BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[B35 via Church]

11 hours ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

One incident I had while doing this was on the Bx22 where the Bx22 driver was so mad he actually assaulted me with his driver protection door and made a mark on my right hand. So best believe I took that to the MTA and they're lucky I didn't press charges bc I was so close to doing so but I never saw the driver again so I didn't bother.

This is a good example of 2 wrongs not making a right.

11 hours ago, MTA Dude said:

That's not an argument for more personal cars, that's an argument for fixing the damn management on these bus routes.

That is exactly what I said to myself when I read that post of his yesterday morning.... It's one thing to resort to that as a personal solution, but to advocate personal vehicle usage because this transit agency can't get their shit together? Although I most certainly have my gripes with this agency, that's not a message I'd start pushing.... At that point, that starts to project, and segue into an anti-transit stance - even if that's not the original intent...

23 hours ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

I know there is currently a push to get more people to use public transportation due to the environment and what not. My biggest critique of this push for more public transportation usage is that service on some routes continues to run like dog crap when they shouldn’t.

I get that you're venting, but the solution you're presenting to your biggest critique of the push for more public transit, is the antithesis to public transit....

[xD4nn]

1 hour ago, B35 via Church said:

That is exactly what I said to myself when I read that post of his yesterday morning.... It's one thing to resort to that as a personal solution, but to advocate personal vehicle usage because this transit agency can't get their shit together? Although I most certainly have my gripes with this agency, that's not a message I'd start pushing.... At that point, that starts to project, and segue into an anti-transit stance - even if that's not the original intent...

It takes me an hour and half to almost 2 hours to travel 2.4 miles. If the MTA can't fix their service in areas where needed then cars are the best option. I spend significantly more time waiting for the bus than riding the bus.

[B35 via Church]

4 minutes ago, xD4nn said:

It takes me an hour and half to almost 2 hours to travel 2.4 miles. If the MTA can't fix their service in areas where needed then cars are the best option. I spend significantly more time waiting for the bus than riding the bus.

Nobody's implicating nobody in life should ever use cars..... At the same, I'm not going to sit here & advocate the personal vehicle because this, or any other transit agency can't get their shit together... I just don't care to be in anybody's pockets...

[Q43LTD]

So the routes that terminate at LIRR stations, don't have the station or the abbreviation on the signs

[IAlam]

18 hours ago, SevenEleven said:

Don’t do this because if the operator now decides to swerve to avoid you and causes an accident or slams on the brakes and someone on the bus gets injured, it’s a whole another issue.

While I completely agree with you if you regularly deal with CP operators you’d understand why people do that. I can’t wait 40-90 minutes for the next bus because the OP doesn’t wanna pick me up.  This is an issue with both local and express buses with drivers speeding through the route and the next one being extremely late. 
 

I’ve gotten yelled at holding an early bus why 2 old lady were trying to get on. It was in the dead of winter late at night and super cold and the next bus was last 40 minutes away. 
 

I’ve also need a B/O yell at another B/O for being 20 minutes late and making a huge gap. 

[MTA Dude]

20 hours ago, SoSpectacular said:

Blame the street redesigns that haven't fixed or made worse the traffic conditions on the roads. Can't even use certain "backdoor" streets to be put in place because everyone else is using the same streets to circumvent traffic. It's practically hopeless to keep close to schedule. Better take what you can get or adjust your schedule to allow yourself more time.

The one Vision Zero policy from the deBlasio years I'm familiar with is the traffic light turning green about 7 seconds after the corresponding pedestrian light. I still don't know what that was supposed to accomplish... giving pedestrians a chance to enter the crosswalk and make themselves visible? All it's done for me is give me an extra 7 seconds to jaywalk after the light turns red... I do like the new "delayed green" intersections though, where all the pedestrian lights turn green at once, and then stay red when the traffic light is green. As long as the lights are still synced properly along the street, I think it could do a lot for traffic flow at busy intersections by preventing turning traffic from backing up and blocking through traffic because they have to wait for pedestrians to cross.

I get that some bus routes just suffer from traffic, and some of the redesigns haven't helped with that, but it's not bad enough along the Q25 on weekends for it to run as poorly as it does. It usually faces heavy traffic in Flushing down to Holly Ave and along Jamaica Ave, but afaik you don't often see the same gaps in service on the Q17 and Q27 that run on the same stretch of Kissena Blvd.

[Robert Spire]

On 8/19/2023 at 7:26 AM, NewFlyer 230 said:

I know there is currently a push to get more people to use public transportation due to the environment and what not. My biggest critique of this push for more public transportation usage is that service on some routes continues to run like dog crap when they shouldn’t. 

