MTA BusTime on Staten Island, 2 Months Later

[SIR North Shore]

MTA Bustime will soon have been around for 2 months on Staten Island, and I would say that it has made service on the island 100% better and more efficient. There were some issues at first with buses not showing on the map but that has been rectified and it's now a life-changing app. I haven't had to wait at a bus stop for any longer than 5 minutes although there are less seats available because I believe ridership on SI has increased tenfold since bustime went live. It's best application though comes through being able to see when the next express to SI is arriving in Manhattan. The only problem is that until the bus schedules are coordinated & developed using bustime data, then we can't use time-based apps like NextBus without it showing unusual times and headways.

[East New York]

It's definitely agreat system, but when I was last in SI 2 weeks ago, I texted my stop ID and the text returned "No bus in route." Then the bus arrives 2 minutes later.

[LRG]

The bus probably didn't have the GPS system installed for it.

[S78 via Hylan]

I think Bustime is an excellent system especially for Staten Island, but I would not quite say service has improved the best. As SIR said, ridership is increasing, but from my point of view and observations, it's because of the fact that commuters can meet the bus rather than wait a long period of time for it.

 

The thing is, some people including friends of minethink the bus schedule are already organized by Bustime which is not true. The helpful part is that it shows the actual location of the bus, NOT when its supposed to arrive at the stop. I've noticed some SI routes with long headways still suffer from bunching, but not as much as they used to because the buses have improved with on-time performance. I think we should give it a little more time before finalizing opinions. Just my two cents.

[checkmatechamp13]

MTA Bustime will soon have been around for 2 months on Staten Island, and I would say that it has made service on the island 100% better and more efficient. There were some issues at first with buses not showing on the map but that has been rectified and it's now a life-changing app. I haven't had to wait at a bus stop for any longer than 5 minutes although there are less seats available because I believe ridership on SI has increased tenfold since bustime went live. It's best application though comes through being able to see when the next express to SI is arriving in Manhattan. The only problem is that until the bus schedules are coordinated & developed using bustime data, then we can't use time-based apps like NextBus without it showing unusual times and headways.

 

It's been a month and a half, not 2 months.

 

And maybe it's just the routes I ride, but I haven't really noticed a ridership increase. It's probably because they're not particularly infrequent or unreliable, at least at the times I ride them.

[LTA1992]

Other than the 1:37 s48 bus being a no show for some reason, that route has been VERY crowded. Did they eliminate a few buses?

[checkmatechamp13]

Other than the 1:37 s48 bus being a no show for some reason, that route has been VERY crowded. Did they eliminate a few buses?

 

I wouldn't really know because I usually use the S48 later in the afternoon. I haven't noticed any increase in crowding, and the buses supposedly still run every 12 minutes like they have for the past year or so.

 

Maybe the crowding is due to increased ridership. Me personally I don't use BusTime and a lot of my friends don't either (even if they have a SmartPhone), so I'm not sure what percentage of bus riders are using BusTime and how that affects ridership.

[S78 via Hylan]

I wouldn't really know because I usually use the S48 later in the afternoon. I haven't noticed any increase in crowding, and the buses supposedly still run every 12 minutes like they have for the past year or so.

 

Maybe the crowding is due to increased ridership. Me personally I don't use BusTime and a lot of my friends don't either (even if they have a SmartPhone), so I'm not sure what percentage of bus riders are using BusTime and how that affects ridership.

 

Well, between 1:00-2:00PM from the ferry, the S48 has 10 minute headways.

[LTA1992]

I wouldn't really know because I usually use the S48 later in the afternoon. I haven't noticed any increase in crowding, and the buses supposedly still run every 12 minutes like they have for the past year or so.

 

Maybe the crowding is due to increased ridership. Me personally I don't use BusTime and a lot of my friends don't either (even if they have a SmartPhone), so I'm not sure what percentage of bus riders are using BusTime and how that affects ridership.

 

But buses that were never crowded in the past are crowded now. Not counting the occaisional bus that catches up to the prior.

[checkmatechamp13]

Well, between 1:00-2:00PM from the ferry, the S48 has 10 minute headways.

