More Problems with Signage

[BrooklynBus]

http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2013/08/more-problems-with-signage/

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I'm sorry dude, but this was really a non-issue.  All you had to do was go to the website and have your friend pull up the schedule, which I also have on my smartphone.  Problem solved.  

[peacemak3r]

Agreeing with VG8 here for the first problem. I would have just went straight for the timetables and went from there rather the trip planner.  On top of that, being late night I wouldn't of cared if there was an express option or not since in most cases the express runs are pretty much done. 

 

I would assume there was no indication for you about the last because well let's face it, the ends after evening hours.  I would assume 10:30 PM is NOT an evening hour, hence I would of just said f*k it and have taken the home instead.

 

Worse case scenario, if you'd want to avoid all the night time closures of subways and such, take a cab.

 

*Starting August 29th, I'll be leaving Manhattan daily at 10:30 and I already know not to be foolish to take the to W 4 St for the home.  My direct plan was to take the to DeKalb, but now with the closures, my best bet would be the to Atlantic.  The only possible way I can ever think of catching the last 2 (B)'s at W 4 St is leaving my school/job to the by 10 PM.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

The BM3 is also a good option (alternatives are handy as well) even though it'll cost you the extra fare.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Agreeing with VG8 here for the first problem. I would have just went straight for the timetables and went from there rather the trip planner.  On top of that, being late night I wouldn't of cared if there was an express option or not since in most cases the express runs are pretty much done. 

 

I would assume there was no indication for you about the last because well let's face it, the ends after evening hours.  I would assume 10:30 PM is NOT an evening hour, hence I would of just said f*k it and have taken the home instead.

 

Worse case scenario, if you'd want to avoid all the night time closures of subways and such, take a cab.

 

*Starting August 29th, I'll be leaving Manhattan daily at 10:30 and I already know not to be foolish to take the to W 4 St for the home.  My direct plan was to take the to DeKalb, but now with the closures, my best bet would be the to Atlantic.  The only possible way I can ever think of catching the last 2 (B)'s at W 4 St is leaving my school/job to the by 10 PM.

Actually there is one at that time back to Brighton Beach...

 

http://www.mta.info/nyct/service/pdf/tbcur.pdf

 

I don't think many people realize that the (B)'s hours have been extended slightly both to and from Brighton Beach.

[Tokkemon]

Boo hoo. I'm sure we should give you a red carpet and flashing lights to say "Enter Here" as well...

[BrooklynBus]

I'm sorry dude, but this was really a non-issue.  All you had to do was go to the website and have your friend pull up the schedule, which I also have on my smartphone.  Problem solved.  

 

Since I don't have a smartphone I was not sure if the schedules were available on a smartphone and there wasn't time during intermission to look for it. Best if I would have investigated all the options before leaving home. Now let's assume I did check the schedule for the B, that would not have meant that the problem would have been solved because I still would have had to figure what time I would have had to get on the 6 to arrive at Broadway-Lafayette with enough time to transfer to the B and be smart enough to arrive at 77 St early enough to walk to the front end of the platform to be at the proper door to run down the stairway to be there in one minute unless it would have been possible to be on an earlier #6. So one would naturally think that using the Trip Planner would be a better option than using the schedules since there also could be some nightime reroutes in effect which you would expect the Trip Planner to consider, but not the normal schedules.

 

Also, there were several other non-related signage problems mentioned in the article. And the best trip that someone suggested on the blog would have been to transfer to the Q at 14 St which you would not have to calculate if you could get the Q at 59th Street or would have to first take the N and transfer, nor figure out if you still could get the B at Broadway-Lafayette, an option not even mentioned by the Trip Planner, so I don't agree with you that just checking the B schedule would have solved the problem. 

 

Agreeing with VG8 here for the first problem. I would have just went straight for the timetables and went from there rather the trip planner.  On top of that, being late night I wouldn't of cared if there was an express option or not since in most cases the express runs are pretty much done. 

 

I would assume there was no indication for you about the last because well let's face it, the ends after evening hours.  I would assume 10:30 PM is NOT an evening hour, hence I would of just said f*k it and have taken the home instead.

 

Worse case scenario, if you'd want to avoid all the night time closures of subways and such, take a cab.