I work Saturday mornings and every week I pretty much have to deal with dog crap service on the Q25 just getting to work. There was a 40 minute gap in service today during the 7am hour and when these buses do run normal they are packed and darn near making every stop. So when service run terrible like it does most weeks how do they expect people to continue to deal with this. That is why me personally I advocate for personal car usage because we have to get around and the MTA and NICE bus prove that they can’t be relied upon. 

To be honest, I think we should have better transit service and I don't blame you one bit for feeling that way. What the anti-car advocacy groups really want IMO is a two tiered system where "chosen" people can use Uber or Lyft on the regular or can afford to live in Manhattan with that Sex and the City Lifestyle and Citibike to where they have to go while the rest of us have to deal with dog crap transit service which will get worse with the borough bus redesigns. If you notice how Riders Alliance is pushing for 6 minute subway service and 6 minute bus service on the top 100 ridership local bus routes ONLY + how MTA is forcing people to choose between frequency and coverage while trying to remove bus stops = a realistic possibility that the top 100 ridership bus routes might be the ONLY bus service we may have in the future. 

On 8/19/2023 at 9:14 PM, SoSpectacular said:

Blame the street redesigns that haven't fixed or made worse the traffic conditions on the roads. Can't even use certain "backdoor" streets to be put in place because everyone else is using the same streets to circumvent traffic. It's practically hopeless to keep close to schedule. Better take what you can get or adjust your schedule to allow yourself more time.

Don't do that. You are just asking to get hurt. Your best course of action is to put in a customer complaint if a bus flags your stop. Plain and simple. Don't be stupid.

Yet the city is doubling down on street redesigns despite pedestrian deaths being more correlated with overall crime than anything. Murders and pedestrian deaths went down in the 1990s and 2000s without Vision Zero ever being a thing. 

23 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

This is a good example of 2 wrongs not making a right.

That is exactly what I said to myself when I read that post of his yesterday morning.... It's one thing to resort to that as a personal solution, but to advocate personal vehicle usage because this transit agency can't get their shit together? Although I most certainly have my gripes with this agency, that's not a message I'd start pushing.... At that point, that starts to project, and segue into an anti-transit stance - even if that's not the original intent...

I get that you're venting, but the solution you're presenting to your biggest critique of the push for more public transit, is the antithesis to public transit....

I think the real problem isn't pro transit or anti transit. It's that the anti car groups and those associated with them want to take away individual ownership of cars and other property including homeownership. Some of the funders of Transportation Alternatives includes Uber, Lyft, Revel, all of which have rideshare or micro mobility services that are popular, especially with the gentrifier crowd. Some of the other funders of Transportation Alternatives also includes car share apps. Which again goes to show that this isn't about improving transit, but attacking individual ownership of property and with the 15 minute city concept, dare I say restrictions on freedom of movement. They want people to live in cities who are more likely to afford and be reliant on their services. 

(On another note, Tri-State Transportation Campaign put out a report attacking Liberty Lines for providing subpar service, but has gotten donations from Uber in the past as per their 990 form)

[MHV9218]

2 hours ago, Robert Spire said:

Yet the city is doubling down on street redesigns despite pedestrian deaths being more correlated with overall crime than anything. Murders and pedestrian deaths went down in the 1990s and 2000s without Vision Zero ever being a thing. 

This is not accurate. Pedestrian deaths across the entire country fell during the 1990s and 2000s, probably as a result of stricter drunk driving regulations, different vehicle design and pedestrian impact guidelines for new cars. 

The murder rate has next to nothing to do with auto safety for pedestrians. You can quibble with the methods the city has taken to improve street safety but it's not useful to confuse the statistics about this stuff.

[B35 via Church]

2 hours ago, Robert Spire said:

I think the real problem isn't pro transit or anti transit. It's that the anti car groups and those associated with them want to take away individual ownership of cars and other property including home ownership. Some of the funders of Transportation Alternatives includes Uber, Lyft, Revel, all of which have rideshare or micro mobility services that are popular, especially with the gentrifier crowd. Some of the other funders of Transportation Alternatives also includes car share apps. Which again goes to show that this isn't about improving transit, but attacking individual ownership of property and with the 15 minute city concept, dare I say restrictions on freedom of movement. They want people to live in cities who are more likely to afford and be reliant on their services.

What real problem are you even opining on, as it relates to that reply of mine?

To be clear, I'm not making the issue of the declination of the quality of public transit in this city as that of being an anti-transit ideology (although I do think that the MTA really isn't in it for the riding public).... What I am saying is, I would rather have the MTA improve the quality of public transit in this city, before instilling (or otherwise advocating) an *oh, go buy a car* mindset onto people, due to the lackadaisical quality of transit in this city.... I'm less concerned about that comical utopian-dystopian 15-minute city crap (which is an anti-transit concept by proxy anyway, but that's neither here, nor there) & are more concerned with improving public transit - Especially for the people that can't pull money out of their asses to buy cars & have to rely on public transit...

