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Research.net%20Powered%20Online%20Survey

 

MTA put out a survey for future Express buses, some of the question especially the outlet question and legroom question made me really happy

 

Speaking about express buses, I have a story to tell but my phones dead right now so I never got a chance to upload pics

Put the link on the site we know that VG8 would love to be able to control the future of the next express routes :lol::D
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Yesterday, there was a local Bx12 using an SBS wrapped bus going from 207th to Pelham Bay. About 2 minutes later, I saw 5803 going to and from the same terminals signed up as an SBS bus.

What time of day was it? Just asking because if said buses made it to White Plains Rd at around 6:30 PM I may have caught them. The "local" bus you mentioned unloaded at the SBS stop at White Plains so I was shocked and wondering to myself whether it was an SBS bus using the local program or a local bus that just didn't want to pick up any riders at WPR. I feel the Bx12 could use a separate Friday schedule since the route seems to run a lot less reliably on Fridays than the other weekdays. I've seen it done in some places where routes have a Mon-Thurs schedule and a separate one for Fridays if necessary.

 

I was also asked to take a survey and it asked me something about express buses. With express buses and commuter trains as well all that needs to be done is to drop costs (per passenger costs that is). The simplest way to do that is to make them appealing to the masses (i.e. people currently using local buses and subways). How we do that is something that can be debated but it has to be done some way some how.

Edited by JubaionBx12+SBS
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I was also asked to take a survey and it asked me something about express buses. With express buses and commuter trains as well all that needs to be done is to drop costs (per passenger costs that is). The simplest way to do that is to make them appealing to the masses (i.e. people currently using local buses and subways). How we do that is something that can be debated but it has to be done some way some how.

It seems these surveys are given out at random or based on your previous surveys where they ask you what services you ride.

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What time of day was it? Just asking because if said buses made it to White Plains Rd at around 6:30 PM I may have caught them. The "local" bus you mentioned unloaded at the SBS stop at White Plains so I was shocked and wondering to myself whether it was an SBS bus using the local program or a local bus that just didn't want to pick up any riders at WPR. I feel the Bx12 could use a separate Friday schedule since the route seems to run a lot less reliably on Fridays than the other weekdays. I've seen it done in some places where routes have a Mon-Thurs schedule and a separate one for Fridays if necessary.

The SBS drivers use the local programs for short turns because of dispatchers' laziness, since the local code is the first thing on the list and the dispatchers hand that out instead of the proper SBS code. That gets VERY confusing if it's not a wrapped bus. Hell, it's confusing even with a wrapped bus; at least when they had the blue lights (wrapped bus or not) you'd be able to distinguish the difference most of the time. It also fouls up the paper transfer if people pay with coins and need a Bx12 local bus for whatever reason later.

 

Queens Surface (or was it Triboro? Sorry I don't visit Queens too much) used to have separate schedules for the Rikers Island bus (Q100?) in accordance to the visitation schedule but about a year after MTA took over they changed it to the common weekday/weekend combo. The Bx29 I think had a separate Friday schedule too once upon a time.

Edited by paulrivera
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Q47 buses rerouted from Calamus Av between 69 St and 79 St due to construction (Revised

Until further notice 

Effective Sunday, Nov 15 - New temporary stops have been added: 

Northbound to Jackson Heights 

Grand Av at 73 St 

69 St at 53 Av

 

Southbound to Glendale 

69 St at 52 Dr

Grand Av at 73 St

Buses continue to make corresponding stops along the detoured route. 

Show Reroute Details 

Northbound 
Via 80 St 
Left on Grand Av 
Right on 69 St then regular route 

Southbound 
Via 69 St 
Left on Grand Av 
Right on 80 St then regular route
 
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
This is the most random stops the MTA have chosen to add along the route. Grand Avenue at 69 Street and Grand Avenue at 74 Street would've been much more useful, since those stops serve commercial areas directly, and offer connections to multiple bus routes which it never connected to (the Q67 at Grand Avenue/69 Street). 
 