 

*Starting August 29th, I'll be leaving Manhattan daily at 10:30 and I already know not to be foolish to take the to W 4 St for the home.  My direct plan was to take the to DeKalb, but now with the closures, my best bet would be the to Atlantic.  The only possible way I can ever think of catching the last 2 (B)'s at W 4 St is leaving my school/job to the by 10 PM.

 

10:30 is not an evening hour?  So when does the evening end? At 10:37, when the last B arrives at Broadway-Lafayette?

 

And taking a cab even if one were available would have costed over $50.  If I wanted to spend that much I could have just driven there myself.

[Guest Lance]

You got to the 77 St station at around 10:15 heading to Broadway-Lafayette St trying to catch the last B train there, a line that stops running between 10 and 11pm. Even if you had the schedule for the B line and knew beforehand that the last train stopped at B'way-Lafayette at 10:37, you left yourself literally no room for error in terms of connecting between trains. If that 6 was late or the B was early you would've missed it as you did. You over-complicated a simple trip from Lexington Ave to the Brighton by trying to save a couple of minutes during a time when most lines start running local. As was mentioned both here and on your own blog, the Q was a viable option. At 59 St, or if you didn't want to loop over to the west side, 14 St-Union Sq.

[BrooklynBus]

You got to the 77 St station at around 10:15 heading to Broadway-Lafayette St trying to catch the last B train there, a line that stops running between 10 and 11pm. Even if you had the schedule for the B line and knew beforehand that the last train stopped at B'way-Lafayette at 10:37, you left yourself literally no room for error in terms of connecting between trains. If that 6 was late or the B was early you would've missed it as you did. You over-complicated a simple trip from Lexington Ave to the Brighton by trying to save a couple of minutes during a time when most lines start running local. As was mentioned both here and on your own blog, the Q was a viable option. At 59 St, or if you didn't want to loop over to the west side, 14 St-Union Sq.

You are 100% correct.

 

But you have to remember that passengers are not perfect. If a seasoned traveler such as myself could make such a mistake what about an occasional user or a tourist? This is why we need to improve signage (temporary and permanent), improve the Trip Planner so it doesn't mislead, and eliminate incorrect automated announcements.

 

Here is part of an e-mail I received from a friend living in Israel who grew up in Brooklyn and occasionally comes back to Brooklyn:

 

"I was with Abe (his father) many times when there were changes in the trains, suddenly. As he could not hear well, at times we took many unplanned trips going back and forth to Coney Island.

 

As a tourist, ... some of these times, i was alone, was frightened, and felt I would wind up like Charlie on the mta...As I lose my hearing, and partial sight, I ask for big bright signs on each station telling exactly what to do, and an intercom on each station to ask directions... Some of us do not have access to fancy technology to answer our questions. Some of us can't walk the stairs necessitated by sudden changes."

 

We can't assume that every rider is an expert and knows all the ins and outs of the system. That's why we need good signage. For example, the N currently uses the Montague Street Tunnel overnights to replace the R which is a shuttle only. That information is available on the platform signage but the signage on the mezzanines only show that the N stops at those stations which is confusing if you are looking for the N. There needs to be an N with a night symbol on the mezzanines and surface levels. Signage needs to be correct all of the time or an announcement needs to be made to correct it so you aren't waiting for a train on the express or local track and it shows up on the opposite track to conflict with the signage which is a frequent occurrence. A tourist is not sophisticated enough to be aware to always check all tracks for trains going in the same direction if you are waiting at a station with multiple trains and tracks.

 

My friend also mentioned subway announcements in subwayese which I edited out because the automated announcements which are now pretty prevalent addresses that problem. My all-time favorite subwayese announcement was when I heard, "Next stop 14 St - Rochester" and asked myself if I was dreaming or had the system been extended overnight? Of course that wasn't possible and realized he couldn't possibly be saying that, so I repeated it to myself about 10 times and realized he was saying, "Next stop 14 St - Watch Your Step."

