aemoreira81

The departed 9853 was the closest...it even had the curvature that the NYCT O5s have.

Not a bus move...but 1019 is ex-5494, and it still has Kingsbridge stickers on it.

1025 is now in service at JFK---and its prior number was 5426.

Probably a cross between Queens (and Bronx) route changes and the SBS proposal, but all 3 routes are Queens Division routes. Proposals: 1. Extend the Q52 to Woodside-61 Street and cut half of the Q53 runs, alternating the Q52 and Q53. Convert the Q52/3 to Select Bus Service duty to speed up service, especially at known chokepoints like Queens Center Mall, Roosevelt Avenue-Jackson Heights, and Liberty Avenue. This would avoid overserving Rockaway Park, evenly distribute passenger load between the routes, and provide Arverne and Hammels with better connections to points north of Liberty Avenue. During the rush, run additional service between Howard Beach and Queens Center in the peak direction only. Two stops would be eliminated from the Q53 only: Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Beach 102 and Beach 98 Streets. 2. Convert the Q44 to Select Bus Service duty and straighten out the route to reduce the amount of turns and crowded streets traversed in Jamaica. Buses would instead use Archer Avenue, 139 Street, Jamaica Avenue, and Queens Boulevard to operate between Jamaica and Briarwood. The following Q44 Limited stops would be eliminated: Sutphin Boulevard at Jamaica and Hillside Avenues, Main Street and Northern Boulevard, on Parsons Boulevard at 17 Avenue, and on the Cross Bronx Expressway frontage road at (southbound only, there is no corresponding northbound stop) Herrod, Beach/Taylor, Pugsley, Olmstead, (southbound only, northbound stop remains) Havemeyer, and (northbound only, there is no corresponding southbound stop) Zerega Avenues. Stops would be added at: Cross Bronx Expressway frontage road Gleason Avenue (southbound) and Ellis Avenue (northbound)...the thinking here being to have stops that can be used in both directions; the only eliminated bi-directional stop that would have qualified is Beach/Taylor. 3. Convert the Q113 Limited to SBS, with the following change made: Eliminate stops at Linden Boulevard and Foch Boulevard, and add a stop (combining those two stops) at 116 Avenue instead (driver changes would take place here, and this maintains service to the Baisley Park Houses). The thinking here is that all of these routes are crosstowns where service could be made faster.

With the introduction of the B84, I wonder if a tweaking of the BM5 is in order to provide express service currently enjoyed by Spring Creek Towers to midtown Manhattan. This is how I would reroute the line: Start point: Vandalia Avenue and Van Siclen Avenue...then travel via the B83 route to Gateway (this would reverse the drop-off and pick-up points in Spring Creek Towers, with pickups southbound and dropoffs northbound), followed by a trip on the Belt and up Erskine Street. Then, follow the B84 route up to Ashford and Linden, and then the current BM5 line. This would incur an increased cost because of travel distance, but I wonder if it should be considered.

I'd have buses lay over on 146 Street just short of the station, which would also be the last stop...if not in front of the station.

It's ha Brooklyn Division route---but I think that the Q55 could use some better connections, especially on its eastern end, where it ends in a residential area. To that end, I would extend the Q55 along Jamaica Avenue (to serve Jamaica Hospital) and have it end at the LIRR/AirTrain station in Jamaica, which would place both ends of the route in transit hubs.

Not a move per se, but 1023 was formerly 5425 (although the interior number has not been changed).

The reason why I chose 36 Street over 59 Street is because no streets cross 3 Avenue between 67 Street and 56 Street (exclusive) except for 65 Street (westbound only) and 60 Street (bidirectional)...it would not be easy to then get back to 2 Avenue from 4 Avenue there. The traffic patterns underneath the Gowanus force that issue.

