B35 via Church

I do not know why NJT continues to underestimate/shortchange the #107 in terms of capacity per trip... You hate the NABI's on the #171, but I've grown quite irritated with 40-footers (and the f***ed up ones at that) on the #107... While they're used interchangeably, the #37 is still secondary to the #107 - but yet they run 40'-ers on the #107 as if demand is equivalent to the #37 or something.... Quite maddening....

The scheduled runtime is too much, because they're trying to have dissimilar routes (in terms of route length/mileage and/or in terms of runtime) all connect to each other at these timed connection points..... The way I see it, it's clear that it's all guesswork & it's going to take trial & error to get as close to having the routes at these timed connection points connect to each other in a reasonable timeframe.... To come out of the gate promising 3-5 min. waits when (at least in these two different fantrip instances of yours) the worst possible scenarios on both sides of the spectrum occurred, is a problem.... Let's see how serious (and with what amount of diligence) they'll take this matter.... Your inquiry (to them) is asking too much of them, when they apparently can't get these mid-route pulse points to reasonably pan out..... I mean, godspeed to this new network, but I'm going to remain being of the belief that any attempt to have 1] mid-route pulse points (plural), period, and 2] in a network that clearly isn't pulse point centric is infeasible, unworkable, and dare I say it - irrational... AFAIC, Amityville, Central Islip, Riverhead, and Smith Haven (which is the absolute dumbest one to me in this network) have no business being pulse points - and this is me being objective, because I'm clearly not a fan of multiple pulse points in one network.... You can have routes connecting to each other at terminals without this need to have them all depart at/around the same time.... Putting that another way, a major xfer point doesn't necessarily have to be a pulse point - Which is one reason why I strongly believe they've incorporated pulse points into this network for the wrong reasons.... In any case though, I *suppose* I'm alright with Brentwood (although IDK what side of the tracks the connection/pulse point is on... which is another thing - the Man line is at grade, which adds yet another variable to all of this), Patchogue, and Bay Shore..... Multiple pulse points to me, suggest multiple sub-networks.... Not that it has to be, but that isn't what this new network is - it's one network with multiple pulse points.... Yeah, when b/o's would have communications over the radio with the dispatcher for the purpose of having buses hold for connections, I didn't mind that all that much because there was never a time when/where a bus I was on, was sitting idle for too too many minutes on end... 5-6 or so may have been the longest.... Never was 10 or more, because I most certainly would've remembered that - and I've fanned the old system for about 20 years, more or less.... Notice that nothing I'm saying thus far has to do with the quality of any of the routes.... Although I'm obviously not all that thrilled about the coverage losses, I have more of a gripe with how this network is structured, over the individual routes themselves....

- Good call.... Thanks.... Never knew that about the #320 (never had a reason to want to get off there) - Damn, completely forgot about the #308... I have not rode that route in over a decade. Right, I mean 800 buses is a lot of damn buses.... I generally hate using this term, but this is the polar opposite of right-sizing your fleet - which only leads me to believe that service cuts will follow on whatever lines they plan on replacing 40'-ers with artics with....

Even given that I like to ride full routes, with respect to @Lawrence St's question, I wouldn't have taken the #129 to the #356, just like I wouldn't take the #126 to the #85 if I were actually going to the mall, for the sake of going inside the mall; shopping purposes..... But for fanning purposes, well I've tried taking the #356 on three separate occasions.... Never got around to riding it, before they ended up "temporary suspending it".... - first time, I simply didn't know where to catch it (after having came off the #2).... Didn't see any signs anywhere, so I got fed up & took a #129 to PABT.... Looking at my trip logs as I'm typing this, I turned that trip into a pretty good Manhattan fantrip.... - second time, I just missed the damn thing after having came off the #2... At least they had those folding signs leading pax. to where they could catch the #356.... Anyway, long story short, it (the #2) was a trip via the USPS bulk mail center, and the b/o was driving distracted the whole time (as in, carrying a whole conversation with these 2 USPS employees from JSQ).... Kept looking at my watch, and by time we even reached the mail center (as in, before circling inside it), I knew I was screwed... Surprised we even got as close to catching it (the #356) as we did, TBH.... - the third time, it just never showed up.... What gave me some hope at the time, was that there was an MCI on layover at the opposite side of the terminal (where all those EZride shuttles stop at).... Of course, it ended up being another #129 (the #129 I took to get there, never went on layover; it just darted out of Secaucus Junction & DH'd to wherever it went to).... Eventually came to find out that they had stopped running the #356 at that point. The only trip out of the 3 that i had an itinerary for, was for that second one..... All three times were on a Saturday.

