BUS - Random Thoughts Thread

[Future ENY OP]

52 minutes ago, XBht26 said:

I let them on. The rule is to leave them at a safe, well lit area. It's in the NY State CDL DMV book.

 

2 hours ago, BreeddekalbL said:

Related question to my experience, Does the Mta give drivers the authority to deny rides to those who are drunk intoxicated/doped up @SevenEleven or any other drivers on here?

What @XBht26 said is accurate..

[BreeddekalbL]

3 hours ago, XBht26 said:

I let them on. The rule is to leave them at a safe, well lit area. It's in the NY State CDL DMV book.

I know where I am they can eject them, they don't have authority to deny them boarding? 

[MysteriousBtrain]

So what is the decision of having only ENY XD40s for SBS display New York City Bus? Really makes no sense.....

[LegoBrickBreaker101]

59 minutes ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

So what is the decision of having only ENY XD40s for SBS display New York City Bus? Really makes no sense.....

It’s most likely an oversight on New Flyer’s part when they’re putting the labels on these buses.

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

4 hours ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

So what is the decision of having only ENY XD40s for SBS display New York City Bus? Really makes no sense.....

I personally think it's ENY going out of their way to label their buses with the New York City Bus logo. 

[B35 via Church]

On 7/12/2018 at 4:16 PM, BreeddekalbL said:

I got a hell of a story to tell you,
On the bus today some dude "who said he had surgery" and was drunk and probably doped up on pain killers tried to fight me, starts off him and his wife/girlfriend get on the bus and she unintentionally wacks me with her purse and as we get further down the route he punches the back of the seat and his woman tries to calm him down and then he tries to offer me whiskey.  he tries to act all friendly and saying no offense etc and has the nerve to refer to my mom and I as husband and wife. A passenger shouts to leave me alone and his woman tries to say no harm etc  His ultimate karma was him falling out while waiting for his bus

Yeah, but what did you do when you got hit with the purse?

 

 

[BreeddekalbL]

8 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

Yeah, but what did you do when you got hit with the purse?

 

 

The broad didn't even react to me getting wacked by her purse sh just plowed on let out a yo totally ignored

Edited July 14, 2018 by BreeddekalbL

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

Reading comments about the new Staten Island express bus network on SILive is depressing. There is not one good comment about the redesign. At first I'm thinking these Staten Islanders don't like change and are just too stubborn to listen, but after looking at every individual route, the MTA really did some dumb shit. I feel like a lot of people lost a one seat ride into the city: they either have to transfer in Staten Island or take the subway after they enter the city. Also, no more east side express bus service, or 34th st service, everything runs on 5th ave?! Where have I been yo, I kinda haven't focused on it since I've been away at school, but yoo the delays and bunching you're gonna see is gonna be through the roof. 

See I'm fine because I normally ride the express on the weekends and the SIM1/SIM3 are gonna be my routes, where nothing is really changed. 

 

Edit: It's crazy because 99% of Staten Island express bus riders pay their fare and yet service still gets cut under the excuse of faster more streamlined buses. 

Edited July 14, 2018 by XcelsiorBoii4888

[MysteriousBtrain]

12 minutes ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Reading comments about the new Staten Island express bus network on SILive is depressing. There is not one good comment about the redesign. At first I'm thinking these Staten Islanders don't like change and are just too stubborn to listen, but after looking at every individual route, the MTA really did some dumb shit. I feel like a lot of people lost a one seat ride into the city: they either have to transfer in Staten Island or take the subway after they enter the city. Also, no more east side express bus service, or 34th st service, everything runs on 5th ave?! Where have I been yo, I kinda haven't focused on it since I've been away at school, but yoo the delays and bunching you're gonna see is gonna be through the roof. 

See I'm fine because I normally ride the express on the weekends and the SIM1/SIM3 are gonna be my routes, where nothing is really changed. 

 

Edit: It's crazy because 99% of Staten Island express bus riders pay their fare and yet service still gets cut under the excuse of faster more streamlined buses. 

 I'm not going to defend the SIM routes, and I admit Manhattan service is now thrown over the place especially with many probably forced to overcrowd more subway lines, but hopefully people can adopt to the new pattern in a year or so.

