Via Garibaldi 8

I'm sure they don't, but they send them out to show face. I haven't been happy with my service either, so I'm been writing my elected officials. We had paving up here recently and every time it's a mess because the buses are stuck for sometimes 30 minutes trying to figure out how to navigate, as there is no set detour for planned work. Yesterday they sent out a dispatcher to my stop by W 239th St, which I was shocked to see, as I was dreading being stuck trying to get to the City. He was stopping each bus (local and express) and telling the drivers about the detour.

That entire depot is a mess. I see Bx7 and Bx10 buses always bunched together in my area. I can recall one Sunday morning seeing back-to-back Bx7 buses running up Riverdale Avenue and I said to myself, wow why are they bunched like this on a Sunday morning with no traffic? Over the years I know a lot of people have complained and they even stationed a dispatcher by 231st and Broadway. I don't use any of the lines, but do see them passing by when out and about or waiting for the express bus and I've noticed the same thing, at times when there is really no traffic to speak of. Seems like a management issue.

Draft Plan. No plan can be finalized without a vote of approval before the Board.

Yes, farebeating on the express bus is not common, but on Staten Island, I saw the most during the weekends, which makes sense. Pre-pandemic, during the week, you usually ride with the same people every day, as most people have the same work schedules, so they take the same express bus every morning and evening, hence the term "regulars". Pre-pandemic, you wouldn't have so many non-regulars during the week (that has changed now with the pandemic - lots of newbies riding and people riding at different hours that had more set schedules). On weekends however is when you would usually have more non-regulars and when I would see the most farebeating when I lived on Staten Island with the old "X" system. The X10 was much worse than than the X1. We had a young guy board at Targee and Narrows Road South. He thought he was going to get on and not pay. It was a crowded bus and he was holding up service, so a few us (myself included) got him off, as the driver was not having any of it, and we wanted to get going. On another occasion, again on the X10, a couple walked on at the last pick-up in Manhattan, took a seat like nothing happened and thought nothing of paying. We sit there and the driver comes on over the loud speaker to demand that they pay and noted that he wouldn't move until they did. Well then they started asking people to dip in exchange for them giving them cash. Once that was resolved, we were on our way. Point is, it is easier to control on the express bus because the driver can see who pays and it isn't as rampant of an issue since it is not tolerated in the first place.

I mentioned that bus operator as an example to show that in the past some drivers would confront people trying to ride for free on the local buses and also to show that they shouldn't be. You mentioned Metro-North and the express bus... I've been a Metro-North commuter for over ten years and I can tell you that while the majority pay, you have people that farebeat on those trains as well. On the Hudson Line, it's usually up to and south of the Marble Hill station. I have not seen such farebeating on the New Haven or Harlem lines, likely because of how ticket checking is structured on those lines. Usually if people get on at Morris Heights, University Heights or Yankees-East 153rd St, they will hide in the bathroom for those few stops to avoid being checked for a ticket - not a ton of people do this, but it does happen occasionally. Some conductors are used to this trick and will knock on the bathroom doors to try to get them out. In other instances, there isn't someone checking tickets sometimes until after Marble Hill. Of late, I have been taking the semi-express trains that skip those stops, so I cannot say how farebeating has been, but I have not seen such behavior since the pandemic started overall when I have used those trains. Even so, Metro-North has a different setup being a commuter rail system. It is generally easier to control fare beating with the ticket checkers. Smaller crowds too. For example, there was a train I used to take at night pre-pandemic home to Riverdale that only had three or four train cars open for revenue service. That pretty much made it almost impossible to farebeat. Additionally, the also has their own Police to monitor those trains. The express bus is also easier to monitor, as you only have one entrance/exit, so the driver can see who paid and who didn't. The local buses are a different situation entirely. The NYPD is not under the purview of the like the Police is, so all they can do is ask that more cops be allocated to check the buses and the subway. In other systems I have used outside of the US, usually the bus operators do not get involved with any fare collection. They just drive and an inspector goes around to check tickets. That too is problematic, as people will run to stamp their ticket when they see a fare inspector come on the bus. Here with the local buses, it is a complicated situation, given the front and back door (or three doors on the artic buses). On Staten Island, the only time we had farebeating improve is when elected officials demanded that something was done because the was losing so much money. They'd do an undercover sting operation for a while, and then it was back to normal. Having the resources to have cops dedicated for that is an expensive operation, and another challenge, especially with violent crime being an issue. The political climate has changed now, with some voters saying that farebeating is linked to income levels (I don't believe it is, as people of all income levels are doing it), and with the Fair Fares Program, what should be happening is it should be better promoted. Currently, there are a number of people eligible for it that either don't know about it or don't participate. OMNY is a separate issue. Some months ago, the noted that they were having software issues with the new payment system, which has persisted. The readers are often broken on the express buses too. I got a free ride Sunday going home, as I no longer use a Metrocard. On average for a while, I was getting a free ride at least once a week, which is quite high, as I am only commuting two or three times a week - that is leisure and work. If or when that situation will improve is anyone's guess. The bus operators have no choice but to be understanding because they were told to not confront riders about broken OMNY readers. I had a driver that was very rude with me about it earlier on (the OMNY reader was frozen and he didn't realize until later on, but he had called me up to the front again to "scold" me in front of other passengers, essentially implying that I was an idiot, as he pulled out his own bank card to "show me" how to tap and go, something I had been doing for years, since tap and go was available over a decade ago lol) and I filed a formal complaint, as it was unnecessary. It should be treated as a broken fare box, which is what it is. When the fare box is broken, you ride for free. The same with the OMNY reader. I don't live near a subway, so I have an OMNY card that I reload on the go and use to commute with and have been since last year. Makes life a lot easier. OMNY has also been around long enough now that the drivers know how often they don't work.

