QM1to6Ave

Potentially dumb question, but was there ever a plan with ESA to have MNRR go to Penn Station?

The QM5/6 to Queens on Saturday evenings are consistently more filled than I've ever seen...tonight, the 10:00 pm QM5 had 25 people on it, and in the past few weeks (except Memorial Day Weekend), the 9:30 QM6 had 30 people. And of course they want to cut down on the weekend service now that people are using it more heavily SMH

Ha! Don't give the MTA amy ideas now, especially with the "1 in 3" hiring rule

Oh yes, the M34 is hot garbage. The waits for that bus are unbelievable sometimes (I've had that for both the 34 and 34A).

I rode it frequently for a time before covid, after they installed the bus only sections, and it moved nicely and was pretty consistent. Limiting the traffic made a big difference

Good point. These new timetables look like service increases overall, while the Queens bus redesign is a glorified service cut. I get that some of the LIRR changes are confusing, but overall seems like a win. Its definitely making me consider moving from Queens to LI (this isn't tge only reason, of course, but it sweetens the deal)

I'm curious, as I read about all the upcoming increases in LIRR service because of ESA (which is now apparently called Grand Central Madison), where is all the extra cash coming from to pay for service increases when ridership is down since the pandemic, and all the express buses are getting cut (excuse me, I mean "right-sized" as part of the redesigns)? This is making me want to buy a house out on LI, since that will apparently be a better commute 2 years from now than trying to get to the city from Queens.

Wow, that's disappointing that they didn't send PD to yank him off the bus

There were so many missing runs today, I'm not at all surprised that happened! Thanks you for doing the overtime to cover the express runs, it's desperately needed, as you experienced today!

Thank you! As a passenger,i appreciate that! Do you normally run locals or express?

Yup, he blew by so fast i couldn't get the number, and of course he fell off the tracker once he switched the sign so i couldn't use that either

The BOs at CP must all be in covid quarentine again...tons of missing runs today, it was a real mess in the morning. @Via Garibaldi 8 A QM5 was tracking with 38 passengers on board and then the BO put on the Next Bus Please and bypassed the remaining stops, even though there were empty seats (I visually confirmed that as the bus flew by my stop). The next 6 Ave bus was 10 mins away. Thankfully i was able to take a QM36 for a meeting on the east side today instead

So frustrating. Thank you for the continued advocacy and organizing!

I just had a chance to review the proposals, and I knew that the addition of the 34th and 1st stop was too good to be true lol. The QM7 would now make all those stops along Queens Blvd, like the QM18, which is going to slow it down immensely! And I see they are pulling the same nonsense with east of 188th street vs west of 188th street for the QM7 and QM8. Ugg.

Bus 1324 on the QM5 got into an accident today at 57th and 2nd. As i passed it by, the front driver side bumper had a nice chunk dropped off

Excellent, i haven't had a chance to look at the downtown proposals, ill take a look

I had the idea today that the downtown express buses could do with a new stop on 34th and 1st (or 2nd), before they head onto/get off of the FDR, to serve all of the hospitals in that area. It would by far be the most direct stop and attract hospital employees, without taking the bus anywhere out of it's current route. The buses usually get stuck at the light on first ave anyway, so it would have a minimal impact on running time

I don't listen to those announcement at all...the "cancelled" runs often end up running, and the actual cancelled runs don't get announced.

Yeah, why don't they have a third set of those red things on the bottom? That would make it impossible to go under. I guess you might be able to climb over the top, but that requires a fair amount of effort

One issue with HEETS I remember is that criminals would stick long screwdrivers or other metal objects in between the bars to trap people and rob them while going through. People are awful.

I wish they would just replace the stupid bike lanes with the bus-only lane.

HAHAHA my reps just don't seem to care one way or the other for the most part. The only one who responded to me did so, I believe, because I have communicated with them about other matters recently so we have a relationship of sorts. But even that took a lot of work (calling them out on social media for ignoring my previous emails before that) . Bad press on social media does seem to get their attention quickly. I ended up calling two reps this week, spoke with some college intern who didn't know what was flying and said "I will pass this on and we will get back to you". I'm not holding my breath. Sometimes, I've gotten responses weeks and weeks after emailing, but usually radio silence. Sigh. Democracy at work.

Great point! I'll have to add the borough president to my list, I totally forgot about him LOL. I'll make some calls tomorrow to follow up on my initial emails

I finally heard back from one of my elected officials, who said they will fight against the cuts. I might contact the others again as they have not yet responded

One of the MTA employees on here, I forget who, posted that actually, having the locked car for a mass shooting is considered a safety measure because if the doors stay closed, the shooter can be isolated in the car and only kill the people in the car instead of everyone else on the platform. I know that sounds horribly cold, but in terms of numbers of lives it could save, it is considered a positive. I wonder if the C/R in today's shooting followed protocol or not in terms of opening the doors at the station, closing, having the T/O move the train, etc. Not looking to blame or point fingers or anything, I'm just genuinely curious about the procedures in these horrible situations.