[Lil 57]

1 minute ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

 I'm not going to defend the SIM routes, and I admit Manhattan service is now thrown over the place especially with many probably forced to overcrowd more subway lines, but hopefully people can adopt to the new pattern in a year or so.

Or they might ditch the express bus and start driving. Which hopefully doesn't happen.

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

14 minutes ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

 I'm not going to defend the SIM routes, and I admit Manhattan service is now thrown over the place especially with many probably forced to overcrowd more subway lines, but hopefully people can adopt to the new pattern in a year or so.

 

12 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

Or they might ditch the express bus and start driving. Which hopefully doesn't happen.

Some people said they're gonna start taking the 79 to the R and then using Atlantic Ave as the major transfer point to get to whatever trunk they need, since that's cheaper and would end up getting them them there faster than taking the bus into the city. 

Here's some comments:

"This is so soul crushing. You don't need to shorten the route. You need to shorten the commute! And ALL those buses go back on 5th Avenue? WHY? Isn't 5th Avenue crowded enough already?? Why take the 2 and 5 off Lexington on the return trip?? Now we have to walk all the way from 1st to 5th! Those blocks are Loooooonnnnngggggg. I hate Staten Island. I hate the MTA."-Michelle

" where I live, Mallory/Hylan. I can take the s53 or the SBS79 into Brooklyn and catch the R train.  x2 takes 50 mins - 1hr&15 mins 
Local s53/sbs79 to the R train into the city takes 1hr& 25-35 mins. 
Now that I'm no longer having a Madison ave bus by me I will have to take 2 additional buses in the city thats going to add to that 50min-1hr&15 min travel. 
Why should I keep paying $238 a month to now get to work and home in the same time frame as taking the local into Brooklyn to catch the train. 
If they go through with this plan i'm going back to local. and spend $121 a month saving $117 buck a month" -BabieBoyBlew

"Yeah Here’s a homerun idea. Let’s send ALL 20 midtown buses down 5th Ave with the rest of the existing 5th ave traffic down one of the city’s busiest shopping areas, let’s move all the Lexington Ave buses even further away from the FDR. Has anyone even tried to clock the trip crosstown on 23rd street at 6pm. You can walk faster from 5th to the FDR. What a disaster this is going to be. Please tell me there’s still time to amend these routes. Common sense not so common." -Just clerk

"I get off on 42nd and Madison, but now the bus is going up 6th. This entire time at the MTA meetings the MTA themselves has told me to get off 3rd and take the local up, only to now know the MTA will be getting rid of 3rd ave as a bus stop. So now I have to get off at 1st or 2nd ave and take the M23 to 3rd ave then the M101 to 42nd. *Claps hands* I’m going from one bus to 3, wow *claps louder and faster* thanks MTA 
MTA= Messed up Transit Again"-BabieBoyBlew 

Yo I feel so bad for the drivers thats first to operate this new system, and God forbid one of them goes the wrong way, they're gonna hear it from these folks. 

 

[B35 via Church]

4 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Reading comments about the new Staten Island express bus network on SILive is depressing. There is not one good comment about the redesign.....

 

.....See I'm fine because I normally ride the express on the weekends and the SIM1/SIM3 are gonna be my routes, where nothing is really changed.

I mean, let's face it - There are a bunch of current express bus riders out in SI that are the furthest thing from satisfied with their current commutes (and/or with the MTA period, for the matter)..... So it's only natural for those same people to be the first ones to lash out when any type of change to their current commute would be made worse..... It's throwing salt on the wound, so to speak.....

Not a peep from much of any of these commuters that would benefit from anything involving this redesign, though.

Edited July 14, 2018 by B35 via Church

[IAlam]

I took the map posted on the MTA website and broke it down to separate layers to see how the new service patterns would look like.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SBuGJyRJgHtlAkotZrpdiGbUUaZRF3Fs&usp=sharing

I'm pretty Interested to see how this goes. From the way, it looks right now South Shore is definitely a winner When it comes to the redesign. For Hylan, it seems like a lot fo the routes are shifting their service area which I can see why people are becoming upset. As of the North Shore, it seems like the MTA want to bus everyone on the SIM30 for midtown service, I find it quite odd because I'd expect them to give the North Shore a midtown bus via Brooklyn because that would be a more efficient route. I'm curious to see how the SIM30B does, considering Rosebank is now receiving a new service when they're in such close proximity to the bridge and all its routes.

