MrTransitMan Posted November 21, 2012 Share #1 Posted November 21, 2012 I understand schedules change 4 times a year, I wanted to start collecting them all. For some reason barley any buses have them on board and I tried 2 Broadway. When I went to 2 Broadway they gave me a hard time and then said if I really wanted them to put an order in to be picked up but the guy never gave me a number or information. Is it too much to start doing where its not worth it, or is it possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XcelsiorBoii4883 Posted November 21, 2012 Share #2 Posted November 21, 2012 I think they might stop giving the bus schedules for the fact that Bustime will be citywide soon. you can track your buses and see when they are scheduled to leave etc. plus you got the bus stop pole for times they arrive at that stop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted November 21, 2012 Share #3 Posted November 21, 2012 Not only that but you can store all of the schedules you want on your computer. I stopped using paper schedules a few years ago because I have access to any schedule I need right on my cell phone. Really a beautiful thing. I realize you want to collect them and all but the best way to do it these days is electronically. I still see paper schedules, but the problem with those are that they often are outdated. This is the one thing that sucks for collectors, but is GREAT for folks like myself who are trying to avoid being delayed as much as possible. The electronic schedules and Bus Time IMO are two things that have really made life easier for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTransitMan Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share #4 Posted November 23, 2012 So really as a collector I'm out of luck or not worth looking into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHV9218 Posted November 23, 2012 Share #5 Posted November 23, 2012 If I were you, I'd just take what I can get and ride as many buses as possible, since we're getting close to the end of the paper schedule era. You could try calling around, but my guess is for the most part it's just a hassle on both ends, to the point nobody really wants to deal with it. I still see plenty of schedules on buses myself, though, especially with some depots like Casey Stengel who put them all over. Wish I had a better answer, but I'm not really sure how many options there are. Good luck though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTransitMan Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share #6 Posted November 23, 2012 A Guy At 2 Broadway Told Me There Was A Number I Could Call For Bulk Requests, And When I Did It Forwarded Me Online And The Person In Charge Of It Never Responded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qjtransitmaster Posted November 25, 2012 Share #7 Posted November 25, 2012 I got rid of most of my paper schedules recently. I have zero MTA schedules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BM5 via Woodhaven Posted November 25, 2012 Share #8 Posted November 25, 2012 I got rid of most of my paper schedules recently. I have zero MTA schedules. Yeah I'm a collector myself. My oldest timetable is a Q35 one dated September 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewJC Posted November 25, 2012 Share #9 Posted November 25, 2012 I think they might stop giving the bus schedules for the fact that Bustime will be citywide soon. you can track your buses and see when they are scheduled to leave etc. plus you got the bus stop pole for times they arrive at that stop I doubt that. Printed (or PDF) schedules are still useful for planning trips in advance. And while everybody here is pretty tech-savvy, there are plenty of people out there who don't have smartphones, who don't know how to text, or who simply want to keep their phone bills down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTransitMan Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share #10 Posted November 25, 2012 Does individual bus depots carry their own schedules for the routes based out of that depot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted November 26, 2012 Share #11 Posted November 26, 2012 I doubt that. Printed (or PDF) schedules are still useful for planning trips in advance. And while everybody here is pretty tech-savvy, there are plenty of people out there who don't have smartphones, who don't know how to text, or who simply want to keep their phone bills down. I agree that they'll have them around, but I could see the looking at eliminating paper schedules at least on buses pointing to the very fact that a good percentage of their passengers use smartphones and that it could save them money on paper and printing. In fact I think this would be a good cut IMO. I have not used one of those paper schedules for almost 4 or 5 years now. I have all of the schedules I need stored in PDF format right on my phone and updating the schedules is a breeze. I have to give the credit on updating their website and making the schedules more accessible, because many times the paper schedules were outdated for the express bus. That is one reason why Bus Time has been so popular on Staten Island because so many people have smartphones. If anything I think it would be great to see bus shelters with electronic schedules. The only downside is when there is no power, but the schedules could be easier to update AND you could also include updates about buses being detoured and so on. I just wrote in about a situation last night that I witnessed. There was a guy waiting at a bus stop in the city and he couldn't tell when the next bus was due because it was technically Monday morning but the buses were obviously following the Sunday schedule and not the weekly one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shortline Bus Posted November 26, 