shiznit1987

Speaking of "Grand Central Madison", I noticed on OpenRailwayMap that there are tail tracks down to 39th St. How hard would it be to connect those tracks to the existing east river tunnels and create a loop, thereby sending almost all LIRR trains to Grand Central.

IMHO, living right along Woodhaven myself, I'd prefer a light rail that makes the same stops the Q52/Q53 do now with Woodhaven Blvd station converted to an express station. That truly would cover all the bases IMHO. I don't think that Eastern Queens should see subway extentions unless there was some massive increase in total subway capacity into Manhattan. These ideas of sending the // further into Queens don't account for the fact that the trains are already saturated and any extention eastward would either just pick up the same riders or simply overwhelm the system. Instead, there should be light rail lines along the LIE, Union Tpke, Sutphin, Merrick, Hillside, Lefferts, Woodhaven, Northern, etc, connecting to the subway to both speed up service and boost intra-boro transit capacity.

Honestly, it's not. The area it runs thru is either reasonably close to the subway network or has pretty decent bus service. I can think of several more worthwhile subway/LIRR extentions than RRB.

Is there any way you could speak about not cutting back QM15 service? I'd rather they expand the saturday schedule to include sunday as well and keep the current weekday frequencies the same. Those buses often do have great ridership.

I thought the Ronkonkoma branch was the "favorite son" of the LIRR, seeing as almost all it's trains run express from Penn > Woodside > Jamaica. Babylon trains often are the ones slowing down to make Forest Hills and Kew Gardens. At any rate, common sense would say that rather than a total mixup of schedules, that they stick with a simple plan: Babylon, Ronkonkoma, Huntington, Long Beach and Port Wash trains all either serve Penn or GCT. Hemsptead and Far Rock alternate to provide half-hourly service to Brooklyn. Make track 1 @ Jamaica the "Penn Station" track, Track 2 the "Grand Central" track and Track 3 the "Brooklyn" track.

should go to 96th St with the going to Hillside 179th (QB Express), goes to Astoria and to Forest Hills on the local. Zero merges on Broadway. QB Express, QB Local. turns around at 57th St and share 53rd st tunnel which is fine since is now local.

I agree. I'd run the to Bedford Park Blvd rush hours and middays while the runs express. If the were to run local on QB, it'd involve merging on Broadway, which I'm trying to avoid. Rather, I'd offer something that looks like this: Sea Beach -> Manhattan Bridge/Broadway Express -> SAS West End -> Manhattan Bridge/Broadway Express -> SAS Brighton Local -> Manhattan Bridge/Broadway Local -> Astoria Brighton Express -> Manhattan Bridge/Broadway Local -> Astoria (Rush Hours and Middays only) QB Local -> 53rd St -> 8th Ave Local -> Montauge Tunnel -> 4th Ave Local to Bay Ridge QB Express -> 63rd St -> 6th Ave Local -> to Culver and to Metropolitan. Since the would now have the 8th Ave local tracks all to itself we can run 30tph on both the local and express of QB with half of all trains turning at Whitehall or 9th Ave Brooklyn.

/\/\/\ Instead any of that why just run the to Bay Ridge and call it a day? My idea increases Brooklyn capacity.

The Broadway Local tracks would turn under Walker St, then follow the tracks of the former Nassau St - Manhattan Bridge tracks.

This is a simplified version of my South Brooklyn re-arriangment combined with Queens Blvd redesign: Step 1: The Broadway Local is routed onto the south side of the Manhattan Bridge and the Broadway Express is routed onto the north side, so that all 4 Broadway tracks feed into the Bridge. Step 2: The 6th Ave Express is extended under Water St thru Lower Manhattan then under a new tunnel then taking over the LIRR Atlantic Branch. The Utica Ave subway is brached off of the Atlantic Branch to Kings Plaza. The LIRR Atlantic branch is tied into the Archer Ave Subway once it reaches Jamaica. Step 3: The takes over the lower manhattan section of the and runs thru the Montague tunnel and 4th Ave local to Bay Ridge Broadway Service: 125th/Lex via SAS -> Broadway Express -> Manhattan Bridge -> Sea Beach via 4th Ave Express 179th/Hillside -> QB Express -> 63rd St -> Broadway Express -> Manhattan Bridge -> West End via 4th Ave Express Forest Hills -> QB Local -> Broadway Local -> Manhattan Bridge -> Brighton Local Astoria-Ditmars -> Broadway Local -> Manhattan Bridge -> Brighton Express (truncated to Prospect Park on weekends and late nights) 6th Ave Service: 168st/Wash Hts -> CPW Local -> 6th Avenue Express -> LIRR Atlantic branch -> Utica Ave Elevated to Kings Plaza 168st/Wash Hts -> CPW Local -> 6th Avenue Express -> LIRR Atlantic branch -> Parsons/Archer Forest Hills -> QB Local -> 53rd St -> 6th Avenue Local -> Culver Line 57st/6th Ave -> 6th Ave Local -> Williamsburg Bridge -> Myrtle Ave Line to Metropolitan Ave Queens Blvd Service: Parsons/Archer -> QB Express -> 53rd St Forest Hills -> QB Local -> 53rd St 179st/Hillside -> QB Express -> 63st Forest Hills -> QB Local -> 60st 8th Ave/CPW Service: 207th/Inwood -> CPW Express -> 8th Ave Express -> Fulton Express to Rockaways/Lefferts 205th/Norwood -> CPW Express -> 8th Ave Express -> Fulton Local to Euclid Ave Parsons/Archer -> QB Express -> 53rd St -> 8th Ave Local -> Lower Manhattan via former line and Montague St tunnel -> 4th Ave Local to Bay Ridge Reasons Why: 8th Ave, 6th Ave, Broadway, CPW and Dekalb are all deinterlined. South Brooklyn riders wanting 6th Ave service can still transfer at Atlantic Ave Better Queens Blvd Local service w/ full time and service. Service thruput on Broadway Line increased. Utica Ave line built as El to lower costs Taking over LIRR Atlantic Branch means SE Queens riders now have a faster connection to Downtown Brooklyn plus an express that does not use Queens Blvd in case of service disruption. now has a purpose at it's other end and should provide better 4th Ave local service than current