[Lil 57]

14 minutes ago, IAlam said:

I took the map posted on the MTA website and broke it down to separate layers to see how the new service patterns would look like.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SBuGJyRJgHtlAkotZrpdiGbUUaZRF3Fs&usp=sharing

I'm pretty Interested to see how this goes. From the way, it looks right now South Shore is definitely a winner When it comes to the redesign. For Hylan, it seems like a lot fo the routes are shifting their service area which I can see why people are becoming upset. As of the North Shore, it seems like the MTA want to bus everyone on the SIM30 for midtown service, I find it quite odd because I'd expect them to give the North Shore a midtown bus via Brooklyn because that would be a more efficient route. I'm curious to see how the SIM30B does, considering Rosebank is now receiving a new service when they're in such close proximity to the bridge and all its routes.

Idk why the  couldn't split up the Sunnyside and Rosebank portions of the SIM30 and make that into an express route to downtown or midtown via Brooklyn.

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

1 hour ago, Lil 57 said:

Idk why the  couldn't split up the Sunnyside and Rosebank portions of the SIM30 and make that into an express route to downtown or midtown via Brooklyn.

Thats what I'm saying, it should start in Mariners Harbor, run via forest and do the split between Sunnyside and Rosebank, then travel via Brooklyn and up the west side to 42st. But that's MTA logic, no one is gonna utilize the Rosebank portion (which is a fake X18), because it's so out of people's way, and then it's gonna end up getting eliminated. 

[checkmatechamp13]

13 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Reading comments about the new Staten Island express bus network on SILive is depressing. There is not one good comment about the redesign. At first I'm thinking these Staten Islanders don't like change and are just too stubborn to listen, but after looking at every individual route, the MTA really did some dumb shit. I feel like a lot of people lost a one seat ride into the city: they either have to transfer in Staten Island or take the subway after they enter the city. Also, no more east side express bus service, or 34th st service, everything runs on 5th ave?! Where have I been yo, I kinda haven't focused on it since I've been away at school, but yoo the delays and bunching you're gonna see is gonna be through the roof. 

See I'm fine because I normally ride the express on the weekends and the SIM1/SIM3 are gonna be my routes, where nothing is really changed. 

Edit: It's crazy because 99% of Staten Island express bus riders pay their fare and yet service still gets cut under the excuse of faster more streamlined buses. 

Let's be realistic: With any change, you're mostly going to be hearing from the people who would get screwed over. There's people in Tottenville who will have a Downtown route during rush hour, and weekend service, and people along Watchogue Road who will be receiving off-peak service, but if they're happy, they're going to think "What's the point in speaking? I got what I wanted"

The difference between 34th Street & 42nd Street is 8 blocks or one single subway stop, not a huge deal. Either way, they wanted to consolidate everything onto one crosstown street and so they picked 42nd Street. With 34th Street, you have access to Penn Station. With 42nd Street, you have access to the PABT and the train to head to Long Island City. I can see what their logic is behind consolidating everything onto one street (that way, you have all your options available should there be a delay on your primary route. There's plenty of people who just want to take the first bus available that runs down the West Shore Expressway to Arthur Kill Road. 

Everything running on 5th Avenue is because it's more central within Midtown Manhattan. I used to have a tutoring gig in Midland Beach, and my preferred option would've been to catch the  train from Harlem down to Herald Square and walk a block over to 42nd Street to catch a bus to Father Capodanno Blvd. Unfortunately, the FDR buses ran along Lexington Avenue, so I had to stay on until Broadway/Lafayette and take the X7 over there (which I found to be more reliable than the X1/3/4 at Broadway & Park Place because the approach to the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel was less congested). In any case, for those along the East Side, they can transfer to the subway (whether it's the Lexington Avenue Line, or a crosstown line like the or  )

And officially, this isn't a service cut (the budget is actually increasing by $1 million annually to run the SIM2 off-peak). Other than that, it's cost-neutral.