2012 Share #12 Posted November 26, 2012 I agree that they'll have them around, but I could see the looking at eliminating paper schedules at least on buses pointing to the very fact that a good percentage of their passengers use smartphones and that it could save them money on paper and printing. In fact I think this would be a good cut IMO. I have not used one of those paper schedules for almost 4 or 5 years now. I have all of the schedules I need stored in PDF format right on my phone and updating the schedules is a breeze. I have to give the credit on updating their website and making the schedules more accessible, because many times the paper schedules were outdated for the express bus. That is one reason why Bus Time has been so popular on Staten Island because so many people have smartphones. If anything I think it would be great to see bus shelters with electronic schedules. The only downside is when there is no power, but the schedules could be easier to update AND you could also include updates about buses being detoured and so on. I just wrote in about a situation last night that I witnessed. There was a guy waiting at a bus stop in the city and he couldn't tell when the next bus was due because it was technically Monday morning but the buses were obviously following the Sunday schedule and not the weekly one. That good and all. However you guys (I am playing devil's adovcate)forget a group of new yorkers who wont use or see schedules online. The Blind and also older new yorkers. How you address those riders, if public schedules at bus stops are gone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checkmatechamp13 Posted November 26, 2012 Share #13 Posted November 26, 2012 That is one reason why Bus Time has been so popular on Staten Island because so many people have smartphones. If anything I think it would be great to see bus shelters with electronic schedules. The only downside is when there is no power, but the schedules could be easier to update AND you could also include updates about buses being detoured and so on. Only something like 10% of the riders use BusTime. That good and all. However you guys (I am playing devil's adovcate)forget a group of new yorkers who wont use or see schedules online. The Blind and also older new yorkers. How you address those riders, if public schedules at bus stops are gone? He's talking about those paper timetables, not those ones at the bus stops. Aside from that, the ones at the bus stops are more accurate, because the paper ones only show the nearest major stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted November 26, 2012 Share #14 Posted November 26, 2012 That good and all. However you guys (I am playing devil's adovcate)forget a group of new yorkers who wont use or see schedules online. The Blind and also older new yorkers. How you address those riders, if public schedules at bus stops are gone? LOL... I didn't say at the bus stops... I said paper schedules that you can pick up.... Besides they're hardly that many of them on the buses these days anyway and when they are on the buses most of them are outdated so they're not very useful at the moment anyway. What I'm saying is we've been going down that route for years now so sooner or later I wouldn't be surprised if the phased out paper schedules in the interest of saving money. Having schedules at bus stops is a must be it paper or electronic. Only something like 10% of the riders use BusTime. LOL... Bus Time was only available on Staten Island until recently so that stat really isn't indicative of anything and it still isn't even available in all of the boroughs yet. I've been in communication with the Bus Time team and they've been very pleased at how many folks on Staten Island have been using Bus Time. They need to do more to advertise it though. I was just chatting with them today via e-mail about when they'll be putting out updated Bus Time schedules at the stops and they're very interested in seeing the program expand as it is long overdue here in the city. We had a bus tracking system in Italy all the way back in 2004 and it's just starting up here almost 7 years later. Smh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checkmatechamp13 Posted November 26, 2012 Share #15 Posted November 26, 2012 LOL... Bus Time was only available on Staten Island until recently so that stat really isn't indicative of anything and it still isn't even available in all of the boroughs yet. I've been in communication with the Bus Time team and they've been very pleased at how many folks on Staten Island have been using Bus Time. They need to do more to advertise it though. I was just chatting with them today via e-mail about when they'll be putting out updated Bus Time schedules at the stops and they're very interested in seeing the program expand as it is long overdue here in the city. We had a bus tracking system in Italy all the way back in 2004 and it's just starting up here almost 7 years later. Smh That's what I meant: 10% of riders on Staten Island. In any case, hopefully it'll grow as time goes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted November 26, 2012 Share #16 Posted November 26, 2012 That's what I meant: 10% of riders on Staten Island. In any case, hopefully it'll grow as time goes on. It will grow. I've shown it to quite a few folks and they've all given it the thumbs up since it will help them to know where the bus is. The problem is advertising it and making sure it works. I know plenty of middle aged folks are using it but they complain that it isn't inaccurate instead of reporting the problem when there are ghost buses and some of them probably just say the hell with it and stop using it. The problems can't be fixed if no one reports them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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