Jump to content

BUS - Random Thoughts Thread


Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

The thing is that as urban (or inner suburban) residents, we take for granted that there are generally multiple alternatives. In the suburbs, there are some areas where there's obvious, reasonable alternatives (e.g. @N6 Limited's famous example of a Long Beach resident claiming she was "stranded" in Mineola while an N15 with a "Long Beach" sign passed in the background). But there are a lot of areas where alternatives are difficult to come by (I'm sure you've experienced some of those last trips of the day on SCT where people are frantically trying to make a connection, or realize they already missed the last bus and have to start calling in favors to get a ride home). If someone was stuck at NY Penn Station trying to get to say, Bellport or Port Jefferson (or some far-out suburb in NJ or Orange County where the train runs infrequently even if you can make it to Newark or Hoboken), I could definitely understand feeling stressed. 

If there's anything that's being taken for granted, it's public transportation period (regardless if you live in the city or the suburbs)... This isn't about not expecting people to feel stressed.... What I'm getting at, is that people get way too accustomed to one itinerary/commute & as cliche as it sounds, public transit isn't guaranteed to pan out the way you want it to 100% of the time.... That isn't to say that constant delays should be tolerated, but to expect perfection every single time? Ridiculous.... There's a reason some of us on here got annoyed with that dude Axis (or whatever his name was) that kept bitching about the Q44 & the Q113/4 on here.....

That's the shit some people (urbanites, suburbanites, w/e) are on & that's what I'm speaking on with this.....

 

Edited by B35 via Church
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 38.7k
  • Created
  • Last Reply
10 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

I used to chuckle at it, but these days I just find it straight up sad when people run around like chickens with their heads cut off when "their" (rail) line for example, has been delayed to the point of suspension..... Frantically pacing around frenetically to the point of mental & physical exhaustion (I've literally seen people have anxiety attacks at PABT, Penn, Atlantic Terminal, LIRR Jamaica & LIRR Mineola).... I have a story for each of those incidences, but to sum it up, that's what happens when you pigeonhole yourself...

I understand that the general public aren't/wouldn't be as privy as someone that's been a public transit enthusiast (and somewhat of a cartophile) since childhood, but like come on....

But yup, to your ultimate point, there's a saying that goes "all roads lead to Rome" - and boy, does it apply here.

the main complaint I get from other students from my school is "I had to wait an hour just for the <insert line here> to show up," and though cognizant of the delay schedule, people never seem to want to pursue alternatives. idk why tbh, you'd save yourself a lot of time (though with how unpredictable service changes are, maybe staying on that train would be faster, you never know)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

I have a suggestion for the forum here....

Being that we have the heart, the thank you, the confused, the +rep, the laughter, and the sobbing post reactions, maybe we should add 1 more reaction - One for a facepalm....

wA3JsR2.png can be used for the icon.... because AFAIC, it applies here.

 

The thing that gets me more than the M125 destinations is that one word neighborhood destinations is becoming more popular within the MTA. This agency was never too fond with providing passengers with enough information anyways. They instead do away with any useful info expecting everyone to be a pro at navigating around the city. If it’s my first time in NY riding the M14, how useful is a one word neighborhood destination like “M14A Westside” or “Q44 Jamaica”. These areas are large as it is, at least provide the street it ends at like they did before. In some cases it makes sense like “M15 South Ferry” because it’s a specific location within an area but just having “M125 Manhattanville or “Q44 Jamaica” is just pitiful in my opinion. 

Guess we should be expecting more one word destinations when the redesigns roll out. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Q43LTD said:

Staten Island and the Bronx already do it. 

Shoot now that I think about it a lot of short turns in Queens just say a street name. Instead of saying “Q25 Flushing-Main St Station” it says “Q25 Roosevelt Av”. Or “Q27 Jamaica Av” instead of “Q27 Queens Village-LIRR”. I just don’t get why this agency isn’t a fan of things being uniform. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@B35 via Church Well, that and the blatant lying/exaggeration, talking about how he missed the last Q44 of the night on a 24/7 route.

@NewFlyer 230 I don't think that's a huge issue TBH. Crosstowns run east-west, so if you're on 14th Street and see a bus that says "Westside" you have a general idea of where the bus will take you. Jamaica is a huge hub with different portions (Jamaica Center, LIRR station, 179th Street/Hillside) but at the same time, you at least know it'll get you to that general area.

What I liked about the SIM redesign is that they added "via" to every single route, so you know what the main corridor is that it serves (so for example the X17A said "Annadale Rd" and "Downtown/Worth Street". Now it says "Annadale -> via Richmond Avenue" and "Downtown/Worth Street -> via Church Street". So you know that on Staten Island it runs down Richmond Avenue, and in Manhattan, it serves the center of Downtown along Church Street. (And that's also an advantage of straightening out the routes: It makes it easier to define a route as the (**insert corridor here**) route)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

If it’s my first time in NY riding the M14, how useful is a one word neighborhood destination like “M14A Westside” or “Q44 Jamaica”. These areas are large as it is, at least provide the street it ends at like they did before. In some cases it makes sense like “M15 South Ferry” because it’s a specific location within an area but just having “M125 Manhattanville or “Q44 Jamaica” is just pitiful in my opinion. 