A revised plan: 1. Former B37 route to 36/37 Streets (straight down 3 Avenue, then... 2. Run over to 4 Avenue to serve the station. Then switch back to 3 Avenue 3. At 52/53 Streets, switch to 2 Avenue to serve Lutheran. 4. Back to 3 Avenue at 65 Street 5. Leave 3 Avenue at Marine Avenue, have the route travel up to 92 Street via 4/5 Avenues. 6. Run past SUNY Downstate - Bay Ridge and terminate at VA Hospital. The B70 would return to its pre-2010 route, and at least on weekdays, there would likely be more service between 36 Street and the VA.

I should note that I saw a flyer at Lutheran with a restore the B37 on it that caused me to think of a proposal that would revive the B37 via a Second Avenue reroute...now, I could agree with turning the route off 3 Avenue southbound at 52 Street and perhaps having it just be a Sunset Park and Bay Ridge route (ending at the 36 Street station in Sunset Park, permitting an easy run-on and run-off). The real problem is what to do with the route north of 36 Street---is it really warranted? The problem with running the B37 up Smith/9 Streets and then cutting back the B57 is that you then have only one route servicing the Red Hook Houses and IKEA. Perhaps what could happen is: every other bus continues up 3 Avenue to downtown (restoring service to the Gowanus Houses), and then you have the meandering between 36 and 65 Streets to serve the subway and then 2 Avenue? I believe that the southern end of the route would have more ridership...and then the B70 could be rerouted back to Fort Hamilton Parkway with the B37 handling 3 Avenue to the VA.

The B11 provides service only from points east---what about north and south? Second Avenue is also full of work sites during the weekday. In addition, from a fiscal standpoint, you would have reduced deadhead distances, since trips could drop out at the 36 Street station and make a deadhead of about 4 blocks.

Given the ridership of those visiting Lutheran Hospital, that one block could be huge, especially going uphill.

Second Avenue catches a bigger footprint than 3 Avenue---between 39 Street and 65 Street under my plan, there would be a bus at 2, 5, and 8 Avenues. Using 2 Avenue between Hamilton (or 14 Street) and 9 Street also provides better access to the Pathmark supermarket at the foot of 12 Street. As for the area of Sunset Park, the question is: is it more important to serve 3 Avenue, or Lutheran Hospital on 2 Avenue, given how many people use the B11 to access it today.

Restoration, yes. But I don't agree that it should be restored upon its former route...a straight shot works for the B63 since 5 Avenue is a business corridor for almost all of its route except by Greenwood Cemetery. The B13 is a route with a near perfect routing, even though it does make a lot of turns.

The B39 only received a partial service restoration, however (7 AM to 9 PM, essentially 2 shifts). The hours of service could be expanded...however, between Hamilton Avenue and Boerum Hill (especially between 9 Street and Boerum Hill) is essentially nothing. That is why I proposed a routing towards a more traveled corridor north of Park Slope. The B103 (through an added stop and a slight reroute southbound) could handle the Wyckoff Gardens housing project which with the elimination of the B67) is now isloated from most transit service (the nearest route is the B65). The route must also get as close to job sites and where people are going as possible, which is why I feel that a straight shot up 3 Avenue is not ideal.

Revised B37 idea: Having the route running down 3 Avenue only north of Bay Ridge would miss a lot of critical points, and so I would instead propose this route instead: Start at VA Hospital, follow the current B70 line to Bay Ridge Avenue and 3 Avenue. Then, continue due north on 3 Avenue to 65 Street, left on 65 Street, and right on 2 Avenue to serve Lutheran Hospital and the Brooklyn Army Terminal directly as well as the industry that is there on 2 Avenue in Sunset Park. Continue up 2 Avenue to 39 Street, right on 39 Street (to serve Costco), left on 4 Avenue, left on 36 Street (to serve the 36 Street station), right on 3 Avenue, left on Hamilton Avenue, right on 2 Avenue (to serve Lowe's), left on 9 Street (to serve the Smith-9 Street station), right on Smith Street, and terminate at Fulton Mall. Southbound: Left on Fulton Mall, left on Court Street, left on Mill Street, left on Smith Street, right on 9 Street, right on 2 Avenue, left on 14 Street, right on 3 Avenue, left on 37 Street, right on 4 Avenue, and then follow the southbound route to the VA Hospital. RIdership generators would be: improved access to Lutheran Hospital for Bay Ridge and Sunset Park without requiring a transfer to the B11. I would propose for weekday service from 6 AM to 10 PM (service every 15 minutes during the rush hour and every 20-25 minutes midday, and 30 minutes after the PM rush to the end of service, and Saturday service from 8 AM to 8 PM, every 30 minutes, with no Sunday service as a start. I know the routing sounds a bit circuitous...but what do you think?

