MTA buses are less popular while subway ridership rises

[nuyorican]

New Yorkers are abandoning the city’s sluggish buses by the droves — even as the subways experience record ridership and the population keeps growing, officials said Thursday.

Transit experts at a City Council hearing said the MTA’s buses carried more than 1 billion passengers in 2002 but only 906 million last year.

“With over half a million jobs added since 2010, our city is in the midst of a population boom and our transit system is struggling to keep up,” said Tabitha Decker, research director for the Transit Center advocacy group.

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“The failure of our bus network is a citywide issue and it’s one that we can and must solve.”

 

The MTA, which operates 5,725 buses, blamed the nosedive on quicker, nearby subways, as well as slower bus service.

 

http://nyp.st/2d7uDS2

 

 

 

 

[B46 via Utica]

This is a sign that bus service really needs to improve people are finding alternates. I've noticed a slight decrease in ridership on the Q112 lately myself.

[Future ENY OP]

The problem with bus service is that since the Vision Zero program has taken effect. The bus speeds are horrendous. Who wants to take an SBS bus, limited or local bus driving 25mph. You know the bus top speed is at least 45.

 

I could remember days taking the B46 from Eastern Parkway to Avenue H and getting there in about 15-20 mins. In today's world not even a dollar van will get u there unless you going thru a bus lane or blowing a few lights.

 

Traffic in this city right now is going to get worse with the Uber, Lyft, Via, Gett, and all other transportation apps and it won't get better unless the does something about.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

The problem with bus service is that since the Vision Zero program has taken effect. The bus speeds are horrendous. Who wants to take an SBS bus, limited or local bus driving 25mph. You know the bus top speed is at least 45.

 

I could remember days taking the B46 from Eastern Parkway to Avenue H and getting there in about 15-20 mins. In today's world not even a dollar van will get u there unless you going thru a bus lane or blowing a few lights.

 

Traffic in this city right now is going to get worse with the Uber, Lyft, Via, Gett, and all other transportation apps and it won't get better unless the does something about.

It isn't just the who has to do something. Congestion needs to be addressed.  Bus speeds even with SBS routes are still horrendous. All of the limited stop and SBS routes I checked out online have average speeds that are LESS than 10 mph (sometimes less than 5 mph), so even that doesn't cut it.

[bobtehpanda]

Yeah, Vision Zero slowing down buses significantly would imply that these buses were getting above 25mph for long periods of time in the first place. They weren't before Vision Zero, and they aren't now.

 

We need more bus lanes, or better enforced ones; it's ridiculous that it takes a half hour or more to go from Jamaica Station to Francis Lewis on the Q43 limited.

[B22viaAtlanticAv]

Yeah, Vision Zero slowing down buses significantly would imply that these buses were getting above 25mph for long periods of time in the first place. They weren't before Vision Zero, and they aren't now.

 

We need more bus lanes, or better enforced ones; it's ridiculous that it takes a half hour or more to go from Jamaica Station to Francis Lewis on the Q43 limited.

I got to agree with this but Bus lanes don't mean nothing to some of the stuff I've seen on Utica Avenue alone;Bus drives are fighting with traffic just to stay in those buses lanes not mention the businesses that park in the bus lane or the customers of said business that double park in the bus lanes also. Its the lack of respect for buses that is killing bus ridership plain and simple. When you got people walking on to buses and drivers too scared to stop them you are going to get people outside on the streets doing the same if not worse, when it comes to impeding the flow of buses "they just don't care about buses or buses lanes." If could fix the image of buses in the city then that could have some impact but they got too much money problems for them to tackle that too... lol

[Future ENY OP]

It isn't just the who has to do something. Congestion needs to be addressed. Bus speeds even with SBS routes are still horrendous. All of the limited stop and SBS routes I checked out online have average speeds that are LESS than 10 mph (sometimes less than 5 mph), so even that doesn't cut it.

Buses service is so bad that I don't even bother taking buses anymore. Limited service is not the same anymore. SBS/BRT is a complete disgrace, the politicians who we elect to fight for the rights of commuters and the agencies (NYCDOT) and have really to get their s*it together and really get with the program and stop living in 19th and 20th century mechanisms.