 

You get the point...

 

But buses that were never crowded in the past are crowded now. Not counting the occaisional bus that catches up to the prior.

 

Like I said, a possible cause is increased ridership. If not, maybe they're not sending out runs because they figure that people can look at their phone, see that the bus is missing, and plan accordingly (not saying that's what they should be doing, but that's another possible explanation).

[Via Garibaldi 8]

But buses that were never crowded in the past are crowded now. Not counting the occaisional bus that catches up to the prior.

 

I've noticed this as well.

 

Maybe the crowding is due to increased ridership. Me personally I don't use BusTime and a lot of my friends don't either (even if they have a SmartPhone), so I'm not sure what percentage of bus riders are using BusTime and how that affects ridership.

 

I'm amazed at how many folks don't use Bus Time. Two middle aged ladies asked me one morning if the X12s were still running and I thought to myself are they serious? I had been tracking my bus since I got on the S54, so I knew two more were scheduled. Anyway I answered them and then told them how far away the next bus was and showed them Bus Time on my phone and they were amazed. Another lady then told them how they could use Bus Time with an ordinary cell phone. They admitted that they weren't that technologically savvy and still write checks to pay their bills.

 

 

 

I think Bustime is an excellent system especially for Staten Island, but I would not quite say service has improved the best. As SIR said, ridership is increasing, but from my point of view and observations, it's because of the fact that commuters can meet the bus rather than wait a long period of time for it.

 

The thing is, some people including friends of minethink the bus schedule are already organized by Bustime which is not true. The helpful part is that it shows the actual location of the bus, NOT when its supposed to arrive at the stop. I've noticed some SI routes with long headways still suffer from bunching, but not as much as they used to because the buses have improved with on-time performance. I think we should give it a little more time before finalizing opinions. Just my two cents.

 

Bus Time has improved service tremendously and I know because I've been using the buses on Staten Island since the late 90s. You talk about buses still bunching, but that has nothing to do with Bus Time and everything to do with traffic. There isn't much that can be done in some instances. For example, Thursday night there were three X14s running together on Staten Island. I was on the last one, but I tracked all of the buses in the city and they were relatively spread apart, so it wasn't like they were running bunched up just because. Nothing is perfect and I think service is pretty damn good overall since Bus Time started. My main concern is how well the equipment will be kept up because I have been giving the folks at MTA Bus Time an ear full about so many buses being MIA on the bus map. They have GOT to do better in that regard and I think a lot of that comes from the laziness of the maintenance folks at the Staten Island depots as usual, but the folks at Bus Time have been on them to get the equipment repaired and up and running as they have been following up on all my complaints, which there have been plenty of since so many buses have been without Bus Time in the last week or so that I've taken. Despite that though, the buses have for the most part been right on time.

 

It's definitely agreat system, but when I was last in SI 2 weeks ago, I texted my stop ID and the text returned "No bus in route." Then the bus arrives 2 minutes later.

 

Yeah, I've been in touch with the folks at Bus Time on a regular basis and some of it has to do with Staten Island getting so much new fleet that they haven't had the time to install the equipment, but I've been on them to get that worked on so that should be better as time goes on.

 

 

It's been a month and a half, not 2 months.

 

And maybe it's just the routes I ride, but I haven't really noticed a ridership increase. It's probably because they're not particularly infrequent or unreliable, at least at the times I ride them.

 

Oh who cares if it's 1 1/2 months or two months? If you weren't so busy looking to correct people, you would've seen that he said "It will soon be 2 months..."

 

Anyway, yes, I've also noticed an increase in ridership. Buses that were generally empty are now more crowded, which includes the local buses and the express buses. In your case your standards for what is increased ridership differs from ours. I'm seeing more folks at bus stops along Forest Avenue at times that I normally would see no one and most of them are checking their phones so clearly more folks are using the buses and using Bus Time. I think I've used car service maybe 5 times or so since Bus Time started which is very low. I was off today and used the S54 to go to the X10. I would've used it coming back but it started raining so I got a cab instead since I had bags and didn't have an umbrella with me.