As someone that lived on the island for over ten years, Staten Island has some very wealthy areas and some poor ones, but overall, it has the highest medican income in the entire City, which includes Manhattan, so generally speaking, it is a borough comprised of mainly homeowners and middle to upper middle income earners, which was the case with my neighborhood. That said, you will see farebeating all over the island, especially on the local buses, from the tony parts of the South Shore all the way to the North Shore. Doesn't matter how monied the area is. It's just about entitlement, though some lines go through poor areas for sure. For example, my local bus line was the S48 and my old neighborhood was supposedly the wealthiest on the island in terms of median income according to a news article a few years back. I would say from my neighborhood on towards the Ferry, most people paid. However, coming from the ferry, as you went west and went say past Port Richmond, that's where you could see fewer people pay, but this would also happen at the Staten Island Ferry. Meanwhile, on the Staten Island express buses, you see less farebeating, but you will have people walk on thinking they don't have to pay. The difference is that the express bus operators generally will not tolerate it and will not move the bus until the fare is paid. This tactic tends to work as the clientele on the express generally pays and is of a higher income. The local buses can vary in terms of income levels and a few bus operators on my line were attacked. I heard years ago of a S48 operator being jumped at the end of the line in Arlington. He had refused to let some guys ride, so the next time they got his bus, they all paid the fare, then jumped him at the end of the line.

Via a press conference earlier today, NYC Transit's President Richard Davey noted that the Brooklyn Bus Redesign would be released by the end of this year.

The Fair Fares Program has been expanded, and in fact even those people that are eligible aren't taking advantage of it and you have people still hopping the turnstiles. At some point, you have to face reality and the reality is some people feel entitled to a free ride because there are no consequences if they don't pay.

Sounds nice. Who is supposed to be enforcing this and how do you get the DA to prosecute it?

The DA (the Manhattan DA) has made it abundantly clear that he is not prosecuting farebeating. The pandemic and resources has nothing to do with it.

What a ridiculous statement. Early retirements aren't the reason. The reason for the backlog of cases is due to the pandemic. Regardless, the district attorney is not prosecuting farebeating.

Not happening... lol

That is exorbitant and makes no sense, given the cost of the fare at $2.75. The fine is currently several times the fare, which is appropriate. With no enforcement, the cost of fine is irrelevant.

Your comments are inaccurate. The has asked for more police to patrol. The issue is not the . They can have the NYPD issue all of the summonses they want. The District Attorney is not prosecuting farebeating and has made that abundantly clear.

