Via Garibaldi 8

How do you know that there isn't a shortage? Unlike with the express, the generally has not been posting cancellations on the local bus side. I've insisted that they post the express cancellations and generally they do, with the exception of Staten Island since there is so much service and so few people available. I know for a fact it has happened because I have called myself transferring from the express to a local line in Manhattan and not getting a bus and either grabbing an Uber or just walking if it wasn't a long distance. Bus service has really turned into garbage in this City in general.

Right, which is my point. The line is losing money & Bee Line doesn't want to subsidize it any more than what it is. They would prefer that people take Metro-North.

The BxM4C has NOTHING to do with the BxM4. The BxM4C is run under Bee-Line and funded differently than the BxM4, run under Bus.

That's the stop.

But there is a stop by South Broadway & Prospect...

I didn't miss anything. I'm simply clarified that nothing illegal took place because some people assume that because the lanes say "BUSES ONLY" that means that only buses can use them. That is generally the case with some exceptions. Unfortunately this is the decision that the DOT made on 5th Av. A few years ago when I met with the DOT and the we discussed the idea of 5th Av being not only a double bus lane, but also with no right-hand turns. Ultimately a balance has to be found. No right-hand turns sounds great because in theory it should mean fewer obstructions for the buses, but those vehicles have to go somewhere and if they can't turn off certain streets that means congestion elsewhere and the question is how much and how big of an impact would it be? The DOT at this time does not favor no right-hand turns. It's something the pushed for, even if it was only during rush hours and something I agreed with as well, but the DOT has good reasons why it hasn't agreed to do that. It could mean that Lexington, 7th, 2nd and other Southbound corridors could see excessive congestion and slower bus service, which would not be fair to those commuters. Generally speaking, the bus lanes on 5th move well and bus operators can certainly use the other regular lanes if there is congestion in the bus lanes. On Saturday, there usually isn't that much traffic this time of year as say during the summer months, at least not yet anyway. The other answer not mentioned is ad revenue. I recall having a discussion with the former Chief Customer Officer Sarah Meyer a while back. I forget why, but the topic came up about the display screens in the subway stations and why they cycle the way that they do and trying to find a balance between running ads and displaying real-time info. They need all of the revenue they can get and so whenever someone is willing to pay for ad space, that takes precedence. If there was serious money to get from having such wraps, I'm sure they would be open to it, but to advertise that without the getting revenue in return for what is essentially prime ad space doesn't make fiscal sense. Now of course they may run special campaigns here and there, but those don't usually last long-term. There is a plan in place being rolled out to have automatic enforcement via cameras. There are already some on some bus lines, but it is going to be expanded. It's unclear yet if that means more on the buses or what. I'm sure some drivers are already receiving them. The problem is particularly with commercial vehicles is they just eat those costs as part of doing business. The cost would have to be risen considerably and even if it was, it just gets passed down to the customer anyway.

Cars are allowed to use the bus lane to park for temporary periods of time, as well as to make turns, and so can bikes and scooters. Nothing illegal about what you noted.

Yeah the project will be happening. It seems that everyone was receptive of it, so that's the good news. The one thing I did not inquire about during our chat was if there are any plans to implement Transit Signal Priority. As you know, Northern Blvd isn't the fastest of corridors, so even with the bus lane, bus speeds won't be insanely faster, but slightly better. That said, if the buses can continue to move without hitting so many lights as it currently does, that would certainly help.

So I have some answers for you, as someone I've dealt with before reached out to me. The deal is that there are two construction projects scheduled in that area - the Northern Blvd corridor for bus improvements and the 34th Av corridor. CB3 had some concerns about having both corridors under construction at the same time, so the thinking was to do one at a time. The 34th Av corridor is close to being completed. After that, the plan is to come back before the Community Board with updates and then go from there. Because paving season is almost over and because of the size and scope of the Northern Blvd project, it's likely that it won't begin until 2023 when it is warm enough to resume such construction projects, provided that no other concerns are raised by any community members. As I mentioned earlier, one other hold up was that we had a change in administration, so there are always delays when that happens in addition to finalizing the budget, so that too had an impact on projects starting. I've been promised that I'll be given updates, so feel free to ask and I'll provide any info that I have.

To be clear, what the DOT presented was a proposal, not necessarily something that will definitely be implemented. Usually what happens is the DOT draws up a plan and presents it before the Community Board, gathers feedback from stakeholders (i.e. members of the public, etc.), then sees if there are any objections or other issues with the plan and then comes back to confirm if the project will proceed. I can't find anything aside from the presentation, therefore, I've reached out to see what I can ascertain.

I could reach out and ask, but the DOT is quite large and my contact is not in that department, but I'm sure they could inquire if I can't find the info myself. Earlier on though, DOT projects were on hold for a bit until the City Council passed the latest budget, so they are now playing catch-up to say the least. They do not have a large crew, so it all depends on availability and they try to do such projects without incurring OT to keep costs down. There's a department for each process. A crew for milling and paving, a crew for street markings, etc. You get the idea. I'll take a look when I have a chance and see what I find.

