Via Garibaldi 8

2 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

@Via Garibaldi 8 any updates on when the Express Bus Plus 7-day program (or any equivalent express bus savings program) will get added to OMNY?

I was thinking about this today as I cursed out the MVM that ate my metrocard as I was trying to add another 7-days EXP bus pass to it. One of those MVM repair workers, with the PPA agent in tow, happened to be there, but when I showed him the receipt saying "card not returned, add value failed" he said "I can't do anything, you have to buy a new card" in a tone suggesting that I was bothering him while he was performing delicate brain surgery.

So then I had to call the Metrocard number and file a complaint, which will take 4 weeks to resolve! I will also be challenging the charge once it posts to my credit card, but this is ridiculous and I had to lay out an extra $62 to buy a new card.

I know OMNY isn't perfect by any means, but at least my card can't get eaten up by a machine...

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...

5 minutes ago, BrooklynBus said:

Occasionally, the MTA does make changes based on community input. But it can’t be one or two people or even 10 or 20. There has to be hundreds opposed with political support behind them before they are willing to give in.

In Queens, it took a letter signed by every single council person in the city for the MTA to say they will go back to the drawing board and do a second draft from scratch. Their first draft was based on a blank slate assuming there were no bus routes in Queens.

Fine is a city is just being built, but to say you will plan a system ignoring all current travel patterns shows you don’t know the first thing about planning. They acted like this was a school exercise. Then they hire consultants to do the planning anyway, so what are they even getting paid for? 

In 1978, it took them three months to return the B78 to its former route after 500 people protested in the streets. How often does something like that happen? 

I am afraid that’s what it is going to take to stop this Brooklyn plan. 

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.

3 hours ago, BrooklynBus said:

I totally disagree with you. Talking to people at subway stations just to ask them questions to support your predetermined conclusions does not qualify as community participation. Covid cannot be used as an excuse to avoid in person meetings to avoid discussions. They will ask the people if they would like the buses to be faster and 95 percent say yes, they will say that proves the people want fewer bus stops which is totally not the case. 
 

If they can’t have personal meetings because of Covid to introduce the Redesigns, why can they have personal meetings to introduce Omni? 
 

I worked for them for 25 years and know how hypocritical they can be. They can have the meetings on Zoom as long as they also meet with communities in person. They should be making presentations at every Community Board.

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.

15 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

Because The Bronx was a whole different case. That should've been easy to figure out. The folks in Co-Op City and Riverdale were the loudest.

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.

8 hours ago, Trainmaster5 said:

RIF, aka “do more with less “ was a phrase my mother used when she was working for the Defense Department. I had a high school teacher who would tell us about the dangers of widespread automation. His example was the CitiCard. He said that widespread use of the technology would lead to the loss of bank teller jobs for many  female graduates . He also added sales department jobs in department stores to the list as well as technology jobs ( computers ) as a reason to add to his list of disappearing jobs. It’s taken 60 years but his warning is finally being taken seriously. I’m fascinated by some of the posts I see in the subway forums about ridership levels and jobs coming back to pre-covid levels. The long term scenario is less rush hour riders will be using the transit system in the future. WFH in general is the future. After 9/11 many jobs left lower Manhattan for the outer boroughs, the Jersey side of the Hudson and out toward Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The subsidized WTC was the glue that kept lower Manhattan alive. It’s a vicious cycle being played out long term but many people refuse to see it. Look at the ancillary businesses in Midtown shopping areas, and even the major retailers who have given up the ghost and shuttered their doors for good. I don’t think the remaining businesses and tourism can stop the downward spiral. Just my opinion. I could be totally wrong but long term it appears that my elders were on to something.  Something to think about.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you. Carry on.

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.

