checkmatechamp13

49 minutes ago, 40 to 241st said:

Isn't it spring already

Knowing them, they probably mean the last day of spring (or the last day of the fourth quarter in June 2023). 

1 hour ago, trainfan22 said:

I did not know you had to scan the fare payment on the app on NJT buses. I always just show the B/O my phone, they never say to scan anywhere. After I do this they do something to the farebox as I'm boarding.

4 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

I tried paying w/ the app a couple of times, but I tend to refrain from it b/c more often than not, the reader on the bus doesn't take.... I don't have much patience for things like that (which is why I'm not all that high on tap-to-pay in general).... Case in point, this chick & the b/o on the #871 I took yesterday got into a whole fuss about it... They were bickering back & forth basically from the time she got on in Boonton until she got off at Abbett av (not sure if that stop is considered Cedar Knolls or Morristown, but either way, it was annoying as shit)....

I remember the first time a B/O asked me to scan out in Morris County...I fumbled around with the QR code (I can't stand those things in general) and realized why they don't do it on busy urban routes...with all of the passengers boarding, and having to fumble around, it's just easier to activate it and walk on. NJT gets its money and it gets the ridership count when the B/O pushes the button.

Stupidly enough, one of the B/Os who wanted to be all by-the-book about scanning (when the scanner wasn't even working) refused to sell me a transfer, insisting "You should buy it through the app" (Unlike Suffolk County, you can't buy transfers through the app out in NJ. Transfers and overrides need to be paid in cash)

4 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

He's referring to my attempting of putting the singles in the farebox on that #182 I said I took 2 weeks ago.... Although I've taken #171's, 178's, and #182's in the past where I've been told/instructed to use the farebox (which is where the confusion lied), I'll own that....

At the same time, that particular b/o 2 weeks ago didn't have to be a d**k about it... Don't take shit out on me because you're running late (it wasn't just me that he was attitudinal with btw)... The natural inclination by passengers even wanting to pay the fare nowadays is to put cash into the farebox... Novel concept, no? But yeah, to avoid having pax. do that, I'd just block the damn farebox with a piece of paper & be done with it... Now if I wanted to just as much of a d*** as that particular b/o was, I'd be up here (and verbalizing to dude himself) talking about not even running buses with fareboxes on routes that are full service lines.

Fair enough, and yeah if they didn't want the farebox used, they should've covered it up (but then in that case, you might run into confusion where people think the bus is free with a broken farebox and the B/O has to call them back up to pay). I suppose one of the downsides of being able to make change on the bus (For some systems that accept cash, they'll offer a farecard with the equivalent amount of value that would've been given back...maybe that's a potential solution). Of course, it doesn't help that NJT fare increments (especially for intrastate lines) are usually in increments of nickels and dimes.

@B35 via Church The 107 and 108 are exact fare lines, so the money goes into the farebox.

For full service lines, my understanding is that you give the money to the driver, in case they need to make change for another person. (e.g. If you pay with singles, and the next person pays with a $5 bill, they can use the singles to give change if necessary). But I could be completely wrong.

I usually just pay with the app nowadays. Makes it especially easy in cases like PABT and GWB where you're technically supposed to have the ticket in advance (there's nothing physically stopping them from selling an X zone interstate ticket from those points, but they just don't want a ton of people fumbling with cash at those busy terminals)

On a side note, for anybody looking to use the Newark Light Rail shuttle buses this weekend, they leave from Grove at :15, :35, :55 past the hour and leave Newark Penn at :05, :25, and :45 past the hour. Last bus is 12:55am out of Grove and 1:25am out of Newark Penn.

@Lawrence St I don't see what the big no-no is. The 107 is a farebox line so the B/O told him to use the farebox. The 182 is full service so the B/O told him to give the cash directly to the B/O.

On 3/9/2023 at 10:27 PM, imagineverything said:

I used to rely on the 11A for midday and weekend service. 
 

i think that I need to contact our state representatives for this. 

