Italianstallion

31 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

And who uses them? I mean the whole thing seems asinine.

I've seen them in other cities, maybe even in Europe, if I recall. Anyway, they are more for leaning against than standing. They take up less platform space, for one thing. Sometimes, you just want to lean on something clean.

https://www.architonic.com/en/product/concept-urbain-europe-composite-standing-seat/1269760

Subway use in NY - http://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/transit/2017/10/2/new-leaning--benches--at-brooklyn-subway-station-get-mixed-reviews-from-straphangers

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/subway-riders-slam-new-leaning-bars-unwelcoming-article-1.3488170

They didn't like them in Hawaii either - http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/14926388/new-leaning-bus-bench-criticized/

4 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Yes standing benches... What a novel idea for people who need to sit. You can’t make this stuff up.

Interesting. These very same standing benches have just been installed in the re-done Riverdale MNRR station, inside the heated waiting alcove on the northbound platform. Must be a new MTA concept.

On 10/3/2018 at 8:05 AM, Q101viaSteinway said:

LIRR riders can be more snooty then express bus riders. I am staying with my brother who lives in Wantagh this week and took morning express LIRR train from Wantagh. I take my seat and another passenger told me to move to another seat in another part of the train car as there is a regular customer who always sit every day in the seat I was sitting in. That rider then tells me that all the riders in the part of the car I was in usually have the same seat every day and other LIRR riders in the area I was sitting then interject and tell me that they themselves would move and if I don't move I will have a big problem. I get up and move to another part of the train car that is close to them and hear those regular LIRR riders make nasty comments and hear them laughing about me.  I told my brother what happened and he told me that if he needs to go into the city, he drives to CitiField for the 7 train on days that he needs to go to Manhattan and the LIRR is too expensive and not worth the headache. 

God, I hate entitled a**holes. America is full of entitled a**holes.

On 9/10/2018 at 1:10 PM, RR503 said:

It should be done in the next few weeks, though the investment is moot until 3rd track allows reverse-peak trains to come from NY. 

FWIW, after the communities killed it in 2009ish, the LIRR's MO with 3rd track was to sneakily build sections of third track without anyone being the wiser. That's why all the new overpasses  in the area  have three tracks, for example. 

Fiendishly clever.

On 9/14/2018 at 5:31 AM, bobtehpanda said:

In general, this is true, except for the following features:

• Unless you want to create a shuttle, pretty much all elevated rail lines will need to go underground to connect to the existing subway. Land acquisition to demolish for tracks is very unpopular and expensive. (Parks are not a solution because under state law, to use parkland the City must create parkland equivalent to what is lost.)

It's also worth noting that the solid/open floor is dated from 1915, when the most common structures would be made of cast iron and steel. Today, reinforced concrete is much more common; if you were to build a rail line today, that's what you would go with. No one is building open-floor railways anywhere in the world today.

As a new example of closed-floor el, see JFK Airtrain.

1 hour ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

trains are running on the line between 72 St and 137 St-City College while we perform an urgent switch replacement at Harlem-148 St.

There is no train service north of 72 St.

 

Huh? There is 3 train service to 96th and north to 137th.

On 8/27/2018 at 7:59 PM, MysteriousBtrain said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Cortlandt St reopens with a transfer no matter how useless the transfer is. Kind of like how Cortlandt St got connected to the , I could see at least a passageway to connect to the . And maybe then the entire complex can be renamed World Trade Center with the exception of Chambers Street on the and most likely the as well.

The Fulton transit center would be relatively simple with two NYCT complexes in one place.

Well, I'd be surprised, since such a transfer wasn't part of the plans or engineering or MTA documents or news reports.

2 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I see... No elevator anywhere though... That would be nice. They should've put one at 242nd.... Absurd to rehab both 242nd AND 238th and not put one, so everyone has to go to 231st...

I agree 100%.

36 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

VG8 is going to love getting empty trains (the put-ins that normally start at 238) during rush hour, and railfans are going to love being able to enter 238 Street on the uptown side.

STAIRWAY REPLACEMENT | Beginning 5 AM Tuesday, Sep 4 until Winter 2018-19
Manhattan-bound  platform at 238 St in the Bronx will temporarily close

South Ferry-bound trains will skip 238 St.

