Via Garibaldi 8

My folks are on vacation until January. When I speak with them, I'll ask where things are with that, but there is a team that's been working on OMNY. They've been having a lot of programming/software issues, which has continued to delay the next phases. Just recently heard that the LIRR/Metro-North phase was pushed back again until 2025! That was supposed to be ready in 2023 or thereabouts... Smh...

The problem with Brooklyn now is some people are WFH, so not as many people care, but for people that still need the service, they will be screwed.

I agree with you that there should be both. Unfortunately some people can't think outside of what works for them. If we're being honest and looking at demographics, local bus riders tend to be the poorest New Yorkers statistically speaking, so they may not have internet access or access to Zoom, or they may be elderly and not comfortable using Zoom, which I have personally experienced in Zoom meetings. They should have both to ensure that they are providing opportunities for everyone that is interested in participating to do so. That is why they held pop-up meetings in Queens for the Queens Redesign, specifically to engage with people like the elderly at times of the day when they could show up. In fact a number of elected officials criticized the and said that there was not enough in-person engagement. Interestingly enough, I have heard the argument at a number of Zoom meetings I've attended during the pandemic for various community events that such meetings tended to include a demographic that had the time and money to be able to attend Zoom meetings. They elaborated by saying that at the time of some events, it was people that had the luxury of working from home that could participate vs. people that were more working class or poor. I had never given it much thought, but it makes sense. Furthermore, they argued that it left out people that would be impacted most. Tying this to the Brooklyn Redesign, I could see that argument made particularly for local bus riders, and it is something that elected officials may complain about to the on behalf of their constituents.

That is true, but people all over the Bronx were pretty vocal. Case in point, there was a petition sent around for the BxM4 which many people signed to keep that route, particularly along the Grand Concourse.

The reality is it's true. My boss made the decision this year, but we discussed it last year in fact and I was against it, so I said let's stick with hybrid and see how it goes (the thinking was that eventually COVID would go away and we would resume normal office operations, so I wanted to stay in the mix), but then I had some months to think about it and from a productivity standpoint for the department I run, it made more sense to work remotely. For me it was like a pay raise in fact because I spend less money, but I also generate more money, as I can focus more on niche sectors. I get far more done now because I don't have to travel and I save a ton of money, even with my increased expenses working from home in my office. Sure my ConEd bill is higher, but that's the only negative. There are so many positives. I can pretty much work from anywhere at anytime I want, including overseas, which I plan on doing next year. One of my colleagues had set up his office well on into the pandemic, but I did not, as I did not like the idea of mixing work with my home life, but I have quickly adapted. I set up an actual office and converted my dining room and closed it off from my living room, and I have enacted rules about when the office computer gets shut down. You mentioned banks... They too are doing the same thing... They are cutting back on branch space (I do business with a number of banks that are doing this now) and consolidating precisely because of tech and how people now bank vs. in the past and the move to a cashless society. NYC as a whole is looking and has started to convert commercial space into residential, especially Downtown. Mayor Adams talked earlier on about bringing white collar workers like myself back because we spend money commuting, buying lunch, dinner, etc., but it is not happening. Another positive I love. I can cook here at home and work simultaneously or order out, but it's still cheaper. No money spent commuting. Another little secret.... It helps to offset increases due to inflation. To be clear though, some companies will go back to in-person work, but either remote or hybrid will remain. Too many positives, not just for the workers, but for the companies as well, particularly from a operational cost standpoint.

That term "Reduction in Force" (RIF) is very common in the financial world. First time I heard it in fact, but same idea as the in that they don't intend to replace those jobs down the line. They want to permanently eliminate them. That is something the has to do because their operating costs are set to increase in the coming years, which is tied mainly to rising labor costs. Years ago I saw a buddy of mine of one of my alumni networking dinners. He worked for a major bank, but dealt with back of house operations. As you probably know, those jobs tend to be the ones eliminated when the finance sector looks to cut. Similar situation with the , but they are going further looking to also front of house operations, to the extent possible. Cutting frequencies and spans of bus service, cutting back on S/As, etc. The unions really need to be focusing on everything, because I can tell you right now that the is looking at everything from an operating standpoint.