On 3/10/2023 at 7:57 PM, imagineverything said:

Right - but in the meantime, this extremely dense past of the state has almost no local or PABT bus service. Just one or two runs a day from Coach USA, and everyone is furious.

5 hours ago, SouthJerseyMan said:

Just doing a check-up for April... Have there been any developments or discussions about the lack of bus service along the Red & Tan routes which today have limited or no service?

Not as far as I've heard, but you can feel free to follow up with them at the next board meeting on April 19th at 6pm: https://www.njtransit.com/about/board-of-directors I agree they should work out some arrangement (maybe even have R & T operate some service on behalf of NJT if necessary, similar to how it's contracted out in Middlesex County).

11 hours ago, JAzumah said:

NJT has services designated in the 200s internally IIRC. I saw a list of them close to 20 years ago on BusChat.

Yes, I know offhand the go25 and go28 are listed as the 250 and 258 respectively on MyBusNow. 

On 4/9/2023 at 5:20 AM, B35 via Church said:

For the whole trip, or after I got to JG? If it's the latter, it was to be the #24 - (walk to the) #41 - #62 - #48 (Perth Amboy) - #116 - #166T - #167.... So to answer the question, I was going to ride the #24 the whole way.....

If the #62 never served IKEA let's say, then I would've waited for the next #111, because I was not about to double back on the #40.... Last week Sunday, I took the Bx29 (after years of having not been out to CIty Island), and even then, I felt funny about doubling back on it - and that's considering that being the only option out there... Lol...

As for Orange's downtown, I feel right at home, because it more or less reminds of the Flatbush av. strip over in Flatbush.... If by nice you mean the area is lively, then it's definitely that.... Any other iteration of the word, I'd say it's anything but (that).... Speaking of deception, every time I pass through (or even think about) Harrison, it just screams fool's gold /  lipstick on a pig to me....

The former (whole trip). 

And yeah, Harrison still has that whole industrial vibe, but attempting to be residential.

And wow, I didn't realize the #166T ran on Saturdays, but looking at the schedule it does. Definitely good to know. (I remember that slog down Blvd East when I used to take the #165...good to see they have an option to bypass that area).

So I took the 199D (which was based out of Ironbound). Bus was mostly full (I counted 7 empty seats leaving PABT, though somebody mentioned that the second departure of the morning had standees). Most people got off along Ridge Road (especially at the #30/40 terminal. I wonder if most of those people just lived in the general area, or if some were transferring to the local bus to continue to points south). Only 4 of the people continued into Belleville/Newark.

Apparently they're only stopping at current NJT stops (so there's no stops along Belleville Turnpike/Rutgers Street or Belleville Avenue). If we need any stops installed, we need to contact the municipality. 

So one of the things that I realize about the Belleville area is that it's surprisingly hilly. The commercial areas along Main Street (not sure what the official name is, but the Lidl shopping plaza, the State Fair shopping plaza, and the new one they are building next door) are all downhill from the #13 bus on Washington Avenue.

Since the #92 is proposed to be rerouted to North Arlington under the NewBus Newark plan, I would have a branch run up Joralemon Street to provide more east-west coverage in that area (it would take Belleville Avenue - Franklin Avenue - Joralemon Street - Main Street - Belleville Turnpike). Additionally, I'd extend alternate #40 buses to the Big Tree Garage via Belleville Turnpike - Main Street - Joralemon Street - Washington Avenue.

I'd also have the #30 run up to Rutherford, and alternate with the #76 to provide 15 minute service along the northern end of the Ridge Road corridor (which would also provide 15 minute headways for those seeking service to Newark)

I probably mentioned it in the DeCamp thread, but I'd extend the #199D to Bloomfield via Franklin Street (in addition to filling in for the section of the #27 that they plan to eliminate in the NewBus Newark plan, it also provides a connection from the light rail to the southern end of the Union Avenue corridor in Belleville (the proposed #75 should definitely run more frequently than once per hour. I know that frequency is generally based on the existing #74U frequency, but I definitely think there is some latent demand in that corridor).

For the Centre Avenue corridor, I'd run the regular #199 through there (and run both the #192/199 along the old #32 route through Lyndhurst).