12 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Some people said they're gonna start taking the 79 to the R and then using Atlantic Ave as the major transfer point to get to whatever trunk they need, since that's cheaper and would end up getting them them there faster than taking the bus into the city. 

Here's some comments:

"This is so soul crushing. You don't need to shorten the route. You need to shorten the commute! And ALL those buses go back on 5th Avenue? WHY? Isn't 5th Avenue crowded enough already?? Why take the 2 and 5 off Lexington on the return trip?? Now we have to walk all the way from 1st to 5th! Those blocks are Loooooonnnnngggggg. I hate Staten Island. I hate the MTA."-Michelle

" where I live, Mallory/Hylan. I can take the s53 or the SBS79 into Brooklyn and catch the R train.  x2 takes 50 mins - 1hr&15 mins 
Local s53/sbs79 to the R train into the city takes 1hr& 25-35 mins. 
Now that I'm no longer having a Madison ave bus by me I will have to take 2 additional buses in the city thats going to add to that 50min-1hr&15 min travel. 
Why should I keep paying $238 a month to now get to work and home in the same time frame as taking the local into Brooklyn to catch the train. 
If they go through with this plan i'm going back to local. and spend $121 a month saving $117 buck a month" -BabieBoyBlew

"Yeah Here’s a homerun idea. Let’s send ALL 20 midtown buses down 5th Ave with the rest of the existing 5th ave traffic down one of the city’s busiest shopping areas, let’s move all the Lexington Ave buses even further away from the FDR. Has anyone even tried to clock the trip crosstown on 23rd street at 6pm. You can walk faster from 5th to the FDR. What a disaster this is going to be. Please tell me there’s still time to amend these routes. Common sense not so common." -Just clerk

"I get off on 42nd and Madison, but now the bus is going up 6th. This entire time at the MTA meetings the MTA themselves has told me to get off 3rd and take the local up, only to now know the MTA will be getting rid of 3rd ave as a bus stop. So now I have to get off at 1st or 2nd ave and take the M23 to 3rd ave then the M101 to 42nd. *Claps hands* I’m going from one bus to 3, wow *claps louder and faster* thanks MTA 
MTA= Messed up Transit Again"-BabieBoyBlew 

Yo I feel so bad for the drivers thats first to operate this new system, and God forbid one of them goes the wrong way, they're gonna hear it from these folks. 

If somebody's walking from 1st to 5th, that's their choice. The M15 is available on 2nd Avenue (as is the M34A south of 34th Street), and there's an express bus stop at 23rd & 2nd (also, if they're far enough south, they might be able to just walk over to 23rd Street directly).

As for BabieBoyBlew, that guy is an idiot who just wants to be heard (I've seen him at the open houses). Heading eastbound, the 2nd Avenue stop is between 2nd & 3rd Avenue, so it makes no sense to jump on the M23 for one stop just to end up having to cross 3rd Avenue again to catch the local bus. He can get off at 2nd and just walk to 3rd for the M101/102/103. Or he can get off at Park for the train (which is still a block closer than Madison), or he can stay on until 6th & 42nd, and take the train to Grand Central (I do that on the X30. The Bryant Park station is between 5th & 6th, and then there's an exit at 42nd & 3rd at Grand Central). 

I agree with the people along Hylan that the MTA did mess up on that portion of the route (right now, the routes that cover the northern part of Hylan start at New Dorp, and the ones that start at the ETC take the quicker route via Father Capodanno. Now they took the inefficiency on the Manhattan end and put it on the Staten Island end by running more service south of Tysens compared to north of Midland, and they got rid of Father Capodanno-Church/Broadway access)

For me, the main issue is with the off-peak service. I think they should've gone with the original plan, and ran the off-peak routes to Downtown (with maybe 1 or 2 Midtown-only routes), and used the resources to provide more off-peak express coverage on the Staten Island end (e.g. Rossville, Mariners Harbor, South Beach/Midland Beach, etc). 