[Tokkemon]

There's a reason why Tourists get confused: the New York Subway is the most complicated transportation system in the world. They have to live with that if they want to visit New York. I mean, really... what do you expect from a system that has over 20 tracks of subway going between 42nd and 34th alone? Its pretty darned complicated, especially when most of those tracks are coming up on 100 years old.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Since I don't have a smartphone I was not sure if the schedules were available on a smartphone and there wasn't time during intermission to look for it. Best if I would have investigated all the options before leaving home. Now let's assume I did check the schedule for the B, that would not have meant that the problem would have been solved because I still would have had to figure what time I would have had to get on the 6 to arrive at Broadway-Lafayette with enough time to transfer to the B and be smart enough to arrive at 77 St early enough to walk to the front end of the platform to be at the proper door to run down the stairway to be there in one minute unless it would have been possible to be on an earlier #6. So one would naturally think that using the Trip Planner would be a better option than using the schedules since there also could be some nightime reroutes in effect which you would expect the Trip Planner to consider, but not the normal schedules.

 

Also, there were several other non-related signage problems mentioned in the article. And the best trip that someone suggested on the blog would have been to transfer to the Q at 14 St which you would not have to calculate if you could get the Q at 59th Street or would have to first take the N and transfer, nor figure out if you still could get the B at Broadway-Lafayette, an option not even mentioned by the Trip Planner, so I don't agree with you that just checking the B schedule would have solved the problem. 

 

 

 

You are 100% correct.

 

But you have to remember that passengers are not perfect. If a seasoned traveler such as myself could make such a mistake what about an occasional user or a tourist? This is why we need to improve signage (temporary and permanent), improve the Trip Planner so it doesn't mislead, and eliminate incorrect automated announcements.

 

Here is part of an e-mail I received from a friend living in Israel who grew up in Brooklyn and occasionally comes back to Brooklyn:

 

"I was with Abe (his father) many times when there were changes in the trains, suddenly. As he could not hear well, at times we took many unplanned trips going back and forth to Coney Island.

 

As a tourist, ... some of these times, i was alone, was frightened, and felt I would wind up like Charlie on the mta...As I lose my hearing, and partial sight, I ask for big bright signs on each station telling exactly what to do, and an intercom on each station to ask directions... Some of us do not have access to fancy technology to answer our questions. Some of us can't walk the stairs necessitated by sudden changes."

 

We can't assume that every rider is an expert and knows all the ins and outs of the system. That's why we need good signage. For example, the N currently uses the Montague Street Tunnel overnights to replace the R which is a shuttle only. That information is available on the platform signage but the signage on the mezzanines only show that the N stops at those stations which is confusing if you are looking for the N. There needs to be an N with a night symbol on the mezzanines and surface levels. Signage needs to be correct all of the time or an announcement needs to be made to correct it so you aren't waiting for a train on the express or local track and it shows up on the opposite track to conflict with the signage which is a frequent occurrence. A tourist is not sophisticated enough to be aware to always check all tracks for trains going in the same direction if you are waiting at a station with multiple trains and tracks.

 

My friend also mentioned subway announcements in subwayese which I edited out because the automated announcements which are now pretty prevalent addresses that problem. My all-time favorite subwayese announcement was when I heard, "Next stop 14 St - Rochester" and asked myself if I was dreaming or had the system been extended overnight? Of course that wasn't possible and realized he couldn't possibly be saying that, so I repeated it to myself about 10 times and realized he was saying, "Next stop 14 St - Watch Your Step."

Listen, I get it. The system isn't perfect, but it has come a long way.  You need to get up with the times and get a smartphone because a lot of your complaints would be dealt with if you had one.  The website is much improved and generally provides updated information.  I'll be the first one to say that it should be more accurate at times, but that's more of a staffing issue than anything else in that they don't have anyone reviewing what is posted and use people who often times apparently don't even know what they post or re-read it to ensure that it's accurate.  

 

You've got BusTime, TrainTime, SubwayTime and so on which I use and they are very helpful.  You've got all of the schedules posted online and you've got countdown clocks in some stations with more coming.  Are we behind? No question about it, but significant progress has been made to keep passengers updated overall.  Now Trip Planner is whole different issue because I don't know what they use to come up with the best ways to get from one point to another, but I'll admit that it is flawed but the same way that your friend used their cell phone for Trip Planner, they could've went on the website and found the schedule.

 

Also the subway situation can be remedied with new trains and more automated announcements.  I guess the is stuck with the R62's though.  I actually used the yesterday to go down to Bleecker St and had one of the automated ones so the whole line doesn't use them at the moment anyway.

