Via Garibaldi 8

It's her election to lose, even with what's been going on.

Hochul hasn't been anything to write home about either and I don't think she's got it in the bag. She's just trying to do enough to make sure she's elected come November. Still her election to lose, only because of NY being heavily Democratic.

That's the big problem. Most of them are not functional and aren't checked. Back in 2010, almost 50% of them didn't work. The last audit showed similar issues. https://gothamist.com/news/many-cities-have-more-robust-subway-camera-systems-than-ny Then there is the issue that almost a third of cameras that are supposed to be checked are not. The audits are usually small sample sizes, but I'm sure if they did a more extensive one, the percentage would likely be even higher. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/nyregion/30subway.html

I laughed when I read about this yesterday. Cameras don't deter criminals, which is why you won't see people rushing back to take the subway. The guy that shot up that train... I'm sure he wasn't concerned about cameras... Not to mention how many of them don't work. This is just putting lipstick on a pig. That $6 million would be better invested having more cops ride on the actual trains and not just standing around on the platform.

True, but at the same time, they have had months of feedback and I know that at quite a few community meetings I spoke at in Queens, this was a concern for a number of residents and there were elected officials present at them, so I'm sure this got back to the given my discussions with various people. Now, I have no idea what they may do. We'll have to wait and see. What I can say is that they are not under any time crunch as they were under Byford who wanted redesigns done with hard deadlines.

Well they've got a good four months to work out the issues. Quite frankly, the last draft isn't terrible, at least on the express side anyway. They just need to add back more service and make some tweaks and keep lines like the QM3, QM4, QM10 & QM40 in tact. The local bus lines definitely have some issues though. I spoke at a few events out in Northeast Queens over the summer and there were a litany of complaints about local bus service. They're going to have to actually INVEST money in this plan, which they refuse to do.

Well I had a long conversation with an elected official that represents chunks of Northeast Queens some weeks ago about the latest draft plan. They've been talking with the about the last plan and it doesn't sit well with a lot of people. When I have spoken with my contacts about it, they have stressed that this is only a proposal, so we will see what they come up with. Can't go into details here, so I will DM you.

There was an issue recently I had to deal with on the QM2 line. Buses were parking in front of a residence along the Cross Island Parkway. I did reach out about the issues you also mentioned, as well as the blocking of seats. That too has improved. A message was sent out regarding that.

Makes sense...

Based on what?

Final Queens Bus Redesign Plan To Be Released Next Year (2023) https://www.amny.com/transit/queens-bus-redesign-2023-release/

Actually there have been some improvements. Those incidents were a while back.

Yeah, sometimes BusTime screws up with the Queens bound buses. I have seen that here and there, but as you said, usually it is corrected later on along the route. As for passenger counters, yes, all the new express buses have counters, but that doesn't mean they always work. lol These new express buses are absolute garbage. Some already have parts of the overhead area dangling from screws falling out. On occasion, there's a BusTime glitch where the passenger counts don't show, but that would be a systemwide thing. When that happens, usually the is alerted and the tech folks fix the problem.

What's irritating is when I board and the driver asks what stop I want, I tell them and then we get into Manhattan and now suddenly you can't take me to the stop I asked for when I told you in advance. I don't give a rats' @ss where they go afterwards, but drop me off at the stop I asked for. I had a chick do that crap with me on the BxM2. I told her I needed 7th and 41st when I got on and she thinks it's ok to drop me off at 5th and 42nd after the fact, which means now I have a longer schlepp to where I'm going. Next time she got me, she dropped me where I needed to go and then went on her way, but this was after she was called in for it. Why not just make the stop from the get go? Ridiculous.

Because some drivers arbitrarily decide to terminate when they should not be. I've had it happen to myself. It's one thing if the bus is actually supposed to be short turning OR the driver is instructed to terminate some place, and another for the driver to decide to just throw passengers off wherever. If your destination signage says one thing, you drive and then suddenly decide to terminate elsewhere with no warning, then that's a problem and yes, I have seen arguments break out about it and rightfully so. I've had drivers ask me what stop I wanted, I tell them the stop, they are not officially short turning and then they decide later on that they don't want to go there and then call out last stop. Total BS. I boarded a bus yesterday where it was a limited stop bus and the driver tried to act like he wasn't going to make the stop. He had two more stops to go that was half a mile away. I looked at him like don't you dare drive off. On the other hand when there are short turns, etc., people don't read the damn signs. People got on after me asking if the bus was going Downtown. The sign was clear as day.

Well it wasn't like the mandate was actually enforced, so in essence, someone could do just that. Someone in my group DMed me the other day complaining that they don't think that the mandate should've ended. There will always be people that don't think the mandate should EVER end. Myself, I take a more pragmatic approach. If you have underlying conditions or simply feel more comfortable wearing a mask on public transit to protect your health, go for it, but there are some people using it as a political statement, as if a mask makes them somehow smarter or superior to those that choose not to. That's when it becomes stupid, like the people I see traveling ALONE in their car double masked. Give me a break. Meanwhile, some of those very people have caught COVID, sometimes more than once. In large crowds, that is when mask wearing was recommended, and that makes sense given the increased exposure, but again, enforcement was non-existent. I also found it hypocritical that in some cases I'd see buses where all of the passengers were masked, but the driver was unmasked. Either it's a mandate for everyone, or don't bother. I asked someone at the about that off the record a while back and they said it's complicated because workers weren't given PPE at the beginning and that I remember and understand, but what does that have to do with the here and now? The whole thing has created so much drama. Now that the mandate is lifted, now you have drivers that weren't wearing masks all masked up. lol What I'm confused on is logically, when we have fewer treatments and higher cases, that would be the time to be masked up, yet that wasn't happening with some people. Cases supposedly are coming down now and now those people are suddenly masked up.