2 hours ago, IAlam said:

I took the map posted on the MTA website and broke it down to separate layers to see how the new service patterns would look like.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SBuGJyRJgHtlAkotZrpdiGbUUaZRF3Fs&usp=sharing

I'm pretty Interested to see how this goes. From the way, it looks right now South Shore is definitely a winner When it comes to the redesign. For Hylan, it seems like a lot fo the routes are shifting their service area which I can see why people are becoming upset. As of the North Shore, it seems like the MTA want to bus everyone on the SIM30 for midtown service, I find it quite odd because I'd expect them to give the North Shore a midtown bus via Brooklyn because that would be a more efficient route. I'm curious to see how the SIM30B does, considering Rosebank is now receiving a new service when they're in such close proximity to the bridge and all its routes.

I agree. The South Shore is definitely better off than they are now. The big thing is I think they should've taken the opportunity to add another Downtown route or two (ideally, I'd have one running the length of Arden, one down the length of Huguenot, and one down Bloomingdale/Amboy. Since they have the SIM2 covering both Arden & Huguenot, they should still have the one via Bloomingdale/Amboy).

They definitely messed up on Hylan Blvd.

As for the North Shore, it seems to me like they want most Midtown riders on the SIM3. The thing that a lot of people don't realize, is that while Forest Avenue may be the central artery for the North Shore in general (the S48/98 is the busiest route heading to St. George, and the most efficient route on Staten Island), it's not the most central corridor for express bus service. Express bus usage is sparse north of Forest Avenue (if it weren't for Castleton being located where it is, I'd be inclined to say the MTA wouldn't run any express service to Port Richmond at all). Most North Shore express bus riders are between Forest Avenue and the SIE. Once you head south of the SIE, you start heading towards the Greenbelt, and north of Forest, the areas are more working-class, and the time savings from the express bus (compared to the local bus to the ferry) are less. 

As for the SIM30B, that's just them being cheap. They don't want to pull express bus service from the West Brighton/Randall Manor/Silver Lake area entirely. From a ridership perspective, they would probably be better off starting the SIM30 at say, Broadway (and head west towards Mariners Harbor and the Goethals Bridge), and then having a separate Midtown route from Sunnyside to Midtown via Rosebank. But since they want to maintain the coverage in the Silver Lake/Randall Manor area, they have to deadhead the buses from somewhere, and whether they're coming from Meredith, or deadheading back from Manhattan, to do a second trip, you have to pass through either Sunnyside or Rosebank regardless of which streets you take, so they figured they might as well add stops and make the SIM30 the main Midtown route for that area.

2 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

Idk why the  couldn't split up the Sunnyside and Rosebank portions of the SIM30 and make that into an express route to downtown or midtown via Brooklyn.

@BM5 via Woodhaven suggested an idea like that. I think it could work.

36 minutes ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Thats what I'm saying, it should start in Mariners Harbor, run via forest and do the split between Sunnyside and Rosebank, then travel via Brooklyn and up the west side to 42st. But that's MTA logic, no one is gonna utilize the Rosebank portion (which is a fake X18), because it's so out of people's way, and then it's gonna end up getting eliminated. 

From Mariners Harbor, you're quicker off running via NJ. To run all local through the entire island like that (in the direction of rush hour traffic) would take forever. At least the X30 generally runs opposite the direction of rush hour traffic (it's heading west in the morning and east in the afternoon). For all that, they might as well keep the X42 (or have a SIM3 branch to Mariners Harbor or something), which at least uses the HOV lane east of Slosson.

If you reversed the direction of the SIM30 like that, you'd end up with people in that area piling onto the SIM8 (new X17J) while the SIM30 loses its core ridership.

Edited July 15, 2018 by checkmatechamp13

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

43 minutes ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Thats what I'm saying, it should start in Mariners Harbor, run via forest and do the split between Sunnyside and Rosebank, then travel via Brooklyn and up the west side to 42st. But that's MTA logic, no one is gonna utilize the Rosebank portion (which is a fake X18), because it's so out of people's way, and then it's gonna end up getting eliminated. 

I don't believe such a route should do that. Like I've said before, just take the Sunnyside and Rosebank legs of the (soon to be) SIM30, and then run that as Midtown and/or Downtown Route. Hopefully with enforced bus lanes on 5th Avenue, such a route may work out where both may be able to be served at the same time.