[BrooklynBus]

There's a reason why Tourists get confused: the New York Subway is the most complicated transportation system in the world. They have to live with that if they want to visit New York. I mean, really... what do you expect from a system that has over 20 tracks of subway going between 42nd and 34th alone? Its pretty darned complicated, especially when most of those tracks are coming up on 100 years old.

That's all the more reason to try to make things as simply as possible to understand.

[BrooklynBus]

Listen, I get it. The system isn't perfect, but it has come a long way. You need to get up with the times and get a smartphone because a lot of your complaints would be dealt with if you had one. The website is much improved and generally provides updated information. I'll be the first one to say that it should be more accurate at times, but that's more of a staffing issue than anything else in that they don't have anyone reviewing what is posted and use people who often times apparently don't even know what they post or re-read it to ensure that it's accurate.

 

You've got BusTime, TrainTime, SubwayTime and so on which I use and they are very helpful. You've got all of the schedules posted online and you've got countdown clocks in some stations with more coming. Are we behind? No question about it, but significant progress has been made to keep passengers updated overall. Now Trip Planner is whole different issue because I don't know what they use to come up with the best ways to get from one point to another, but I'll admit that it is flawed but the same way that your friend used their cell phone for Trip Planner, they could've went on the website and found the schedule.

 

Also the subway situation can be remedied with new trains and more automated announcements. I guess the is stuck with the R62's though. I actually used the yesterday to go down to Bleecker St and had one of the automated ones so the whole line doesn't use them at the moment anyway.

No one is denying that the system has come a long way or saying that things are perfect. Maybe in 20 years from now when the current older generation dies off, everyone will be using technology, but now many still rely on signage and announcements. Stating "6:10 AM-8:37 PM M-F" for example requires no more room than " weekdays and eves" and provides the needed information. It just means that you need different times at each station which requires just a little more effort. It's just easier for the MTA not to individualize signs. Temporary reroutes need not to be confusing with no information provided and there is no reason for automated announcements to ever be wrong. If something doesn't apply, I believe the conductor has the ability to override it. Why should weekday information ever be provided on weekends which often happens because the conductor is not pressing the right buttons to choose the proper program. We paid a lot of money for advanced systems and they should be working properly.

 

As for the MTA website, I really don't remember the old one but the current one is very difficult to find information that is not listed on the Home page. On the weekends it is even worse because you have to know where to look it to find the Home Page link because it is very small dark grey on black and barely visible.

 

Try finding information on past studies and reports. It is almost impossible. You have to know the date it was presented to the Board and know exactly what you are looking for and know that it exists. The search engine is also very poor and also lists links that are not from the MTA website complicating your search. I've also encountered many dead links.

 

For history purposes it is very bad. After a public hearing and prior to implementation all proposed changes are removed from the system. This happened after the B84 hearing and after the B67/B32 hearing. These hearings were all video recorded, but I was not able to find them on line a week after the hearings. All that is available are videos of Board and Committee meetings, not public hearings.

 

Where do you go to easily find information about the B 44 proposed Select Bus for example? There is no direct link on the Home Page. It's not under Planned Service changes which only lists temporary detours. You either have to click on Getting There NYCT Bus, then click on Select Bus or you have to go to MTA Info and find Planning Studies under Capital Program and click more from there.

 

There are also many inconsistencies like under Special Reports under MTA Info, the 2011 Customer Satisfaction study is listed, but to find the 2012 Customer Satsfaction study, you have to go to Transparency, Board and Board Materials, Board and Committee Materials, Click on archive and know that it was released on September 24, 2012. If you try to do a search you get all the Press Releases not the actual reports with no links to the reports. If you did not know the report exists, you would think that 2011 is the most recent one if you just look under Special Reports. The MTA website should not be so difficult to navigate.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

No one is denying that the system has come a long way or saying that things are perfect. Maybe in 20 years from now when the current older generation dies off, everyone will be using technology, but now many still rely on signage and announcements. Stating "6:10 AM-8:37 PM M-F" for example requires no more room than " weekdays and eves" and provides the needed information. It just means that you need different times at each station which requires just a little more effort. It's just easier for the MTA not to individualize signs. Temporary reroutes need not to be confusing with no information provided and there is no reason for automated announcements to ever be wrong. If something doesn't apply, I believe the conductor has the ability to override it. Why should weekday information ever be provided on weekends which often happens because the conductor is not pressing the right buttons to choose the proper program. We paid a lot of money for advanced systems and they should be working properly.