During this temporary closure, customers will have access to the 242 St-bound platform with MetroCard.

Many passengers entering that station get on from the Bx3 bus, which terminates there. They will now have to double  back north on the 1 and then change  again. Why not send the Bx3 buses up Broadway directly to 242nd and drop off the passengers there, so they don't have to do 2 changes? It'll only add about 10 minutes to the bus run.

29 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Heh, please... I avoid the  train like the plague up there.  Damn thing is too crowded.  I heard about this project from the Riverdale Press.  I can't believe it is going to take this long just to replace stairs.  

They are also going to ADD a new staircase on the NW corner, and do some cosmetic improvements.

On 8/20/2018 at 4:43 PM, QM1to6Ave said:

MTA is pretty bad at advertising which stations are closed for the multi-month rehabs. It's not easy info to find on the website, and not enough signs posted in other stations. 

There's a list very visible on the lower left of the website.

6 minutes ago, RR503 said:

Whether or not Lincoln riffed off of the DoI in the Gettysburg address has no relevance whatsoever on that document’s meaningfulness. In fact, it makes good speech material precisely because it is such a bale of platitudes — it is a declaration, after all. 

Ha. Yes, a declaration that moved a populace to fight for 7 years and succeed.

On 6/23/2018 at 10:21 PM, officiallyliam said:

Lincoln had very little to do with the Declaration of Independence; it was written thirty years before he was even born.

And it doesn't really change anything about whether the Declaration belongs written on the wall of a subway station.

LOL. Know your history, man. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was an extended riff on the Declaration, using its themes to argue for the unity of the nation and the equality of all its citizens.

Subtract "4 scores and seven years" from 1863 and see what year you get.

On 6/11/2018 at 7:04 PM, RR503 said:

That’s literally what it is, yes. It is not legally binding in any way, and was meant as propoganda for a tepidly popular revolution. So I would actually go so far as to eliminate the word “borderline.” 

Lincoln didn't agree with you.

On 5/31/2018 at 3:16 AM, Porter said:

It's not. The writing on the wall is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration of Independence, so not related to 9/11, just more borderline platitudes.

So the Declaration of Independence consists of "borderline platitudes"? Interesting.

21 hours ago, Truckie said:

Again, the markers on the platforms are for the train crew.  Not for passengers, rail fans or anyone else.  Riverdale platform on track 4 the engineer should be spotting the train at the south end of the platform as that is where the majority of passengers will gather as the stairs are there.

The 4 car Mark is at the middle of the platform as it's an 8 car platform.  Reason would be the 4 mark would be in the middle.

Yes, I assume the 4 -car mark is the spot where there train has to at least reach. Nothing prevents an engineer who knows the station from stopping the train further down by the stairs.

On 6/4/2018 at 3:02 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

On all platforms?  I haven't used Metro-North in a few weeks and didn't notice them.  Then again it was raining out that day.

I agree and that's why I would never wear earbuds when waiting for the train.  When it gets really cold or there's a lot of snow, they've made last minute changes at the Spuyten Duyvil station. Luckily the train comes in on the other side of platform but still.  It's a bit confusing and people still are puzzled.

They definitely have markers at the Riverdale station. The southbound platform marker placement is curious, though. The 4-car marker is at the midpoint of the platform. If the train stopped there, those folks waiting at the southern end of the station (that is, ALL of the passengers) would have to run down the platform to reach the train, as the only stairway is at the south end and everyone congregates there. Thankfully, the engineers know where to stop.

You still have interlining in your plan; it's just on the local tracks.

On 3/18/2018 at 7:02 PM, officiallyliam said:

In order for LRT really to be successful anywhere, it needs its own ROW. Physically, this would be possible on the whole route from Inwood to Pelham, but re-purposing the necessary road space on the western section of Fordham Road to allow this to happen may be controversial. But maybe there are enough Bx12 users, considering what a busy route it is, that a project to speed surface transit on that corridor (as well as for the other bus routes that use stretches of Fordham Road, as they'd be allowed in the LRT lanes) would be popular.

