Gorgor

There are many people who use the bus to get to the subway in Manhattan. I'd say at least half of crosstown bus users on the Upper East Side are using the bus to get to the subway. Especially the M66, M79, and M86 which run out of seats after 1st Avenue going westbound. I'd say about 30% of the bus gets out at Lexington Avenue, and then for the M79/M86 at Central Park West about half of the people get off (not all go to the subway, but almost all do), and quite a few people stick around until Broadway, maybe only about half of those getting off at Broadway go into the subway though since it is a destination in itself already. There are also a fair amount of people who transfer between crosstown buses in Midtown and the subway.

Your plan would force many more people to transfer thus eliminating any real possible gains, plus it completely eliminates the connection between the Broadway line and the Queens Blvd line. Currently there are many ways to get from Queens Blvd to your destination by taking one train, but your plan would eliminate. Also Central Park West would be completely messed up by forcing half the local riders to transfer at 59th Street if they want to access 6th Avenue. I do believe that your changes would decrease the amount of delays each individual train experiences, but it adds extra time to most commutes by forcing people to make one or even two transfers to get to their final destination. Currently as it is now: 10/12 Queens Blvd Queens Blvd Lcl -> Broadway Queens Blvd Exp -> Broadway Queens Blvd Lcl -> 6 Av Queens Blvd Exp -> 6 Av Queens Blvd Lcl -> 8 Av Queens Blvd Exp -> 8 Av Queens Plaza -> 6 Av Queens Plaza -> 8 Av Others CPW Lcl -> 6 Av CPW Exp -> 6 Av CPW Lcl -> 8 Av CPW Exp -> 8 Av ----- Your plan: 5/12 Queens Blvd Queens Blvd Lcl -> Broadway Queens Blvd Exp -> Broadway Queens Blvd Lcl -> 6 Av Queens Blvd Exp -> 6 Av Queens Blvd Lcl -> 8 Av Queens Blvd Exp -> 8 Av Queens Plaza -> 6 Av Queens Plaza -> 8 Av Others CPW Lcl -> 6 Av CPW Exp -> 6 Av CPW Lcl -> 8 Av CPW Exp -> 8 Av

Trick question, there is no crossover for the southbound tracks at that location, only the northbound tracks.

The numbers I used on my site are straight from the MTA's website (and cited on the bottom of the site).

I forget where that data is located (if anyone has a link then please post it), but if I remember correctly, every single Manhattan crosstown route and certain major north-south routes (M15, M101, might be others) turn a profit. The rest of the routes are there for coverage and to serve those with disabilities who can't access the non-ADA compliant stations. The thing is that those local buses, for the most part, have significantly higher ridership compared to express buses. Local buses you can get on or off anyone along the route, but once you get on an express bus you can't get off until you leave the borough. Besides for the few outliers, the most unused local buses cost less to operate than the most used express buses. Riders per express bus Riders per local bus (doesn't have all local buses)

Because express buses cost more to operate than they make. MetroNorth and subway lines make nice profits.

People hop in cabs because of service cuts? The M31 hasn't been significantly cut; people have always taken cabs instead of the bus because unreliability has always been an issue. It's just that as the MTA spaces M31 buses farther apart in the schedule, the wait for buses increases so that people would rather spend the money than potentially wait 15+ minutes for a bus. And if you're referring to people taking cabs instead because of the X90 cut then the whole rich argument is invalid because cab fare is only $7 to Water Street, and I highly doubt spending an extra dollar matters. (And just saying, the X90 fare was exactly the same as every other express bus, so saying that we were rich snobs because we spent the extra money instead of taking a subway/bus combo commute makes every other express bus rider a rich snob because they don't want to take a subway/bus combo.)

People hop in cabs because service is cut, thus decreasing ridership even more, although it's mainly on weekends or midday when people use cabs as alternates because service is scheduled to run only once every 8-10 minutes, which can mean up to 15 minutes due to delays. It's not the fact that we think buses don't run frequently enough, it's that buses get delayed and then bunch so badly that it's impossible to know when the next bus will even come. I don't know what kind of cabs you've been in but I've only rarely had problems with the AC, in which case I just opened the window and got a nice breeze.

Not complaining about 5 minute headways during rush hour at all. Just pointing out that service has been cut over the years.

With the addition of the taxi stand at 70th Street (in addition to the one at 79th, and the vans at 85th), the York Avenue to Water Street crowd was given alternatives. They just happened to leave out those commuting one extra stop to the World Financial Center. And I still don't know why you're saying the X90 should've been converted into a limited; all that does is cut the amount of money the MTA gets in half from the lower fare. M31 service has been getting reduced over the years. Buses are scheduled to run only once every 10 minutes on weekends, which can easily become 15-20 minutes due to extreme unreliability, so it's no wonder why people prefer to take taxis than wait for a huge unknown amount of time. I also remember when buses used to run every 3 minutes during rush hour; now they run every 5.

There is a bus lane on 57th Street (I believe from 8th Avenue to 2nd Avenue), but the M31 and M57 get delayed in the bus lane due to express buses and right turns.

The M31 is already extremely unreliable to the point that people along York Avenue (myself included) would rather take a cab if the next bus can't be seen. Making the route longer would increase unreliability greatly and affect those along West End Avenue as well. Anyone going from York Avenue to West End will already take the M66 or M72, so the change proposed will not generate any new rides.

For traveling within Manhattan, anyone who is already driving will NOT under any circumstances ditch their car to take a bus. I drive within Manhattan on weekends and there is no way that a new bus route would change my mind. Additionally, if I'm with someone then traveling by car is cheaper because even if I can't find a free spot, $3.50 per hour street parking is better than $10 round trip (for two people). For families traveling by car with 4 or 5 people, they'd have to be stupid to take public transportation because $20-$25 round trip is absurd. A round trip cab ride is cheaper than that.

The X25 carried barely anyone. Instead of sending Manhattan bound buses terminating at 57th Street down to Grand Central, sending them 2 miles up to 92nd Street and York Avenue and sending them down an X90 run would be much more effective, relieve some overcrowding on the , and they'll be by the Battery Tunnel to go back to whatever borough they came from. If they do this then the money they make it fares should be the same, if not more, than the cost of gas and the extra time spent. Then in the PM, empty buses coming out of the Battery Tunnel can go up half a mile to the World Financial Center and do an Upper East Side bound X90 run, then simply travel 2 miles down to 57th to go back to an outerborough. (X90 took about 50 minutes in the AM and 40 in the PM)