 

Slow service = Subway, LYFT, UBER, via, GETT, and green/yellow taxi.

[IAlam]

Yeah, Vision Zero slowing down buses significantly would imply that these buses were getting above 25mph for long periods of time in the first place. They weren't before Vision Zero, and they aren't now.

 

We need more bus lanes, or better enforced ones; it's ridiculous that it takes a half hour or more to go from Jamaica Station to Francis Lewis on the Q43 limited.

Vision zero is only part of the problem.

 

There are other factors like increase population which leads to 

-congestion 

-overcrowding 

-people who don't know how to ride a bus

[Around the Horn]

Traffic signal priority would cut travel times pretty well if implemented citywide.

 

Also some bus routes like the Q64, are insanely slow due to bunching and the inability of bus dispatchers to allow buses to put up "Next Bus Please" when full. I see it every single day.

[DetSMART45]

I actually think Vision Zero is the root of your problems.  People in Detroit have it innately "ingrained" that the buses own the roads, because for years, DDOT has trained the operators as such.  Even pedestrians "know" to heed the DDOT bus (well, except some of the "tourists" [suburbanites] wandering Downtown, but they soon catch on if put in a situation where they realize the bus is NOT slowing down and they need to make a quick decision).

 

Trust me, I've seen DDOT buses come within mere inches of idiot drivers not only on turns but also on straight runs, and many have that hole-clenching look on their face, leading to lesson-learned.  And I've even seen when DPD is directing traffic Downtown during rush-hour letting the bus go through and making the pedestrians wait.  One guy got a tongue-lashing from a cop in just such a situation (operator laid on his horn as well), with the cop telling him "Don't you ever walk like that in front of a bus."  DDOT operators will (still cautiously, naturally) "push" their way around double-parkers against traffic if need be.

 

This isn't just a Downtown phenomenon, but across the city.  The buses own the roads, simple as that.  And people know it.

[NewFlyer 230]

Traffic signal priority would cut travel times pretty well if implemented citywide.

 

Also some bus routes like the Q64, are insanely slow due to bunching and the inability of bus dispatchers to allow buses to put up "Next Bus Please" when full. I see it every single day.

I agree with you on that. As a rider of the Q64 I see it everyday. What is the deal with crowded buses stopping at a bus stop with several people while the driver knows that there is a empty or half full bus behind it that can take on the crowd. I get so upset because the empty bus simply passes the stop and either we have to get on the packed bus or wait for the next one.

Personally I feel like the biggest problem with buses becoming less popular is because the MTA doesn't really care to fix some of the problems with the bus system.

Living in Queens the bus system is something many of us have to deal with if we aren't fortunate enough to have a car or live near the few subways. I constantly see missing runs that never show and often at the most inconvenient times such as the night time or the sometimes during the transition from the AM rush to off peak times. This is often where wait times increase by a lot

If I look the schedule and the bus schedule says that it's suppose to come at every 15 minutes I do not want to wait double of that. I know the bus is not going to come in exactly 15 minutes but at the same time I do not want to wait 30+ minutes for the next bus to show and I experience this a lot from CP, and JFK routes.

 

Another problem is that those metro cards have to go. The fareboxes sometimes can't read them, they take forever to read them or sometimes it doesn't accept the first time you try to dip it in so you have to retry. The MTA from my understanding has been looking for a new alternative for years but how long will we have to wait.

SBS is simply a joke because while it does its job somewhat it still seems to fall victim to cars and trucks double parking causing buses to have to switch into the busy traffic lane. These lanes should really be enforced seriously and give anyone who dares go into it at the times posted a ticket.

I really don't care for the whole ticket thing because when the eagle team comes onto the bus you are sitting there for a while while they check everyone just a waste for 5 minutes.

But other than that the usual problems are traffic and people being slow and what not.

