Lex

I figured you were going to bring that bus up, which is why I chose my words carefully.

That would first require a suitable one to exist in the North American market.

😕

What did I just read?

Yes, and run the risk of backing up Broadway Junction itself. Since we're talking about sending a route that's already serving Downtown Brooklyn over there (and without its counterpart, to boot), we're also talking about having more buses run behind, and all to stroke someone's ego. While we're at it, let's talk about just how far away Broadway Junction is from the relevant parts of Liberty Avenue. It's not. Yes, it can be difficult to reach (thanks, planners!), but there are already several access points to that area from Liberty Avenue itself. In addition, Alabama Avenue is a short walk away from Broadway Junction itself. I also want to point out that the last sentence in my previous response was meant as a warning to watch what you say regarding what you propose, but it's rather obvious that it didn't register, as "god" was more clearly referenced.

You literally don't need a bus on Liberty Avenue just to serve Howard Houses, and there are better ways to connect with the B20 and B83 than having a route that's alreay serving Downtown Brooklyn via an unspecified route north/west of Grand Army Plaza (and that's assuming there's even a significant number of people clamoring for that connection in the first place). I also don't think I need to tell you about how your statement reads.

What is the obsession with that part of Liberty Avenue?

It's in the works. (It was actually supposed to start in a different form, but Cuomo suddenly decided that he and a bunch of deans with little field experience knew better.)

I can't help but wonder how someone managed that.

Thing is, these buses were already up for replacement, not to mention the failure to conduct more substantial research in order to have accurate reporting. For one, the guy that wrote the original article claimed that Flatbush Depot is in a poor neighborhood. While there are certainly poor people in the neighborhood, Flatlands is not a poor neighborhood, nor is the nearby Mill Basin (an even wealthier one). East New York only had them for so long because some of the drivers basically threw tantrums, not because of malice. Jackie Gleason Depot was mentioned as one of the depots to get Xcelsiors while failing to even mention why. The last time that depot had any significant diesel fleet was over 20 years ago, as it ended up being fully converted to CNG operations. Unfortunately, the tanks have explicit expiration dates (diesel tanks don't expire the same way CNG tanks do), so the only options are to rebuild the buses with fresh tanks and simply replacing them. The latter is more economical than the former, especially since Orion went belly-up years ago. Moreover, the B35 was targeted for articulated buses, and the XN60 proved to be the only suitable option at the time of replacement. Even this piece has a glaring flaw. Except for school trippers on certain routes, Flatbush Depot does not have a single route in East New York or Brownsville (again, failure to conduct research, as even the closest one is still outside of Brownsville's boundaries). That's not to say that it's a bad thing that the RTS is being replaced, but the utter failure to accurately report is still there, and the Daily News ought to retract the original article.

This "M100 to Randall's Island" idea will, in all likelihood, lead to something more akin to the QBx1 (some buses run the full route, but most just do the loop). I, for one, would push against reinstating that in any form.

I was actually talking about attracting more ridership south/east of Forest Hills. Derp. I actually want to shift gears and talk about some of the maintenance and dispatching issues (since I'm obviously not an express bus rider, I'd rather not go to the thread you started). Since both tenets seem to suffer especially badly at certain depots with both local and express routes (Yukon, College Point, Ulmer Park), do you think it would be worth looking into getting depots dedicated to express service (with substantial storage space and maintenance facilities, unlike present-day Meredith) built so those depots with local routes can focus on supporting just those routes?

Perhaps more could be attracted with a fare closer to the local bus and subway fare. Of course, given the expense of operating the service (getting the buses moving will help, but that alone is insufficient) and the possibility of some feeling like they may stick out too much (they may perceive the express routes as being for elites, even though that's not actually the case)...

That was before the area was developed. When most of the land was sold, the yard shrank to its current size. It's bad enough that Coney Island is prone to flooding. Lenox isn't even open-air anymore, and it's closer to the Harlem River than Jerome is to a reservoir. Moreover, I can't even be certain that there's enough space to even perform maintenance, to say nothing of being able to make service and provide spares. Bear in mind that there are only 22 tracks left for the yard itself, not to mention that a train going to the yard would have to end at 135th Street (northbound only) in order to avoid potential conflicts between northbound and southbound trains, as well as allowing people in the rear half of the train to disembark. That runs the risk of delaying 2 trains in both directions, as northbound 2 trains would need the train to move before entering the station, whereas southbound trains need to cross the northbound track.

Of course Dyre Avenue riders get shafted...

I hope there's nothing wrong with them. The last thing we need at this point is to have more delayed deliveries.

Basically, what I'm wondering is if the current policy of mutual closed-door service and bus platforms with little to nothing in common with the local fleet's platforms is actually sustainable. Based on the fact that people have been talking about the MTA trying to cut it, I can't help but suspect it actually isn't. (I really don't want to believe that, but even with better ridership numbers, it would still be rather expensive to operate.)

I'm no fan of the current setup of the Eastern Parkway Line between Franklin Avenue and Utica Avenue. I would honestly prefer reconfiguring that entire stretch into a more traditional setup. Aside from facilitating a better connection with the Nostrand Avenue Line, it would also come with a larger relay area that directly connects to both the express and local tracks. By doing this, we would be able to avoid trying to reinstate bad practices (awkward deadheads to yards that run the risk of significantly crippling operations of other routes) and make short-turning at Utica Avenue easier for local trains.

Even if we were to try to do that, the expense wouldn't be worth it.

I'm on the fence about this, but with the complications of running the service, cases of improper use (irrespective of documentation), and how the routes may be the only ones (or close to the only ones) available in certain areas, we may need to rethink our express buses.