Fixing the slow crosstown buses

[Q10 Airport]

As we all know crosstown buses have been going slowly for years. A tricycle can beat the M42, a lawnmower pushed by a person can beat the M50, and crosstown buses have always won the Straphangers Campaign Pokey Award (award for slowest bus route in NYC). Please feel free to share ideas to fix the pokey nature of any or all of the crosstown routes.

[Gorgor]

The major problems with the M79 and M86 is that they have such terrible frequencies, especially during rush hour. During the AM rush you can easily see upwards of 20 people waiting at bus stops which can make a trip from York Avenue to Lexington Avenue take up to 15 minutes, which is why many prefer to walk. Central Park West going eastbound is just amazing, and buses can easily take 5+ minutes loading up passengers. Running only once every 4-5 minutes is just ridiculous.

 

Most of the time spent on the route is boarding, which could easily be solved by adding in more buses or providing rush hour skip stop like they used to have many years back. (For those who aren't familiar with that term, that means two buses start at the same time and alternate which stops they pick up at. For ex: 1st bus stops at York and 2nd while the other stops at 1st and 3rd.)

 

The only solution that I can think of besides increasing frequencies would be to have off-board payment like they have on SBS routes. NO BUS LANES. North of Midtown traffic isn't really an issue for buses, with the exception of Central Park. NIMBYism would easily shut down any thoughts for bus lanes because as it is now, there's always a bunch of double parked cars loading/unloading because the whole area is residential.

[Grand Concourse]

I agree that for the subway transfer stops, they should have off board payment and entering via all the doors to speed up the loading.

 

For streets south of the park, they should have bus only lanes like the M34. That can help speed up the buses and maybe then there won't be a need for 'skip stop'. If buses are really backed up, then they should do a 'battery run' and have the first bus skip all stops (except the subway stops) till it reaches up to the bus in front of it.

[Q10 Airport]

Those are some interesting ideas Gorgor and Grand Concourse. The M34 used to be really slow but now goes faster due to the SBS and its ways of handling things (dedicated bus only lane, off-board payment, etc.).

 

Now here's a question. I know the M42 has a bus only lane. Is it true that the bus only lane doesn't really help matters?

[Quill Depot]

I agree that for the subway transfer stops, they should have off board payment and entering via all the doors to speed up the loading.

 

For streets south of the park, they should have bus only lanes like the M34. That can help speed up the buses and maybe then there won't be a need for 'skip stop'. If buses are really backed up, then they should do a 'battery run' and have the first bus skip all stops (except the subway stops) till it reaches up to the bus in front of it.

 

 

It's not possible on some streets, take 14th for an example.

[Gorgor]

Those are some interesting ideas Gorgor and Grand Concourse. The M34 used to be really slow but now goes faster due to the SBS and its ways of handling things (dedicated bus only lane, off-board payment, etc.).

 

Now here's a question. I know the M42 has a bus only lane. Is it true that the bus only lane doesn't really help matters?

 

 

I can't say for the 42nd Street bus lanes, but for the curb side 1st Avenue bus lane, cars making right turns always have to wait for pedestrians to cross first, which forces the bus to go around them. I imagine that the problem would be even worse on 42nd Street because there's so many more pedestrians there.

 

The only possible way to speed up buses in Midtown is with off board payment. There's not really much you can do to solve traffic.

[Lennyj17]

M42's main problem is TSQ traffic (both People and Vehicle) it really causes the line to run late in both directions...Once you get past B'way (east) and 8 Av (west) the line runs fine to me. TSQ traffic causes incredible bunching that once an East Bound M42 gets past B'way (east) that same bus should already be coming back west somewhere between 5 and 6 AV....

 

I have literally waited for a West M42 at 5 AV had to watch the East Side M42 go to the U.N and come back,,,

 

I truly think 42 St should be a pilot for a Crosstown Busway.....No Cabs, No Cars, No Trucks between 8 AV and Madison...

 

Also get rid of the 7 AV stop going East, everyone should use the B'way stop, that way the bus get through the real Crunch zone area of TSQ then stops....the 2 stops are in very short distance of each other, not a huge loss of the 7 AV stop...They got rid of the B'way stop going West

[Cait Sith]

As we all know crosstown buses have been going slowly for years. A tricycle can beat the M42, a lawnmower pushed by a person can beat the M50, and crosstown buses have always won the Straphangers Campaign Pokey Award (award for slowest bus route in NYC). Please feel free to share ideas to fix the pokey nature of any or all of the crosstown routes.