Edited July 15, 2018 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[Lil 57]

9 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

I don't believe such a route should do that. Like I've said before, just take the Sunnyside and Rosebank legs of the (soon to be) SIM30, and then run that as Midtown and/or Downtown Route. Hopefully with enforced bus lanes on 5th Avenue, such a route may work out where both may be able to be served at the same time.

Sounds like a good idea, but that would take away the 's "perfect plan" to send all buses to either downtown, midtown or 14th Street. Maybe if they had a downtown variant and a midtown variant. That might work. Unless if they want to do something like the X14 in Manhattan, serving both midtown and downtown.

Edited July 15, 2018 by Lil 57

[B35 via Church]

23 hours ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

 I'm not going to defend the SIM routes, and I admit Manhattan service is now thrown over the place especially with many probably forced to overcrowd more subway lines, but hopefully people can adopt to the new pattern in a year or so.

Oh, the lot of these complainers'll succumb to new pattern.... Whatever influx of people talking about doing the S53/S79 to the to Atlantic av for access to the differing trunk lines, is all talk.... All that transferring day-in & day-out will get real old, real damn fast & on top of that, having to maneuver around current Brooklyn commuters already xferring b/w modes (or otherwise utilizing Atlantic-Barclays... which includes event days & game days btw) will wear thin on your patience & sanity...

.....which isn't worth the $117 bucks in savings, or whatever else ole dude babieboyblueballs is bloviating about.

[Around the Horn]

23 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

" where I live, Mallory/Hylan. I can take the s53 or the SBS79 into Brooklyn and catch the R train.  x2 takes 50 mins - 1hr&15 mins 
Local s53/sbs79 to the R train into the city takes 1hr& 25-35 mins. 
Now that I'm no longer having a Madison ave bus by me I will have to take 2 additional buses in the city thats going to add to that 50min-1hr&15 min travel. 
Why should I keep paying $238 a month to now get to work and home in the same time frame as taking the local into Brooklyn to catch the train. 
If they go through with this plan i'm going back to local. and spend $121 a month saving $117 buck a month" -BabieBoyBlew

Good luck fitting on that  train... They've already had to start battery runs from 86th to 59th in the morning cause dwells at 86 make them late... With this apparent cut for the Canarsie work its gonna be even worse...

[Yankees4life]

1 hour ago, Around the Horn said:

Good luck fitting on that  train... They've already had to start battery runs from 86th to 59th in the morning cause dwells at 86 make them late... With this apparent cut for the Canarsie work its gonna be even worse...

I mean there's always the other Express buses in Brooklyn as well. And the occasional Train that pops up at times

Edited July 15, 2018 by Yankees4life

[IAlam]

12 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

I don't believe such a route should do that. Like I've said before, just take the Sunnyside and Rosebank legs of the (soon to be) SIM30, and then run that as Midtown and/or Downtown Route. Hopefully with enforced bus lanes on 5th Avenue, such a route may work out where both may be able to be served at the same time.

In an area like that a downtown route wouldn't make sense it would have to be a midtown route. From an area like that, it makes more sense to take the bus and ferry to go downtown than an express bus that would be looping around the neighborhood.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

Dude asks for a ride, then proceeds to ask people for a few quarters before getting off a few stops later. I really hope this does not become a new way to solicit money. 

[B35 via Church]

1 hour ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Dude asks for a ride, then proceeds to ask people for a few quarters before getting off a few stops later. I really hope this does not become a new way to solicit money. 

That's actually an old hustle.... I hope that it doesn't become prevalent again.

[B35 via Church]

On 7/15/2018 at 12:38 AM, checkmatechamp13 said:

....but if they're happy, they're going to think "What's the point in speaking? I got what I wanted"

This isn't false, but at the same time, malcontents are never satisfied, even when they get what they want....

See, we (NYC commuters) get stigmatized as being nothing but whiny complainers & I'm of the belief that this stigma further facilitates the MTA doing whatever it wants.

Well, props for Byford earlier on in the year to at least attempt to reach out to commuters on twitter, at least....