Edited by BM5 via Woodhaven
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Another reason why I HATE the doors on the LFSA:

5926 on the Q44 - the third door's green light just would not shut the hell off. It would close, but still say "Touch Yellow Tape to Open Doors" all over again. Had to be taken out of service, shutting off the entire bus did nothing to solve the problem. There was a NIS bus behind it that SKIPPED the stop that the bus was taken OOS on, then goes into service at the next stop (saw on BusTime). And of course, I waited about 10-15 minutes and the next Q44 still wasn't there. Just waited to see what they would do. Is there a reason why the NIS bus (5264) didn't open it's doors to the people who were waiting (quite a lot) and instead just went to the next stop and into service anyways? The bus operator of 5926 said that there was a Q44 shortly behind, oh boy was that a lie considering how bad the service is. On another note, more and more bus stops now say +SBS instead of Limited now. 

Edited by R188 7857
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Another reason why I HATE the doors on the LFSA:

5926 on the Q44 - the third door's green light just would not shut the hell off. It would close, but still say "Touch Yellow Tape to Open Doors" all over again. Had to be taken out of service, shutting off the entire bus did nothing to solve the problem. There was a NIS bus behind it that SKIPPED the stop that the bus was taken OOS on, then goes into service at the next stop (saw on BusTime). And of course, I waited about 10-15 minutes and the next Q44 still wasn't there. Just waited to see what they would do. Is there a reason why the NIS bus (5264) didn't open it's doors to the people who were waiting (quite a lot) and instead just went to the next stop and into service anyways? The bus operator of 5926 said that there was a Q44 shortly behind, oh boy was that a lie considering how bad the service is. On another note, more and more bus stops now say +SBS instead of Limited now. 

Yeah... The jerk didn't want to pick up anybody... Simple as that and I suppose that either dispatch let him get away with it or didn't know about the situation soon enough.  It's amazing that with them being able to track buses that they can't provide better service when buses break down. I had a similar situation with the BxM1 that broke down a few weeks ago.  Dispatch kept telling the B/O a bus was coming soon and the B/O kept telling us that but couldn't say when, so eventually almost a half hour goes by and all of these buses deadheading and yet none of them can come over and pick us up.  Ridiculous.  This is how they are supposedly cutting expenses by leaving passengers stranded once their bus breaks down.  Yet another reason ridership continues to decline.

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Another reason why I HATE the doors on the LFSA:

5926 on the Q44 - the third door's green light just would not shut the hell off. It would close, but still say "Touch Yellow Tape to Open Doors" all over again. Had to be taken out of service, shutting off the entire bus did nothing to solve the problem. There was a NIS bus behind it that SKIPPED the stop that the bus was taken OOS on, then goes into service at the next stop (saw on BusTime). And of course, I waited about 10-15 minutes and the next Q44 still wasn't there. Just waited to see what they would do. Is there a reason why the NIS bus (5264) didn't open it's doors to the people who were waiting (quite a lot) and instead just went to the next stop and into service anyways? The bus operator of 5926 said that there was a Q44 shortly behind, oh boy was that a lie considering how bad the service is. On another note, more and more bus stops now say +SBS instead of Limited now. 

Everytime I try catching the Q59 in Williamsburg on the weekend, that happened. Drop riders off at the plaza, and no matter if he was a few minutes late or 10 minutes late, would DH via Borinquen Place to start at Union Avenue. This pisses me off, since the next bus is usually bunched with the bus afterwards (headway is every 15 minutes). The first time I saw that on bustime, I wasn't so sure if the numbers on the bus pulling into WBP and then further up the line was the same, so I decided to check the following week. He did it the following 2 weeks, which he was late by like 10-15 minutes, so I kinda shrugged it off, but I was getting kinda pissed. The week after that, he was only 3 minutes late, yet he did the same damn thing. He departed, leaving towards Borinquen Place, and to my amazement, saw the bus show up at Union Avenue towards Rego Park.

 

I called to report that, but when I called the lady told me buses were stopping at Driggs Avenue instead, which was not the case, since if that was true, buses would be coming from Broadway anyways, like they always did. The stop at Driggs Avenue was taken down, and despite the fact that I was telling her that there is no stop, she said that buses were stopping at Driggs (when clearly Q59's, B32's, and B62's were picking up riders there, and there was a physical bus stop sign there). This wouldn't be a problem if Q59's stopped in one of the lanes, but it stops on Broadway, and thus the driver doesn't feel like doubling up on the route going back, so he's been short-cutting it for a while. Prior to me calling, he's done that on four instances. 