2 hours ago, Robert Spire said:

Yet the city is doubling down on street redesigns despite pedestrian deaths being more correlated with overall crime than anything. Murders and pedestrian deaths went down in the 1990s and 2000s without Vision Zero ever being a thing.

Absolutely, positively not....

Stabbings, shootings, robberies, petty thefts, and other crimes are less linked to pedestrian deaths than reckless/irresponsible motorists and/or poor street design is.... Case in point, Queens Blvd. wasn't nicknamed the "boulevard of death" because crime in general was just so rampant along it....

[Robert Spire]

3 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

What real problem are you even opining on, as it relates to that reply of mine?

That the issue about driving vs. transit that has come up over the past several years isn't if one drives a car or encourages people to drive a car, that means they're anti-transit. You can be pro-transit and pro-car at the same time. It's just that what's really going on in society at large in recent years isn't pro-car or anti-car, it's attacking the individual ownership of cars, Ubers and Lyfts flooding the streets while being backed by venture capital money, while Vision Zero was brought to NYC is no accident IMO.

3 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

To be clear, I'm not making the issue of the declination of the quality of public transit in this city as that of being an anti-transit ideology (although I do think that the MTA really isn't in it for the riding public).... What I am saying is, I would rather have the MTA improve the quality of public transit in this city, before instilling (or otherwise advocating) an *oh, go buy a car* mindset onto people, due to the lackadaisical quality of transit in this city.... I'm less concerned about that comical utopian-dystopian 15-minute city crap (which is an anti-transit concept by proxy anyway, but that's neither here, nor there) & are more concerned with improving public transit - Especially for the people that can't pull money out of their asses to buy cars & have to rely on public transit...

Absolutely, positively not....

Stabbings, shootings, robberies, petty thefts, and other crimes are less linked to pedestrian deaths than reckless/irresponsible motorists and/or poor street design is.... Case in point, Queens Blvd. wasn't nicknamed the "boulevard of death" because crime in general was just so rampant along it....

Public transit should be improved for the people who have to rely on public transit. I'm not arguing that, I agree with you. MTA is in public transit because they have to be, I'm pretty sure they'd rather be in the real estate business. Where I do see things going is *oh, go take Uber* or *oh, go take Lyft* and I think that's worse than people choosing to buy their own car. Lyft who owns Citibike even admitted in an article, they want Citibike riders to go into their cars, and you know what, Citibike serves to draw people away from the subway and local buses. What I also find troubling about Citibike, and this is worth noting because there are advocacy groups that want Citibike to be subsidized, is the same group of people that hate express buses for drawing people away from the subway and costing a lot of money have no problem with Lyft doing the same thing with their cars and with Citibike. 

[B35 via Church]

1 hour ago, Robert Spire said:

That the issue about driving vs. transit that has come up over the past several years isn't if one drives a car or encourages people to drive a car, that means they're anti-transit. You can be pro-transit and pro-car at the same time. It's just that what's really going on in society at large in recent years isn't pro-car or anti-car, it's attacking the individual ownership of cars, Ubers and Lyfts flooding the streets while being backed by venture capital money, while Vision Zero was brought to NYC is no accident IMO.

...and I never once said that you can't be pro-transit & pro-car..... At the same time, being pro-car & pro-transit doesn't nullify the sentiment that that same person being quick to advocate for the personal vehicle upon being fed up with some facet of public transit, being akin to an anti-transit stance.... It's their prerogative, but I've seen enough previously pro-transit folks turn into anti-transit, pro-car folks...

1 hour ago, Robert Spire said:

Public transit should be improved for the people who have to rely on public transit. I'm not arguing that, I agree with you. MTA is in public transit because they have to be, I'm pretty sure they'd rather be in the real estate business. Where I do see things going is *oh, go take Uber* or *oh, go take Lyft* and I think that's worse than people choosing to buy their own car. Lyft who owns Citibike even admitted in an article, they want Citibike riders to go into their cars, and you know what, Citibike serves to draw people away from the subway and local buses. What I also find troubling about Citibike, and this is worth noting because there are advocacy groups that want Citibike to be subsidized, is the same group of people that hate express buses for drawing people away from the subway and costing a lot of money have no problem with Lyft doing the same thing with their cars and with Citibike. 

