MTA & DOT eye bus lanes for Hylan Blvd with or w/o S79 SBS

[Via Garibaldi 8]

While the S79 SBS seems to be up in the air, bus lanes along Hylan Blvd still seem to be a hot topic with the & the DOT.

 

Read more: http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/changes_in_the_works_to_ease_t.html

[checkmatechamp13]

It's amazing how much more vocal drivers are than bus riders. :mad:

 

At the most crowded point, a bus lane would serve 8 different express routes and 2 local routes. The least they should do is make it a peak direction bus lane.

 

As far as the quote of "we need more buses period", I would say that, relative to the ridership, the service is pretty good in that area, but extra buses aren't going to do any good if they bunch up because of traffic.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

It's amazing how much more vocal drivers are than bus riders. :mad:

 

At the most crowded point, a bus lane would serve 8 different express routes and 2 local routes. The least they should do is make it a peak direction bus lane.

 

As far as the quote of "we need more buses period", I would say that, relative to the ridership, the service is pretty good in that area, but extra buses aren't going to do any good if they bunch up because of traffic.

 

That's part of the problem. When service is "good", the buses are bunched and run in packs, so service always looks rather crappy overall esp. during the off peak hours. The S79 is terribly spaced and the S78 even with it's headways can run in "packs" too (usually of two), which is insane.

[checkmatechamp13]

That's part of the problem. When service is "good", the buses are bunched and run in packs, so service always looks rather crappy overall esp. during the off peak hours. The S79 is terribly spaced and the S78 even with it's headways can run in "packs" too (usually of two), which is insane.

 

And that's why bus lanes would help: They would help to reduce bunching.

 

The S78 better not bunch up more than 2 at a time. It's sad enough that a route on 15 minute headways can manage to bunch of 2 in a row.

[LRG]

That's part of the problem. When service is "good", the buses are bunched and run in packs, so service always looks rather crappy overall esp. during the off peak hours. The S79 is terribly spaced and the S78 even with it's headways can run in "packs" too (usually of two), which is insane.

 

Lol...I remember waiting for the B8 bus at Newkirk/Nostrand and I saw SEVEN B44 buses within the course of a minute.

 

The closer you get to Brooklyn is when the service on the S79 becomes awkward. The stops along Hylan by Great Kills Park are underutilized. A few Saturdays ago I saw two S79s back to back at Hylan/Clove...and the first bus was five minutes late whereas the second bus was five minutes early.

 

A peak bus lane should be put in place, but the money being invested in +SBS for the S79 could be invested into making S79 Limited/S79A Giffords Lane service, like what checkmate and I have discussed several times in the SI thread and on a thread on SubChat a month ago.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Lol...I remember waiting for the B8 bus at Newkirk/Nostrand and I saw SEVEN B44 buses within the course of a minute.

 

The closer you get to Brooklyn is when the service on the S79 becomes awkward. The stops along Hylan by Great Kills Park are underutilized. A few Saturdays ago I saw two S79s back to back at Hylan/Clove...and the first bus was five minutes late whereas the second bus was five minutes early.

 

A peak bus lane should be put in place, but the money being invested in +SBS for the S79 could be invested into making S79 Limited/S79A Giffords Lane service, like what checkmate and I have discussed several times in the SI thread and on a thread on SubChat a month ago.

 

lol... I could certainly see seven B44s coming like that too. I think once you pass the Junction that line suffers terribly from bunching and traffic for one because the streets become smaller and more congested as a result. More apartment buildings and thus a more dense population.

 

I think the would to speed up traffic along Hylan Blvd, this way they could justify cutting service on the S79. LOL

[qjtransitmaster]

And that's why bus lanes would help: They would help to reduce bunching.

 

The S78 better not bunch up more than 2 at a time. It's sad enough that a route on 15 minute headways can manage to bunch of 2 in a row.

 

how the hell does S78 bunch??? bunching on a 15 min frequency is beyond SAD!!!! that is just FAIL. They should shorten it back to tottenville.

[553 Bridgeton]

how the hell does S78 bunch??? bunching on a 15 min frequency is beyond SAD!!!! that is just FAIL. They should shorten it back to tottenville.