It is. They hinted at it years ago when I met with them. We were chatting on the side about OMNY and someone I was talking to was also talking about how they plan on phasing out a number of positions. They didn't say this directly, but it's pretty clear what they are doing. It came up because I was complaining about them doing away with coins on express buses before OMNY was rolled out and it was mentioned that their plan is to do away with coins entirely on all buses (local buses too). I'm using this as an example because by doing away with coins, you can eliminate those jobs. They keep data on everything (they know how many people pay with coins on the buses) and so they are always analyzing everything to see what they can cut. It's either this or no job at all because they are not going back to having S/As handling cash. Those days are over. I expect the people that service the SBS machines to be next up once OMNY is fully implemented.

Good, and I'm saying it again to be crystal clear since people keep bringing up local buses. I'm not getting dragged into that Pandora's box. The BxM3 stop going to Yonkers is officially south of Kingsbridge Rd, and not north of it and not where any of the local buses stop. My contacts are on vacation, but I will flag this and e-mail them and ask them to work on it with the tech team, as we are due to chat again after the New Year. Maybe it'll be fixed in January or whenever the next BusTime update happens.

Part of it is that the planned to eliminate those jobs. Not only that, but they are supposed to use their passes to get in. If they are buzzed in, it's done solely as a courtesy, so that person is going by the book.

Yes, the NYPD has been going around rescuing people in the Rockaways. Water is several feet deep, and worst off, anything that remains will freeze over, as temperatures will drop a good 20 - 30 degrees into the 20s later this afternoon. Pretty crazy.

The Sedgwick & Kingsbridge Road stop going towards Midtown is noted. Unless something changed several months ago, the pick-up for that stop has always been where the faded sign is (I do take the BxM3 on occasion) and the location has been the same for years. Going towards Yonkers, the stop is where it has been for as long as I remember (the stop has the old signage, but since it's drop-off only and in good condition, I won't request the new lollipop style signage for now because the DOT only replaces those as a favor, as they did with about five Bronx express stops I had done a few years ago - since the signs aren't faded, they leave them - budgetary and labor constraints). As for your local bus comments, I don't (and will not) handle anything on the local end (my group covers only express), so can't tell you anything about that.

Well it's kind of like when BusTime/BusTrek came out. They would have drivers hold at certain locations and they were strictly enforcing it. They stopped that after a few weeks. Problem is oversight varies from borough to borough and even line to line. Problem is it's going to pour out (as it is now), then quickly turn to frigid cold temperatures within a few hours. It's going to be very difficult to get anything down that won't be washed away before the cold comes. Some areas are already flooded, which further complicates things, as anything that doesn't dry out will be frozen over quickly.

I believe it's the BxM3/BXM4 together at one stop and then at the corner, the BxM2/BxM11 has a stop.

I agree with you re: demographic information. Their report also claims that they are making more connections in Brooklyn, which is total BS, both on the local side and express side. I've already shared why I'm against the B49 change and the B2 I used often when I lived in Midwood. People in Marine Park especially are not happy with having the B100 be the lone bus. Those are just a few examples in Southern Brooklyn that don't make sense, but I could point to many more. The cuts to the spans and frequency on a number of lines is outrageous as well. It's going to be important for Brooklyn elected officials to really pressure the to have more meetings and agree to allocate funding to this re-design plan, something they agreed to eventually do in The Bronx after immense pressure. Queens has had similar requests.

Sure. You mean the BxM3/BxM4 stop right? I think I took a photo a while ago when I was shopping on the Upper East, but I can't recall if I asked them. I will check my e-mails and see.

Well they did have me come in for a small meeting for the Bronx Redesign Express Bus Plan. It was cute because we had a very large meeting a few months prior to that for all of the express lines, but that was more service related and about general questions we had with service. They had the then two Senior Planners there from NYCT and MTA Bus respectively and folks from the Customer Service Team with a book with the express lines and the plans. We went over each line and I explained the issues with some of their proposals, why it wouldn't work, specifically noting feedback I had as a commuter and more importantly, what other commuters had concerns about, and also asked questions about parts of the proposals that depended on DOT approval, which they admitted they hadn't even spoken with DOT about. lol This was a few days before there was an emergency Town hall Meeting in my neighborhood, where I told them that people would be pissed. When they arrived, they looked like they wanted to crawl under a table. LOL Hundreds of people there angry. As for B/Os, they sadly don't ask them enough. Now they obviously gather demographic information and such, which is important, and I believe for the Queens and Brooklyn Redesign, they seem to have a commuter advocate that I work with at the that is more hands-on with these proposals and they also attend the workshop sessions and other feedback meetings to try to listen and incorporate changes where possible, but that doesn't mean that these plans aren't laser-focused on cutting service, because they are.

