Via Garibaldi 8

USB ports are staying. I haven't heard anything about them getting rid of them. They're already part of the contract for whatever new buses are coming in. I tried it out years ago and it was generally too buggy for me, plus there is a dead spot here in Riverdale in both directions along the express bus routes that totally screws up the Wi-Fi if you're trying to connect to it in that area, so I haven't bothered with it in years. I have data for both my cell phone and tablets, so with me working mainly from home and using my FiOS Wi-Fi, I am never at risk of having my unlimited data slowed when I'm out and about. That said, the disclaimer just came out last night so there has been very little time to react to it. I created a poll late last night in the group and took a screenshot of the responses (so far over 100 people responded) and sent it over to the asking them to reconsider given the feedback about how many people either can't connect, get booted, or that there doesn't seem to be Wi-Fi installed on a number of express buses. I suspect that perhaps the contract is ending with the vendor and they just decided to yank the service. I'll give it a little bit of time before following up, as the correspondence involves other important matters that are more involved.

That is actually NOT the plan of the overall though. Some routes may coincidentally overlap, but they want riders to use ONE bus line to maximize efficiency of each bus. Basically network coverage decreases with these redesigns.

Their argument was that it is seeing low usage. I put a poll up in my group and it seems that most people find it unreliable or can't log on, which is why they either stopped using it or don't use it as much as they would like to. I don't know exactly what date they plan on pulling the plug on this, but it just says mid January, so they really haven't given much time for the public to provide feedback on this since they just put the notice up this evening.

It was brought to my attention today that the plans to eliminate Wi-Fi on all buses. If you use Wi-Fi on the express bus, post here. If you don't use it or stopped using it, also post as to why. I also encourage everyone to fill out this link and provide the with feedback if they want Wi-Fi to be kept: https://contact.mta.info/s/customer-feedback

So far they are legitimately complaining about the scheduled trips not coming and thus long waits. Seems to be that they don't have enough drivers to make service. Not sure about recently, but it was a problem a few months after the redesign started.

What does more priority mean exactly? From the people that use the Bx23, they seem to complain a lot about scheduled buses not showing up.

That and some of them may be new from the vendor, so those should come with the tweaks done already.

That's just a reflection of the City and how poorly things are managed. Unfortunately, there is a ton of corruption there with the Camorra and such, so dysfunctional rail and bus service is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the issues there. When I traveled there by train (I remember well, as my train was insanely late), we were at least an hour behind schedule (this was on a Saturday morning), the bathroom I saw on the train was filthy and pretty much everything about the trip was dysfunctional. In some ways it reminded me our system here in NYC, as no one knows anything when the sh*t hits the fan, so I just rolled with it. Not sure if the weather played any role, as it did rain that day, but nothing crazy. If you've been there, you quickly understand that nothing works the way that it should. Not even the traffic lights. lol I quickly saw how things operated just walking around and just operated as I would in NYC when doing things like crossing the street, etc. When trash is not consistently picked up, you cannot expect an efficient transit system. Since the original discussion was about HEETs, I'll tie this all together. If NYC simply enforced what's on the books, new turnstile designs wouldn't be needed. Chaos begets more chaos, and so all of the examples above show that. In Germany, things are pretty orderly overall, including fare enforcement and in the examples that contradict that, you see what you get.

I still get very few with the partitions. I know some drivers don't like the partitions, so they purposely get buses that don't have them. Funny thing is the union asked for them.

The one I got coming to the City and the one going back (also a new one) also had air circulating. I'm trying to have patience with this because there are SO many damn issues with these buses that they are trying to fix (that they created in the first place). The screens... The AC... The seat situation... And that doesn't include the partitions that have been delayed due to sourcing delays. It's a huge undertaking given the few hundred or so express buses and it's been very slow going.

Just report that one then. They are slowly making tweaks as I continue to talk to them. I'm on a new express bus now that has the overhead blowers on for the entire time. The coolest bus I've been on yet.

For some express buses yeah, but I've been on some recently where the overhead bins were definitely open because the drivers were opening them.

I actually have been all over Italy, including Naples. What's wrong with Naples exactly?

I am not sure how true this is, but I was told by one of the drivers that they had started locking the overhead bins because the drivers were leaving them filthy. I haven't seen such instances, but I may take the express bus tomorrow and if I get a new one, I'll have a look.