 

WTH are you so dramatic? Why does any bus route bunch? By that logic all bus routes should never bunch.

[checkmatechamp13]

how the hell does S78 bunch??? bunching on a 15 min frequency is beyond SAD!!!! that is just FAIL. They should shorten it back to tottenville.

 

It bunched before the extension to Charleston (at least from what everybody else has told me).

 

The S44 and S46 sometimes manage to bunch as well, despite being a fairly infrequent route. Let's face it: Unless the ridership, traffic lights, and traffic conditions are perfectly evenly distributed throughout the whole route, bunching is almost guaranteed to occur. Of course, longer routes tend to suffer from bunching more, for obvious reasons.

[lilbluefoxie]

they shoulda built Richmond Parkway all the way to the Staten Island Expressway, then there wouldnt be such traffic on Hylan Blvd

[Via Garibaldi 8]

It bunched before the extension to Charleston (at least from what everybody else has told me).

 

The S44 and S46 sometimes manage to bunch as well, despite being a fairly infrequent route. Let's face it: Unless the ridership, traffic lights, and traffic conditions are perfectly evenly distributed throughout the whole route, bunching is almost guaranteed to occur. Of course, longer routes tend to suffer from bunching more, for obvious reasons.

 

I'm sorry, but I don't buy the excuses that you're putting up there. Sometimes those are reasons, but on Staten Island, you and I both know that drivers do a terrible job of adhering to the schedule mainly in that they like showing up early and that is really the main issue. Now as you say you are going to have drivers get caught in traffic and become late as result, but the bunching wouldn't be nearly as bad if when there wasn't traffic you didn't have drivers running hot. Usually when that happens, the next guy is almost certain to be late and it has a chain effect for several buses. The reason being that he now has to pick up all of the people that weren't picked up by the previous guy who was running hot and of course that means he usually gets caught at more lights and gets caught in more traffic because he is forced to stay at the stops longer than usual.

[checkmatechamp13]

I'm sorry, but I don't buy the excuses that you're putting up there. Sometimes those are reasons, but on Staten Island, you and I both know that drivers do a terrible job of adhering to the schedule mainly in that they like showing up early and that is really the main issue. Now as you say you are going to have drivers get caught in traffic and become late as result, but the bunching wouldn't be nearly as bad if when there wasn't traffic you didn't have drivers running hot. Usually when that happens, the next guy is almost certain to be late and it has a chain effect for several buses. The reason being that he now has to pick up all of the people that weren't picked up by the previous guy who was running hot and of course that means he usually gets caught at more lights and gets caught in more traffic because he is forced to stay at the stops longer than usual.

 

And that's why I love being on a bus that is running hot. We move a lot faster than if he adhered to the schedule (a couple of days ago, that helped me make the ferry, and we bypassed a second S44 that was pretty crowded). On a side note, I'll stick with the S92 to reach St. George, as it connects with the ferry more reliably.

 

I agree that the dispatchers should track the buses better, so that they can tell the following drivers to leave the terminal later (I hate it when a driver has to drive slowly and miss lights just to stick to the schedule. I'd prefer that he just show up later in the first place and travel at a normal speed to get back on schedule)

[Via Garibaldi 8]

And that's why I love being on a bus that is running hot. We move a lot faster than if he adhered to the schedule (a couple of days ago, that helped me make the ferry, and we bypassed a second S44 that was pretty crowded). On a side note, I'll stick with the S92 to reach St. George, as it connects with the ferry more reliably.

 

I agree that the dispatchers should track the buses better, so that they can tell the following drivers to leave the terminal later (I hate it when a driver has to drive slowly and miss lights just to stick to the schedule. I'd prefer that he just show up later in the first place and travel at a normal speed to get back on schedule)

 

Not only that, but a BIG problem on Staten Island is that even with the B/Os leave late or come on time they usually wind up going so fast that they still end up running early. The X10 is a perfect example. They have way too much time to get from Willowbrook Rd & Forest to Schmidts Lane and Manor Rd. Even with the bus loading well, they still arrive at Schmidts and Manor a good 10 minutes early. They need to adjust that better because in reality they just say okay it's going to take X amount of time to reach from point X to point Y and it is ALWAYS going to take that amount of time regardless of the time of day when in reality that isn't the case. Then you have a line like the S48 that doesn't give the B/Os enough time to get rom point A to point B and they usually end up late most of the time.