 

This is mainly due to Bus Time because car service can be unpredictable. With the bus now I know where it is so if the wait isn't long I don't mind taking the bus since it's a short ride.

 

Funny thing is though, the one time I take car service I basically get to ride for free. I went to pay the driver and gave him $25.00 and asked for $14.00 back and he gave me $24.00 back. LOL He was cranky because we had to wait for the garbage truck to pick up the recycling on our block, so he didn't know that he gave me a twenty and four singles instead of a ten and four singles. B)

[checkmatechamp13]

1) I'm amazed at how many folks don't use Bus Time. Two middle aged ladies asked me one morning if the X12s were still running and I thought to myself are they serious? I had been tracking my bus since I got on the S54, so I knew two more were scheduled. Anyway I answered them and then told them how far away the next bus was and showed them Bus Time on my phone and they were amazed. Another lady then told them how they could use Bus Time with an ordinary cell phone. They admitted that they weren't that technologically savvy and still write checks to pay their bills.

 

2) Oh who cares if it's 1 1/2 months or two months? If you weren't so busy looking to correct people, you would've seen that he said "It will soon be 2 months..."

 

Anyway, yes, I've also noticed an increase in ridership. Buses that were generally empty are now more crowded, which includes the local buses and the express buses. In your case your standards for what is increased ridership differs from ours. I'm seeing more folks at bus stops along Forest Avenue at times that I normally would see no one and most of them are checking their phones so clearly more folks are using the buses and using Bus Time. I think I've used car service maybe 5 times or so since Bus Time started which is very low. I was off today and used the S54 to go to the X10. I would've used it coming back but it started raining so I got a cab instead since I had bags and didn't have an umbrella with me.

 

3) Funny thing is though, the one time I take car service I basically get to ride for free. I went to pay the driver and gave him $25.00 and asked for $14.00 back and he gave me $24.00 back. LOL He was cranky because we had to wait for the garbage truck to pick up the recycling on our block, so he didn't know that he gave me a twenty and four singles instead of a ten and four singles. B)

 

1) Yeah, that sounds like my family. We really don't do a whole lot of things on the Internet, partially due to lack of savvyness and partially due to security concerns (you never know, even with firewalls and stuff, people still manage to break through). It takes a little more effort to do the stuff the old-fashioned way, but it's not big deal.

 

In any case, part of it could be the fact that they don't really pay attention to the signs advertising BusTime. I mean, there are a bunch of posters on the overhead part of the bus talking about "From St. George to Travis or Port Richmond to Eltingville", and there were a bunch of brochures on the buses as well, and yet a lot of my friends still had no idea what BusTime was when I explained it to them. And the few of them that came back and talked to me about it said that they didn't want to use up the minutes on their phone or anything (We've been hanging out too much. )

 

2) Yeah I saw that. But there's still a difference between a month and a half and two months. That's a 25% difference. It's not like I called him out by saying "No, it's 1 month and 29 days".

 

And no, my standards for crowding differ from yours. Don't speak for everybody else. There are plenty of people who feel that a couple of standees doesn't mean the buses is "crushloaded". Ask N6 Limited or B35 via Church, and I'm sure there are plenty of other members.

 

Increased ridership is a different story entirely. If I notice that a bus that's normally half-filled now has several standees, then I don't consider it "crushloaded" (though depending on exactly how many standees, I may consider it "crowded", and at the very least I'll consider it to get "decent usage"), but I will say that ridership has increased.

 

At the times I travel, the routes I use don't have the issue of low ridership. Ridership/crowding on the routes that I use has remained more or less equal to the way it was before BusTime.

 

3) Yeah, I'd be a happy camper if that happened. But the Good Samaritan in my would be tempted to give the guy the money back. I remember at Western Beef, the cashier took out an extra $10 and I didn't want the guy to get into trouble, so I pointed it out to him.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1) Yeah, that sounds like my family. We really don't do a whole lot of things on the Internet, partially due to lack of savvyness and partially due to security concerns (you never know, even with firewalls and stuff, people still manage to break through). It takes a little more effort to do the stuff the old-fashioned way, but it's not big deal.

