QM1to6Ave

4 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Since they can scroll through ads, it'll probably mean more revenue in the long run.

The screens in some stations also do this, although I wish they also showed real time information too (or more often). Its annoying to have to look for a countdown clock, which are not very convenient to locate. 

That's assuming they can get their act together to recruit more advertisers LOL. I miss when they had the individual ads, like the Dr. Zizmor ads. Maybe they can bring that back with cheaper, rotating ads

19 hours ago, Calvin said:

Modifications are being done on the R160, for now. 

Thanks! Any specific reason for the upgrade? I only saw upgrades to the advertisement system, and the MTA isn't exactly great at selling ads lol

It's been a little while since I took the so excuse me if I'm behind the times on this...the    I caught yesterday had digital ads instead of paper ones, and lots of digital screens, with the Cuomo wrap (and no end seats). Is this a new modification to an R-160 or one of the new R-179 trains?

2 hours ago, IAlam said:

I've been noticing that people have been spreading out more on QM trips. I used to remember late mornings and midday buses into the city being nearly empty and this week I'm seeing 2-3x the amount of passenger as I did pre pandemic. I really hope the MTA is keeping track of ridership in both peak and off peak periods because overall ridership doesn't alwasy paint a great picture of what's happening. 

Absolutely. Today was lower because of the weather, but I anticipate it back up again tomorrow. Today I got a real "lovely" female B/O who refused to kneel the bus even though she stopped in the middle of the street, and had the plastic tableclothes roping off three rows of seats. I am so tired of this. Time for a complaint email. 

Today's adventure...took the subway into the city, which was actually not too bad. In the evening, the 8:10 QM5 was PACKED...I was the last one on, and every single row was taken, and 3 people sitting in the back row. The B/O had his bag blocking the front row so I thought to myself "f*** this" and sat down in the row right next to his bag. I'm not taking this nonsense. B/O didn't say a word to me or he would have gotten a mouthful from me.

I hope more people do the same so we stop this nonsense.

Afternoon B/O on the QM35...no mask and blocking the front row with her MTA jacket and bag. Sheesh. With the mandates being lifted, a lot of offices must have expanded their openings because these buses have been PACKED the last few days. I'm still not used to so many people on the bus Mon-Thurs.

7 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

 

That's exactly what it is. A driver I know is actually trying to defend this nonsense. It's outright discrimination and disgusting behavior. Not only are some drivers blocking off the seats claiming they're concerned about COVID, but then refuse to wear a mask, but some are even trying this passenger limit nonsense where they deny people from boarding when there are seats open. Some of them claim they are pissed that the union agreed to re-open the seats.

Well everything else is re-opening, most restrictions being lifted and we are supposed to keep limits on public transit according to them, but "encourage" people to come back and use the buses. It's comical. I guess they think that the will keep running service, even if the buses aren't running full... Not happening... If they cut service down the line, this would be one reason why. What aggravation. 

Couldn't have said it better. Same QM1 BO this morning was blocking one seat (better than blocking 2 like last week, I guess...)

40 minutes ago, IAlam said:

Oh I wished I saw this earlier, because almost every single CP bus I was on this week had belonging on the front. With the only exception being on one trip where there was another employee on the route with the driver.

I made some trips to Staten Island this week and some buses did have belongings on the front seats, but the rest we're fine

It's funny you mentioned it because a lot of them aren't even wearing masks either. They're afraid of passengers sitting near them because of covid, but not enough to put on a mask.

They just don't want to interact with human beings (unless it's a pretty young lady, who can sit in the very front seat and flirt the whole ride. Can't count the number of times I've seen that, even with the front seat chained off!)

12 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Apparently the MNRR employees don't know that CityTicket launched earlier this week for off-peak service.  I decided to use it this morning to get into Grand Central. Train wasn't crowded at all coming from Riverdale and the conductor that originally checked my e-ticket nodded his head and then came back and asked me if that was actually a CityTicket and I told him that the program just started earlier this week. He had no idea. lol

I may make this a regular thing when I need Grand Central since they are restoring a lot of trains later this month on the Hudson Line.

