally it’s closer to the start of the express portion. The GCP also tends to move a lot better during peak hours compared to other highways in the areas. I ended up hopping on the Cedarhust bus one day by chance. I was trying to take it to the X63 that day and got of close to the normal terminal. I was surprised to see how many people were still on the bus at that point. That morning bus seem to have a lot of workers on it. I just had no clue where they were going.

I would exactly do a limited zone version of the Q43. If I had to plan a route would be hard to say exactly where the route should go, but for one it should be a new route independent of others. The route should not be 100% following another route then running express to the station. I still think the bus should go to Union Turnpike station and take the GCP as to be separated from other bus lines. But ultimately I'd want it to service Hillside & Springfield. Possibly either looping back to Hillside via Little Neck Pkwy. Another idea would be to send it all the way to Cambria Heights where the Q27 terminates. But for the most part somewhere in that general area serving areas covered by the Q27, Q36, & Q43.

Guess I'm a bit late but why did the SI to Hudson Yards bus fail? @Via Garibaldi 8

TBH Traveling from the far east parts of Queens to the subway can sometimes be as long as a subway journey in itself. Trips to the subway from the eastern part of the boro take way too long. Having to stop at every stop along at way discourages people further down the line from using it. The alternative for those who live near the border is to take a NICE bus instead, but NICE buses barely save much time over the NYCT equivalent. The best time saving I tend to get are about 3-5 minutes. AT lot of times I get passed by the NYCT equivalent. While based off the thread the Q46 might not be the best of the options. IMO there are other areas with enough demand where it would be reasonable to run an express service. It's absurd to me the most of NE queens doesn't even have proper limited service. Brooklyn has the both the B41 LTD and the B103 running a similar route and the 103 tend to get a good load on it's little express portion. Destinations like Queens Village and Bayside could greatly benefit from having a direct service to their respective transit hubs. Even if it's a peak directions bare minimum service it's still better than nothing.

I'm interested in having an express Q46 Making local stops to the GCP and non stop to Union Turnpike Station via the GCP. On the return pick up at the station then the stop after before running express on the GCP until it gets to Union. Ideally I'd want it to stop at Springfield too but that doesn't seem to be possible. Another idea would be to get a Hillisde bus instead and run it express to Union Tpk Sta once it hits the Clearview Expressway. TBH they weren't wrong this applies today as well. The only time I find Queens Express buses faster is for going from Queens to Downtown and only during the AM.

Quick question Is it just me or to the FIND displays on the on the different from the FIND displays on the . On the the stations the FIND displays have a faint white dotted lie around each station and I can clearly see 2 dot matrix rows for each station. On the the display is more dark, there not dotted line, and besides the dots that are lit up the rest of the dot matrix is not visible.

Queens bus routes never feel like they get the service they need. There a very few number of lines that get the amount of buses that they actually need. The Q25/34/65 is a great example of that. Some of the lines I've seen for the buses especially Q27 are so long they go around the block. Compared to a lot of Brooklyn buses and Manhattan buses I've been on I've always been able to get a seat without much of a problem. I always felt like Queens bus routes are being punished for having a much lower turnover rate compared to their Manhattan/Brooklyn counterparts. Since people are usually only going to or from one place ridership appears to much lower even though the buses are full.

One of the biggest problems with the whole concept of express buses nowadays is the facts it's outdated. It's out of reach, routes are out of date, journey times are in a lot of cases are barley comparable to the subway and local bus. Even in cases where it would make sense to use an express bus I can usually get to my destination faster using the subway and local bus combination. Also the reason they existed in the first place was to bridge the 2 fare zone that no longer exist for most journeys made. In fact most of the times I use express buses is if I'm making an extremely long journey where I'd have to transfer to another express bus. Usually these are also still cases where I have to deal with the 2 fare zone either due to the time constraints or needing an extra transfer if I use the current subway/bus system.

The consideration for AD buses was just my opinion not a fact or an actual known consideration at this time.

That’s disappointing to hear. SI could really benefit from the additional capacity.

I’ve just checked by an eagle team for the first time since 2016.

Ideally IMO the Q31 should go via Utopia, right on Northern, left on Corporal Kennedy and then proceed to the Q28 terminal at Bay Terrence. Alternately is can make a left on Bell and then follow the exist route to Bayside High and then follow the Q28 to Bay Terrence. A Q26 and Q27 route swap would be a great idea IMO. As for the Q17 I'd make convert more of the Jamaica trip into Fresh Meadows trips. only 1 out of 3 buses going to Jamaica and during peak hours only Limited buses going to Jamaica. AS for the Q65 my recommendation would be Parsons and 46th or Sanford and 162nd.

Is there any news/time frame when the express bus contract will be awarded? I'm hoping that it's a split contract and the 50 for NYCT are AD Double Deckers.