RailRunRob

14 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

Just a clear reminder. This is the . 

Point taken.

55 minutes ago, NY1635 said:

I think they outsourced map design to route designers living outside NY. NICE has been getting free advice from the riders after the previous route designer got scared off by Nassau residents.

IIRC The Bronx redesign is being done by a inhouse MTA team. QNS and Bklyn aren't and are different teams. 

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

They are now 6 days late on their "original" release date. At this point it's late October now.

Yeah it's kind of crazy I literally got internal emails last week for planed rallies based on a MTA confirmed date of the 10/16 with elected officials. Also got a nod from someone at the MTA. I wonder if this has anything to do with the internal stuff with Byford thinking it might. Havnt heard anything since last week.

10 minutes ago, Around the Horn said:

Couldn't we just have connected the LIRR tracks from the 63rd Street tunnel to the eastern side of the existing lower level and made the necessary modifications for LIRR trains for far less money instead of this expensive boondoggle? 9 minutes from train to street level is ludicrous.

That was the plan originally from my understanding. I have some the older EIS had a up grade from around 61& Park to the lower level of GCT.

9 minutes ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

 

This is New York, where anything can happen (or not happen).  I believe nothing until it actually happens. 

Not saying you're wrong question everything.. Just passing the information along. I guess tomorrow at this time we'll see if it's true or not. Stay tuned!

Word on the street is there going to release the updated Bronx plan tomorrow on the 16th. From two sources both inside and on the political side.

2 hours ago, R68OnBroadway said:

I hope that NYC Ferry won’t get a free transfer... it’s so ridiculously subsidized for a premium service that only helps richer people on waterfronts. If express bus riders must pay $6.50 so can ferry riders.

The ferries are getting OMNY Al Putre mentioned it on the SAS podcast

21 minutes ago, Around the Horn said:

I would love something like the pink validators for out of system transfers like Lex/59th <-> Lex/63rd.

Something like that would be great afew other places could use the connection.

Take a listen when you get a second they Discuss OMNY in this talk. If you haven’t heard it already.

https://blubrry.com/secondavesagas/44858124/episode-5-omny-with-mtas-al-putre

1 hour ago, Around the Horn said:

They're probably going to have the same system as the Staten Island Railway. Validators at each station, tap in, tap out with spot checks by Eagle team. Some busy stations might have gate lines like London.

Right on! Yeah something like I can see working. Maybe even the transfer validation (Pink) points for things like the Atlantic ticket. Cool thing with London it's a bit easier there with the zones we'd have to figure that out but the tech is there.

Any word on how they plan to integrate commuter rail? 

4 hours ago, BreeddekalbL said:

https://m.metro-magazine.com/news/734863/house-passes-bill-banning-usage-of-fed-funds-for-chinese-rolling-stock

How does this affect the LAMTA and CTA with there CRRC rolling stock?

Bat signal received I have the direct ear of 3 State senators and a personal connect to Carl Hastings. @Union Tpke Let me know what your plan forward is. DM me!

35 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The crowd was so big that Andy Byford personally spoke before the crowd. I will see if I can post footage tomorrow. Someone in my group (some BxM7 riders) posted it.

I was up there as well got a chance to speak to Andy King and a few other officials before they sat with the MTA people came out!!! Byford stayed around for quite sometime after the event even ABC 7 came up.

22 hours ago, Union Tpke said:

I plan on speaking out against this at the NYCT meeting on Monday. I hope my other fellow members consider attending meetings at speaking out. It is June, and may of the members of the forum are high-school/college aged and don't have school right now-take advantage of the opportunity. We talk about stuff all day on the forums, but that isn't causing change. Speak out. Let your voice be heard.

22 hours ago, RR503 said:

Second. We have some really good, active advocates on here -- like @Union Tpke and @Via Garibaldi 8 -- and it's time we followed their lead. The people on this forum generally hold more informed an nuanced positions on transit than do New Yorkers in general; if we want to see progress, it's our prerogative to spread said views. 

Agreed!!

23 minutes ago, Calvin said:

The new cars (R179) are additional service but to reduce shortage for both the and trains, and the rest of the B Division line. 

The key was shortage. Forgot about that point.

So with the  shutdown not happening. Are these new cars coming retiring any cars? Or is it just additional service ?  Like the R46's moving from the  to the ?

11 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The funding for Bus is different than it is for NYCT and the  knows this, believe me. They are not stupid. Bus gets funding from NYC to run the Bx23 and the Q50, so they have no problem beefing up the service on the Bx23 because they are gutting the other Co-Op local bus lines!! lol

I know a few of the folks at the Community board on that side of town. Going to reach out make sure they understand what's going on. Might even to sit with them and help them go thru this if need be.

The MTA Bus/NYCT thing didn't cross my mind you're probably onto something there as well.

1 minute ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It's a service cut plain and simple

You know what your right! I'm sitting here trying to process this. When plain and simple it's fewer options and less service overall.