 

In any case, part of it could be the fact that they don't really pay attention to the signs advertising BusTime. I mean, there are a bunch of posters on the overhead part of the bus talking about "From St. George to Travis or Port Richmond to Eltingville", and there were a bunch of brochures on the buses as well, and yet a lot of my friends still had no idea what BusTime was when I explained it to them. And the few of them that came back and talked to me about it said that they didn't want to use up the minutes on their phone or anything (We've been hanging out too much. B) )

 

lol... That's the thing though... I never use any minutes or text messages when using Bus Time. I just use the internet to access Bus Time, so I don't know what they're talking about. How would they use minutes using Bus Time? :confused: Maybe text messages but not minutes.

[checkmatechamp13]

lol... That's the thing though... I never use any minutes or text messages when using Bus Time. I just use the internet to access Bus Time, so I don't know what they're talking about. How would they use minutes using Bus Time? :confused: Maybe text messages but not minutes.

 

If they have a plan like mine, they'd use minutes. It's not really minutes per se, but it's a pre-paid plan, so phone calls are $0.20 a minute, and I think text messages are $0.20 each (I don't send or receive text messages so I wouldn't know).

 

In any case, you have to understand that we're not sitting in front of a computer all day, and we might not have access to a computer at the time we leave. For instance, the library at my school closes at 14:50, but I don't leave for my after-school program until around 15:20 or 15:30, so that's 30 minutes where I don't have access to Internet and so it's pretty much useless. I have a lot of friends in a similar situation, and for their non-school travels, they just don't use it (Part of it is that there's a good portion of my friends who don't really do much bus riding outside of school, either because they get driven or because they just don't do anything out of their neighborhood)

 

BTW, I used to spend those 30-40 minutes doing homework, but my teacher got the idea to start a chess club, so of course, I had to join. B) It's not really a formal club. We just take out a couple of chessboards and play each other.

[East New York]

The bus probably didn't have the GPS system installed for it.

 

That could have been it. I thought they were on all the 3G's though.

 

It's been a month and a half, not 2 months.

 

And maybe it's just the routes I ride, but I haven't really noticed a ridership increase. It's probably because they're not particularly infrequent or unreliable, at least at the times I ride them.

 

His original post clearly states, "Bus Time has been around for ALMOST 2 months in SI."

[checkmatechamp13]

His original post clearly states, "Bus Time has been around for ALMOST 2 months in SI."

 

I know what he said. It's been less than a month and a half IIRC (I think they came out with it on the 24th), which to me doesn't qualify as "almost two months".

 

If you scored a 75 on a test, does that mean you "almost" got 100? It's the same thing (6 weeks is 75% of 8 weeks).

 

I was just pointing that out. There's no need to get hung up about it.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I know what he said. It's been less than a month and a half IIRC (I think they came out with it on the 24th), which to me doesn't qualify as "almost two months".

 

If you scored a 75 on a test, does that mean you "almost" got 100? It's the same thing (6 weeks is 75% of 8 weeks).

 

I was just pointing that out. There's no need to get hung up about it.

 

Dude, you take things wayyy too literally... You're the only one paying attention to something so trivial as usual. lol I can't even believe that you even bothered to point it out when he clearly said almost two months. No one except for you is sitting here talking about well it's not quite two months but rather a month and a half. LOL And if you don't get the point, the point is in the bigger scope of things, whether it's almost two months or a month and a half is so non-important. The main focus is here is how Bus Time has been.

 

2) And no, my standards for crowding differ from yours. Don't speak for everybody else. There are plenty of people who feel that a couple of standees doesn't mean the buses is "crushloaded". Ask N6 Limited or B35 via Church, and I'm sure there are plenty of other members.

 

That's the thing though... Most buses don't just have a "couple" of standees. The buses are crowded overall. Maybe when you take them there's just a couple of standees. And yeah, I'll speak for everyone else because the majority of people I see on the bus immediately look to sit when a seat comes available. Me on the other hand I generally stand since I'm not going that far, so I know what I'm talking about. People are lazy by nature, so if they don't have to exert energy standing they'll usually sit. Of course that's not true of everyone, but the majority of folks are like this. Same thing on the subway.

