78 via Stew Leonards

Where are these advocacy pages and when are the meetings taking place?

On 12/17/2019 at 10:50 AM, JeremiahC99 said:

At this point you’d be better off extending the Bx41 directly to LaGuardia.

 Weren't they thinking of that at one time?

The MTA claims they're for safety and train their new drivers to drive 10-15mph below the speed limit but that does nothing but create a hazard for everyone on the road. More problems are caused by driving under the speed limit than over.

On 12/13/2019 at 11:04 PM, bwwnyc123 said:

Sometimes you have to wait a long while for an Express Bus to show up. At least the Subways are more frequent during normal hours. If outside is really cold I go straight to the Subways, instead of waiting long for an Express Bus, even the Local Buses run more frequent.

If you reduce the far a little bit more people can take the express bus and you'll have more ridership. Funny enough, the MTA could make more money off this

10 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Unfortunately, there are a lot of new drivers (I had one Saturday and seem to get one at least once a week now).  When you are new and on probation, they are being closely watched for everything, so they are to follow what they are told, or they can be fired, and instead of having a slow bus, you'll have no bus at all. They are taught safety first.  I have been complaining about quite a few trips and pressuring the  to fill them, and they are still struggling with a driver shortage here and there, but better than months ago.  We had a meeting with the  a few weeks ago discussing certain lines. Believe me, they are well aware.  They have promised increased supervision for certain trips that were ongoing problems. 

One other thing to note... A dispatcher posted in our group over the weekend that the BxMs Southbound are on detour until further notice.  The detour is via Lex from 79th Street down to 23rd.  This is being done to try to avoid the congestion on 5th and to try to keep buses on schedule. May not be constant, but don't be shocked if it happens.  

What would the do about it? What can they do?

25 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

We have been receiving a lot of complaints about the BxM4 of late and have started logging some trips to see what the main issues are.

Regarding the others, when you say that they are slow or extra slow, do they start roughly on-time?  For us, as long as the trip leaves the terminal in about 10 minutes, we count them as being roughly on-time. Anything later than that and the bus is marked as late.  If we see ongoing problems, we start to put pressure on the  to remedy the issue.

Saturday I took 1:30pm BxM2 to Manhattan and we had a wheelchair that slowed down the trip at the last stop. It took a good hour from 230th & Broadway to 98th & 5th.

I have used the 7:20 BxM2 at times.  Usually can take longer due to the Major Deegan.

They all start on time but they just drive down the road sooooo slooowww its a little ridiculous. I also think drivers should be advised of traffic conditions and look for ways to beat the traffic when they can.

20 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It’s actually not. We keep a log of certain lines during parts of the day, so if you want us to look into a trip, you’ll provide the time that the BxM1 leaves 261st or 34th. I believe that’s the line you referenced before. We have several Yonkers Depot drivers in the group. There are also dispatchers and superintendents. Dispatcher posted BxM info in the group yesterday. For example, the 4pm and 4:15 trips to Riverdale have been problems. The  has been trying to work to get those trips to start on-time. 

For starters the following trips have been really slow and a problem

BxM1

 1:15pm southbound (weekdays)

1:45 pm southbound (saturdays)

11:10pm northbound (weekdays)

1:30pm southbound (sundays)

9:30pm southbound (sundays)

BxM2

3:00pm southbound (Saturdays)

7:20am northbound (weekdays)

BxM3

1:35pm southbound (weekdays)

8:35pm southbound (weekdays)

9:35pm southbound (weekdays)

11:05pm northbound (weekdays)

11:15pm northbound (saturdays)

BxM4

11:05pm northbound (weekdays)

10:45pm northbound (saturdays)

10:30pm northbound (sundays)

BxM4s are the worst of them all, going extra slow while carrying the least amount of passengers

On 12/5/2019 at 11:54 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

We're aware that this is a problem with a handful of express bus drivers.  What bus line and what time?  We've had this on the BxM10 before.  was made aware of the problem and our understanding is that it was addressed.  The problem is technically they are following how they were trained.  Safety is supposed to be put before the schedule and they are told to go at least below the speed limit, so 15 mph in as opposed to 25 mph on the local streets. Excessive I know.. There's a guy that racks up complaints.  He usually drivers the BxM1, BxM2 or BxM18.  I know he's been talked to because I've had him a few times since and he now checks his run sheet to see what time it is versus where he is at, but he still drives quite slow. 

We were on 3rd Avenue one Saturday and I had groceries with me.  I thought I wouldn't make it with some of my frozen items because we had cars going by us on either side. Then when we reached the drop-off segment, I realized who the driver was from the announcements.  There's an older black driver who I always thought was new, but I was told by a few other regulars that ride the BxM2 with me sometimes in the morning when he was driving a particular trip earlier this year that he is not new and has been around for some time, which makes it even worse. To show you how bad he is, one morning I got off at 72nd & Columbus because he was driving so slow and I wanted to get breakfast. I walked to Blue Bottle on 73rd and Amsterdam, sat and had coffee and a pastry, hopped on the express at 72nd, took it to 42nd, walked out of the station, and who is at the light at 7th & 41st but him.  I couldn't help but laugh, because I had to have spent a good 20 - 30 minutes just relaxing there.  Pretty pathetic.  There's another guy that drives the 8am that some people in the advocacy group have been complaining about. One person that I take the bus with sometimes was messaging me saying she was getting into her office and I got on the express bus 45 minutes after her! lol

 

It's easier to list the trips that dont have a super slow run.  