For the Cedar Grove area, I'd route the #195 down Lindsay Road, Stevens Avenue, Pompton Avenue, East Bradford Avenue, Ridge Road, and back to Pompton Avenue to continue to West Caldwell, and have that be the main #195 route. During rush hour, some trips would run down Ridge Road. Off-peak #191 service would be boosted to hourly for those seeking Willowbrook Mall (and I think the #195 would eventually warrant hourly off-peak service). 

@B35 via Church Out of curiosity, what was your original planned itinerary? Were you going to ride all the way out to Orange for the #21, or were you going to catch something at Elizabeth?

Speaking of Orange, I have to say, that area can be a bit deceiving. I was transferring from the #21 to the #41 at Main & High and thinking it had a fairly nice downtown area, and a woman warns me about wearing red, as it might be mistaken as a gang color.

16 hours ago, willypguy said:

NJ Transit does things that just do not make sense. 

They need to take the old Market St lines (145/148/160/164) out of Wayne, and give these to Oradell and Westwood. Then give the Essex County legs to Wayne.

I would not want to be that poor driver who has to deadhead from Heller Parkway in Newark to Westwood Garage at the end of the day after dealing with whatever traffic there was coming out of NY. Or, West Caldwell to Westwood. That’s a hike. 

Does anyone know if these new Essex County legs are going to be closed door? Or open door? 

I would assume open-door, given that they didn't put any restrictions on the timetables.

As for the deadhead, as long as they're getting paid, I don't think the drivers care about a long deadhead (I mean, a 60 minute trip and a 45 minute deadhead, or a 90 minute trip with a 15 minute deadhead, it's still the same amount of time in the seat). I mean, they have the 114 and 116 coming out of Ironbound...It's just generally inefficient and they should change it for that reason.

On 3/30/2023 at 10:43 PM, 46Dover said:

Not sure but if you know you’re going to New York City and your bus sign reads NEW YORK CITY....YOU GET ON!!!!!!

And if you're using it for intrastate service and there's multiple NYC-bound routes leaving from there that take different travel paths (e.g. Paterson, Hackensack, Willowbrook Mall etc)?

Though to be fair, you could always ask.

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

Surely there has to be a better way to do this then extend routes that are already twice as long.

Twice as long as what?

In any case, these aren't extensions. These are branches.

All I can really say regarding the actual routes is that it's better than nothing. They really emphasized the "one former DeCamp route per town" thinking. The #195D covers Verona/Caldwell/West Caldwell, the #191D covers Montclair (and barely enters West Orange), the #192D covers Bloomfield, and the #199D covers Lyndhurst, North Arlington, Belleville, and Newark. Or looking at it the other way, the #191D is the old DeCamp #66 (truncated to West Orange), the #199D is the old #44 (truncated to Forest Hill), and the #192D and #195D split up the old #33.

For DeCamp #66 riders in Roseland/Essex Fells and most of West Orange, they'll have to make their way to the #71 bus (or the West Orange Jitney #6), and for riders along Heller Parkway/Franklin Avenue, they'll need to take the #27 to reach an alternate form of transportation (whether that's the #192D, #199D, or commuter rail at Newark Broad Street). DeCamp #99 riders in Kearny & Harrison are pretty much advised to take the #232 EZ Ride shuttle over to Harrison for the PATH (or make their way up to the #199D). And of course, all off-peak riders will have to pretty much take local buses to nearby train or interstate bus routes.

I'm surprised nobody commented on this yet. Not much to say on my end, except I'm looking forward to seeing the ideas he has in mind for high-speed rail.

On 3/19/2023 at 5:53 PM, Lawrence St said:

I’d like to know why a Brooklyn-Manhattan route was not considered with this redesign, despite people saying they wanted the B53 back.

6 hours ago, aemoreira81 said:

I have to wonder if the MTA doesn’t want to duplicate the J train fully with a bus route.

6 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

Since when does the  come from southern brooklyn?