 

As for the MTA website, I really don't remember the old one but the current one is very difficult to find information that is not listed on the Home page. On the weekends it is even worse because you have to know where to look it to find the Home Page link because it is very small dark grey on black and barely visible.

 

Try finding information on past studies and reports. It is almost impossible. You have to know the date it was presented to the Board and know exactly what you are looking for and know that it exists. The search engine is also very poor and also lists links that are not from the MTA website complicating your search. I've also encountered many dead links.

 

For history purposes it is very bad. After a public hearing and prior to implementation all proposed changes are removed from the system. This happened after the B84 hearing and after the B67/B32 hearing. These hearings were all video recorded, but I was not able to find them on line a week after the hearings. All that is available are videos of Board and Committee meetings, not public hearings.

 

Where do you go to easily find information about the B 44 prpposed Select Bus for example? There is no direct link on the Home Page. It's not under Planned Service changes which only lists temporary detours? You either have to click on Getting There NYCT Bus, then click on Select Bus or you have to go to MTA Info and find Planning Studies under Capital Program and click more from there.

 

There are also many inconsistencies like under Special Reports under MTA Info the 2011 Customer Satisfaction study is listed, but to find the 2012 Customer Satsfaction study, you have to go to Transparency, Board and Board Materials, Board and Committee Materials, Click on archive and know that it was released on September 24, 2012. If you try to do a search you get all the Press Releases not the actual reports with no links to the reports. If you did not know the report exists, you would think that 2011 is the most recent one if you just look under Special Reports. The MTA website should not be so difficult to navigate.

Well the website isn't perfect, but I generally find that I can get what I need to get and have found most of my commutes to be a lot easier due to being able to be aware in advance of certain detours and such.

[BrooklynBus]

Well the website isn't perfect, but I generally find that I can get what I need to get and have found most of my commutes to be a lot easier due to being able to be aware in advance of certain detours and such.

It's far from perfect, but it does a good job for what most people want to use it for. It just bugs me how the MTA claims to be so transparent, but when you want to find historical information, it is difficult or nearly impossible. There is no reason to provide information only for future public hearings with no information on those planned changes between the time of the hearings and the date they will take effect. I'm sure some people heard that the B37 will be restored and would like to know when it will happen or think it is already running but that information is not available on the website. That is important information.

[Vistausss]

Listen, I get it. The system isn't perfect, but it has come a long way.  You need to get up with the times and get a smartphone because a lot of your complaints would be dealt with if you had one.  The website is much improved and generally provides updated information.  I'll be the first one to say that it should be more accurate at times, but that's more of a staffing issue than anything else in that they don't have anyone reviewing what is posted and use people who often times apparently don't even know what they post or re-read it to ensure that it's accurate.  

 

You've got BusTime, TrainTime, SubwayTime and so on which I use and they are very helpful.  You've got all of the schedules posted online and you've got countdown clocks in some stations with more coming.  Are we behind? No question about it, but significant progress has been made to keep passengers updated overall.  Now Trip Planner is whole different issue because I don't know what they use to come up with the best ways to get from one point to another, but I'll admit that it is flawed but the same way that your friend used their cell phone for Trip Planner, they could've went on the website and found the schedule.

 

Actually, if I'm allowed to do a quick comparison, you guys are not that far behind in terms of technology if we are only talking about the website and trip planners and stuff. In fact, BusTime is something we don't even have here even though most buses are equipped with GPS and there's a growing number of bus stops with countdown clocks. But no such sign of BusTime. We do have that system for trains which is quite accurate but that's about it. So to be fair, I think it's near even. In some ways you guys are ahead of us, in some ways we are ahead of you.

It's far from perfect, but it does a good job for what most people want to use it for. It just bugs me how the MTA claims to be so transparent, but when you want to find historical information, it is difficult or nearly impossible. There is no reason to provide information only for future public hearings with no information on those planned changes between the time of the hearings and the date they will take effect. I'm sure some people heard that the B37 will be restored and would like to know when it will happen or think it is already running but that information is not available on the website. That is important information.

 

Be glad the even has public hearings or post such things on their website. That doesn't happen over here.

