New express bus service: MTA continues to answer riders' concerns

[B35 via Church]

2 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I generally make a rule of not eating on the express bus or any bus for that matter. I will drink water or have a small snack, but I've seen people on the Staten Island express buses come on with a whole frigging box of pizza and eat it (X10 of course lol)!  Come on... Ridiculous. One night I had bought a sandwich as it was late and I was hungry. I was finishing it at the bus stop and the bus came early (X10).  I get on with it and the guy is like I got no windows man. I was quite pissed because he made a big stink about it after I had dipped and I only had a few bites left. I just got off. He knew I was a regular and I don't eat food like that, so I finished it and waited for the next bus.  With the way these SI buses have been over packed though, I'm sure my patience would be tried for sure.  The aisles are narrow enough as it is...

I'm a self-admitted eat-and-runner, but whenever I'm toting something to eat on a bus/train, it's never something as clumsy as a pizza box... I used to see the early morning drunks on the drunk train (LIRR) with those dollar pizza, pizza pies (of course, you'd give it a couple minutes & it'd end up on the floor, if you catch my drift)..... Also don't eat anything that's contained in a container (like Chinese food or something).. Has to be quick & easy & not all that prone to toppling over, like a burger or something.... I also don't carry anything on a bus/train that's going to stink up the joint (come to think of it, I don't really anything that emanates too unbearable a smell anyway)....

Lol, Smh, WTF is "I got no windows"; never literally heard that one... Dude thought you were gonna let one rip or something? LMAO.... But what I would do in a situation like that is either woof my food down, or wrap whatever I'm eating back in the wrapper before the bus pulls up, go grab a seat (preferably in the back & on the right hand side, where there's a little more legroom of course) & continue getting my grub on.... I never walk onto a bus with food-in-hand for that very reason you describe.... Simply not trying to hear it.

 

2 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

My SIM4 was fine going in. Those people must've left later than me.

That looks like the conventional 9-to-5 crowd... What time do you generally leave the 'island?

6 minutes ago, Around the Horn said:

Again?! Good grief...

Lol.... save your exasperation fam,; as others have pointed out last week, this madness is only going to get worse in a couple weeks......

[Around the Horn]

15 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I think it's going to be worse once school starts up.  Really bad in fact.  This is a time when people take off and there's this much overcrowding. Big problem... Even if they want to address the overcrowding, they need to add so many buses that it may take months before we see any real resolve to this problem.

At this rate, I'm trying to get out of the city before they come near my buses  Frankly, I don't trust the MTA after this fiasco.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

36 minutes ago, Around the Horn said:

At this rate, I'm trying to get out of the city before they come near my buses  Frankly, I don't trust the MTA after this fiasco.

Yes, I am watching this very closely. Commuting is already hard enough as it is...

36 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

I'm a self-admitted eat-and-runner, but whenever I'm toting something to eat on a bus/train, it's never something as clumsy as a pizza box... I used to see the early morning drunks on the drunk train (LIRR) with those dollar pizza, pizza pies (of course, you'd give it a couple minutes & it'd end up on the floor, if you catch my drift)..... Also don't eat anything that's contained in a container (like Chinese food or something).. Has to be quick & easy & not all that prone to toppling over, like a burger or something.... I also don't carry anything on a bus/train that's going to stink up the joint (come to think of it, I don't really anything that emanates too unbearable a smell anyway)....

Lol, Smh, WTF is "I got no windows"; never literally heard that one... Dude thought you were gonna let one rip or something? LMAO.... But what I would do in a situation like that is either woof my food down, or wrap whatever I'm eating back in the wrapper before the bus pulls up, go grab a seat (preferably in the back & on the right hand side, where there's a little more legroom of course) & continue getting my grub on.... I never walk onto a bus with food-in-hand for that very reason you describe.... Simply not trying to hear it.