You're a little late to the party. There were notices put up years ago when they moved it from 26th St to 27th St. That change was from before the pandemic. I know it was because when I had to meet clients Downtown and needed the BxM18, sometimes we were dumped off there at 27th St & put on another BxM18 to continue Downtown, so it's definitely not new.

Sometime ago it was moved to 27th & 5th to mitigate congestion concerns because too many buses ended at or around 23rd & 5th. It's literally half a block away. Not a big deal.

Probably on the local buses. The times that I do take public transit now (maybe a few times a week), it's the express bus and on occasion a local bus in Manhattan for a few stops. I see everyone paying. but I'm certain this remains a big issue on some local bus lines (and increasingly with OMNY).

If the stop is skipped, then the person never had a chance to pay, which has been a problem on some lines where the driver changes their sign to NOT IN SERVICE, then skips part of the route. Assuming that isn't the case though, the fare is supposed to be stated and driver is to press F5 and that's it. No confrontation to avoid any escalation of the situation. Now of course some drivers will still challenge the fare and won't move the bus until either the fare is paid or the person gets off.

He's likely banking on the fact that no one will report him, so don't wait until next time. Report him now. There have been a number of things going on with these buses that have pissed me to the core and I had a long conversation with the about it recently. Skipping of stops is one, but on the express side, the blocking of seats, denying people the right to sit, including disabled people and even denying service in some cases where they arbitrarily decide what stops they are going to serve, etc. and skip the others by turning off their signage or putting up NOT IN SERVICE... These are all examples of discrimination. The rules note that service is NOT to be denied to anyone, so the driver does not get to decide what stops they feel like serving. Sick of hearing about stuff like this.

It's similar to what happened with the 5th Av double bus lanes. The and the DOT thought that it was a good idea to have as many bus routes as possible running down 5th Av, but what happened in reality was that it wasn't because the DOT still allowed righthand turns at every other block, which rendered the bus lanes useless to some extent in that there were back-ups. Even with a busway like Fulton St, as someone else pointed out, it's really just one lane of traffic each way, so buses can become backed up if you have too many routes running on it, especially with how frequent some lines are.

It has always been that way well before Fulton St became a busway. I worked down there years ago and frequented Livingston St. Fulton St has always had about four bus lines on it, with very frequent service, and Livingston St. has always had about the same. With the amount of buses on Fulton St alone, plus the frequency of service, it would be too much, plus Livingston St. is its own commercial corridor and buses need to serve it.

Yeah, of course you don't since it won't impact you. lol And don't expect that to change... The goal is the same... Reduce run times by: a. straightening lines b. eliminating stops See a pattern?

I took the M34 over the weekend a few stops. I paid with my phone because I wanted to get my transfer to the express bus coming back, so I tapped with my OMNY card going into the City, then tapped with my phone on the M34SBS and then tapped with my OMNY card going home. Saved me $4.00 total. I find overall that a lot of passengers that pay with OMNY tap with their phone. I learned why... It's not just because of convenience. Apparently, you can save money by using say Apple Pay. I have to look into it further, but one person told me that they get $1.00 off of their fare tapping that way. I had originally stopped using my phone to tap with OMNY, but I switched phones, so reliability is no longer an issue.

I don't understand your post. If you paid with a Metrocard, you show your receipt as proof of payment. With OMNY, there is no paper option. They are supposed to have a scanner to scan whatever payment method you used. One way around that is to link your payment method to your OMNY account and log into that if need be to show when you paid and the line.

Good question. I'm not sure. There really isn't much there. More of a place to park if anything. Years ago any real work on buses meant sending them elsewhere. I haven't followed the situation enough to know what the latest is, but I don't believe much has changed.

To be clear, Meredith "Depot" is not a full depot. Back when I lived on Staten Island, I would often times see Meredith Depot express buses deadheading towards Castleton Depot for this and that, as they don't have certain amenities at Meredith Depot. Charleston Depot, which was left out of this discussion was accounted for before it was even completed. Years ago, there were talks about a fifth depot opening. This has not come to fruition and I am not sure if it will anytime soon. Having an another depot would allow for service expansion and also reduce bus shortages. Staten Island has suffered for years with both issues, especially when only Yukon and Castleton were around. There weren't enough lifts and other things needed to fix the buses and not enough space to run more service. Both things have improved with the opening of Charleston and Meredith, though it could be even better,

5th & 84th... 5th & 87th is a mistake. There's also a BxM7 sign somewhere that was posted by mistake by the DOT. Busy at the moment, but when I have some time I'll look into these things to get them fixed. BusTime can be updated whenever the next address any errors, which is usually once a month or so, maybe less. I forget exactly how often, but it isn't often.

I also notice this on old Metro-North trains. The same sort of lurching issues. Quite annoying.