Since you mistook the former B51 from Downtown Brooklyn to City Hall with the proposed B53 from Broadway Junction to Sunnyside.

Quote

Ridership on the M101 and M125 has grown more than ridership on the Bx15 and M100 has fallen in response to the shortened routes, increasing total ridership on the 125th Street corridor by 9%.

What about the M60? I know it's a long route that generally sees a lot of ridership to Astoria, but intra-Manhattan ridership is also significant (and the M101 falls in the same boat).

Quote

Bx40/Bx42 customers traveling along E 180 St are saving 11-12% (3 minutes) of their travel time in each direction along E 180 St.

I'm a bit confused. Is this compared to the former Bx36 along East 180th Street, or compared to the former Bx40/42 along East Tremont Avenue?

For the #192/199, the low-hanging fruit is to remove those (still in place) boarding restrictions in place in Lyndhurst/Nutley that were specifically in place to prevent the NJT routes from competing with the #32. So that means adding a stop at River Road & Park Avenue, and having the #192/199 take the #32 route through Lyndhurst, making all local stops...riders along Riverside Drive can either walk to the rerouted #192/199, or walk to/from Rutherford Avenue/Marginal Road to catch the #191/195. (It seems like that the #192/199 specifically avoids the busiest parts of Lyndhurst in order to allow DeCamp to be the primary carrier serving it). The centralizing of the route in Lyndhurst will also provide easier access for anybody seeking to take the train to Hoboken (and on the days the Lincoln Tunnel is severely delayed, riders have a chance to take the train to Secaucus and transfer to a NY Penn train).

On the Nutley side, I think the #192 should run up Washington Avenue rather than River Road (most of those condo complexes have a back entrance to Washington Avenue anyway, and in any case, it's less than a quarter mile walk for those who live along River Road). The 199 should run down Centre Street to provide more coverage in the old #32 service area in Nutley (especially given that under the NewBus Newark plan, both branches of the #13 would be eliminated north of Big Tree Garage, so they shouldn't be left with no east-west service whatsoever).

Bloomfield Township added a shuttle effective April 10th to connect northern Bloomfield (e.g. Brookdale section) to the Allwood Park & Ride for the 192/199.

4 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

With what service? Other then Mountak and West Hempstead what other line is serving it at all hours of the 

It's served by the diesel branches (mostly Port Jefferson, with a few Montauk and Oyster Bay trains). It really should be a full-time station.

42 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

Not true. Hunterspoint Avenue sees pretty heavy ridership for the trains it runs. You would always see people darting from the train station to the platform to catch their trains.

The problem is that's only during rush hour (I think it would get decent ridership as a full-time station). 

On 3/20/2023 at 7:23 AM, Lawrence St said:

Perhaps this deals with the history of NJT, but why in the name of Flxble Metro D’S are there so many branches of so many dam routes???

I thought it was only a select number of garages but this is beyond ridiculous. The 76 has 4 branches in itself, why? The 159 has 4 branches within itself, why? The 126 has 4 branches of a route, and I never knew the dam thing continued south of Hoboken to some park I have never heard of.

I have never seen any usage with the 83W from the times I did it/rode it. They also changed the routing to operate via 83rd St because they made a no-left restriction on 69th St going onto Tonnelle Ave.

Yeah, NJT also tends to put letters on short-turns for no reason (e.g. #76R, #94U, #27R, etc). Hopefully that's something that's addressed as part of those redesigns.

BTW @B35 via Church apparently at one point, EZRide operated the #827 as the Willowbrook Mall counterpart to the #646 (I don't see the #827 on the list of current shuttle routes unfortunately...wonder if it really had the lower ridership of the two). But yeah, if EZ Ride is operating a free shuttle, there's not much of a point to having the #71 cover the same route.

Just now, Lawrence St said:

Which routes are the connection?

The other BxM and QM routes. There's no specific route that it's timed with.

Honestly, it's pointless having the BxM18 holding for the schedule heading southbound, given that the SIM1C/33C (and to a certain extent the X27/28) also provide express bus service from Midtown to Downtown (not to mention the numerous subway and local bus options)

58 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

The BxM18 is suppose to hold for connections from the BxM1 and 2 right?