[checkmatechamp13]

1) Dude, you take things wayyy too literally... You're the only one paying attention to something so trivial as usual. lol I can't even believe that you even bothered to point it out when he clearly said almost two months. No one except for you is sitting here talking about well it's not quite two months but rather a month and a half. LOL And if you don't get the point, the point is in the bigger scope of things, whether it's almost two months or a month and a half is so non-important. The main focus is here is how Bus Time has been.

 

2) That's the thing though... Most buses don't just have a "couple" of standees. The buses are crowded overall. Maybe when you take them there's just a couple of standees. And yeah, I'll speak for everyone else because the majority of people I see on the bus immediately look to sit when a seat comes available. Me on the other hand I generally stand since I'm not going that far, so I know what I'm talking about. People are lazy by nature, so if they don't have to exert energy standing they'll usually sit. Of course that's not true of everyone, but the majority of folks are like this. Same thing on the subway.

 

1) I just threw it out there. You're the one who keeps harping on it.

 

2) And that's the thing: There are a lot of people who don't care if they don't get a seat, as long as it's not too crowded. They would prefer a seat, but they don't see the big deal if they can't get one.

 

And yeah, the average bus on SI does have only a couple of standees at best. Not every route is like the S48 or S53 (and even then there are plenty of times I've gotten a seat on both routes, but obviously a lot of time there will be standees). Maybe if it were the only route on the corridor, it would have more than a couple of standees (like if the S62 was the only route on Victory Blvd), but since some of the busier corridors have routes splitting the load, there are a lot of buses without standees).

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1) I just threw it out there. You're the one who keeps harping on it.

 

There was no need to throw it out there period. That's the point.

 

2) And that's the thing: There are a lot of people who don't care if they don't get a seat, as long as it's not too crowded. They would prefer a seat, but they don't see the big deal if they can't get one.

 

And yeah, the average bus on SI does have only a couple of standees at best. Not every route is like the S48 or S53 (and even then there are plenty of times I've gotten a seat on both routes, but obviously a lot of time there will be standees). Maybe if it were the only route on the corridor, it would have more than a couple of standees (like if the S62 was the only route on Victory Blvd), but since some of the busier corridors have routes splitting the load, there are a lot of buses without standees).

 

What do you consider to be "average"? I've used the Victory Blvd buses and both the S61 and S62 see good usage and do get more than just a couple of standees, even on the weekends. Now the S66 usually isn't that crowded, but that's because it makes that stupid detour to Grymes Hill.

[checkmatechamp13]

1) There was no need to throw it out there period. That's the point.

 

2) What do you consider to be "average"? I've used the Victory Blvd buses and both the S61 and S62 see good usage and do get more than just a couple of standees, even on the weekends. Now the S66 usually isn't that crowded, but that's because it makes that stupid detour to Grymes Hill.

 

1) And you keep bringing it up. And yes, the point was that if he's going to use 2 months as some sort of standard waiting period, then he should wait longer until it actually gets to 2 months. It's not like he's a couple of days ahead: He's more than 2 weeks ahead.

 

2) I've actually seen times when the S66 was the most crowded. There are a lot of people getting on east of Highland Avenue because of all the apartment, and for some reason it seems to leave before the S61/S62 do, so it makes sense that people would pile onto it. Of course, for all I know, you could have some people who are taking advantage of the direct service to St. George, at least during rush hour.

 

You also have to consider that not every single bus is crowded the full route, and not every single run is crowded (for instance, if the bus doesn't meet the ferry, it's not going to be crowded until further down the route, if it gets crowded at all). For instance, during middays the ferry runs every 30 minutes and the S44 runs every 15 minutes. Obviously the buses that meet the ferry see decent usage, but half the buses are leaving the ferry empty. Now, further down they get more riders (though it would be very rare to see standees until maybe Port Richmond if it arrives before an S59)

 

And even the buses that do meet the ferry can empty out by the end of the route. The S46 is crowded when it leaves the ferry and crowded along Castleton Avenue, but along South Avenue it only gets a handful of riders (unless it happens to meet a group of schoolkids or something).