Can something be done with B/Os to stop driving like 90 year old grandmas?

Its getting frustrating to be passed by cars left and right while the bus can clearly go much faster

HELP

I left my bag on the 5:43 local Hudson Line train from Grand Central to Greystone on Tuesday. I boarded the train at GCT and got off at Riverdale. Its a black Food Network bag. Does anyone know how I could possibly get it back?

(I already put in an inquiry for Metro North Lost and Found a couple days ago)

Whats the biggest negative feedback from the Bronx redesigns?

Lex is just as bad but 2nd isnt terrible. 5th is the worst of them all in Harlem though.

Is there any way we can stop the Bronx express routes from using 5th Ave north of 116th St? Traffic on 5th Ave in Harlem can be a death trap, especially in Rush Hour. 

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

That can be a catch 22. If the driver wants to milk OT they can sit in traffic.  

how often do drivers do that?

Does anyone think the nonstop section of the route should be at the driver's discretion? Whichever way they feel will be faster should be the way to go?

What are the petitions against the supposed re-routes?

2 hours ago, IRT Bronx Express said:

Not to sound off topic (technically it isn't) but is anyone interested in seeing the timetables for the older routes mentioned above?

 

I can answer that. A study was conducted sometime in 1999-2000 and the TA saw that more riders going to Fordham Center at the time used the Bx28 and not the Bx26. Yet this doesn't explain why the Fordham Center branch was the main route, whereas the Bedford Park branch wasn't. Keep in mind that prior to December 1991, buses alternated to either terminals. Until September 2000, the Bedford Park branch saw service weekday rush hours, early weekend mornings, and all remaining late evening service. Surprisingly, the Bx26 was not part of the 1995 service cuts, how strange.

Now that we're talking about the Bx28, based on older maps that I have in my collection, all Sunday service ended at Moshulu Parkway. Again, I'm not sure what allegedly caused the ridership changes between both routes at that time.

The nostalgia is kicking in, remembering the Bx26's turn left on Jerome from BPB heading south, and running nothing but RTS's.

I seriously don't know where the SIM routes go anymore? None of it makes sense.

2 minutes ago, Lex said:

Nope.

why was it ever cut back to BPB?

Anyone think they should extend the Bx26 back to Fordham Center like it did in the 90s?

11 hours ago, Uncle Floyd Fan said:

My 2 cents on the PBL's vs MTA-B...

According to colleagues of mine who live in Throggs Neck and Pelham Bay, they preferred NYBS over MTA-B. NYBS took bills until the MTA-B take-over, they ran on time, and they allowed the drivers to use the fastest route between the last pick-up and first drop off.

Even with the QSC QM's (which I've used since the mid/late 1990's), I've seen first hand how the drivers could use almost any combination of roads (especially east-bound) to avoid traffic. MTA-B is too regimented in this regard (many drivers have expressed this point, as well).

One small benefit to MTA-B....bus tracking and newer buses were brought into Queens. However, we could probably use a few new buses as many of those out of the College Point depot are now about 14 years old (2005 vintage).

That's something MTA bus should really allow. The rule of the nonstop section of all routes should be go where the traffic doesnt.

The new buses may look nicer but those old MCI classics were speeding bullets.

All buses need to be ungoverned, service would improve, and drivers need to step on it whenever they can. There's no need for buses to be crawling down Riverdale Avenue with no traffic around them

the MTA world looked so different in 1995. I think most of these changes were for the worse.

On 6/13/2019 at 3:27 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

No point in taking 106th across to 5th when the bus would have to come back across on 96th to Lex. 

From HRD southbound, you come off right at 5th and 143rd, continue right on 5th and on down to 96th.  Left on 96th, right on Lex and done.  All of the other proposals have been done and experienced by myself for years and I have protested just about all of them but the current one. 2nd is a nightmare and Lex has become progressively worse north of 96th street, so while 5th has its problems it is still better than the alternatives. 

 

I've been using the BxM1 a lot for work lately, its more like you crawl off the HRD at a slow speed, and crawl down 5th Ave taking 15-20 mins from 143rd to 125th, and then turn off 5th at 124th, sometimes taking another 10 min to 116th, and so on. Sometimes, they use Park Ave-132nd-5th Ave which is a little faster. But I wonder if Park-131st-Lexington would be any good?

On 6/9/2019 at 10:54 AM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It should down 5th because 5th has a bus lane from 110th on down in operation for the morning rush.  Lexington is a nightmare by comparison.  

 

Maybe it can use 5th SOUTH OF 110th then. 5th Ave is a nightmare in Harlem.