That figures LOL. What an incompetent organization. 

11 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Yeah chains are coming off quickly from what I have seen and hopefully the seat blocking is isolated.

I wish i could say seat blocking is isolated but EVERY SINGLE CP bus I caught this week (2 trips per day M-F) had either first row or first two rows blocked off with personal items. Ridiculous. I think the SLDs in CP need to remind all BOs to stop this nonsense. These BOs in CP have become a bunch of selfish babies since the pandemic began. Every other day its some other nonsense and I am sick of it. 

15 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Two things...

1. If the chains have been removed on your express bus, that means you can sit in any seat. Any bus with seats being blocked with personal items in the first three rows is unacceptable and if it happens, I want to know about it. I was on an express bus the other day where a driver had three rows blocked off with his personal items, but two of the rows were still chained off, but as seats re-open with the chains removed, we will be monitoring this situation. Many disabled or elderly people use these seats because they have mobility problems and those people are now starting to take the express bus again and need them.

2. We have been receiving a number of complaints of bus operators claiming that there are no more seats available on express buses, forcing people to wait for the next bus. In some cases, there have been 20 seats. That too is unacceptable and it is a form of discrimination, which is strictly prohibited by the . These buses are in service to pick people up and trying to place arbitrary seat limits that don't exist or denying paying passengers access to buses with seats cannot continue.

My QM1 and QM31 (am and pm rush, respectively) had B/O's blocking the first row on the non-driver side with their backpacks, jackets, and other items even though the chains are removed. It was an issue on the QM1 because every single row was taken. I was the last one on the bus and would have said something to the B/O and sat in that first row, but then I chose to sit in the middle of the back row since there was at least a seat between me and the other two people that way. I was not in the mood for a fight today (I feel like since the pandemic, I'm having to yell at someone every day for some selfish sh*t or another). Really not cool, especially since this is a very nice B/O I've sent commendations in for, in the past.

I will say, CP has gotten those chains off a lot faster than I expected

12 hours ago, P3F said:

1st Avenue between 39th and 43rd Streets, and also between 52nd and 58th Streets. The vast majority of the time, there are no trains running there.

Those tracks connect to the subway east of 3rd Avenue between 38th and 39th Streets, with grade crossings at 2nd and 3rd Avenues.

Cool! Learned something new

On 2/28/2022 at 2:33 PM, Dj Hammers said:

And here they are street running on 1st Avenue heading to 65th Street Yard:

 

Great video as usual! Is this rail that runs on the street commonly used? WHere is this exactly? THat's gotta be quite a sight for a driver who is new to the area!

6 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Some updates:

1. The latest Prevost express buses will be reconfigured to match the legroom on the older Prevost models. Express buses that were already manufactured will have to be pulled over time to make the necessary adjustments. I have no idea how long this will take given that apparently 120+ express buses were already manufactured.

2. At this time, fare capping does NOT apply to express buses. It was stressed to me that this is only a pilot to see how things go and that fare caping could be expanded down the line. I won't speculate further, but to say that the  is aware. Additionally, all ads related to fare capping on the express bus are in the process of being removed and they will have to work on the announcements as well. @IAlam

3. Using a regular unlimited card on the express bus and being "credited" $2.75 towards the $6.75 fare.... This is being investigated, but this arrangement is likely due to the dated technology, so unless they can re-program things, you'll have to live with it until more features come out with OMNY. @Lawrence St

4. Changes to QM schedules on weekends. I requested that this be included in the Queens express Redesign for the QM2, QM4, QM5, QM6 & QM15 pick-up segment. @QM1to6Ave

 

 

THank you!!

@Via Garibaldi 8 the two CP MCIs I took today did indeed have all chains removed, as promised! I didn't get a Prevost so I don't know about the OMNY videos. 