 

And of course, you have the S54/55/56 routes, which get hardly anybody outside of school hours, and even during rush hour there are plenty of open seats.

 

So yes, saying "every bus is crowded" (even if your definition of crowding just meat having standees) and "it's so rare to get a seat on an SI route" is a huge exaggeration.

[S78 via Hylan]

There's really no need to argue about how long Bustime has been active in Staten Island. The important is, most routes have increased in ridership ever since it's debut. Some routes more than others. An example would be Via's connections with the S54 and X12 since he used those buses a lot.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1) And you keep bringing it up. And yes, the point was that if he's going to use 2 months as some sort of standard waiting period, then he should wait longer until it actually gets to 2 months. It's not like he's a couple of days ahead: He's more than 2 weeks ahead.

 

Oh God, just quit it already. You are focusing on something so NOT important!! :mad: :tdown: I keep bringing it up because it's ridiculous that you you're focusing on exactly how long it has been. Let it go. NO ONE cares about it being two weeks to two friggin' months but you. The point is this is NOT the main point of the thread. A relatively decent amount of time has passed to give some feedback on Bus Time and that was the point being made by SIR North, which everyone understood but you. Case closed. Now let's drop this already because I'm seriously getting annoyed.

 

2) I've actually seen times when the S66 was the most crowded. There are a lot of people getting on east of Highland Avenue because of all the apartment, and for some reason it seems to leave before the S61/S62 do, so it makes sense that people would pile onto it. Of course, for all I know, you could have some people who are taking advantage of the direct service to St. George, at least during rush hour.

 

You also have to consider that not every single bus is crowded the full route, and not every single run is crowded (for instance, if the bus doesn't meet the ferry, it's not going to be crowded until further down the route, if it gets crowded at all). For instance, during middays the ferry runs every 30 minutes and the S44 runs every 15 minutes. Obviously the buses that meet the ferry see decent usage, but half the buses are leaving the ferry empty. Now, further down they get more riders (though it would be very rare to see standees until maybe Port Richmond if it arrives before an S59)

 

Of course. You have S48s like this too, but even those are seeing more usage to the point that they're becoming crowded too. I was surprised to see it too, but ridership is certainly up on Staten Island. The knows it and that's why they stated that they know ridership is growing but they don't have any money to add more service. They should certainly be adding more S53 service and a few more S48s as well for starters. The S61 and S62 are also crowded during the weekends. I also see a lot more folks waiting for the S74 and S76 as well.

[checkmatechamp13]

There's really no need to argue about how long Bustime has been active in Staten Island. The important is, most routes have increased in ridership ever since it's debut. Some routes more than others. An example would be Via's connections with the S54 and X12 since he used those buses a lot.

 

I'm not arguing about how long it's been out there. I threw it out there and he keeps on harping on it. Just leave it alone. Geez. It's been less than 2 months and we're having the discussion anyway. Let's leave it at that and move on.

 

And that's my point: On the heavier ridership routes, ridership hasn't increased that much. If you're on a route like the S54 where you might have only 10 people on the average bus and then suddenly you have 20, then that's noticeable, but if you're on the S46 where there's normally 50 people per bus and it goes up to 55, that's not a huge increase.

 

On the routes that I ride, I don't notice a huge difference at the times I ride them. To give you an idea, I regularly ride the Richmond Avenue routes during the morning and afternoon rush (and occasionally middays), and the S46, S48, and S53 during the late midday and PM rush. I can tell you that there hasn't been any noticeable increase in ridership: The buses had decent ridership before BusTime and after BusTime.

 

1) Hell he won't even concede to ridership increasing on Staten Island since Bus Time's debut, and clearly it has. Even the has admitted that ridership is growing on Staten Island. He likes to nit pick EVERYTHING and everything has to be spelled out to him. Really annoying. Dude I'm riding the friggin' buses on Staten Island 7 days a week (local and express) at various times during the day and night and he swears up and down that ridership hasn't really increased.