Maybe I'm missing something, but considering one already gets a free subway-to-bus transfer and virtually zero people that ride this thing aren't already coming off the subway or LIRR doesn't this make the move pointless?

So I saw on abc 7 Janno Lieber talking about redesigning the turnstile to make farebeating harder. My question is during the 1990s you started seeing HEETs appearing everywhere and then suddenly around the early 2010s the MTA started taking them out. Why is that? Should the MTA reconsider going back to using HEETs as the default turnstyle?

A couple more suggestions regarding Central/Western Queens: The MTA needs to stop it's obsession with long routes. Instead, keep things simple: Instead of merging the Q21 with the northern section of the Q29, make the section of the Q47 north of Jackson Heights/Roosevelt merge with the northern section of the Q29 so you have one route running down from Marine Air Terminal -> 74th/75th sts -> Jackson Hts/Roosevelt Sta --> Roosevelt Ave -> Hampton St -> 90/92nd Sts to Queens Center Mall. This is a much more manageable route. Keep the proposed Q63 on Broadway the whole way between 21st st and Queens Center Mall. Divert the Q66 down 48st to stop at 46st-Bliss so as to a) cut the Q66 short b) improve reliability and c) give an extra subway connection on top of the Northern Blvd Keep the Q80 as a route running between Jackson Hts/Roosevelt Ave Sta and Cooper Ave-Glendale using the existing Q47 routing. Scrap the Q68 altogether. Send Steinway Q101 buses over the Queensborough to Penn Station Manhattan. Ditto the Q69. This will take massive pressure off the Ditch the current B53 plan. Instead, run the B53 from Marcy Ave-Williamsburg to Jackson Hts-Roosevelt. via Kent/Wyhte Aves -> Franklin St -> Greenpoint Ave -> Roosevelt Ave. This better serves Brooklyn/Queens connectivity. The B62 doesn't need to go all the way to Astoria Houses. Beef up Q69 service and have people connect at Queens Plaza.

I'd take it. I'd LOVE for hourly QM15 service on Sundays

Here's my two cents: I'm in Middle Village, and from my vantage point, it's pure cuts all around. The Q53 does in fact need to go to Woodside, as there is a ridership base there. My suggestion is to keep running down Broadway past Roosevelt then turn left on 62nd st, turn right on Roosevelt, then post up right on 61st where the green cabs are now. Buses can then zoom down 61st to Broadway and then take Broadway straight down. The Q52 needs to make the trek as well. Not happy about losing the Q11 down Woodhaven. The locals are needed to help with the overflow. If the Q53/Q52 ran more frequently that'd be one thing, but I'd keep both the Q21/Q11 on Woodhaven. The Q80 will carry pure air. Almost 80% of the ridership on the current Q47 south of Jackson Heights is along Calamus Ave/79st. Add to that no one wants to trade going to Jackson Heights for Grand Ave-Newtown . This route will bomb. Not sure what having the Q47 run along 69th st accomplishes when the proposed B57 is right along side it the whole way. Having both the Q58 and Q98 the way it's set up is inefficent. The Q59 should take over the Q58 into Corona/Flushing and become a SBS in it's own right. The current Q98 plan will simply be the Q58 SBS. So basically : Q59 SBS Williamsburg Bridge Plaza to Flushing Main St via Grand Ave, Corona Ave, Roosevelt Ave Q58 SBS Myrtle/Wyckoff to Flushing Main St via Fresh Pond Rd, Grand Ave, Queens Center Mall, LIE, College Point Blvd. It's about time they made the Q60, Q66 and Q69 into SBSes and sent them deeper into Manhattan. They should run to Penn Station ala the Q32. Make dedicated bus lanes on the Queensboro Bridge. The express bus cuts are a travesty. How is it the Bronx has express routes that run half hourly on Sundays but Queens, a much more subway poor borough, has to scrape for non-rush express service? Splitting up the Q38 seems logical except I worry here to the MTA will look to