No. The holding point is 34th Street southbound and 56th Street northbound, neither of which are BxM1/2 stops.

The bright side is if NJT takes over, those buses will be fully integrated with the rest of the system in terms of the fares (you can use the app, you can use the monthly passes on other routes, get transfers, etc). Plus NJT would probably operate open-door rather than the current pickup/drop-off policy.

14 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about riders continuing to use the B15 b/w that Linden/79th stop & Church av, due to B55's set to running to JFK... Another way of putting that is, I don't remotely see the B55 phasing out the B15 east of Church b/c it'd no longer go to the airport..... Not saying you're doing this, but generally speaking, I know it's easy for folks to get caught up with the B15 being "the airport route", but sometimes we have these discussions where we get too hyperfocused.... That is actually one of the reasons I signed up to Rider Diaries (after years of lurking, before the fact) back in the day; you'd have people that would talk about certain bus routes as if the most glaring aspect/rider pattern of the route was its sole purpose.... Before satellite views of all these maps online (lol), I used to actually ride these things & a lot of what some folks used to say, used to fkn drive me nuts....

I hate even saying this, but regarding NYC buses, I do honestly believe that I played a significant part in having/bringing (others into conveying) nuance into these conversations across these transit forums...

I agree...I remember one time when an MTA rep tried to act like a know-it-all, talking about how the S93 is "for the college students" (Which would be illegal BTW, since it would be essentially running a subsidized charter service)...coming from the same agency that ended up copy-pasting sections of the old "X" schedules onto the new "SIM" routes when they first came out, because they happened to share the same endpoints...

But yeah, totally agree that each route needs to be analyzed in the context of all of its ridership patterns.

14 hours ago, BrooklynBus said:

Even if it’s only a few hundred a day you would be stranding, it is still significant. In any case the MTA has no reason not to provide us with the actual numbers. You can’t do responsible planning without them. 

For starters, stranded means literally unable to get to where you need to go. There's very few cases where people are legitimately "stranded" for trips within New York City.

In any case, the low frequencies only apply during the overnight period. And on top of that, there are alternate routes to the general areas covered by the B15 (the B46 and B47 both connect to the B55, and during overnight hours, the local  connects directly to the Q10, and of course the  ( overnights) and  connect with the B55 and Q10 respectively). That the B46 only runs once per hour overnight is an issue in and of itself that should be rectified...for all riders using it, regardless of whether they connect to the B55 or not.

Meeting regarding the redesign on Monday 3/20/23 at 6:30pm.

https://www5.septa.org/events/updated-draft-network-register-now-for-the-3-20-transit-talk/

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PM4Yp0OoSl-LKd_-8-9jlw

6 hours ago, Trainmaster5 said:

I should point out that I’m looking at this from a subway perspective. Layups, turned trains and what have you. Friday evening I was caught in traffic by the eastbound trains , 2, and 1 westbound train at the Brentwood station for about 10 minutes. The Brentwood dropout and its follower who creeped into the station. Later on I checked the schedule and noticed that the Greenport Scoot was part of the mix at Ronkonkoma during the period that the poster I responded to mentioned.as well as the westbound train I saw. My guess is that the additional trains from GCM added to more congestion at the terminal. This is purely speculation on my part. Carry on.

That's the thing: If any train should've remained cut back to Brentwood, it should've been the 4:46pm out of Penn Station (the following train is 4 minutes behind). If they thought that getting trains in general to terminate at Brentwood was a good way to reduce congestion getting into Ronkonkoma, they should've short-turned that train, and then extended the 5:25pm out of Penn (although looking at the schedule, it appears that it may need to occupy Track A anyway, given that it seems it turns around as the 6:26pm out of Ronkonkoma). 

1 minute ago, Lawrence St said:

When was the PM only Ronkookma trip from Long Island City removed?

Likely March 2020 when they went to a weekend schedule, and then they never brought it back. (I believe there used to be a West Hempstead train out of HPA as well at one point)