QM1to6Ave

More likely, people squeezed onto the QM5's and 6's, which is why they were so packed around 6:30-7:00. I truly believe the MTA is trying to show that if they get rid of the QM1, people can still make due and squish onto the other lines

@Lil 57 I was waiting for the 6:30, and it never ran. Had to let a QM5 and a QM6 pass before i could get a seat on the next QM5

That is really insane. I will say that my QM5 back home tonight was not showing up on Bustime. Thankfully I got it at the first stop today so I didn't bother checking bustime. If I had been waiting at the last stop as usual, I would have assumed it wasn't coming rather than waiting in that cold. It also got to the last stop hot and left early. What a frickin mess this pick has been so far.

No kidding! The buses are running hot in Manhattan but late in Queens. Makes no sense

It was pretty reliable, which makes it all the more suspicious that they now can not make service even with fewer runs to fill

I've had the exact same experience and got similarly burned

Definitely!

Yup--the real question is if there have been days where none have run. Wouldn't surprise me at all. I agree, the QM1 is on its way to being phased out thanks to this

Bingo! And, the fact that 3 ran is more than the usual 1 or 2

7 pm bus is running. I guess they figure that's a good enough percentage LOL

No 6:30 pm bus either...left the office early again, and sure enough, no bus. Luckily I'm making a stop in Forest Hills tonight, so I jumped on a QM4 which is currently nice and empty. What's also interesting is that the QM31's actually get filled very consistently. They seem to run like clockwork most nights. The whole thing just makes no sense!

Nope

Ha, I noticed the same thing...left the office a little early today and was hoping to catch the 6:30 QM1. Of course it wasn't there, so I got stuck on a packed QM5

Thank you both for that very helpful info!

Thanks for the inside info! Thankfully this will be a temporary assignment for the summer so the winter issues shouldn't affect me

Looks like my job will have me taking New Haven line from Grand Central to New Rochelle over the summer in the early morning, most likely the 7:08 am or 7:35 am trains. Anyone know how reliable those trains are? I'm assuming it isn't too crowded at that time since it is heading into Westchester at that time?

It certainly seems like that story with Sisyphus pushing the rock up the mountain just to have it keep rolling back! One of my co-workers was joking that there must be a German word for the unique helplessness you feel trying to deal with a giant bureaucracy

Well, the post-holiday honeymoon period is over. Once again tonight, no sign of the 7:00 pm QM1 (nor the 7:00 QM5 for that matter). When the 7 pm QM6 gets to the last stop where I was waiting, it was SRO. So, I see on the tracker that the last QM35 of the night is running late, so I hustle over to catch it at 55th and 3rd. But, that bus is also SRO! So I spent the trip home sitting on the floor cursing out the MTA under my breath. Traffic was also back to its usual pattern/volume There must have been other buses missing before these, because they are not usually quite this full (there were 6 standees along with me, which was insane). And of course the cherry on top was non-functioning Wifi, but in the scheme of things I care more about getting a seat.

I've had that same issue on multiple buses. Did not realize it was due to the alternator. Honestly, there is nothing much scarier than the bus suddenly shutting off in the Midtown tunnel, going totally silent, and just coasting. The B/O's seem used to it, which is pretty sad, but they stay very calm when it happens.

What's the deal with the bus bunching on the Q65? All hours of the day and night, I'll see 2 buses running right behind each other, and then a 20 minute gap, then 2 more buses at the same time! Is this some sort of strange intentional leader-follower set up? Neither bus will be even close to full, so why have these huge service gaps?

I have the exact same experience--I actually missed my QM5 going home because it got all the way to the last stop from the terminal in only 7 minutes! I've never seen buses go so quickly, even at the post-holiday period in other years.

Excellent, haha! I have to say, considering it was the first day of a new pick, it was very smooth travel going in and coming back tonight. And my B/O tonight, a new guy, was unusually pleasant

Thank you! I wonder why they are making this change just to the QM36 runs in one direction. Ridiculous that it is so hard to find the changes.

I got an MTA email today saying the QM36 schedule Manhattan bound will change starting Monday. Instead of a link to a new schedule, it said you need to go on Trip Planner and plan a trip. But, when I did that, the schedules seemed to be the same as they are now! Anyone know what the hell is going on? And of course the 7 pm QM1 didn't show up tonight.

Ugg, that's really frustrating. I'm assuming a B/O was out on vacation and they never filled it