That's all well and good, but right now the best we could hope for is possibly a split between one branch going to 125th/Lex and the other running to LGA. I'd love a 125th Crosstown line (heck, I'd send it to Teterboro and build a park n ride there) but that's going to be like #177 on the MTA's subway expansion priorities, especally since Central and West Harlem is so subway-rich anyway.

I know it's not a consideration but I think extending the SAS to LGA should be on the table. I'd build this in lew of terminating the SAS at 125/Lex. You can have the line run down 125th to Randalls Island, then basically paralell the GCP all the way to the airport with a transfer spot at Astoria Blvd. Astoria voters would love it since it would give the area a second subway option as well.

Personally, I think the letter of a train should be determined by it's destination route regardless of it's orgin. In that case, any train going to 96st/2nd Ave should be signed as . My thing is if you are at a Sea Beach stop and are going to Manhattan even when that "" train slides in you're going to get on it since you pretty much know it's going to go to Manhattan (where else could it go?). The same is *not* true once in the city. People are in a hurry/in their own world and it's much simpler to see and think "Second Ave". Going the other way, all SAS-Sea Beach runs should be signed as since if i'm at 72nd/2nd Ave going downtown am I really going to question it? Yet, the poor guy at 34th St whose had a long day and needs to get home to Bensonhurst would sure appreciate seeing that big yellow rather than having to listen to a garbled annoucement about "Q via Sea Beach" Maybe it comes from living along Queens Blvd and all the re-routes that come along with that, but in my experience going into the city people generally just "get on" and figure it out, especally since if say the is on the or other sillyness you can walk two avenues. OTOH if you get on the wrong train leaving Manhattan you can end up somewhere totally different.

Thank you for your questions and detailed consideration of my plan! Here's a more detailed layout: Broadway Service Plan (Operating hours are "All Times" unless otherwise denoted) 96st/2nd Av - Broadway Exp/Bridge - Sea Beach. 179th St/Hillside - QB Express - Broadway Exp/Bridge - West End. 71st/Forest Hills - QB Local - Broadway Local/Bridge - Brighton Local. Astoria-Ditmars - Broadway Local/Bridge - Brighton Express. Weekends and Late Nights service turns back @ Prospect Park, Brooklyn Queens Blvd Service Plan (Operating hours are "All Times" unless otherwise denoted) 53rd St - QB Express - Parsons Archer 53rd St - QB Local - Forest Hills. Late Nights service terminates at 57th St/6th Ave 63rd St - QB Express - 179th/Hillside 60th St - QB Local - Forest Hills 6th Ave Service Plan (Operating Hours are "All Times" except where denoted): 207th/Inwood - CPW Express/6th Av Express - Water St/Atlantic Ave tunnel - Atlantic Branch LIRR - Utica Ave El to Kings Plaza 205th St/Norwood - CPW Express/6th Ave Express - Water St/Atlantic Ave tunnel - Atlantic Branch LIRR to Jamaica Coney Island via Culver Line - 6th Ave Local - 53rd St - QB Local to Forest Hills. Late Nights terminates at 57th/6th 57th/6th Ave - 6th Ave Local - Broadway/Brooklyn - Myrtle Ave line to Metropolitan Ave. Late Nights Metropolitan to Myrtle Av shuttle. The will continue it's current service pattern to Parsons/Archer. To your first point: Yes, my new trains follow roughly the original SAS route for Lower Manhattan. As far as SAS to Lower Manhattan I've always been of the belief we can find room for it on Nassau and this plan doesn't change that. With only service right now a Lower Manhattan SAS can turn around at Chambers quite easily. Unfortunetly, Water St is too far for a realistic Fulton St tie-in but keep in mind the is going to have access to a tremendous amount of trains @ Atlantic Terminal. As far as the Atlantic Brach of the LIRR, the Nostrand Ave station will be discontinued with the only two stops in Brooklyn being Atlantic Terminal and East NY. My idea is I want the to take a load off the in Jamaica thus to keep this competitive I want the with fewer stops. As it stands taking a train to 53rd/7th would be a 9 stop journey from Supthin/Archer while my new service is also 9 stops to 53rd/7th Ave. As far as tying into Archer Ave the idea is to build the connection around where Bolding's Landing is now with a new tunnel. The Archer Ave subway will be extended to Archer/Merrick with a 4 track terminal ala 179st and 8 turnback tracks on two levels for maximum capacity. New switches will be installed between 50th St and 59th sts on the 8th Ave line to allow for the and to go from the Local to Express tracks. At 50th St, the station platforms will be extended over the existing local tracks to meet the current express tracks to serve and trains. and trains will run express in Manhattan south of 59th St to Brooklyn while the will have the 8th Ave local all to itself meaning no merges @ Canal St. The Lower Manhattan Broadway Line will be taken over by an extended to Whitehall St giving it a better terminal than today's WTC. That's the goal !