 

 

1

2 hours ago, Q43LTD said:

 The  will definitely have to go back to the drawing board with Co-Op City. 

 

I'm still processing these proposed changes.  I kinda get what they're trying to do create a circular feeder route that ties into routes exiting Co-Op City. Id love to see what the full justification is for this design. Time savings, Capacity, etc. I just don't see how it can fully work at the very least the Bx28/38 could be remerged maybe to/from Bay Plaza but covering Section's 1-4. The 26 should stay as is covering 4 & 5. Not sure about the 30. The 29 I could see maybe being cut back.  The Q50 should maybe go to Bay Plaza ? Interesting move by the MTA.  

4 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

But that's the question though. If they are trying to avoid Manhattan entirely what is the back-up plan? 

Good question. If you don't do 1st Ave all the way up. You have the 59th Street Bridge and Queens Blvd to 278 as well as the QMT to 278 onto the RFK. 

2 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

No, what the planners are saying with this routing is all of the traffic headaches are in Manhattan, so let's design the route so it avoids it entirely, as if there aren't traffic back-ups in Queens.  It's absurd.  I can say this because I spoke with the Bronx Planner in my first meeting who is responsible for this re-design, where we discussed this very thing.  There are lots of problems here and the big one is that the  and DOT both don't have their sh*t together.  The  has to depend on the DOT and the DOT is behind on a lot of things such as bus lanes and Traffic Signal Priority. Since the  has to depend on the DOT, their attitude is we will design routes around traffic as if traffic can be avoided.

The current BxM18 is pretty direct given the street layout in Manhattan. There are bus lanes on 5th all the way down to Midtown. After that it hits a little traffic going Downtown, but Broadway is what it is. It's the DOT that has exacerbated the traffic issue.  

I got you and I agree on the DOT issues. I guess the point I'm trying to make with the BXM17 it's a very unique route in the fact unlike most QM,X and SIM routes that have 2 ways into there native boroughs. The 17 has at least 4-5 points of entry to the Bronx with this new data expansion I wouldn't be surprised if some northbound trips took Manhattan or maybe the BQE or the Triboro. A route like that could be more fluid than a SIM route that just has the Verrazano or Goethals in. By the time the Bus gets to 20th street depending on traffic, it could be routed accordingly. I don't feel the route will be locked. There's not much the MTA can do about the DOT but at least you can calculate the best option.

38 minutes ago, DetSMART45 said:

That BxM17 "idea" should be used primarily as the main argument cementing the fact that DOT (city or state) has exacerbated the travel problems, and has done nothing to "urge" or "persuade" people to get back on the buses/subways/trains. If anything, this idea should force DOT to institute HOV-lanes (along with STRICT enforcement -- maybe a $300 ticket like Philly does with handicap-violations) to "show" the people sitting in gridlock that the buses passing them by would be a better option.

However, I can't believe some MTA "planner" actually came up with the BxM17 idea, got enough people to scratch their chins, have a think, and decide to go forward with it. Looks good on paper, but that idea should have been shot down straight away by two simple roadtrips during Peak -- not in MTA cars, but on an Express bus.

Indeed I see your point the MTA and DOT need better integration and inter-agency communication. HOV and transit priority lanes need to be better planned and expanded. I guess just playing devil's advocate for a second from a transit planner POV. What are we saying don't try this BXM17 service at all? There no Ideal route for the service there's going to the possibility traffic in pretty much every scenario. Westside, Second Ave Via Queens. The bright spot is the Technology is there for Real-time traffic flow and reroutes. The word is the MTA is pooling there bus time data with Uber and few other sources for quicker reroutes options on the fly I'm sure the Planners had this in mind as well.  How is this different from a SIM26 or BXM18 what's the travel time on those routes?

FYI

https://eng.uber.com/category/articles/uberdata/ 

1 hour ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

 

Buses aren't allowed on the FDR Drive north of 20th Street. You'll need to refigure that route using 2nd Avenue.

The point of this is it shows the fastest routes from A to B. The only one of the 3 options that a bus could use is the BXM17 routing FDR, LIE,Van Wyke via Whitestone. So it's one of the fastest routes from Lower Manhattan and Co-Op period car or bus. I'm familiar with the all the parkway, Drive restrictions. 

20 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

Unless the grand tour of Queens is proposed than we got issues. 

2 ways to avoid the grand tour of Queens. 

1) 278 to Triboro. Triboro to 2nd Avenue Exp to 86th or 57th. Right on 86th or 57th to 5th Avenue. (Possible Corresponding stop on 23rd) than FDR DRIVE- DOWNTOWN with proposed stops. 

2 95 to Riverside Drive to follow BxM18 proposed pattern to Downtown via West Side nonstops until WFC than Battery Park &, So. Ferry Sta.. 

It seems the proposed route would be the fastest for Bus. True traffic is crazy sometimes on the LIE but im sure it's better than the local roads. How long does it take the current BXM18 to travel uptown?