 

 

Those two things had to be the most dumbest things I've seen and/or heard. Unless those two things actually made M42 stops and shit, the whole "race" thing was a joke.....

 

As we all know crosstown buses have been going slowly for years. A tricycle can beat the M42, a lawnmower pushed by a person can beat the M50, and crosstown buses have always won the Straphangers Campaign Pokey Award (award for slowest bus route in NYC). Please feel free to share ideas to fix the pokey nature of any or all of the crosstown routes.

 

M42's main problem is TSQ traffic (both People and Vehicle) it really causes the line to run late in both directions...Once you get past B'way (east) and 8 Av (west) the line runs fine to me. TSQ traffic causes incredible bunching that once an East Bound M42 gets past B'way (east) that same bus should already be coming back west somewhere between 5 and 6 AV....

 

I have literally waited for a West M42 at 5 AV had to watch the East Side M42 go to the U.N and come back,,,

 

I truly think 42 St should be a pilot for a Crosstown Busway.....No Cabs, No Cars, No Trucks between 8 AV and Madison...

 

Also get rid of the 7 AV stop going East, everyone should use the B'way stop, that way the bus get through the real Crunch zone area of TSQ then stops....the 2 stops are in very short distance of each other, not a huge loss of the 7 AV stop...They got rid of the B'way stop going West

 

 

34th Street would make a much better busway than 42nd, but at the same time, you got Express buses and Coach USA all over 42nd. But then there's the downside of lack of cabbies and cars along 42nd, most of which is used by tourists. It's a double-edged sword.

[checkmatechamp13]

Those two things had to be the most dumbest things I've seen and/or heard. Unless those two things actually made M42 stops and shit, the whole "race" thing was a joke.....

 

 

Well, the idea is that it would be faster for somebody to ride a tricycle than it is to take the bus. It doesn't matter that the tricycle didn't make any stops. I agree that it's stupid, but that was their logic.

[QM1to6Ave]

 

 

Those two things had to be the most dumbest things I've seen and/or heard. Unless those two things actually made M42 stops and shit, the whole "race" thing was a joke

 

 

It was not a stupid idea. Te point was that a human-powered transportation was faster than the bus. When people decide to take the bus or, for example, ride a bike, nobody thinks "well it would be faster If I made all stops, so the bus is faster than me." they think "I'm faster than this bus, so I'm not paying 2.25 for a ride"

[Grand Concourse]

It's not possible on some streets, take 14th for an example.

 

Can you be more specific about which point rather than giving a general statement.

[Kamen Rider]

It was not a stupid idea. Te point was that a human-powered transportation was faster than the bus. When people decide to take the bus or, for example, ride a bike, nobody thinks "well it would be faster If I made all stops, so the bus is faster than me." they think "I'm faster than this bus, so I'm not paying 2.25 for a ride"

 

 

It's still not a very scientific test. and condiser that you've got to do all the hard work.

[Q10 Airport]

34th Street would make a much better busway than 42nd, but at the same time, you got Express buses and Coach USA all over 42nd. But then there's the downside of lack of cabbies and cars along 42nd, most of which is used by tourists. It's a double-edged sword.

 

 

If you get all the cars and cabbies off 42nd it might make traffic that much worse on other crosstown streets.

[Grand Concourse]

The point is the bus traffic needs to be sped up, and that's pretty much what you have to do. If traffic is spilling over to the side streets, then the next step would be to ban parking on the surrounding streets and use all the lanes for thru traffic.

[FamousNYLover]

Thru Street aren't working at all.

 

Impatient motorists always make illegal turn during duration of THRU Street Hours.

[Lennyj17]

 

34th Street would make a much better busway than 42nd, but at the same time, you got Express buses and Coach USA all over 42nd. But then there's the downside of lack of cabbies and cars along 42nd, most of which is used by tourists. It's a double-edged sword.

 

 

That the thing a 42nd St Busway would benefit more than just the M42. I would reroute all Lincoln Tunnel express buses to the busway.....the Manhattan bound X17J, X22, and both ways on the X23, X24