 

I might have to start walking to Union Avenue from WBP just to catch that bus, because he always cuts corners, but that obviously shouldn't be the case. I sometimes wonder how it is that I always get these types of drivers, be it in this case, or in the case of the QM15, but that's a whole other story.

Edited by BM5 via Woodhaven
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Another reason why I HATE the doors on the LFSA:

5926 on the Q44 - the third door's green light just would not shut the hell off. It would close, but still say "Touch Yellow Tape to Open Doors" all over again. Had to be taken out of service, shutting off the entire bus did nothing to solve the problem. There was a NIS bus behind it that SKIPPED the stop that the bus was taken OOS on, then goes into service at the next stop (saw on BusTime). And of course, I waited about 10-15 minutes and the next Q44 still wasn't there. Just waited to see what they would do. Is there a reason why the NIS bus (5264) didn't open it's doors to the people who were waiting (quite a lot) and instead just went to the next stop and into service anyways? The bus operator of 5926 said that there was a Q44 shortly behind, oh boy was that a lie considering how bad the service is. On another note, more and more bus stops now say +SBS instead of Limited now. 

It's jus a door sensor issue....not that big of a deal.

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Everytime I try catching the Q59 in Williamsburg on the weekend, that happened. Drop riders off at the plaza, and no matter if he was a few minutes late or 10 minutes late, would DH via Borinquen Place to start at Union Avenue. This pisses me off, since the next bus is usually bunched with the bus afterwards (headway is every 15 minutes). The first time I saw that on bustime, I wasn't so sure if the numbers on the bus pulling into WBP and then further up the line was the same, so I decided to check the following week. He did it the following 2 weeks, which he was late by like 10-15 minutes, so I kinda shrugged it off, but I was getting kinda pissed. The week after that, he was only 3 minutes late, yet he did the same damn thing. He departed, leaving towards Borinquen Place, and to my amazement, saw the bus show up at Union Avenue towards Rego Park.

 

I called to report that, but when I called the lady told me buses were stopping at Driggs Avenue instead, which was not the case, since if that was true, buses would be coming from Broadway anyways, like they always did. The stop at Driggs Avenue was taken down, and despite the fact that I was telling her that there is no stop, she said that buses were stopping at Driggs (when clearly Q59's, B32's, and B62's were picking up riders there, and there was a physical bus stop sign there). This wouldn't be a problem if Q59's stopped in one of the lanes, but it stops on Broadway, and thus the driver doesn't feel like doubling up on the route going back, so he's been short-cutting it for a while. Prior to me calling, he's done that on four instances. 

 

I might have to start walking to Union Avenue from WBP just to catch that bus, because he always cuts corners, but that obviously shouldn't be the case. I sometimes wonder how it is that I always get these types of drivers, be it in this case, or in the case of the QM15, but that's a whole other story.

Hmmmm ... sounds like complaints don't really mean too much.  Nailed a guy for not running on-time, always (really, no exaggeration) 10-15 minutes behind in starting a route, and actually tracked his bus on preceding trip -- 10 minutes behind.  His days off?  Operator runs on time.  Complained with all relevant info, and he must have had others do the same.  Two weeks later, he's not on that route.  Caught a different route, noticed him and just made a passing comment while dipping transfer, "Weren't you doing the Woodward route?"  Got a "I do all the routes" non-plussed response (guy's got a personality of a doorknob to begin with), and just snickered to myself while taking a seat.  He got bumped from a ~1 hr route one-way to one that's just under 2 hrs.  Oh, and this guy is no n00b, he's got plenty of years under his belt.

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Why yes it is! But someone said November 15th and said my date was wrong!

 

(I know I'm being an ass)

It was NOV 15th  but then got pushed back to NOV 29th mainly because of bus stop locations and machine placing   

 

Main and 39th just finally got their machine today so i'm not surprised it was pushed back either 

 

BTW the set up at main and 39th ave is very interesting it double the normal machines with each facing back to back. 

 

IMG_0630_zps1mgf5buo.jpg

 

IMG_0628_zpsyaxoadnx.jpg

 

IMG_0633_zps8zie9ndc.jpg

Edited by IAlam
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