[nuyorican]

I ride the q44 sbs everyday durning rush hour when the bus lanes are in effect you still have trucks and cars parked in the bus lane. There seems to be very little enforcement. Hillside ave heading west from stuphin blvd to queens blvd shouldn't take 25 minutes just to go 4 or 5 blocks. They need to change the timing of the sequence of the street lights or something? Flushing is a mess something with the bus lanes in flushing cars and trucks parked in the bus lanes and no enforcment at all. Pedsetrains standing in the street instead of the sidewalk walking against the light.   

[bstar1]

Flushing is mainly Asian town think they own the neighborhood.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

lmao@above post....

[IAlam]

I live in Flushing so I know this first hand. Once I was on the Q20 and the bus had to go on the main lane cause of a truck but traffic was at a grid lock so we sat there for 15min for what really shouldn't have been longer than 2min. I complained at a bunch of traffic cops that were at the stop after and they said "We can't do anything," like WTH TF you get paid for?

[R188 7857]

The city spends their time lowering the speed limit and installing cameras for their ticket profits. What they could've done instead is ACTUALLY enforce bus lanes and to catch all the farebeaters on SBS. The Main St bus lanes are a disaster, sometimes drivers don't go through because the lanes are too tight. Other times, there are cars double parked that only move once they see a bus (a bus that already went into the other lane). The curbside bus lanes aren't enforced either, they are in effect from 4-7pm and sometimes at 5:30pm there is still a car parked there like there isn't a bus lane. 

[bobtehpanda]

I live in Flushing so I know this first hand. Once I was on the Q20 and the bus had to go on the main lane cause of a truck but traffic was at a grid lock so we sat there for 15min for what really shouldn't have been longer than 2min. I complained at a bunch of traffic cops that were at the stop after and they said "We can't do anything," like WTH TF you get paid for?

 

Cops think traffic policing is beneath them, this isn't anything new.

[aemoreira81]

For SBS lanes, if the NYPD won't enforce the law...why not allow MTA Police to review the cameras from their buses and issue tickets to violators? Then change the signs where there are bus lanes to say: Bus Lanes AND Speed Limits Photo Enforced.

[bobtehpanda]

For SBS lanes, if the NYPD won't enforce the law...why not allow MTA Police to review the cameras from their buses and issue tickets to violators? Then change the signs where there are bus lanes to say: Bus Lanes AND Speed Limits Photo Enforced.

 

If you're talking about the police who patrol the subway, they're actually NYPD, so we're back to square one.

 

Cameras are the only real way to have sustained enforcement.

[Gotham Bus Co.]

I live in Flushing so I know this first hand. Once I was on the Q20 and the bus had to go on the main lane cause of a truck but traffic was at a grid lock so we sat there for 15min for what really shouldn't have been longer than 2min. I complained at a bunch of traffic cops that were at the stop after and they said "We can't do anything," like WTH TF you get paid for?

 

The "traffic cops" are divided into two squads: traffic and parking. Only the parking agents are allowed to write parking tickets; the ones who control intersections are NOT allowed to write parking tickets. 

[IAlam]

The "traffic cops" are divided into two squads: traffic and parking. Only the parking agents are allowed to write parking tickets; the ones who control intersections are NOT allowed to write parking tickets. 

This lack of coordination makes things difficult, the only people that actually enforce the bus lanes are the standard NYPD. However they are rarely out and about enforcing anything. The traffic cops, since it's not their job don't do anything about it should at least call the people who can. Especially if you controlling an intersection and a driver whose parking on a bus lane refuses to move. 

[Rafa]

They have routes where 1/2 the passengers don't pay that's where you can find those 96m riders.

[N6 Limited]

The buses crawl and sit at red signals, it's horrible, even the SBS buses. 

 

If they can get SBS buses to only stop when at an actual stop then ridership would increase. Sometimes buses are so slow it feels like walking would be faster.

[MassTransitHonchkrow]

Even suburban agencies have the niceties that NYC transit desperately needs.

 

You know there's a problem when everyone else around you had solved it before you.

 

 

???? Eric Shields | #MassTransitHonchkrow ????

THE Hudson Valley's essential Fare-blazer ????