checkmatechamp13

Our first public meeting will be tomorrow at 7:30pm. Here are the details for those interested:

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@IAlam Definitely not on Day 1...they had giant gaps between peak and off-peak service (a few of which remain to a certain extent today). They copy-pasted a bunch of old schedules onto the new routes without double-checking.

Now that they fixed most of the issues, I do believe that it is somewhat better than the old system, but still nowhere near as good as it should be. There was too much "Give them what they had before" which defeats the whole purpose of a redesign. 

10 hours ago, Sylveon said:

I find that to be stupid when the n54/55 exists....

Besides the endpoint of HTC, the n54/55 serve completely different areas than the n71.

7 hours ago, IAlam said:

They could make is so if you want a return you have to buy it at Far Rockaway too, like like how they do with the combo tickets.

That's the problem. If you're making a round trip from Zone 1, you can't get it. Only if you start from Far Rockaway.

2 hours ago, hounddriver said:

Are you saying the N71 will no longer run on Main St & Carmans Rd but instead be just a route from Farm. College to Amityville?

@Mtatransit To my understanding it will run between Farmingdale State College and Amityville via Carmans Road.

8 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

I’d still like to know how they are going to do the city ticket expansion to Far Rockaway…it’s not like people aren’t going to abuse it and get off at a previous stop.

Location-based...you can only purchase it if you're near the Far Rockaway station, which means anyone starting in the City Terminal Zone is screwed.

23 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

How did you even get a phone number for the company?? It shocks me how sketchy and non-communicative that company is, and yet they can legally run all over NJ (and frankly do a better job than NJT, even if it feels like you are on a bus in a third world country) 

I just Googled Spanish Transportation and called the number that came up. Also they have their address and USDOT numbers on the side of the bus. (It's on Barclay Street in Paterson)

I personally haven't had any real issues with any of the dollar van companies out in NJ. Spanish Transportation in particular is known to be one of the better companies. 

3 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

I wish the B8 had short turns that start at Nostrand Ave heading towards Brownsville in the PM Rush. Not seriously suggesting this, just wish this was the case for my selfish busfan reasons 

I was fanning the B44 SBS and had missed three bunch up B8s, there was one at Flatbush Ave and Foster when my 44 had gotten to Nostrand and Ave D, but I figured it was gonna be crowded so I just stayed on for one more stop to take the B103 home and called it an day.

There's a few of them. 4:49pm, 5:13pm, 6:04pm, 6:26pm, 6:49pm, 7:14pm, 7:42pm, 8:14pm, 8:51pm, 9:10pm

I called Spanish Transportation and unfortunately they don't operate that extension anymore. (Not sure if any of the smaller jitney companies operate it, but most likely not)

2 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

No, but I find it interesting that they can opt to run jitneys way out to Willowbrook, yet all those Riverview Towers patrons right across the river gotta walk to downtown Paterson to catch them.

That Northside area is just flat-out neglected transportation-wise. The #744/748 don't run on Sundays, and the #703 runs on Sundays but ends in Downtown Paterson. And once you get away from the river it starts getting hilly to boot. 

In any case, if this route extension still exists, then they can actually catch it on the West Broadway side (along with the #703/748). For anyone heading to Willowbrook Mall, I'm sure it's more reliable than the #748, and more convenient than walking into Downtown Paterson for the #704/712. 

Has anyone heard of the PABT - Paterson jitneys being extended to Willowbrook Mall? Not sure if this extension made it through COVID, but if it did, good for folks living along the #712 route west of Downtown Paterson, and good for those jitney operators recognizing the need/demand for extra service. 

https://www.jerseyjitneys.info/?page_id=11

1 hour ago, MTA Dude said:

Yes, it'll run local from Floral Park all the way to Jamaica Center, which will take 8-11 min longer to get to Forest Hills and points west according to Google Maps. So the question is who deserves this 10 min reduction in travel time more, the 0.8 mile stretch of Hempstead Ave or the 2 mile stretch of Jamaica Ave/Jericho Tpke?

Keep in mind that the eastbound section of Jericho Turnpike also has the n24 available. (Westbound unfortunately it is drop-off only)

Also there is a survey they published on Twitter regarding what their official motto should be: https://t.co/HS4MQSTpUp

The website has been updated: https://sct-bus.org/NewNetwork.html

I don't see the new schedules or stop lists posted yet, but hopefully they will be posted soon.

7 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

The MTA got it right when they discontinued service east of Alabama ; those buses carried way too much air past that point... 2010 was way too late for that old portion of the route.... With that said, going back to the old turnaround scenario on the eastern end of the route (which they're not going to do, for safety reasons) would mitigate matters; it wouldn't quell those problems....

To clarify, what turnaround scenario is being referred to here? At Alabama Avenue (in which case, what was the turnaround compared to today?) or in City Line? 

An idea to better repurpose the trips that deadhead between Big Tree Garage and Newark Penn Station to form #78 trips: I'd run them in-service as express trips to Belleville/Nutley (they can call it the #15, since #14 is proposed for the Kearny shuttle in the NewBus plan).

Right now, those trips take McCarter Highway - Main Street - Joralemon Street - Washington Avenue. I definitely think something should be running along Main Street (which is downhill from Washington Avenue), but that is better served with a full-time local route. So if they want to get a bit of extra ridership, they can have it go across Rutgers to Washington so it covers more of Belleville.