 

No, he apparently thought that my veggie burger smelled since it had onions and other veggies on it.  Not even half of a sandwich and no one was on the bus anyway.  Would've been done by the time people started getting on.  I admit though when I head back to Brooklyn or Staten Island I'll get a soup or a sandwich or something.  Particularly for the trips to the barber because with the way my barber talks, there's no telling when I'll get out. lol I'm usually famished by the time I reach the city, so I grab something quick, get the BM3, go to my usual seat and chow down.  Nothing that will smell... lol

[SIMplicity]

6 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Reports of every SIM4 bus going Downtown this morning being standing room only...

Why would the SIM4 be so overcrowded? The route and schedule are almost exactly the same as the X17A. 

The only thing I can think of is that maybe people who took the X31 from ETC or those busy Marsh Av stops to the West Side are now taking the SIM4 to the subway.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

7 minutes ago, SIMplicity said:

Why would the SIM4 be so overcrowded? The route and schedule are almost exactly the same as the X17A. 

The only thing I can think of is that maybe people who took the X31 from ETC or those busy Marsh Av stops to the West Side are now taking the SIM4 to the subway.

Either people are changing up or they had gaps in service...

[checkmatechamp13]

1 hour ago, B35 via Church said:

That looks like the conventional 9-to-5 crowd... What time do you generally leave the 'island?

7am or so. It's amazing what a difference an hour makes (working 8-4 instead of 9-5). The first weekday of the changes, BM5 via Woodhaven mentioned long lines at 42nd & 6th about 20-30 minutes after I was there.

I'll probably have to leave at 6:30am once school starts but for now it's been great. 

8 minutes ago, SIMplicity said:

Why would the SIM4 be so overcrowded? The route and schedule are almost exactly the same as the X17A. 

The only thing I can think of is that maybe people who took the X31 from ETC or those busy Marsh Av stops to the West Side are now taking the SIM4 to the subway.

Probably that or just a typical service gap. The X17J/SIM8 always tended to arrive more frequently than the X17A/SIM4

[trife86]

17 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

They don't control what comes out, but if you know there is no heat on the bus in the dead winter, why in the world would anyone turn on the overhead blowers when it's 20 degrees outside?  I had to bite my tongue during the winter months last year because there was a B/O that I would get who I was cool with, but I'd be on the bus so cranky just stepping out of the cold and onto a bus with the AC pumping.

I think it's going to be worse once school starts up.  Really bad in fact.  This is a time when people take off and there's this much overcrowding. Big problem... Even if they want to address the overcrowding, they need to add so many buses that it may take months before we see any real resolve to this problem.

Sometimes you don't know unless someone just tells you. That wall that is behind out seat really blocks all the airflow from passenger area. And if it's like 0 degrees out alot of the busses even prevost might take 30min or so to start making heat, at that point you might be well into a trip.

[Around the Horn]

The Times has published an article on the redesign efforts citywide, with some focus on the SIMs...

This Commuter Bus Took Nearly 3 Hours to Get to Manhattan. It Was the Express.

(https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/nyregion/bus-routes-nyc-transit.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur)

Some relevant quotes: 

Quote

The X17 was an express bus linking Staten Island to Midtown Manhattan. It made 85 stops, 66 of them before even leaving Staten Island.

Total distance? Nearly 40 miles. Total drive time? The schedule said two hours and 33 minutes, but closer to three hours was often more like it.

“When people’s eyebrows go up, we tell them you could fly to Florida in less time,” said Tony Ventimiglia, a bus dispatcher. “And you certainly can.” 

Quote

In New York, the first phase of a new bus system has been unveiled on Staten Island, with all new numbers and routes for the express buses, which provide an average of 36,000 weekday rides. Next up will be the Bronx, followed by the rest of the city. “Over the course of the next three years, we will review every single route in every single borough,” said Andy Byford, the president of New York City Transit, the M.T.A. agency that runs the subways and buses, in what he called “a complete re-imagination of the bus network.”