On the subject of Queens express bus routes, given that Baisley Park has only one express bus route and that such requires a separate parts inventory for just those buses...might it be time to consider merging the QM21 into a rerouted X63 route? How it would work is as follows: During the morning rush, there would be X63 trips beginning from Rosedale operating straight down Merrick Boulevard to Linden Boulevard an X63 trips originating from Springfield Boulevard and Merrick Boulevard that would operate via Farmers Boulevard, Bedell Street, Baisley Boulevard, and Guy R. Brewer Boulevard before meeting the Rosedale branch. There would be one last shoulder trip in the AM that originates from Rosedale but travels via the Rochdale Village service. During the PM rush, the first two trips would go to Rosedale via Rochdale Village...then there would be trips down the separate branches during the rush hour, and then the last PM trip would be Rosedale via Rochdale Village. (I choose Springfield Boulevard as the cut-in/cut-out point because that is a deadhead route for the X63 and X64.) I would stop short of midday X63 service, but I do agree that it may need an additional "shoulder" trip or two---that is, another trip just outside the rush hour/ The saved space could be potentially used for a conversion of the Q111/113 to articulated buses.

The irregular basis would be consistent with when service is needed---during visiting hours for inmates (there are no Monday or Tuesday visiting hours at any DOC jails, and the times I initially mentioned were mentioned to provide service from 45 minutes before visiting hours begin to 45 minutes after they end on Wednesday through Sunday) and during shift changes (currently at 0000, 0800, and 1600 hours). Other times, you have no reason to be on Rikers' Island unless you work or are incarcerated there. You need more service Wednesday through Sunday than Monday and Tuesday.

Proposal 1: Corrections could use its own shuttle bus to run between Steinway and Rikers' Island with timed connections between the Q100/1 stops in Steinway and Rikers' Island if that is done---it would reduce deadhead mileage. Proposal 2: Under Queens Surface, the Q101R had a special Monday and Tuesday schedule, Wednesday and Thursday schedule, and then a Friday through Sunday schedule. However, it is no longer a special RIkers' Island only line...and I see unlocked value in the line.

Noting that the Q100's demands at its northern end would really justify an unbalanced schedule, that Steinway could use some improvements in service, and that 19 Avenue and 81 Street are the run-on and run-off routes for both the Q100 and Q101, one proposal I would do is as follows: 1. Extend the Q100 to terminate at the Q69 terminus---which is only 800 feet away from LaGuardia Depot. 2. (Credit for this to Bounad Hahnic in another thread): revisit the idea of an unbalanced schedule for the Q100 that restricts service to Rikers' Island to shift changes and inmate visiting hours, and terminating all other Q100 service in Steinway, with stops added on 20 Avenue at Crescent Street, Steinway Street, and 49 Street. and on 21 Street at 23 Avenue and 35 Avenue.

There will be an investigation of what went wrong while the bus sits at ECH---i.e., did the dispatcher wrongly put that bus on the service track in the garage?

9010 is OOS pending scrap - the entire rear end burned down in Jamaica while in service.

Any timeline for 1017 and 1020 to enter service? They have been sitting at JFK since they came, and 1015 and 1016 have run only once.

5440 is at JFK - not renumbered.