So I took the 24A and it's even worse than mentioned in the media. The buses are (basically) out of service by 8pm, not just leaving the terminal as was implied. Here are the first/last buses on the 24A/B route:

Weekdays Eastbound:

24A: 5:32am - 6:24pm out of Erie Loop

24B: 5:00am - 6:01pm out of Erie Loop

Weekdays Westbound:

24A: 6:00am - 6:01pm out of Jersey Gardens (with a 5:28am trip out of Elizabeth Seaport)

24B: 6:24am - 5:53pm out of Jersey Gardens (with 5:00am and 5:50am trips out of Elizabeth Seaport)

Saturdays Eastbound:

24A: 5:32am - 5:50pm out of Erie Loop

24B: 5:00am - 6:36pm out of Erie Loop

Saturdays Westbound:

24A: 6:22am - 5:34pm out of Jersey Gardens (with a 5:30am trip out of Elizabeth Seaport)

24B: 6:59am - 5:47pm out of Jersey Gardens (with 5:00am and 6:00am trips out of Elizabeth Seaport).

It should be noted that the Elizabeth Seaport is basically the stop by the Coach USA Depot (so the 24B trips that start there are actually starting from the Jersey Gardens-bound 24A stop. Not sure how the 24A trips that start from that point get back onto their regular route on 1st Street). 

I think it's ridiculous that they have buses deadheading from Erie Loop rather than running in-service, when the depot is literally at the other end of the route. 

So here's my "better than nothing" plan to provide emergency service to the areas affected by the Sunday/evening service cuts. (These changes only take effect on Sundays/evenings). For the record, I think the best plan is to just maintain the service as-is and just work it out funding-wise, but anyway.

#59 has branch created down Frelinghuysen Avenue. (Those Roselle Park short-turns would be used on Sundays, in addition to a few extra trips to/from Elizabeth later in the evening)

#58 extended to Jersey Gardens via South 5th Street, Jersey Street, and 3rd Street. (Or run it down 1st Street and have the #115 serve Elizabethport along 3rd Street...I think that area could use a direct route to Manhattan anyway, and the #115 could use the ridership)

#71/73 routed up Central Avenue (One can take the 24A route and the other can take the 24B route, or both can take the 24A route since that part of Central Avenue has no alternative)

Branch of the #1 created that takes South Orange Avenue to either Sanford Avenue or Centre Street, serves the VA Hospital, and then continues down Tremont Avenue and Scotland Road to terminate at Erie Loop. 

On 7/12/2023 at 1:49 PM, jass said:

Paging NJT, paging NJT

https://newjersey.news12.com/newark-residents-voice-concerns-about-coach-usa-cutting-bus-services

24 is also affected unfortunately. See the other thread regarding ONE Bus.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nj.com/news/2023/07/upcoming-coach-usa-bus-service-cuts-concern-jersey-gardens-workers-city-official.html%3foutputType=amp

I first heard about it from a woman at the Broad Street train station who was talking about how the 31 was going to lose Sunday service in a couple of weeks. I didn't believe it, but apparently it is a serious proposal. It takes effect July 17th.

Myself and a few other NJ Transit riders have started a group to help us advocate for better service in northern NJ (at some point, we will also expand to southern NJ, but we don't have the experience/expertise with southern NJ routes at the moment, but if anyone who is well-versed in southern NJ routes, feel free to join as well)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/933884914362814

https://discord.com/channels/1126323026481389692/1126323027169247283

9 hours ago, jaf0519 said:

I get off the train at 6:40, so I could take the S63, but the couple of times I have taken it, it drops me off later than the schedule says, and the 7A has been very consistent for me, at worst being a minute or two late. 

Would the new system (assuming there is an S51 within a reasonable time of when your train arrives at Ronkonkoma) allow you to take the following train and sleep in a little bit longer in the morning, or would you still have to take the same train you do now?

6 hours ago, Mtatransit said:

Very excited to see the schedules for these new route. SCT is putting a lot of extra money into the system with this redesign 

Even more excited to see the pulse operations at Brentwood/Wyandanch/Patchogue/Smith Haven Mall

Are you saying the published the schedules already? (I don't think in the original plan that Wyandanch was considered a pulse point...the ones in this plan are Amityville, Patchogue, Brentwood, Central Islip, Smith Haven, Riverhead, and Bay Shore for all routes except the S2)

17 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

The implementation date for the new SCT bus network is scheduled for October 1st. Oddly enough, I found out through NICEBus. lol

Do you have the link to the NICE page that shows it? (I figured it would be October 1st...the S92 schedule is listed as being effective until September 30th, 2023)

1 hour ago, B35 via Church said:

Service levels & wider spans OTOH I'm simply not worried about (NJT providing adequate of)....

Given the DeCamp situation, I'd say it's hit or miss as to whether they would actually expand the span back unfortunately.

Rather than making individual threads for local transit system redesigns that have taken place over the past few years (as well as those upcoming), I think it would be good to consolidate these into one thread and then if a particular topic becomes particularly popular, it could become its own thread.

Washington DC, in progress

Miami, Florida, approved in 2021 but not yet implemented

Akron, Ohio (also this page), started 6/4/23

Madison, Wisconsin, started 6/11/23

Richmond, Virginia, started 6/24/18

Omaha, Nebraska, previously implemented a redesigned system in 2015 and is incrementally improving service and outlining their goals for 2030 (A large increase in service was implemented in 2022 as well)

Cincinatti, Ohio, improvement plan passed in 2020 (24/7 service was actually added during the pandemic)

Columbus, Ohio, implemented 5/1/17

Philadelphia and Anchorage have their own separate threads already (as of course do the Suffolk County, Westchester County, NJ, and NYC-based redesigns)