An army of 100 transit workers — including bus drivers, dispatchers and planners — has been deployed at Staten Island and Manhattan bus stops in recent weeks to serve as “customer ambassadors,” handing out information cards and new route maps and schedules. The express buses, which cost $6.50 per ride, seat up to 57 passengers and come with coach-style amenities such as padded seats and chargers for cellphones and laptops.

Jonathan Hawkins, a transportation planner for New York City Transit, said the express routes on Staten Island were drawn between the 1960s and 1980s. Since then, a population boom has brought new development, especially along the southern end of the island where express service remains limited. Under the new bus system, old services were reorganized to make routes faster and more direct.

Quote

Since the new express system started Aug. 19, transit officials said they have been monitoring it closely and have made daily adjustments, such as adding bus trips to close gaps in service and to ease overcrowding.

Transit officials said they have also identified congestion hot spots throughout the city — a major cause of bus delays — and are working with the police to increase enforcement of traffic rules and to cut down on cars blocking bus lanes and double parking, among other measures.

Quote

Sherry Mont, 71, a retired bookkeeper, found out from a flier that the stop in Manhattan where she caught the bus back to Staten Island was being eliminated. “It’s been there for God knows how long and all of a sudden they’re taking it away,” she said. “People will have to walk farther to get to a bus stop. Who wants to walk farther?”

Transit officials said that before redrawing the bus network on Staten Island, they surveyed 3,000 bus riders and held six open houses that drew more than 700 people. “You can never please everyone,” said Mr. Byford. “What we’re aiming to do is make service better for everybody.”

I'm not liking that last Byford quote...

The whole article is well worth a read.

[East New York]

On 8/18/2018 at 11:46 AM, Deucey said:

Well, yeah, but my mail is addressed to Staten Island NY; when I lived in Fordham Hill it said Bronx NY.

Unless I'm wrong, despite "being NYC" by law, isn't the only place in these boroughs called New York City just Manhattan?

Technically no. It's all New York City and living in any of the 5 boroughs you can actually use NY, NY on your address followed by your Staten Island zip for example.

In Queens, they use the name of the neighborhood almost everywhere. Can't ever recall seeing Queens, NY on anything ever. lol

I live in Brooklyn, and once received mail at my old address that read New York, New York 11230. 

"The City" had always been synonymous with Manhattan. If my friends and I are talking about going to hang out in the city we are talking about Manhattan. If i say this and I'm in Jersey I could be talking about any of the boroughs. 

Some people who aren't from here actually don't know they now live in NYC in the outer boroughs. (I don't understand how, but ok..) I met someone who recently moved here to Brooklyn and I asked him how he liked living in New York City. He said "I don't live in NYC i just told you I live in Brooklyn."

I said "you do know that's part of NYC correct?"

He said "no its not!" with attitude.

I said, "Oh wow that's news to me. So who's the mayor over there in that good old City of Brooklyn?"

lol

[B35 via Church]

1 hour ago, East New York said:

....I met someone who recently moved here to Brooklyn and I asked him how he liked living in New York City. He said "I don't live in NYC i just told you I live in Brooklyn."

I said "you do know that's part of NYC correct?"

He said "no its not!" with attitude......

...and that very attitude is the reason why there is an intolerance & a straight up disdain for these transients & transplants.

Conformity & assimilation be damned....

[Gotham Bus Co.]

3 hours ago, East New York said:

Some people who aren't from here actually don't know they now live in NYC in the outer boroughs. (I don't understand how, but ok..) I met someone who recently moved here to Brooklyn and I asked him how he liked living in New York City. He said "I don't live in NYC i just told you I live in Brooklyn."

I said "you do know that's part of NYC correct?"

He said "no its not!" with attitude.

I said, "Oh wow that's news to me. So who's the mayor over there in that good old City of Brooklyn?"

lol

 

The Unification of Greater New York City happened in 1898 (that's 120 years ago), yet some folks are still in denial. 