2 hours ago, Trainmaster5 said:

It was explained to some of my colleagues many years ago. RIF, aka reduction in the workforce, was one way to reduce costs for the  . OPTO on the subways. ATO ( automated train operations) .on the subway. Eliminate the station agents. Money train is history. On the LIRR there used to be ticket agents at every station. Then it dropped to limited hours. Now it looks like Ronkonkoma, Babylon, Hicksville, Jamaica, Atlantic Terminal and Pennsylvania Station are all that’s left. The day after the last blackout I told some of my supervisor friends that they were warned about the potential dangers awaiting us. Evacuation of a railroad train or subway is cumbersome and dangerous for a train crew, depending on the circumstances,. Like we were told the safest position in NYCT to be in was the surface B/O position. My experience. Carry on.

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.

1 hour ago, B35 via Church said:

So basically, replace the number of token booths systemwide, with a handful of "customer service" booths at the more/higher utilized stations in the system....

This sounds like a combination of duties of station agents & customer service reps... Everybody's talking about the phasing out of S/A's, but this also looks to potentially be a way of cutting down on the number of CSR's the MTA currently employs.... Downsizing across the board like a mf-er

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.

13 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

We all know you don’t do local buses, we heard it plenty of times.

if you re-read what I told you, according to what the GTFS feeds say, the express stop is where the LOCAL STOP is suppose to be, and the LOCAL STOP is where the express is suppose to be. So either that’s the way they want it or the feed is wrong.

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.

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

I get union rules and all but how did they let them get away with this level of laziness for the past 4 years?

I watched another MTA employee ask someone in the booth to open the gate because they couldn’t reach their pass but it was in plain view (they were holding a lot of stuff) and the agent told them to do it themselves and have an attitude.

Seriously, where is the management???

1 hour ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I spoke to a station supervisor once who said that it really depends on whether the station supervisor actually cares about supervising/disciplining the S/As in their stations.

But yeah, since covid, the S/As have had so little work to do and still give an attitude. Some have gotten good about getting NYPD to remove homeless folks sleeping on the floor, so that's a positive lol

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.

8 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

My friends in the Rockaways said they are already massively flooded. I can't even imagine what happens to the standing water on Rockaway Tpke if it suddenly freezes and turns to a literal block of ice.

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.

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

Oh and at Sedgwick & Kingsbridge. The express sign is so faded you can barely read it and the sign is also in the wrong place, the south end is suppose to be the Bx3/9 stop (and the pole for the local buses are also missing), and the BxM3 stop is suppose to be on the north end.

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.    

1 hour ago, QM1to6Ave said:

There was some pilot program the MTA mentioned a while back where the GPS would be used to give B/Os instructions on a digital screen on whether to slow down or speed up to keep even pacing with their leaders and followers. I never saw any evidence this was put into action lol

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.

1 hour ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I really hope DSNY is on top of sanding/salting all the roads today. I saw some salt spreaders out earlier, but the potential for black ice tonight is immense, and giving me flashbacks to Halloween 2018 (I think) when we had a huge ice storm and the whole city gridlocked because there was no salt on the roads.

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.

1 minute ago, Lawrence St said:

I’m not sure, that stop has a weird setup but both poles have faded signs that need to be changed.

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

6 minutes ago, BrooklynBus said:

So why are they now refusing to have in-person meetings for Brooklyn and Queens?

What good is gathering demographic information if you are going to ignore what you find? The Brooklyn Existing Conditions Report stated Brooklyn is growing demographically as well with jobs. Downtown Brooklyn is the fastest growing area. So instead of increasing service boroughwide, they are making service cuts, including Downtown Brooklyn, the fastest growing area. 

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. 

7 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

@Via Garibaldi 8 can you ask DOT to replace the faded BxM2/3 sign at Madison & 84th St?

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.

7 hours ago, N6 Limited said:

 

Wouldn’t it make sense for them to ride the routes, observe ridership patterns and ask B/O and riders questions?

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. 

8 hours ago, AlgorithmOfTruth said:

I see this as an attempt to slowly disengage and consolidate the existing booths throughout the system, where passengers could go to receive "help." Not only that, but I forsee a lot of those seniors in the station agent position walking off when this thing goes into full effect. They're trying to retain that job title that has become obsolete at this point.