Was the destination signage correct? There aren't any dead spots along 6th Av, but some QM express buses won't track because the signage is incorrect or "NOT IN SERVICE" is put up. The other issue is sometimes buses track as Midtown buses when they are Queens bound buses, but that doesn't happen too much. I worked on a similar issue with the for some BM lines Downtown where they pulled buses from service to fix the GPS issues because they were tracking intermittently. Need more info on this one... The QM2 does have one area that is a dead spot over by 162nd and Powells Cove Blvd where every QM2 disappears after that stop then re-appears later up by the Cross Island Parkway & 160th St.

I don't converse and do all of that. Just pay, take a seat and keep it moving. I'll speak if spoken to, otherwise, keep it moving. There is a general attitude that prevails now that the entire population of commuters are farebeaters and many other things. That I take issue with. Furthermore when people aren't bothering you and you lash out at them for no reason, that's just not cool.

Yeah and it's been a battle to get these seats re-opened, but little by little we'll get there. Don't expect every bus to have the chains removed, but over time it should be done. Yes, heard about this earlier.

It's not sad at all. It's the truth. This entire pandemic has made me realize how much some bus operators despise the riding public. Some of the things I have seen are just unreal. I have personally witnessed a few confrontations with passengers and drivers.

Yeah, the reality is people do things they shouldn't be doing in all sorts of jobs. He acts as if because it's a bus operator that means they get some special pass or something. Now there are some things that people file complaints about that are indeed petty, but this isn't one of them.

Someone once told me that because I run an advocacy group, that I should be pushing transit. That's a flawed way of thinking because it assumes that a majority of trips made say within the five boroughs would be easier and quicker. Not necessarily so. What we have not done in this City is expand transit options for people. The has really been trying to shrink them. You mentioned Maspeth, which is a subway desert where people have constantly asked the for more transit options over the years, particularly more bus service. The answer has always been NO. What we have right now is a crisis on two fronts. We have a crumbling infrastructure that is not sustainable for the kind of car growth we are seeing, BUT we also have a transit system that is not keeping up to meet our needs, and so I recognize why so many people have switched to driving, even though it is not practical for some of the trips being taken and is creating a ton of congestion. I don't know what the percentage is, but there are definitely New Yorkers that do a mix of using transit and driving. I've heard a number of people say that they drive only when necessary. Definitely some truth in that. Where I live, parking is a pain, be it garages (most have waiting lists) or street parking, so some do a mix of the two, as some trips simply make more sense by car. Now if we were moving the way Europe has where they continue to invest heavily in public transportation, I would be more in favor of going along with the whole transit is better because logically it is, but we have an agency that has pushed a lot of people to drive. People are not as vocal these days. When they become fed up, they simply look for alternatives. The other issue is the transit "grid" if you will is more much suitable in other places such as Europe, particularly Western Europe. The subways here were really built for travel into and out of Manhattan. They are not very accommodating for other types of travel, such as say West-East travel in The Bronx or West-East travel in parts of Brooklyn. I have definitely met people over the years that wouldn't be caught dead on any form of transit regardless of whether it is more expensive such as the commuter rails or the express buses. Those people can't be persuaded, but one argument I always hear thrown around is well I don't have good transit in my neighborhood, so I am forced to drive. Yes, for some people, it is a convenient excuse, and for others it's a legitimate issue. Convenient for those who could but would rather not. Putting all of this aside though, what I really don't have faith in is the to be able to meet such demands. Even if people could be convinced to use mass transit, I'm not sure the could handle it, and I'm not talking about a huge change. I think that's really the thing being overlooked. I've heard a number of transit enthusiasts say well yeah once Congestion Pricing is implemented, transit will automatically be better. Based on what? Does that mean more reliable? More service? Earlier and later service? Right now, the only thing the has stated is that there would be vague infrastructure improvements. Nothing has been said about more frequent service, better connections or anything of the sort for anyone that would take place immediately. That to me is troubling. If you want people to use transit, you have to incentivize them to do so.

I had an interview about it back in March. Supposedly the is considering it. https://www.silive.com/news/2022/03/why-doesnt-mtas-omny-fare-capping-program-include-higher-priced-express-bus-trips.html The railroads already have CityTicket expanded at all times off-peak within City limits.

Increased congestion on the BQE is actually related to the congestion in the CBDs, at least during the pandemic anyway, as people that used to take public transportation have been driving into Manhattan. They have been the ones clogging up the HOV lane as well. Those that are anti-car and see no issue with the poor service the has been providing will make blanket statements that Congestion Pricing is good because it gets cars off of the road, without saying anything about the need to hold the accountable for running service that incentivizes transit use. I support Congestion Pricing in theory, but this plan in particular I don't support, not unless it involves major changes, particularly for people that drive because they have crap transit options. That means things like better transit late hours and off-peak, since this plan would be in place 24/7.

It is. They can't provide the service on their schedules consistently, yet they wonder why people are running to go and drive. I've lost track of how many times I have had to wait 30 minutes to over an hour because of missing buses/cancelled service, and that's with me no longer using the to travel mainly for work purposes.