[Snowblock]

When the is running and I am working the , I announce transfers to the at 161 (rush hours only), 145, 125, 59, Grand and Pacific, and also at Tremont N/B if we're running up the middle. There's no point in announcing transfer to the at EVERY station between 59 and Grand because #1 that isn't a transfer point, as the and make the exact same station stops and #2 even if I DO announce transfer to the at Blaf, I'm still going to get a bunch of customers asking me if the is still running, so it's a waste of energy. If we have a GO going on where service ends early and I'm working a run that normally has the as a transfer, I WILL announce "no more service tonight!" At each station between 59-Grand.

The last S/B leaves Blaf at 10:35, and the last N/B at 10:18. Somebody so worried about getting home as fast as possible should have taken the time to learn the schedule. Is it really that horrible to take the to Union Square and transfer to a which you KNOW is coming? That author didn't even want to consider that as an option.......also 's are running on 12 minute headways (and NO line, aside from the split sections of the , is running at 20 minute headways at that time!), so I love this pessimism that they'd have to wait 20 minutes......

Seriously, some of these customers expect first class personalized treatment for their $2.25, but won't make an extra effort to help themselves.......but then take the extra effort to write articles bitching about how everything is the MTA's fault.

I DO agree that the automatic transfer announcements SUCK. They will announce transfers to the and up until midnight, and will start announcing the at 3PM. If I worked the that the author rode, I would have changed to the weekend program when crossing the bridge, in order to disable those false transfer announcements.

[Snowblock]

ALSO, posting the times of the last trains on the signs doesn't help things. At 34/Penn Station there are signs on the express platform telling customers what time the begins stopping on the local platform, but I've worked the first local of the evening plenty of times, and there's always an insane dash of people through the overpass when my train comes in on the local track. And no way in hell am I going to wait for them all to get over here, because the times were clearly posted.

Futhermore, what good would having the time of the last posted at Blaf do you? By the time you're on the platform, you already missed your chance to to get the ..... should we start putting a list of the last on the interior of the trains? Even if we did, most of the customers wouldn't pay attention to it......gotta help yourself first before we can help you.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

When the is running and I am working the , I announce transfers to the at 161 (rush hours only), 145, 125, 59, Grand and Pacific, and also at Tremont N/B if we're running up the middle. There's no point in announcing transfer to the at EVERY station between 59 and Grand because #1 that isn't a transfer point, as the and make the exact same station stops and #2 even if I DO announce transfer to the at Blaf, I'm still going to get a bunch of customers asking me if the is still running, so it's a waste of energy. If we have a GO going on where service ends early and I'm working a run that normally has the as a transfer, I WILL announce "no more service tonight!" At each station between 59-Grand.

 

The last S/B leaves Blaf at 10:35, and the last N/B at 10:18. Somebody so worried about getting home as fast as possible should have taken the time to learn the schedule. Is it really that horrible to take the to Union Square and transfer to a which you KNOW is coming? That author didn't even want to consider that as an option.......also 's are running on 12 minute headways (and NO line, aside from the split sections of the , is running at 20 minute headways at that time!), so I love this pessimism that they'd have to wait 20 minutes......

 

Seriously, some of these customers expect first class personalized treatment for their $2.25, but won't make an extra effort to help themselves.......but then take the extra effort to write articles bitching about how everything is the MTA's fault.

 

I DO agree that the automatic transfer announcements SUCK. They will announce transfers to the and up until midnight, and will start announcing the at 3PM. If I worked the that the author rode, I would have changed to the weekend program when crossing the bridge, in order to disable those false transfer announcements.

The runs outside of rush hours so what is your definition of "RUSH HOURS ONLY"?     The rest of the stuff I agree with.  I prefer saving time by taking the but since I always have a hard time catching it, I just download the schedule onto my phone and have it, this way I can time it.  I can get from Sheepshead Bay to Bryant Park in under 40 minutes at times.   

[Vistausss]

The also runs in rush hours to 161 and beyond:

http://www.mta.info/nyct/service/bline.htm

 

Look at the stations with the black diamond:

 

"PART-TIME EXTENSION
Train operates rush hours only
(6 am to 9:30 am;
4 pm to 7 pm )"

[Via Garibaldi 8]

The also runs in rush hours to 161 and beyond:

http://www.mta.info/nyct/service/bline.htm

 

Look at the stations with the black diamond:

 

"PART-TIME EXTENSION

Train operates rush hours only

(6 am to 9:30 am;

4 pm to 7 pm )"

And it also runs outside of rush hours only, so I'm not getting your point.   I've often times used some of the last trains of the night in the city and it was well after rush hour.