 

On Staten Island what makes it worse is that ridership can fluctuate so much, so that's why more oversight is needed on the lines.

[qjtransitmaster]

they shoulda built Richmond Parkway all the way to the Staten Island Expressway, then there wouldnt be such traffic on Hylan Blvd

 

hylan blvd gets traffic but it doesn't go bumper to bumper bad.

[checkmatechamp13]

Not only that, but a BIG problem on Staten Island is that even with the B/Os leave late or come on time they usually wind up going so fast that they still end up running early. The X10 is a perfect example. They have way too much time to get from Willowbrook Rd & Forest to Schmidts Lane and Manor Rd. Even with the bus loading well, they still arrive at Schmidts and Manor a good 10 minutes early. They need to adjust that better because in reality they just say okay it's going to take X amount of time to reach from point X to point Y and it is ALWAYS going to take that amount of time regardless of the time of day when in reality that isn't the case. Then you have a line like the S48 that doesn't give the B/Os enough time to get rom point A to point B and they usually end up late most of the time.

 

On Staten Island what makes it worse is that ridership can fluctuate so much, so that's why more oversight is needed on the lines.

 

Agreed. The ridership north of Victory Blvd isn't that high: There are plenty of times when I've been waiting at Forest Avenue, and an X10 will show up and nobody will get on. You don't see many people waiting at the next two stops (Jules Drive and Goethals Road North), because by that time, that's pretty much X17 territory (I don't see a lot of riders walking to the X17, but I see a lot of riders get off at the first stop (Lamberts Lane) and cross back under the expressway to get home.

 

The problem with some routes is that, sometimes there is enough time, and sometimes there isn't. There are times when the traffic on Forest Avenue is really bad, and there are times when it isn't and the bus sticks to the schedule.

 

That's why I made the S46 split proposal (the S46 suffers from a similar problem, but it often has to do with passenger loads rather than traffic). I think that any able-bodied person who takes the S46 all the way from Mariners' Harbor to St. George is crazy.

 

My proposal would involve sending the S53 (it would have limited-stop service, with most local service terminating in Port Richmond) to cover Mariners' Harbor, creating off-peak S98 service that would connect to Newark Airport (the limited-stop segment would extend all the way to South Avenue, with an intermediate stop at Union Avenue).

 

Riders would then have two faster alternatives to reach St. George: The S40 and S48/S98 (and of course, the S90 would run during rush hours), leaving Brabant/Walker Street covered by a route to Brooklyn.

 

hylan blvd gets traffic but it doesn't go bumper to bumper bad.

 

In some areas, it can get bad, such as in the New Dorp area. It isn't bad like it can be on Forest Avenue (the fact that there are fewer traffic lights helps a bit), but it can get backed up there.

[LRG]

they shoulda built Richmond Parkway all the way to the Staten Island Expressway, then there wouldnt be such traffic on Hylan Blvd

 

Thank the NIMBYs who didn't want the city plowing through the Greenbelt.

 

Personally I don't care but the overpass above Richmond Avenue on Drumgoole Avenue are kind of a nuisance. Those were supposed to head to Arrochar but that fell through, and now they're just sitting there unused.

[lilbluefoxie]

Thank the NIMBYs who didn't want the city plowing through the Greenbelt.

 

Personally I don't care but the overpass above Richmond Avenue on Drumgoole Avenue are kind of a nuisance. Those were supposed to head to Arrochar but that fell through, and now they're just sitting there unused.

 

theres that, and theres those mystery ramps on the staten island expressway on the other end. After the cross bronx was built that sorta soured the rest of teh city to new highway construction, cuz everyone after that assumed it was gunna be Moses just jamming things thru wherever he thought he could go

[LRG]

Ah, you must be referring to the ramps between the Slosson Avenue and Clove Road exits.

 

I wonder if there's ever been a map that would have shown the final product of what the full-length Richmond Parkway would have looked like. I'll do some research.