4 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It appears that the fare capping ads on the express buses were put up in error by a contractor. They are supposedly in the process of removing them. The automated announcements... If those are still going, I will ask them to remove those as well.

Thanks! The ads were playing as of last night, I'll see if I get a Prevost tomorrow to see if it is playing

9 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

Man today a homeless man was sleep laying down on the train AND THERE WAS TWO COPS STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO THE CAR and guess what? They didn't do shit! They stood there chatting amongst themselves.

Yup, I’ve spoken to some sergeants and NCOs about it, and they all say they are basically instructed to leave the homeless alone unless they enter private property or are actively committing a serious crime. So I don’t have much hope for this program 

22 minutes ago, IAlam said:

I already asked about express ride and was told it's completely excluded but, there still isn't any information about transferring between express buses and local buses/subways. It'd be much nicer if there was more information on the edge cases so people understand how it works.  

Dealing with those "edge cases" has never been the MTAs strength lol. 

56 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Yes, I discussed this whole OMNY fare capping fiasco with the other express bus advocate I work with and will have a conference call about this next week. Someone clearly dropped the ball. They try to have a one size fits all approach that just doesn't work.

As for the runtimes, when I discussed some of the differences in the QM runtimes with one of the Senior Planners at a meeting, it seemed that there were other reasons why they couldn't change the schedules. In fact they made the routing change I asked for with the QM2, QM3 and QM20 (partially anyway), but the runtimes, he never committed to being able to do anything about. He didn't say exactly why, but his answer led me to believe that there was some contractual agreement with the former private lines carried over to Bus or it's a union issue. When I asked the  to change some runtimes for a few of the SIM lines, the  had to sit down with the union and they had to agree to the reduced runtimes, so the same thing would apply here. Now, I will definitely ask and see what they say, but even for the smallest of changes, it can be a process. 

Sometimes the drivers will start to complain if they are finishing trips late and can't make their next trip. When that happens, the union may ask for more runtime. This is something they negotiate and sometimes the  pushes back, which happened recently with some other express bus lines where runtimes were an issue.

But yeah, thinking about it further, it is likely the union issue. Different QM lines out of different depots and different unions. If they don't do anything soon, then I would imagine they'll try to fix it with the union if and when they implement the Queens Redesign for sure. This was definitely an issue out on Staten Island. 

Thank you as usual for the behind the scenes explanation and the advocacy work!!

19 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

I don't know, good question. I asked through Twitter but they didn't seem to know. I would note I did see MTA police onboard on the bus I took (who were on for seemingly the whole ride), and not NYPD. Interesting though, because if there's any route I would have even bothered considering placing cops on, the M72 is not on that list. 

Gotta keep all those old ladies in line--no open walkers allowed LOL!

I've been coming out of the train stop at 50th street recently on weekend evenings, and I see there's some sort of fancy looking bar/club in one of the storefronts within the station, on the staircase, where there is also (I believe) a now defunct barber shop. Some bouncer was checking IDs, but there was no sign or anything other than a small "open" sign. I only saw what it was when the door opened. Must be pretty soundproof, because I didn't hear a peep with the door closed. Anyone know what this place is?

2 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Yeah, quite a few buses have those. I've seen them various times on the CP Prevosts.

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I only realized it today because I was at the stop waiting for the BM3 to start up to head back to the City and happened to notice the ad. 

Given how siloed things are at the MTA, I'm sure no one who designs or prints the ads had any idea whatsoever that it doesn't apply to express buses. And the workers who install them, I'm sure, could not give a rat's a** about what they are installing LOL

I'll also add, I'm seeing a video ad of "leave the math to us. Your 13th ride is free" on a CP Prevost's TV screens right now. Besides for needing to specify that it is only for local bus and subway, the flashing colors are very annoying.