While you have valid points, I personally have no particularly staunch opinion one way or the other, on whether someone being quick to advocate [car ownership] or [some rideshare service] being worse than the other, when we're talking about (or at least, supposed to be vying for) wanting (the MTA) to improve transit (in this city).... I get that you're making a sticking point about rideshare & bikeshare, but AFAIC, it's splitting hairs.... It's not public transit.

[xD4nn]

I heard the 2 XE40s will test at Quill, Kingsbridge, Grand Ave, and Charleston. Has east New York and Jamaica been booted off the order?

Edited August 21, 2023 by xD4nn

[Cait Sith]

56 minutes ago, xD4nn said:

I heard the 2 XE40s will test at Quill, Kingsbridge, Grand Ave, and Charleston. Has east New York and Jamaica been booted off the order?

ENY still in.
Jamaica currently out, they were never officially slated to get them to begin with.

Edited August 21, 2023 by Cait Sith

[7-express]

This may have been discussed previously but why has CP depot been running a few NYCTB 4xxx Orion VII NG buses lately?  They normally only have the New Flyer C40LFs.

[Kingsbridgeviewer382]

30 minutes ago, 7-express said:

This may have been discussed previously but why has CP depot been running a few NYCTB 4xxx Orion VII NG buses lately?  They normally only have the New Flyer C40LFs.

They’re borrowing hybrids from LaGuardia. The ones you’ve been seeing are ex Transit units.

[NewFlyer 230]

1 hour ago, 7-express said:

This may have been discussed previously but why has CP depot been running a few NYCTB 4xxx Orion VII NG buses lately?  They normally only have the New Flyer C40LFs.

Some of their C40LF’s are being worked on therefore creating a shortage so they have to borrow a few LGA units. I honestly can’t wait to see the occasional LFS on the CP routes. 

[QM1to6Ave]

Once Metrocard is totally shut down (which could still be quite a while given the slow OMNY rollout), will fareboxes be removed from the buses?

On a related note, I see that the Roosevelt Island Tram now accepts OMNY, and it counts towards the weekly unlimited ride count

[Santana04]

1 hour ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Once Metrocard is totally shut down (which could still be quite a while given the slow OMNY rollout), will fareboxes be removed from the buses?

On a related note, I see that the Roosevelt Island Tram now accepts OMNY, and it counts towards the weekly unlimited ride count

The plan is to get rid of farebox  completely 

[danielhg121]

6 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Once Metrocard is totally shut down (which could still be quite a while given the slow OMNY rollout), will fareboxes be removed from the buses?

On a related note, I see that the Roosevelt Island Tram now accepts OMNY, and it counts towards the weekly unlimited ride count

Funny you mention this, I’ve noticed on CP’s local buses (C40LF’s), they’ve installed clever devices that turn on and show how far (in mins) the bus in front and behind is. So I’m guessing they’ll implement the capabilities to login to the bus and put destination codes into there. 

[QM1to6Ave]

1 hour ago, danielhg121 said:

Funny you mention this, I’ve noticed on CP’s local buses (C40LF’s), they’ve installed clever devices that turn on and show how far (in mins) the bus in front and behind is. So I’m guessing they’ll implement the capabilities to login to the bus and put destination codes into there. 

Interesting! I remember reading about that as a pilot program years ago but I never saw any evidence of it actually happening

[Santana04]

6 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

Funny you mention this, I’ve noticed on CP’s local buses (C40LF’s), they’ve installed clever devices that turn on and show how far (in mins) the bus in front and behind is. So I’m guessing they’ll implement the capabilities to login to the bus and put destination codes into there. 

The clever devices are going to allow to sign in the operator but they dont show how far is the other bus what you see is if the bus is on schedule 

[N6 Limited]

When they were running the weekend  bus shuttles recently, it ran on 139th St between Jamaica and Archer Aves. I noticed there were bus stop pads along the street. Which route used to run on 139th st?

[Q43LTD]

17 minutes ago, N6 Limited said:

When they were running the weekend  bus shuttles recently, it ran on 139th St between Jamaica and Archer Aves. I noticed there were bus stop pads along the street. Which route used to run on 139th st?

That was the Q60 until 2010

[QM1to6Ave]

14 hours ago, Santana04 said:

The clever devices are going to allow to sign in the operator but they dont show how far is the other bus what you see is if the bus is on schedule 

Oh, so its shows if you are on schedule, not anything about other buses? That's dissapointing, I was hoping that pilot program that allowed BOs to adjust based on the bus ahead of them was actually being put into use

[Santana04]

55 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Oh, so its shows if you are on schedule, not anything about other buses? That's dissapointing, I was hoping that pilot program that allowed BOs to adjust based on the bus ahead of them was actually being put into use

That wont happened to let us adjust ourselves that device is the new radio to communicate with supervision thats all