West of Third Ave,  if Fordham Road is deemed too crowded, the LRT could be routed up  Kingsbridge Road to Broadway and 225th St. This route has less traffic but still connects with all subways other than the A. But it would also connect with Metro-North at Marble Hill as a bonus. And it avoids congestion at the 207th St. Bridge.

On 3/22/2018 at 4:57 PM, bobtehpanda said:

A ten car train is roughly 25x the capacity of a bus. A train every 8 minutes at 6AM would be a 8-12x capacity improvement over current SBS services. It's not all that crazy.

This is an excellent point. A crosstown line on Fordham would have as its main purpose crosstown Bronx travel. Direct travel to Manhattan would be a bonus. Most of its potential riders would continue to use their existing north-south lines to get to Manhattan. So, frequency on the line would not need to measure up to typical frequencies  applicable to Manhattan trunk lines. Thus, for instance, if run off the 1 train, there would be no need to split frequencies equally between the current VCP terminal and the new line. And such an even split would severely inconvenience VCP users anyway. During off-hours, in fact, it would probably make sense to run the new line as a shuttle without direct access to downtown Manhattan.

On 3/21/2018 at 4:29 PM, officiallyliam said:

Having considered extensions of the , , , and lines, as well as a light rail system, to serve the Fordham Road - Pelham Parkway corridor, I think that the superior option is a branch of the Broadway-7th Avenue line, as a resurrection of the designation without the old skip-stop service.

The new line would branch off of the north of the 207th Street stop, with a new tunnel portal built in the 207th St Yard. The tunnels would pass under the river and follow 190th Street, with a station at University Avenue, and under Grand Concourse, connecting to the and and running underneath Fordham Road. From there, it would continue with stops at Fordham Plaza with a connection to MNRR and at Southern Blvd for the Bronx Zoo. The tunnels would run straight under Bronx Park, meeting Pelham Parkway where the line would then run elevated - stopping at White Plains Road for the , Esplanade for the , and Eastchester Road to serve the hospitals. Then, it would follow the ROW of the Northeast Corridor to a shared subway and MNRR stop at Co-Op City, where a station is planned as part of Penn Station Access. This is where the line will terminate; perhaps we could also examine a extension to a nearby location, creating a sort of transit hub to serve the area.

I think that this balances the need for subway-level capacity on the corridor with the cost-effectiveness of using elevated structures wherever possible. There are, naturally, a few disadvantages that I can think of: 1. The would likely be a faster ride downtown, though, as I said earlier, the majority of riders going further downtown would have transferred to faster lines such as the and already. 2. While track capacity should be fine on the , the terminal capacity at South Ferry raises questions. The new station can apparently support 24 TPH; balanced evenly between Fordham and Van Cortlandt, this only allows a maximum of 12 TPH to serve Fordham. It would be feasible, though, to increase southern terminal capacity by terminating some trains at Rector and running OOS around the loop, and/or speeding up terminal procedures at South Ferry.

The reason I choose the over the is because of track capacity and anticipated reliability. The already suffers from uneven headways and low reliability due to its merges, two or three branches, and Cranberry tube constraints. Because of that, I am wary of making the any longer than it is today. The has no track sharing with other lines, and is not terribly long. Also, under a totally de-interlined system, which would increase reliability and frequency, it would make sense to send the to Norwood, via CPW local. At that point, the ride downtown is just as slow as the , and the route would also be too long.

This is a map showing the alignment of the proposed line, and the new stations:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1_O77SCCsOavlDMY0YTP8GBhjyNNF2uhJ&ll=40.79594693211451%2C-73.91882120000002&z=11

Thoughts?

 

I doubt putting an el over the greensward in the Pelham Parkway median would be well-received.

On 3/20/2018 at 4:10 PM, B35 via Church said:

Hazen st. isn't in Jackson Heights; I'm not talking about that riderbase.....

I'm talking about that area where the Q69 terminates at.... Yes service on the Q19 is sparse, but Jackson Heights folks over there are not taking Q69's over Q19's & M60's.... They just aren't.

I know where Hazen is, I grew up a block away. You say you are not talking about those folks, but you want to send the Q69, which many people between Hazen and Steinway use, south on Steinway instead of continuing to Ditmars station. That would hurt a lot of riders.