You probably wouldn't need to resort to such a method (holding buses for timed connections) altogether if the routes were twice as frequent.....

Outside of driving there, I simply wouldn't go there if the #355 was the only option.

By transit? Because I can just simply drive there (and end up paying those exorbitant parking fees).... If you mean by transit, I would either take *whatever* route to Union City & xfer to the #85, or the #320 option (to the #85)... Depends on what mood I'm in (as with most things).... One thing I'm not ever doing again though is the #160 to the #703. Not sure whatever you may be trying to get at by asking me this, but I'm telling you flat out that I would not take that #355... And it's not a matter of cost/affordability for me either, it's a matter of principle, like I said earlier..... Crazy that I can go significantly deeper into NJ on NJT from NYC than the Meadowlands for less.....

Not for the purpose of going to the mall (as in, to go inside the physical stores or whatever), but I fan the #126 to the #85 with some regularity... Usually do the #772 afterwards.... Anyway, that's that 3.50 + 3.15, which is $6.65.... The #355 is $9.00... You do the math... lol Hell, the #320 to the #85 is cheaper than 9 damn dollars... I think the #320 is $4.25, while it's still a 2 zone ride on the #85 b/w Harmon Meadow & American Dream (American Dream is its own zone on the #85).... So, 4.25 + 2.55, $6.80..... Cheapest way to go is to just make your way to Union City & xfer to the #85... I still can't get over it being cheaper to take the #111 to Jersey Gardens, or any of the Wayne expresses to Willowbrook Mall, than it is to take the #355 to American Dream.... That markup is plain old ridiculous.

Quick question.... Just found out (through an old actionkid video on yt) that a ticket on the #355 has the letters ADM on it (I refuse to ride that route out of general principle)... Are there any other tickets that displays letters (on the part of the ticket where the zone number is) ?

Well hell, if the wait times are still/generally too long, then how bad was it before (as in, compared to the first time you went out there) ? Even with all the cuts to the system, SCT's bus system is still too large to organically pull off timed connections at multiple/major xfer points in the network.... While well-intentioned, it's just not realistic.... Weird feeling, but in regards to this particular facet of the new network, I'm sitting back reading this sneering & chortling, while concurrently irritated..... Back when you & @Mtatransit were stoked, or otherwise (apparently) optimistic about these timed connections, the very thing you're now reporting here with this, is what I figured was going to end up happening - having buses sitting idle for minutes on end, mid-route, in an attempt to make these timed connections work... Too many variables at play to have it all be pulled off naturally smoothly, or otherwise within reason.... Speaking of which, I'd go as far as to say it's unreasonable to riders that aren't seeking those particular mid-route connections; I would personally be livid if I was sitting at one stop for 10 minutes in an attempt to guarantee a connection (I'd say 5 is even pushing it, but that's the greatest amount of leeway I'd give it)... Like how much time is some poor rider on the #4 traveling between say, Deer Park & Smith Haven, having being pissed away sitting at Brentwood and at Central Islip waiting for connections that he/she doesn't need..... To me, all it shows is how the powers that be, views the bus system.... The new network is not *the little engine that could* (so to speak)... It is not small at all, but it appears to me that the decision makers in all this, views SCT as some small bus network.... My plan was to ride the new system the first week of the new year (while I'm off work), but the more I read your posts/reports & listen to pinepower's videos regarding the new network, I want no part of this crap.

800 artics in 5 years? Hell, at that point, I think the question has less to do with which routes need artics & more to do with what routes they plan on throwing all these artics on (whether current service levels & usage on whatever route{s} warrants them or not)....Given said sentiment, that's how I'm going to opine on/approach this. Quite honestly, I don't feel like going down a list of every single NNJ NJT route, so I'm just going to (lazily) use (some of) your list here as a (sort of) template & go on from there.... =================================== The #126 should perhaps be all artic in the peak direction (plus certain times/hrs. of the day on weekends).... Aside from that, meh. You mention the #84.... Whenever that Union City garage opens up, I think NJT's gonna go stupid/go nuts (for lack of a better term) with throwing artics on whatever routes end up running out of there...