 

2) Last Saturday morning I was up dirt early to get some deliveries at my apt. in Riverdale and I was going to get the 07:00 S53 over to the X10. I left out late so I called car service and we caught up to the S53 I would've taken. Holy cow... That bus was packed!!! I was shocked that an S53 would be that crowded that early on a Saturday but sure enough it was. Of course the X10 was packed as well.

 

3) Yeah well I'm sorry but I live right by Forest Ave unlike him, so I see the S48s at all times of the day and night and it's not just a small increase. The increase has been much more than that. Unlike him, I don't need the to tell me that ridership is growing on Staten Island. It's very evident just looking with one's own two eyes.

 

1) Boy you love to twist my words around, don't you? I said that on the routes with higher ridership, ridership hasn't noticeably increased. I never said that ridership overall hasn't increased, and the MTA never said anything about a huge increase. (I don't even know if they talked about increasing ridership)

 

And yes, I ride at various times of the day as well.

 

2) I've seen crowded buses early on a Saturday morning. Maybe not that crowded (please tell me that by crushloaded, you mean that people were at least pushing to get further back, because otherwise, nothing has changed).

 

3) I live within walking distance of the S48 (I'm used to walking, so my standards for "walking distance" are a bit lower than yours), and I'm around Forest Avenue/South Avenue and Forest Avenue/Richmond Avenue on a daily basis, so I know what I'm talking about.

[S78 via Hylan]

I'm not arguing about how long it's been out there. I threw it out there and he keeps on harping on it. Just leave it alone. Geez. It's been less than 2 months and we're having the discussion anyway. Let's leave it at that and move on.

 

And that's my point: On the heavier ridership routes, ridership hasn't increased that much. If you're on a route like the S54 where you might have only 10 people on the average bus and then suddenly you have 20, then that's noticeable, but if you're on the S46 where there's normally 50 people per bus and it goes up to 55, that's not a huge increase.

 

I see where you're getting at. I assume you use the S48 often?

[checkmatechamp13]

1) Oh God, just quit it already. You are focusing on something so NOT important!! :mad: :tdown: I keep bringing it up because it's ridiculous that you you're focusing on exactly how long it has been. Let it go. NO ONE cares about it being two weeks to two friggin' months but you. The point is this is NOT the main point of the thread. A relatively decent amount of time has passed to give some feedback on Bus Time and that was the point being made by SIR North, which everyone understood but you. Case closed. Now let's drop this already because I'm seriously getting annoyed.

 

2) Of course. You have S48s like this too, but even those are seeing more usage to the point that they're becoming crowded too. I was surprised to see it too, but ridership is certainly up on Staten Island. The knows it and that's why they stated that they know ridership is growing but they don't have any money to add more service. They should certainly be adding more S53 service and a few more S48s as well for starters. The S61 and S62 are also crowded during the weekends. I also see a lot more folks waiting for the S74 and S76 as well.

 

1) Apparently you care because you keep on bringing it up. I threw it out there that it was 2 weeks ahead and you keep harping on it. I never said this was the main point of the thread, and you're getting off-topic by constantly bringing it up. As long as you keep bringing it up, I'm going to keep bringing it up, so unless you like seeing your blood pressure go through the roof, I suggest you drop it now. I already said that it was a decent amount of time, just not 2 months, so just quit it already.

 

2) I'm just saying that at the times I ride, I haven't noticed a change. At the times of day when buses are crowded that people are pushing and shoving to get on, they've always been like that, and at the times of day when there was only a seated load or a few standees, the buses are still like that. The routes that are seeing the highest increase in ridership are those that had low ridership to begin with. I was a recently on the S98 and there were literally 2 other people on the bus besides me, and this was after BusTime. Yeah, there was probably something out of the ordinary that occurred, but the point is that on the heavier routes, ridership is more or less what it always was.

 

I see where you're getting at. I assume you use the S48 often?

 

Yeah, I use it pretty often.