On 12/2/2017 at 9:23 AM, B35 via Church said:

 

The Q69 east of Steinway I'd append to the Q101 for not much more than simple coverage.... Anyone that lives in that part of Jackson Heights does the Q19/M60 thing to the subway anyway.....

Not true. There is mucho passenger traffic from Hazen St. on west to the Ditmars station. At Hazen, Ditmars and Astoria Blvds. diverge going west, so Astoria Blvd. becomes too far a walk for many.  Also, even east of Hazen, the Q19 has sparse service, and is impossible to use eastbound east of 49th St. since the Parkway blocks it from the neighborhood. Also, the Q69 has only one stop between the airport and Steinway St.

On 12/3/2017 at 11:16 AM, B35 via Church said:

So after coming from Westchester last night, I decided to take the M60 to Steinway (I had wanted to stop off in that Burger King by Astoria blvd subway, but I looked out the window & saw that it was packed & said screw that (and stayed on the bus)).... IDK why, but I thought the Q101 had better headways than that on a saturday (every 1/2 hour).... It was 5:31 when I got off the M60... Crossed over to the other side of Astoria blvd to the Q101 SB stop; looked at the schedule & started walking towards Ditmars.... I was on the NW corner looking to see which of the 2 (Q101, Q69) would arrive first & sure enough, it was the SB Q69 at 6 on the dot (so it's a good thing I did that walk).... It was around 5:45 when a NB Q101 passed by as I was walking up to ditmars... I jokingly said, that's probably the next bus back out.... Now that I'm typing this, it might not have been a joke - which meant I would've been waiting for the that 101 at least 10-15 mins. after I got on the Q69....

I will admit that I'm surprised that commercial Ditmars blvd. was as bustling as it was last night.... Good for that community....

The one thing that kind of shocked me wasn't the amt. of the ppl. on the Q69 before I boarded (about 15-20), nor was it the amt. of ppl. that got on at 31st (about 20-25) - it was the amt. of people that got off at 21st/Ditmars.... We went from about 40 something ppl. on the bus, to 11 people (yeah, I counted).... By time we got to Astoria blvd, there was only 6 people left - Until the b/o opened the doors & we got hit with those loads there.... SRO conditions....

This bus tanked worse at 21st than it did at 21st/Ditmars.... There were only a whopping 4 people left (from about 50 or so).

Then I ended up dealing with the same never ending crap with the B62 (I didn't feel like getting off the Q69 & walking down for the B32).... Seeing 5 buses over a 15 min. span make the turn onto 42nd rd, etc. en route to the last dropoff stop - to seeing those same 5 B62's do the turnaround scenario and every single one of em go OOS.... Ridiculous.... The bus I eventually got on (it had the Downtown Brooklyn signage up, but there was no one on it - so I'm thinking that was a bus that came from the depot) took 23 mins. to show.... I don't get it.... This is definitely operations related & nothing anomalous, because it's been going on for years now....

------------

Regarding the Q101, those riders are getting highway robbed.... There is no way that Q101 service should be on par with Q102's on weekends.... It would be one thing if it were service every 30 mins. to Manhattan, but 30 mins overall? I've (been) come to the conclusion that there are too many BPH supplied on the Q69+Q100 combined... I'm more than convinced that is the root cause of the downright lack of service on other routes in Western Queens...

Misallocation.

Ditmars from Steinway to 31st St. is one of the most hopping bar/restaurant streets in the city. 

The Q69 passenger loads don't surprise me. That line serves the Ditmars station. Most people going west from there would get off at 21st St. before the bus turns south. Then, by the time it gets to Astoria Blvd. and below, it starts serving  people for the F at Queensbridge. The Q19 at Astoria Blvd. is a joke, and stops running at 7 pm. The Q18 at  30th Ave. is not much better. So people take the Q69. And it does not have too many buses.

Steinway St. service went downhill when the Rikers buses were given  their own route.  Back in the day, the 101 was one if the most frequent lines in the city. Now it's a ghost of its former self.

I doubt there's any policy to continue to remove trash cans, as you found 5 at 23rd St. Sounds like incompetence at best.