Yeah i still don't understand why the M14A changed from "Abingdon Sq" to "West Side" or why so many new codes just use street corners like "M5 31 St 6 Av" "M7 14 St-6 Av" or "M55 44 St 6 Av"

We know that [neighborhood/street] works and they really need to get back to that...

"M1 SoHo Grand St" "M5 Herald Sq 31 St" "M7 Chelsea 14 St" "M55 Bryant Park 44 St" etc etc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Bay Ridge Express said:

the main complaint I get from other students from my school is "I had to wait an hour just for the <insert line here> to show up," and though cognizant of the delay schedule, people never seem to want to pursue alternatives. idk why tbh, you'd save yourself a lot of time (though with how unpredictable service changes are, maybe staying on that train would be faster, you never know)

Right... It's that reluctance that I'm getting at, in conjunction with the whole fish out of water shit (analogously speaking)......

4 hours ago, Q43LTD said:

Staten Island and the Bronx already do it. 

...and there should be less of it.

8 hours ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

The thing that gets me more than the M125 destinations is that one word neighborhood destinations is becoming more popular within the MTA. This agency was never too fond with providing passengers with enough information anyways. They instead do away with any useful info expecting everyone to be a pro at navigating around the city. If it’s my first time in NY riding the M14, how useful is a one word neighborhood destination like “M14A Westside” or “Q44 Jamaica”. These areas are large as it is, at least provide the street it ends at like they did before. In some cases it makes sense like “M15 South Ferry” because it’s a specific location within an area but just having “M125 Manhattanville or “Q44 Jamaica” is just pitiful in my opinion. 

Guess we should be expecting more one word destinations when the redesigns roll out.

At one point, they were getting a little better with being more informative with the destination signs, but yeah, I guess they're going to make the one-line shit reign prominent in the future....

The reason for my reply (the whole spiel regarding facepalming) though, was based on the soon-to-be be existence of the route itself.... The M101 can R.I.P. for all I care, but IDRC for the neutering of the Bx15 & the M100 to justify the thing......

52 minutes ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

@B35 via Church Well, that and the blatant lying/exaggeration, talking about how he missed the last Q44 of the night on a 24/7 route.

@NewFlyer 230 I don't think that's a huge issue TBH. Crosstowns run east-west, so if you're on 14th Street and see a bus that says "Westside" you have a general idea of where the bus will take you. Jamaica is a huge hub with different portions (Jamaica Center, LIRR station, 179th Street/Hillside) but at the same time, you at least know it'll get you to that general area.

What I liked about the SIM redesign is that they added "via" to every single route, so you know what the main corridor is that it serves (so for example the X17A said "Annadale Rd" and "Downtown/Worth Street". Now it says "Annadale -> via Richmond Avenue" and "Downtown/Worth Street -> via Church Street". So you know that on Staten Island it runs down Richmond Avenue, and in Manhattan, it serves the center of Downtown along Church Street. (And that's also an advantage of straightening out the routes: It makes it easier to define a route as the (**insert corridor here**) route)

The irony of the point that NewFlyer's ultimately raising, is the redundancy of even displaying the word "crosstown" on the destination signs.... It's one thing for the expresses to display Midtown or Downtown, but it's excessive for the Manhattan crosstown routes to display crosstown on them.... Just have them read "via ___ st" and be done with it....

I shouldn't have to assume where in what neighborhood some bus route terminates at, nor should I have to assume that the route number of a crosstown bus route corresponds to the street it primarily runs along...... The former is clearly not solely an MTA issue, but it is inclusive.....

Your point about adding via's to all the SIM routes, should be the standard for every single bus route in the city (two "via's" max.) - Which segues into a point I'm going to make here...... While IDC much for the one-line shit that NewFlyer's pointing out either, the issue I more have with the MTA with these destination signs, are the lack of overall  uniformity (e/g B35 & B70 at Sunset Park.... B35 has "Sunset Park 1 av" & the B70 has "Sunset Park 39 st - 1 av".... Same exact terminal & they both run out of JG & this isn't remotely a new thing either.... Not to say that both should have one-over-the-other, but the destination sign should read the exact same thing for both).....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

While IDC much for the one-line shit that NewFlyer's pointing out either, the issue I more have with the MTA with these destination signs, are the lack of overall  uniformity (e/g B35 & B70 at Sunset Park.... B35 has "Sunset Park 1 av" & the B70 has "Sunset Park 39 st - 1 av".... Same exact terminal & they both run out of JG & this isn't remotely a new thing either.... Not to say that both should have one-over-the-other, but the destination sign should read the exact same thing for both).....