@Via Garibaldi 8 I know we've discussed before, but any word if the Saturday night run times on CP exp lines will ever get brought down to 15 mins from 25 mins for the stops in Manhattan? I've been taking the QM5/6 recently most Saturday nights, and it is so painful when the bus drags through Manhattan with traffic flying around us.

4 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

There isn't a thing the elected officials can do. The DOT more or less does what they want, esp. with bike lanes. We had some installed in my area. I asked for data to support them. The the  Bronx DOT Commissioner couldn't provide any data, so I said, so basically they're going to be installed and we don't even know if they will be used, as there is no data to support them? lol That was likely done on Queens Blvd as a "traffic calming measure", so narrower lanes, which slows down traffic. More cars parked in the bike lanes on Queens Blvd than actual cyclists. 

I also remember getting into an argument with two DOT reps in a meeting about the QM3 & QM20 re-routing along 59th St. I really went to bat. I said you guys have to know that the change you made has seriously hurt service. One of the reps insisted that despite having the bus lane on 57th St, that they "didn't want all of those buses along 57th St", so I'm thinking but that's what the bus lane is for! Smh What they (the ) did finally agree to do was to have them take 57th St over to Madison and then Madison over to 59th St to try to reduce the amount of time they took for that segment of the route. It was unofficial at first. Now it's official. 

You are totally right. The only people who benefit from the lanes are the Fedex drivers who now have a huge parking lane to put their trucks while making deliveries LOL

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Here's the issue with the QM6. It doesn't garner the same ridership along Union Turnpike that the current QM5 does. I'm sure you know that. While there is ridership from the North Shore Towers, it is not that dense east of 188th St, and so you're getting people here and there. There's the co-op by Main St too, but most of the people there opt for the local bus to the subway. I've waited there numerous times off-peak and have been the only one boarding. That isn't to say that there isn't usage there, but it should be higher than what it is. The QM5 meanwhile gets a chunk of ridership during the non Union Turnpike section. You have a lot more co-ops to draw from and density, where as most of the QM6 is hitting areas where you have homeowners, and thus less density. 

Your QM4 seems long. Quite frankly, the only reason I proposed extending the QM4 is to make better use of the current service. It hits areas along Jewel where people should be using it, particularly on weekends, but that isn't the case. During the week it's fine. On Saturdays, the Forest Hills area it draws from, you have Shabbat. I think those two stops along Queens Blvd make a lot of sense. The others, you'd have to really justify to the  with that increased mileage and you'd also have to have the runtime in Manhattan cut down. It should be 10 minutes at all times during off-peak periods max, just like the QM5 and QM6 are most of the time. How much ridership do you think you'd get from such a change? I'm referring more so to the eastern end. I think you could easily get 10 people per bus or more on that Queens Blvd segment if marketed right. On some trips that could give you 20-30 depending on the ridership along Jewel. There are some trips that get about 10-15 on weekends, but it should be higher than that.

As for the QM6/QM36, I just don't think there's enough ridership to truncate the pick-up segment. I'd keep it running down Union Turnpike to Main St. It's really not that bad of a ride. I've done it many times, both from NST and from 260th and Union Turnpike, as well as from 188th and Union Turnpike and Main St and Union Turnpike. The only plus may be to have it get off of Queens Blvd, which has become insanely slow with Vision Zero. It seems to take 10-20 minutes more now versus in the past. Ridiculous.

Bingo. That's the cause right there. I wrote to some of my elected officials asking to get the stupid Queens Blvd bike lanes turned into bus lanes, but never heard back (not that I really expected to).

Just now, YankeesPwnMets said:

I'm of the opinion that cigarette smokers have been shamed for so long that they actively avoid smoking around other people - pot smokers on the other hand are a bunch of arrogant pricks who do not think "No Smoking" applies to them.

100% agree. If you want that high so badly, eat some edibles that don't smell like dead skunk. Incidentally, edibles tend to have very high THC content anyway, so it can be more effective than smoking to get high