[Snowblock]

In this case, my definition of "rush hours" is when the is running in the Bronx. To be more specific, downtown will leave BPK between 5:25-8:57AM and 3:58-6:37PM, and uptown will leave 145 between 7:00-9:14AM and 4:11-6:49PM. This is another case where I COULD announce transfer to the at every station between BPK (oh yeah, I do announce transfer to the there when coming down from 205 IF the is still available, which it isn't on any of the jobs I currently work) and 155, but it's a waste of energy as those aren't transfer points for the customers on my train. I still announce it at 161 since I'm already announcing the transfer to the there.

BTW - those of you who aren't technology friendly can always pick up a paper schedule from your station agent. Every station that the serves has at least one of them......

[Via Garibaldi 8]

In this case, my definition of "rush hours" is when the is running in the Bronx. To be more specific, downtown will leave BPK between 5:25-8:57AM and 3:58-6:37PM, and uptown will leave 145 between 7:00-9:14AM and 4:11-6:49PM. This is another case where I COULD announce transfer to the at every station between BPK (oh yeah, I do announce transfer to the there when coming down from 205 IF the is still available, which it isn't on any of the jobs I currently work) and 155, but it's a waste of energy as those aren't transfer points for the customers on my train. I still announce it at 161 since I'm already announcing the transfer to the there.

 

BTW - those of you who aren't technology friendly can always pick up a paper schedule from your station agent. Every station that the serves has at least one of them......

I think they should limit publishing those things.  They're usually outdated anyway.  Push more people to use the website. I stopped keeping paper schedules years ago. 

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

Most of the they have are from 2007, which is even before Brighton line rehab.

[BrooklynBus]

When the is running and I am working the , I announce transfers to the at 161 (rush hours only), 145, 125, 59, Grand and Pacific, and also at Tremont N/B if we're running up the middle. There's no point in announcing transfer to the at EVERY station between 59 and Grand because #1 that isn't a transfer point, as the and make the exact same station stops and #2 even if I DO announce transfer to the at Blaf, I'm still going to get a bunch of customers asking me if the is still running, so it's a waste of energy. If we have a GO going on where service ends early and I'm working a run that normally has the as a transfer, I WILL announce "no more service tonight!" At each station between 59-Grand.

The last S/B leaves Blaf at 10:35, and the last N/B at 10:18. Somebody so worried about getting home as fast as possible should have taken the time to learn the schedule. Is it really that horrible to take the to Union Square and transfer to a which you KNOW is coming? That author didn't even want to consider that as an option.......also 's are running on 12 minute headways (and NO line, aside from the split sections of the , is running at 20 minute headways at that time!), so I love this pessimism that they'd have to wait 20 minutes......

Seriously, some of these customers expect first class personalized treatment for their $2.25, but won't make an extra effort to help themselves.......but then take the extra effort to write articles bitching about how everything is the MTA's fault.

I DO agree that the automatic transfer announcements SUCK. They will announce transfers to the and up until midnight, and will start announcing the at 3PM. If I worked the that the author rode, I would have changed to the weekend program when crossing the bridge, in order to disable those false transfer announcements.

As stated in the comments on the Sheepsheadbites website, the author did not think of taking the 6 to the Q which would have been the best alternative and it wasn't even mentioned as an option in the three alternatives provided by the Trip Planner. No one said everything is the MTA's fault and the automated announcements are excellent when they are correct because the conductor chose the correct program. In fact they are much clearer and easier to understand than some of the conductor announcements.

 

Futhermore, what good would having the time of the last posted at Blaf do you? By the time you're on the platform, you already missed your chance to to get the ..... should we start putting a list of the last on the interior of the trains? Even if we did, most of the customers wouldn't pay attention to it......gotta help yourself first before we can help you.

The purpose of having the time of the last B posted at B Laf is to know whether you should take the D or not. If you take the D when the the B is still running, you have a very inconvenient transfer at Atlantic.