At one point they were uniform, and then they chose to change the B11 and B70 signs to specify which street they terminate at (since both routes cross each other). All three lines used to say Sunset Park 1 Av at one point but now the B11 reads Sunset Park 58 St-1 Av and the B70 reads Sunset Park 39 St-1 Av.

 IIRC they changed it around 2008-ish. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, Around the Horn said:

Yeah i still don't understand why the M14A changed from "Abingdon Sq" to "West Side" or why so many new codes just use street corners like "M5 31 St 6 Av" "M7 14 St-6 Av" or "M55 44 St 6 Av"

We know that [neighborhood/street] works and they really need to get back to that...

"M1 SoHo Grand St" "M5 Herald Sq 31 St" "M7 Chelsea 14 St" "M55 Bryant Park 44 St" etc etc

 News to me that it reads West Side now..... This is the lack of uniformity I'm talking about..... They're running roughshod with these destination signs.

Even if the notion behind that change had anything to do with Abingdon sq. (as a destination) not being all that popular, to bastardize it by displaying "West Side" takes the cake.... But I bet anything the M23 still displays "Chelsea Piers 12 av", the M34 still displays "Javits Center 12 av", and the M42 still displays "West Side Pier 12 av" <_<

I'm done if, in the future for the crosstown routes, the destination signs start simply showing "West Side" → "Crosstown" (and "East Side" → "Crosstown" for the opposite direction)....

Edited by B35 via Church
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

 News to me that it reads West Side now..... This is the lack of uniformity I'm talking about..... They're running roughshod with these destination signs.

Even if the notion behind that change had anything to do with Abingdon sq. (as a destination) not being all that popular, to bastardize it by displaying "West Side" takes the cake.... But I bet anything the M23 still displays "Chelsea Piers 12 av", the M34 still displays "Javits Center 12 av", and the M42 still displays "West Side Pier 12 av" <_<

I'm done if, in the future for the crosstown routes, the destination signs start simply showing "West Side" → "Crosstown" (and "East Side" → "Crosstown" for the opposite direction)....

Anybody remember when the Q42 said Sayres Av-180 St? Q83 saying 227 St-114 Av via Liberty? Bx36 saying Olmstead Av-Randall Av? The Bx5, 11, 27 and 35 still saying West Farms Rd-Southern Bl? (I think it should be Longwood-West Farms Rd. That's what the schedules say) So the M14A says West Side? OK, where on the West Side do you end? The piers or West End Av? When I was considering revamping the Manhattan sign codes, I got rid of Crosstown, East Side and West Side and gave the routes actual neighborhoods. All moot now since there's a redesign a-comin'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

Shoot now that I think about it a lot of short turns in Queens just say a street name. Instead of saying “Q25 Flushing-Main St Station” it says “Q25 Roosevelt Av”. Or “Q27 Jamaica Av” instead of “Q27 Queens Village-LIRR”. I just don’t get why this agency isn’t a fan of things being uniform. 

I am a fan of things being uniform. That was my feeling when all the ex PBL's were taken over. For example, if the Q46 says Kew Gardens-Queens Bl, the Q10 should say the same thing

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, Q43LTD said:

Anybody remember when the Q42 said Sayres Av-180 St? Q83 saying 227 St-114 Av via Liberty? Bx36 saying Olmstead Av-Randall Av? The Bx5, 11, 27 and 35 still saying West Farms Rd-Southern Bl? (I think it should be Longwood-West Farms Rd. That's what the schedules say) So the M14A says West Side? OK, where on the West Side do you end? The piers or West End Av? When I was considering revamping the Manhattan sign codes, I got rid of Crosstown, East Side and West Side and gave the routes actual neighborhoods. All moot now since there's a redesign a-comin'

Yep, I remember all of those....

Just for the hell of it, how would you revamp the EB destination signs for the M66 , M72, and M96 ?

Edited by B35 via Church
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Bus 7397 on the Q20 now scrolls "essential workers" and masks required" on the destination sign besides the usual Q20 info

what happens if you go on a bus and not an essential worker? The pandemic is almost over most likely. Why be so strict? Especially if they wear masks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Yep, I remember all of those....

Just for the hell of it, how would you revamp the EB destination signs for the M66 , M72, and M96 ?

For the M66 and 72, I had Lenox Hill-York Av. For the M96, Yorkville-1 Av

Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, Abba said:

what happens if you go on a bus and not an essential worker? The pandemic is almost over most likely. Why be so strict? Especially if they wear masks.

Don't say that. The entire country's seen more than 2 million confirmed cases, and even if things seem to be looking up within the state at the moment, it's painfully easy to backslide.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Abba said:

what happens if you go on a bus and not an essential worker? The pandemic is almost over most likely. Why be so strict? Especially if they wear masks.

Nothing will happen if you go on the bus and is not an essential worker, well on the local and SBS at least, not sure about Express buses.

 

I've riding the bus quite a few times since the pandemic started and I'm not by any means a essential worker.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.