Noticed it this morning.... It appears they rearranged where buses stop inside Whitman Mall... Now that the S1 (or route 1) has less service now, they apparently bumped it back to where the S54 used to pick up (of the SCT area of the terminal, it's the very shelter the furthest away from the n79 & those HART routes).... It used to take up the closest 2 bus shelters; right before you make that left turn for the bus shelters for the HART routes.... I would go take a look for myself, but that's clearly not worth taking the LIRR to Huntington & walking to Whitman Mall from there, to then catch the n79 (even though I still like to fan that route, given that it's been a shell of its former self).... Also saw one of the pine sniffer's videos, where he took one of the routes to Smith Haven... One of the gripes I've always had with Smith Haven mall with the old system, was that there was no rhyme or reason where buses would pick you up around the terminal area / all the differing bus shelters... I've seen more than my fair share of people miss buses, because they were waiting at the wrong shelter, because they weren't attentive and/or diligent enough.... For the most part, it was proximate to (the pathway to) the entrance of the mall, but you still had to be alert - especially when drivers would pull up with the destination signage off or whatever... In any event, judging by his video, it still looks to be more of the same...

It amazes me how ignorant some people are to public transit.... There was this lady in front of me on the BL-42, that was talking to this dude on the phone, that was apparently waiting at 233rd to meet up with her on said BL-42.... She, like everyone else that boarded in The Bronx, got on the thing at 241st.... She had to tell the dude that the 42 don't run to 233rd on weekends.... She, like half the bus, got off at 1st & 5th (and "was gonna stop off at the store first")... They sure enough sounded like locals of the area..... I was just sitting there shaking my head the entire time.... There's no way in hell that I'm not going to keep abreast of how the bus routes around me, operate - especially SPAN wise !

Watch for (even more) cars abusing the loose non-enforcement of the buses only rule along Fulton, west of Flatbush av. extension. Not sure how else to put this, other than by saying that Livingston was some motorists' last hope to directly (feasibly, enough to) get into the heart of Downtown.... This is only going to increase the amount of people backdooring their way to it... Even outside of peak hours, the B61 slogs its way to get to Livingston after it turns off Columbia.... I'm not sure what's going to be worse - Atlantic, or Tillary.....

Many many moons ago, I used to think that.... Depending on how much service that would be ran on both, you potentially run the risk of running too much service on the overlapping portion (QBP-QCM).... If you run most of the service on the QCM - Manhattan portion, service east of QCM would be short-changed (which that usage isn't anything to sneeze at).... I'm not sure if there's even a numerical sweet spot (in terms of headways, so to speak) that would appease riders of both portions.... If it's any issue that I have with current Q60 service, it's that too many buses are delayed by them running over the 59th st Bridge (or whatever the heck it's called now)... That's the main reason why I would have some trips end at QBP... IDK if they still do them, but while I get why they have/had those 33rd st short turns, they were even more of a disservice than if buses were to be stopped short of Manhattan at QBP.....

Livingston St. was a part of that Better Buses Action Plan that De Bozo (De Blasio) introduced, around 4 or 5 years ago.... It was an attempt to improve bus speeds along certain corridors throughout the city.... There were about 20 corridors or so that were to see improvements, with Livingston st. being one of them. In laymans, the previous Livingston st. plan were the first set of bus lanes that were painted along it.

Oh, I see people taking Q44's from Fordham over the Bx9 south of Fordham rd, simply on the basis of the proposed Q44 not running along Fordham rd... IDK about ending Bx9's at the Bronx Zoo or whatever, but I don't doubt for a second that they're going to continue to tinker with Bx9 service/levels more than they've already been doing over the years, if/when this Q44 extension comes to fruition.... I've long been of the belief that they really solely want to run Bx9's up/down Broadway all day anyway....

So they're going fully cocked instead of going half-cocked - because the latter is exactly what that initial bus lane idea was..... At least this would have Schermerhorn see more usage than it historically did & currently does... Always tripped me out how dead Schermerhorn was/is, traffic wise.... The dollar vans (well, mini-buses) are going to be in for a rude awakening when this plan is completed - no more of that illegal u-turning on Livingston at Smith (in front of the Park & Fast) BS..... Speaking of Smith/Livingston, they have one of those yellow signs/placards up at the current B62 terminal stating that the stop will be discontinued (not surprised at that, TBH)... It also mentioned a stop at Smith/Livingston that's set to replace it (don't remember how the sign was exactly worded).... I can't figure out if the B62 will be shifted to terminate at the current penultimate stop (alongside the Civil Court bldg.), or on the same side of the street with the B61 & B65....

