QM1to6Ave

I normally would have been on one of those buses stuck in that nightmare, but thankfully went into work later than usual. I thought they would just send one of the TBTA tow trucks from the tunnel to pull the broken down bus quickly, but maybe it is too heavy for those trucks. One time this year, the big yellow DOT truck that moves the barriers broke down in the middle of moving the barriers. That was quite a sight.

Ahh, got it. Meanwhile, traffic is gridlocked in Midtown today for a funeral and of course there are no MTA alerts about it. My B/O happened to know about it but was like "oh, I didn't think there would still be traffic from it."

The peak QM4s I see heading into the city seem pretty full during rush hour.

Of course they still have the bizarre timepoints on Saturdays where they think it takes 25 minutes to go from 34th to 57 in early evening on the QM5/6. And these cuts come after my state reps finally wrote the letters I had been bugging them to write to the MTA asking them not to cut more 1/5/6 runs. So much good that did... I also have to say that I've been taking the QM4 recently, and boy are those BP B/Os sooo much friendlier than CP B/Os. CP could learn a lesson from BP. At least the CP runs I take have been more reliable as of late

What's the deal with new ways the M15 route is displayed in the destination signs? It is either tiny writing that you can't read, or way too big to fit on the display. I've seen this on various bus models in the last week or so.

I'm sure jealous of anyone that has enough free time on their hands to always build in big time cushions whenever they use mass transit. In my experience, as much planning as anyone can do, when you have a family, job, obligations, etc etc., it is simply not possible to always build in big time cushions for commutes. You will have times where you miss connections, and it really sucks, and there is not much you can do about it until you are retired and have nothing to do all day so you can get places an hour early all the time

So funny you mention that! I saw that exact sign on a deadheading Prevost last week. That's a pretty weird glitch--what's the story behind it? Misprogrammed code or something?

Do B/Os ever get in trouble for using codebreak signs or other forms of clearly incorrect signs when they are deadheading? I get a kick out of those signs, but I can see it confusing or annoying people.

Thanks, all, for the suggestions!

What is a good app tied into Bustime that also allows you to see the bus number of a bus on the route you are tracking? The mobile bustime website does not show the bus number, or allow you to track a specific bus.

At least traffic is very light on Good Friday, so that should cancel out the extra wait time

Will there be a reduced schedule for the buses, especially express buses, on Good Friday? I think I recall significantly decreased service last year on Good Friday, which they gave very little notice about.

I know, but in the materials it claims the cost of the extra stop will be offset by the "extra fares"

This is a sweet deal for them. They save all that $$$ on shuttle buses and can claim they are bringing extra fares in for the MTA.

Damn, I wonder who at Bulova paid off some MTA big-wig to get this through.

LOL I've wondered how often that happens, since the Eagle idiots have no more power than a store security guard.

I'd be pretty pissed if I was actually waiting for an M103, since it would show up on Bustime as being in service since it was on the actual route, right?

Just saw MCI coach 2895 on third ave in the city, signed up as an M103. It looks like it's in service. Couldn't get a pic, and not sure if it's a codebreak or a cool service change due to the expected snow that never came.

I agree, the MTA puts all these passenger counter people out there, but seem to do nothing with the data other than cut runs.

Well, I guess that's one reason not to want replacement buses. Unless they don't have them play on any new orders going forward. I can't imagine anyone likes listening to them.

I rode the X68 yesterday, and geez, it kept playing those loud, annoying automated "thank you for riding with the MTA" messages while everyone was trying to sleep. I've never heard those announcements on the QM's.

What's going on with the installation of WiFi on express buses? I thought it is supposed to be on every single one by the end of the month. Barely 1/4 of CP buses seem to have it.

I saw the email with that service change and am dying to know the story behind it...

Lolol

What's the point of that?