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.

7 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

...and those are the type of people characters whose commentaries the MTA gives more consideration to - Which is a reason I downright refuse to waste energy going to & participating in any of those meetings.... You hit them with facts that goes against their narrative, you get blown off.... You bow down & kiss the ring & have them smack you on the ass by spewing anything that can be construed as being in lock-step with their ultimate goal, they're allllll ears..... I mean, the people that genuinely care & have real concerns of their commute changing for the worse, undermined by foamers - and it be the same perennial characters year in & year out too... They know who these clowns are.... It's absolutely a damn mockery & like I mentioned in my reply to Checkmate above, it isn't the only example of the type of BS that the MTA allows on their platform either....

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. 

36 minutes ago, Eric B said:

With all the building that was going on in Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay, has the weekend ridership been increasing? I remember the trains being packed (at least on Saturday) back when it was still the . But many of those riders were probably coming from the inner portion of the line (including the local stations), and weekend service would only be justified if there were a lot of riders getting on at those two stops, and perhaps Kings Hwy also.

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.

23 minutes ago, Cait Sith said:

He may have had the right to comment all over the map, but most of his ideas were so bad that the response to that dude was definitely necessary….especially since he was clearly commenting about routes and neighborhoods he knew nothing about. It was so annoying seeing his name plastered all over the map. He needed to stfu.

 

No.

The B39 in its simplest explanation, is an ADA alternative to the . Nothing more, nothing less. Doesn’t need to be anything more than that.

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.

8 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

I don't think the B39 should continue operating TBH. It's pointless, the amount of money they spend to run it they could instead put in to build elevators at Marcy & Essex St. That is the entire point of the route in the first place right?

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.

11 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

The Prevosts' HVACs are definitely getting fixed slowly but surely. And now I know why those buses were almost creepily quiet when they first came out...the HVAC wasn't turned on properly! I can't believe no one in quality control realized this for almost a year.

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.

10 hours ago, 7-express said:

Until people started getting sick from it being too hot or sweating it out in the summer!  The MCIs I still catch still have good temperatures on board, especially while everyone is wearing a winter coat in these 30 degree temps.  Though the MCIs are slowly rattling themselves apart.

I got MCIs both ways today.  It was cold enough for me to eventually close the overhead vents.

2 minutes ago, Theli11 said:

Would making the B39 a rush route to Union Square be useful for riders? Going via Avenue A/Essex, stopping at Essex/Delancey, 14th St/Avenue A, to Union Square (on the M14 turn around) and turning back the same way down, stopping at Avenue A/14 St, then, Rivington St (before the bridge).

I've been interested in growing the B39s are in both Brooklyn and Manhattan for a while. I think Spring Street would be hard to turn around but if we do Union Square, we can get the B39 in and out of Manhattan quickly by making it a Rush Route in Manhattan. the B53 and the B39 could both potentially run down Broadway, I don't think there's a lot of routes that can connect to that part of Queens and that part of Brookyln as easily so I can see worth in doing that.

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.

Just now, Chris89292 said:

That doesn’t justify the reason why they reduce service, the 7 line is the most used line in the system, why would they do that? Unless they want to do that during mid day service

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.

1 hour ago, Cait Sith said:

A part of it I think is because people were literally attacking other people on the map. I saw some comments that were pretty....screwed up so to say about what others had to say. There was one guy that was commenting basically everywhere and some people were literally attacking him for spamming all over the map. There were other commenters that were just deliberately attacking other people for no reason.

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.  

1 hour ago, aemoreira81 said:

By far, the B83 has to be the worst. On Sunday, heading to work, there were 4 buses on the line...back to back to back to back. If the B83 becomes a straight up Pennsylvania Avenue route, that would help a lot. The command center has to be better at placing buses.

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?