Thinking about it some more, I'd like to amend my plan: The Broadway Local tracks will still be tied into the Manhattan Bridge, so that all four Manhattan Bridge Tracks feed into Broadway. The service pattern would look like this: Broadway Exp - 4th Ave Exp - Sea Beach Broadway Exp - 4th Ave Exp - West End Broadway Local - Brighton Local Broadway Local - Brighton Express Nassau St Subway - Montague - 4th Ave Local to Bay Ridge Now that Southern Brooklyn is taken care of, the trains are extended down Water St thru Lower Manhattan to a new tunnel to Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn where they take over the Atlantic Branch of the LIRR. The curves off down Utica Ave to Kings Plaza while the continues to Jamaica where it is tied into the Archer Ave Subway. Archer Ave is extended one stop to Archer/Merrick to a new 4 track terminal ala 179st with turnback tracks. The service pattern looks like this: 207th St/Inwood - Kings Plaza (CPW Express) 205th St/Norwood - Merrick/Archer (CPW Express) 168st/Wash Hts - CPW Local - 8th Ave Benefits: -Dekalb Ave and Columbus Circle are de-interlined. -Southern Brooklyn passengers can still get 6th Ave service at Atlantic -Much needed relief for Queens Blvd and SE Queens with the new service -Utica Ave subway can be more easily completed as an elevated, helping speed construction and lower costs

IMHO, it really makes zero sense not to make the Interborough Express go to LGA. You're completing two major wish list projects in one fowl swoop. Also, about the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Ave issue: They're going to have to invest in a mezanine extention ala-Court Sq. There's no where to place an LRT station around Roosevelt Ave (I used to live by there).

The and run down the Sea Beach and West End respectivley via the Bridge/Broadway Express

This plan of mine involves several re-arriangements to improve Brooklyn service: First, the Broadway Local tracks will be connected to the north side of the Manhattan Bridge. This means that now all four MB tracks will feed into the Broadway Line. The will become the Brighton Local with the being the Brighton Express. This allows for Dekalb to be deinterlined. Second, the trains after Broadway-Lafayette will be tied into the Nassau St Line with the running to Jamaica Center and the running through the Nassau St subway/Montague Tunnel to the 4th Ave local, heading to Bay Ridge. The will be retained as a Metropolitan Ave to Chambers St service to allow for those who still want to travel from Broadway-Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan. Also, CPW will be deinterlined with the going to 207th and the to 205th via CPW express. trains run to 168th via CPW local Third, with the Lower Manhattan section of the Broadway line now severed from the rest of the route, my proposal is to connect the train to the Broadway Line tracks at World Trade Center, making the 's terminal Whitehall St. This is critical since having a three track terminal for the will enable it to run more service if the day ever comes the Queens Blvd bypass is built.

My personal pet peeve: when everything on QB is running express in a certain direction due to works they should make the local along with the going the other way. My reasoning is that its a slap in the face to have to backtrack to Roosevelt or Forest Hills then wait another 15 to 20 minutes for the R that you inevitably end up missing.

Here's some low-hanging fruit extentions that I think the MTA should consider: Extend the up 1st street in Mount Vernon to downtown Mount Vernon. It's all of 10 blocks from 241st-Wakefield to the main shopping drag of Mount Vernon midas well serve it Extend the to Gateway Center with an intermediate stop at Flatlands Ave. Lots of new housing development in that area and would help to better intergrate that section of ENY/New Lots Extend the to Broadway Junction via Eastern Parkway. Gives riders from Eastern Brooklyn an option to get to the east side of Manhattan. Relocate the past New Lots Ave into the LIRR Bay Ridge branch and extend it to Flatbush/Nostrand with stops at Rockaway Ave, Remsen Ave, Kings Hwy-Utica, Albany Ave then Flatbush/Nostrand. This helps cover a subway desert in SE Brooklyn until a Utica Ave line gets built and helps riders in Canarsie/East Flatbush connect to the / for faster trips into Manhattan. Extend the past Lefferts down Liberty Ave then up Sutphin to Archer/Sutphin-JFK. This gives riders a chance to connect to all the transit around the Jamaica area. Extend the to Bay Plaza