I'm not following what your point is, but this is an agreement between the and the union to keep jobs that would otherwise be eliminated. Token booth clerks no longer make monetary transactions and with OMNY being rolled out, they simply are not needed in their current role. The current plan allows them to remain useful to the riding public by essentially helping customers with things like using the machines, providing directions, etc. If those seniors that you mentioned want to walk off, that's on them, but they either adapt or retire. If we're being honest, a lot of the younger generation use tap & pay and look up directions on their phone, so they aren't absolutely needed per se. They're great for the tourists and older folks and provide eyes and ears in the system. Personally, I think this is pretty generous and a good deal for them, especially if they are keeping the same salary and benefits.

I know the person that has been involved in the latest redesigns too. If they receive any criticism, they become quite pissed off because in their mind, they've worked very hard to improve these draft plans (and I would agree that the latest ones have been better at least in terms of SOME of the route proposals (not the service cuts to the spans and frequency though)), but let's be clear here. They do hire what are essentially consultants to do some of these redesigns and then they move on. The chick that I met with on the Bronx Redesign initially has moved on to another consulting firm. I think it makes more sense to use people from within that are a bit more familiar with the routes (too many cooks in the kitchen and it becomes a mess). For anyone wondering though, I was told back then that they aimed to make 30% of the borough's routes different and keep 70% as is, but that 30% is huge, since it seems that it usually means service cuts and/or route changes that the actual commuters don't like/want. When she came up to my neighborhood for a Townhall Meeting, people were pissed. She clearly felt that she was qualified to come into communities and dictate changes that absolutely would've been a disaster and commuters were having none of it. Looked like they all wanted to crawl under a table. I just laughed, as I had warned them that people would be pissed. Some of these changes would absolutely force people either into longer commutes, or they will be forced to spend more money or drive.

A lot of those buildings are luxury buildings for people that drive though or were bought strictly as investments (if they didn't sit empty - another issue throughout that area in general - lots of "luxury" apartments and not everyone down there can afford luxury, so some have sat empty - that and shoddy construction is another issue lol). That isn't to say that there isn't good ridership at those stations because there is, but there hasn't been an explosion in ridership compared to years ago. I say this as someone that grew up in the area and still frequents it. The newer demographic is more concerned with keeping up with the Joneses (same situation in Manhattan Beach), so those people will drive rather than use any public transportation. They are mainly immigrants looking to show that they've made it, versus the middle to upper middle types that lived there when I grew up there and moved out.

I wonder if it's the qjtransitmaster guy. Years ago, he showed up a Townhall Meeting that myself and @BrooklynBus attended where we discussed pushing to restore the B4 and keeping the BM3 and he had nothing random ideas that made no sense and were based on his own "fantasy". People were pissed then because as I said, these are the bus lines they depend on and take every day. It's almost as if he was making a mockery of the service they depend on. It was very disrespectful. Myself, my comments are always about lines I have personally used over the years and know in terms of ridership patterns, etc. as an actual commuter. ADA accessibility is important, but from an operating standpoint, the line performs well, is short and is not very expensive to run. It was brought back because the riders that depend on it kept asking for it to return. It's one of the few times that the listened and did the right thing.

Yes, and I let the know that it's better, but we'd like the overhead blowers circulating air, esp. now with COVID cases increasing again. I got MCIs both ways today. It was cold enough for me to eventually close the overhead vents.

This is what scares me. Have you ever even used the B39 to understand the ridership patterns? Nothing wrong with people commenting, but throwing out things and seeing what sticks is not exactly ideal either.

I never said it did. I simply stated what their argument is. For the record, I think this is a dumb move. However, they've also argued that they now have enough data on those days to see what ridership is like to make such a change, and in theory, they should, as the pandemic started over two years ago.

And unfortunately, that is a problem. There are people in some neighborhoods that are really pissed about some of these proposals because it impacts their commutes. The B103 comes to mind. People in Kensington in particular are not happy and a few elected officials claim they are going to fight to keep the route as is. However, I am sure that some people think the B103 proposal is fine, but they also don't depend on the bus. lol That's the real issue with some of the people commenting. They are not commuters or they don't depend on the line that they think is totally fine on a map. It's one thing to comment on a forum and another to comment on something that may screw up other peoples' quality of life.

There is no oversight. That's the real problem. In other cases, I've been standing at a terminal with dispatchers there and pissed off passengers and they'll say they can't do anything about it. Has to come from Command... Well what's the point of having dispatchers there if they can't make adjustments?