Oh please with your comparisons to Europe. There is no comparison. The proof of payment system in Europe comes with its own problems. Having lived in Europe (Italy), I saw rampant farebeating, on both the trains and buses. The checkers are few and far in between in some places. I think in all of the times I used public transit living there, I can recall only being checked a handful of times, mainly for long trips such as Milan to Bologna where you are on a train for a few hours. Once going from Florence to Pisa (the first time I went from Pisa to Florence I was not checked at all) by train, another time coming from Scandicci back to my place in Florence and a few other times, but there was one instance I recall where we had a checker on a bus. The bus was packed as we were in a busy part of the City Centre of Florence and the checker had to deal with so many fare beaters or people who had not stamped their ticket that he would've had to have gone several stops before he got everyone. I got off shortly after, but there were a number of people that clearly buy tickets and then wait until a checker comes to then run to one of the machines on the bus and stamp their ticket. If it's the train, they become familiar with what stops checkers come and get off before anyone comes to check. Maybe Germany is a bit better in this regard, as I've only been in Frankfurt, but plenty of other European cities have a serious issue with the whole honor system, so I find your comments about being "civilized" comical. The French are a good example where people constantly look to beat the fare. Are they still considered civilized? lol Second, the transit systems are heavily subsidized via high taxes and measures are taken to get people to not drive and use mass transit. For example, taking taxis are expensive. I can recall calling a taxi to and from my place one day because I was carrying something heavy and the meter was already running before I even got in the taxi. The 's funding sources are varied and complex. Yes, the fare is only $2.75, but you fail to realize how many times over that cost is subsidized, even if some people never used the . Fees from tolls, various surcharges on utility bills, congestion fee below 96th St and on and on. New York City is one of the highest taxed cities in the US, so $2.75 is a very reasonable fare. The discounts could be more varied I agree, and I believe they will be once they finally finish with the OMNY issues and get it fully rolled out.

Close Broad St, which is in the heart of the Financial District... Oh and Nassau St too... LOL

$11 billion for construction for the doesn't go very far. That's one of their main issues... They go with the lowest bidder, but their construction costs for a transit agency are some of the highest around. The fact that there are cost overruns is not that egregious per se, but because the costs are so high to begin with, they are scrutinized more than usual. That's something else that I wonder about as someone who has worked on bids. When you go with the lowest bidder, that comes with its own "costs". That could be experience and talent, cost of materials, etc. I've been outbid on some projects and I've often wondered if the other companies that bid cut costs by cutting corners. I'm almost sure that this is an issue with the as well.

Apparently there are some things that need to be checked off that can't be done before 2022 comes to an end. That could mean just a couple of days though, but we'll see.

I actually avoid West Midtown entirely this time of year during the week.

Per Andrew Siff from NBC, the has officially confirmed that the LIRR Grand Central Madison station will NOT open in 2022.

They have over the last few years, at our behest. They did so last year as well. If they don't, I reach out and ask for them to be posted. This year however, they were not as readily available, so I've asked for that to be addressed. They actually weren't sure where they were originally. Drivers taking off for the last days of the year... And yes, traffic was heavy today when I went in. Coming back it was a zoo. I can't recall it being so busy in the early afternoon. I think someone offloaded some tourist buses or something in the area. Most places were mobbed...

It's a cost neutral move. It isn't saving anything since they are just moving some service around. However, it's a service cut on some lines for people that travel Monday & Friday and a service increase on some lines for people that travel on weekends. It's also no secret that ridership tends to decrease on lines when service is cut because people don't like waiting longer for the bus or train, so they may lose revenue on the lines where they are cutting service. I work from home now and actually avoid using the on some days for leisure trips because I know that they run crap service on Mondays. That is money that stays in my pocket & revenue the doesn't get. These are the small things that riders think about and that cost the that doesn't show up in any stats. Additionally, when I was on a hybrid schedule, I purposely avoided Monday & Friday, in part because of unreliable service. It must be that a lot of workers take off those days because a lot of the scheduled service does not run (can't cover some trips on the schedule).

100% correct. Not only that, but it's common knowledge that job growth is happening fastest in the outerboroughs.

No they aren't. These changes are not being implemented immediately. They are being done in SIX months, in June 2023. Summertime is when more people are usually out and about and taking transit. If they were really responding to ridership patterns, these changes would be done sooner, when ridership will likely be lower. During the Winter months, ridership at times is indeed lower vs the warmer months.

I don't know what trains you're looking at, but plenty of people work on the days you're proposing to trim back service, not to mention that people come in for parades, shopping, etc. Not the brightest idea... It's clear that you don't understand how the City works. The majority of New Yorkers don't drive or have a car and are transit-dependent. The provides a public service... Additionally, instead of looking at maybe the train you use, I'm sure the has ridership data to ascertain service levels. That's how service works, not by looking at ONE train passing by that may not be packed at that location and then saying service should be cut.