The issue is moving bus stops generally speaking requires the approval of the , unless it's specifically the DOT that is overseeing a project where they are making changes to the street and removing or moving bus stops, such as along Northern Blvd. It's a long, complicated process. Assuming that the even can be convinced that there is an issue, they then have to send someone out to survey the stop, then assess if it makes sense to move the stop, then figure out where to move it, send the request to DOT and then the stop could be moved, but DOT has up to at least 90 days from then (could be more with the pandemic). I just know because I had a BxM1 stop moved at 86th and 3rd and it took months. Right now I have been having a long discussion with them about the SIM6/SIM11 stop at Lex and 33rd. They have been adamant about keeping it there despite the stop being filled with garbage and being next to two parking garages. They also refused to move the SIM stop at 5th and 32nd. They did get buses that were parking there out of the stop at our request (myself and another advocate had been working on it and I took it up), but CVS trucks will still park there to unload, so there are always a few stops that are a pain.

The easiest solution would be to have those Bx9 drivers layover elsewhere. Moving the sign won't matter if they can layover in the entire stop. I can ask and see if Supervision can keep an eye out, assuming of course that there is somewhere else for them to layover. This is Kingsbridge Depot right?

The main reason people use it (myself included) is that it is limited stops. I only take it occasionally though. Pre-pandemic, for example, if I had a meeting for work close by, instead of getting an Uber, I would walk hop on a M101 instead. I get reimbursed just the same for my travel expenses, including going home, so more money stays in my pocket to do whatever with, even if I was using my pass. lol Then there are times when I use it to be frugal. If you can time it right, it is just like taking the subway (albeit local stops), plus no stairs and no backtracking, so I will put on BusTime to time it, say if I am taking the BxM1 and need to go South of 34th St. If one is coming, I'll take it, especially if it's going to be close to the same time it would be with Uber. Good during the cold months at times when people aren't riding it. During the warmer months, Uber (and now Revel) are quicker, better choices.

I know it's not official. What leaves me perplexed is people stating scenarios without any reason. It's like saying I think it's going to rain today with no explanation as to why you came to that conclusion. Makes no sense.

The M101 is a very busy route, at least from where I use it, which is between 86th down to 8th St. Been a rider for years, albeit occasionally. Time will tell.... Based on what? Three different routes, with different ridership bases. Based on what? Based on what? Based on what?

They actually could run it down to 34th again now that they have a bus lane on Lexington. I find that things move much better now vs. pre-pandemic when I take the BxM1 along there.

Yup. This one I did formally. In the past, if I request it through a DOT contact, they may have the workers take a photo for me and e-mail me when they finish like they did when you asked to have that other BxM3 stop done by 261st.

@Lawrence St That BxM3 stop should now be corrected with the right signage. Let me know if it is next time you pass by there.

They can't keep using bus operators calling out sick as an excuse. I've been following this situation closely because they've been short operators going back to 2019, which was before the pandemic, when they decided to enact a hiring freeze. That said, they have said that they are on target in terms of hiring more bus operators, so that means that we should be seeing fewer cancellations overall, not more. I don't know what the story is with the local buses in general in terms of how bad it is, but I have heard of quite a few people complaining about excessive long waits. The other issue seems to be that they don't have enough manpower to oversee operations to address insane gaps in service. How quickly they are addressing that is anyone's guess. There are things coming down the pipeline that I'm not going to discuss here that should better protect bus operators in general, so if they continue with that and take other measurs to mitigate drivers becoming ill, perhaps that will mean even fewer drivers being out.

I must admit that I rarely see those M98 buses when I take the BxM1, not on the Harlem River Drive and not along Lex or 3rd Av.

TRAVEL ALERT: UPDATE ON RE-INSTATED BxM8 BUS STOP: City Island Av & Cross St -While the bus stop in both directions was erroneously removed, BxM8 bus operators have been told to continue to serve the stop regardless of the fact that there is no physical bus stop in either direction. -I don't have a timeline as of when the physical stops will be restored just yet, as that is on the DOT, but the request is in. Apologies for anyone that has been inconvenienced.