IAlam

Adding on the Q17/27 also has greater frequencies than the Q25/65 which is sorely needed in the north. Q31 seems like another throwaway route to fill in the missing gaps though I do like that there is another north-south option that doesn't traverse through Flushing. It would make more sense to have that route coming from 162/164th St but that would come at the cost of the Q65 no longer serving Flushing and that was a major issue in the original draft. It made no sense to have the Q44 be the only Flushing to Jamaica LIRR route, the curtailing for the Q20 shows that the MTA doesn't know what people in that area are using it for. Honestly, it makes more sense to have the Q20 be the route going east of the LIRR than the Q44, I can't imagine most of the people getting on at Jamaica Center and Merrik are going to the Bronx. The Q25 really needs to go back to Jamaica LIRR, the way they want it to be a Limited route, yet a local version of multiple rush corridors, and not even provide a service increase. That route is doing way too much for almost no benefit for the people it's expected to serve.

I took a peak at the Far Rockaway ticket by trying to book a ticket from Penn to Far Rockaway. It looks like what I suspected is true it's geo-fenced to Far Rockaway. Next time I'm in Penn I'll try to see if I can buy it from there or the TVM's

While I completely agree with you if you regularly deal with CP operators you’d understand why people do that. I can’t wait 40-90 minutes for the next bus because the OP doesn’t wanna pick me up. This is an issue with both local and express buses with drivers speeding through the route and the next one being extremely late. I’ve gotten yelled at holding an early bus why 2 old lady were trying to get on. It was in the dead of winter late at night and super cold and the next bus was last 40 minutes away. I’ve also need a B/O yell at another B/O for being 20 minutes late and making a huge gap.

Yeah, I noticed it for the last week or so they're doing a better job getting the word out IMO. I guess one of the few good things they're capable of is keeping their displays up to date.

There's nothing stopping them from at the very least labeling the route like they do with the n20. Even a n22J and n22H would be better than nothing.

Makes it similar to the combo thickets but who knows I guess we’ll find out on Sunday

While that may be true, NICE's constant shuffling of service basically drove off a lot of ridership as a bus/trip that you'd rely on now has almost no guarantee to exist after the next schedule change. It's very easy to lose ridership but it's extremely difficult to gain it back. Between the massive budget cuts from Nassau County and the constant changes made by NICE, you basically end up with a bunch of disgruntled riders. Those people put in the time, money, and effort to get their licenses and cars and once they make that investment, they're not looking back.

Traffic aside the current configuration of having the split route is a mess. It's at least inconvenient and at worse extremely confusing. If NICE doesn't want to run the full route then they should disassociate it from the n22/24. they should just rebrand the eastern branches into something else. But what makes it worse for me is how the split is done. Yeah, there may have been a lot of routes going from Mineola to RFM, but having people make an additional transfer just to go a short distance is extremely inconvenient. From the west your only option into RFM is the n24 and your only option to Mineola from the east is the n22. Their bandaid to this was to add the second transfer but that only works if paying with cash or with a mobile ticket, which IMO makes the situation worse since as far as I'm aware a metrocard is still the main way of paying.

They could make is so if you want a return you have to buy it at Far Rockaway too, like like how they do with the combo tickets.

I've seen one on a CP unit it was a Prevost with the door and a glass panel in front of the first row. the driver closes the front with their door while on the highway.

I wouldn't rule that out either.

It's not really being introduced, more like it's being introduced. The n20x (and n20L) is like NICE's version of the McRib. For the most part, these changes seem to be good, but I'll hold my applause for them until the schedules come out. NICE still hasn't really fully solved the situation it created with the Queens to Hickville services. If it's really not interested in running through routes to Hicksville anymore they should change the route numbers. IIRC there used to be another route that did Mineola to Hicksville, I believe it was the N78 or N79 or something like that. Also s far as I'm aware you don't get the free additional transfer when you go from the n20G to the n20H anymore like they originally promised.

Also based on the Bronx and Staten Island plans they can make adjustments after implementation. I can't imagine that it won't happen in this case, considering how many changes they want to make.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if some B/Os forgot how to reset them too, it's not like they get used very often. At this point, I feel like you'd have better luck emailing Prevost how to move the seats than asking here.

I don't think I've even seen construction work for it yet.

The ferry is probably the fastest way into downtown, and to add to that, there is a free downtown shuttle that goes from the east to the west side of the Financial District.

I guess we'll find out when it happens, I haven't heard of any plans yet.

I wonder why they made it announce SLE at every station, also it's nice to see they finally updated the branding to say CTRail instead of Metro North.

Deleted.

While it doesn't specify which lines are getting it my assumption would be Hartford, Danbury, and/or Waterbury lines. Also no mention of the power source, but at the very least I'd expect them to be diesel-powered. Update: looks like Metro North will receive them too.

I always felt like even with more stops Jamaica Av flows better than Hillside. Hillside is one of those corridors that suffers from its own popularity buses there get so busy it slows everything down.

I was about to say why should the resources be for an express variant to 179 when the n24 already picks up on a decent portion of that stretch. That's pretty much the express variant. Though I do wonder if the 82 really needs to be an express route.

Welp another win for NF I guess. The bus situation in the US is getting worse and worse.

Dealing with missing trips and long trip times stuck in traffic, and drivers that constantly avoid picking up passengers I can't see myself being able to rely on them. Now that the peak city ticket is coming, I'm at this point where I'm probably giving up on using the express bus unless I absolutely need it. I guess the MTA won, no more express buses for me.

That is a huge safety issue, maybe on local buses you can somewhat mitigate that with open windows but on express buses that's not even possible. I've heard of instances of people throwing up on some hot express buses. Working A/C is essential in this day and age especially with summer getting hotter every year.