The demand for the Q44 from areas south of Flushing, to The Bronx in general, isn't the issue; there are plenty folks riding to The Bronx from south of Flushing.... It's how deep into The Bronx is that demand warranted to/for, is the question.... With this Fordham extension bit though, I think some people, quite frankly, are treading down the path of flat out ignoring intra-Queens usage on the thing.... With the Q20's proposed truncation to Briarwood , even though its intra-Queens usage pales in comparison to the Q44, there's going to be that much more of a burden on the Q44 in & out of Jamaica.... The obvious/real issue is the basic lack of rail transit b/w the 2 boroughs. That would cause way more problems than is attempting to be solved with this extension to Fordham. For starters, they already plan on having the Q20 go Jamaica - Beechhurst, so to have Q44's from Jamaica split to end in Whitestone would massively overserve that immediate part of Queens.... I would end them there full time, if not for space issues.... Someone on reddit that supports the extension went as far as bringing up cutting the Bx9 back to Bronx Zoo... IDK if that's supposed to mean stopping it dead at Southern/Fordham, or running it down Southern to that entrance around 182nd, or what....

Wtf are they (the DOT) doing with Livingston Street..... Took the full B45 into Downtown earlier today...... Looks like they're going to (try to) E.L. Grant Hwy., Livingston Street.... In other words, do away with curbside bus stops for the Downtown bound buses & install islands in the middle of the street for buses to stop at.... I want to see how they're going to pull this off... Livingston doesn't have the width that E.L. Grant does.... EB traffic is going to have to be redirected onto Schermerhorn, or Atlantic (which is already a shitshow as it is).....

Yeah, I know about its usage to/from E. Midtown & how those EB buses pick up at that stop over there (especially if WB buses arrive in bunches, which is pretty common on that route)... My concern was runtime related. Now that I went back to check how they had buses (QT60) running to Jamaica Ctr., it shouldn't be much of a problem (could've sworn they had them turning off on Archer at Sutphin.... instead/apparently they had them go Hillside - 150th - Archer).... Who knows why they rescinded the original proposal to Jamaica Center... But yeah, I can also see people xferring off the Jamaica Center feeders to a Q60 of sorts. Regardless of what ends up happening with the Q20, I would try my hand at running Q60's to Jamaica Center. Worse.... They had the QT60 terminating at the Hunterspoint Ferry.

Quite honestly, I would've liked to have seen how the Q60 would perform if it were to run to Jamaica Center (over continuing to run it south of Archer, even still given the usage it does get).... With the previously proposed QT60 in the first draft, I didn't concur with the fact that they had it running to the Hunterspoint Ferry... The proposed diverting of it to Jamaica Center on the other end of the route, I didn't mind nearly as much.... If for not keeping the same/current routing, the conundrum I have, is whether: the route should serve E. Midtown and Jamaica Center the route should serve Jamaica Center, instead of E, Midtown For the latter, basically, would running it to Jamaica Center & all the other connections there, be worth the sacrifice for scaling the route back (on the other end of the route) from Manhattan, at say, Queensboro Plaza....

This is what we're going to get when we have transients or gentrifiers moving in to the city.... I've overheard this one group of people talking amongst each other on the coming home 2 Sundays ago, where one of them mentioned that they moved to Sterling Street... The one guy goes "Crown Heights right", She goes "no, Bed Stuy, by Empire".... They all go "Ohhhhhh", like some revelation was just brought upon them.... ...and I'm sitting across from them like .... you gotta be f***ing kidding me.... --------------- As far as Linden/Rogers. AFAIC, anything west of Nostrand in this part of the borough is Flatbush.... Linden/Rogers has a completely different "feel" (so to speak) than East Flatbush - even (still) given the amount of Whites & Arabs that are slowly starting to move into the (western) part of the neighborhood here.....

I've always suspected that....

Something else I'd do with the proposed B67 (if it's to terminate over there by the Sands gate of the Navy Yard {Sands st/Navy st}) is to have it parallel the proposed B27 b/w the Farragut houses & Downtown Brooklyn..... In other words, I would do away with having buses run along Jay St. north of Tillary.... Much of nobody is trying get to York st by bus & those folks that live in the Concord Village apartments don't use the buses (current B67/B69).... Those school kids in the immediate area walk to/from Downtown Brooklyn.... Having the proposed B67 run over the proposed B27 routing up there won't exactly be double the proposed service (of the B27), but it'll have it be that much closer to the amt. of service that those folks in the Farragut houses currently get with the current B57 & B62..... That routing (Tillary to Gold) is infinitely more useful.