 

Trivia: The office of "Borough President" was created for the sole purpose of providing post-Unification jobs for the Mayors of Brooklyn and Long Island City.

[checkmatechamp13]

7 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

The Times has published an article on the redesign efforts citywide, with some focus on the SIMs...

This Commuter Bus Took Nearly 3 Hours to Get to Manhattan. It Was the Express.

(https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/nyregion/bus-routes-nyc-transit.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur)

Some relevant quotes: 

I'm not liking that last Byford quote...

The whole article is well worth a read.

So many inaccuracies. And the Times is supposed to be a good newspaper. The X17 to Tottenville was an off-peak route, while the SIM4 & SIM8 are peak routes (and that extension to Tottenville was foolishly put into place just a few years before the study began). And for all this concern about traffic, the MTA actually cut 5 minutes off the runtime between Tottenville & Arden Heights because buses were arriving at Mid-Island timepoints early. The off-peak X17 for Richmond Avenue riders (where most of the ridership came from) is now the SIM4C, which spends even longer getting off Staten Island because it was combined with the X10. And off-peak routes still cover Downtown & Midtown, except for the SIM2.

Yeah, while it's true that you can't please everybody, you shouldn't just brush their concerns under the rug like they've been doing during this whole process.

[East New York]

11 hours ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

Trivia: The office of "Borough President" was created for the sole purpose of providing post-Unification jobs for the Mayors of Brooklyn and Long Island City.

Wow I actually did not know that, nor have I ever even thought about it! That's pretty cool. Thank you for that bit of information. 😎

10 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

So many inaccuracies. And the Times is supposed to be a good newspaper. The X17 to Tottenville was an off-peak route, while the SIM4 & SIM8 are peak routes (and that extension to Tottenville was foolishly put into place just a few years before the study began). And for all this concern about traffic, the MTA actually cut 5 minutes off the runtime between Tottenville & Arden Heights because buses were arriving at Mid-Island timepoints early. The off-peak X17 for Richmond Avenue riders (where most of the ridership came from) is now the SIM4C, which spends even longer getting off Staten Island because it was combined with the X10. And off-peak routes still cover Downtown & Midtown, except for the SIM2.

Yeah, while it's true that you can't please everybody, you shouldn't just brush their concerns under the rug like they've been doing during this whole process.

Think of The Times like this to an extent. You have someone who just joined NYCTF and knows bare minimum about transit, vs all of us. We are going to run circles around them and notice every little inaccuracy.

On a side note, did you know that many New Yorkers (most all them native) haven't even noticed that we have new buses with new schemes?  🤨

[trife86]

All SIM6/21/26 will use Lexington on the PM rush starting tommorow.

[QM1to6Ave]

On the QMs this week and last, the ridership level has been the same as during the rest of the year, which really surprised me. Traffic overall is a little lighter than usual, but not as much as in other years at this time. Not sure why it is different this year. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

53 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

On the QMs this week and last, the ridership level has been the same as during the rest of the year, which really surprised me. Traffic overall is a little lighter than usual, but not as much as in other years at this time. Not sure why it is different this year. 

More people driving to work... More than I can ever remember... Definitely not a trend we need to be seeing but that's what is happening. Still lots of Uber and Lyft cars too. I have meetings coming up. I will not be using public transportation any of them. I've already budgeted the costs for Uber and will charge the client for it. It makes things so much easier.

[B35 via Church]

13 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

So many inaccuracies. And the Times is supposed to be a good newspaper.....

The newspaper industry in & of itself is a dying one, so much so that the daily news a couple weeks ago were distributing free sunday newspapers.... Quite sad really.

Last thing any of 'em should be toeing the line of, is yellow journalism.... Honestly, as soon as I read the title of the article last night, I just closed the tab..... Sensationalist garbage...

[FLX9304]

1 hour ago, trife86 said:

All SIM6/21/26 will use Lexington on the PM rush starting tommorow.

There is no SIM21

[trife86]

Just now, FLX9304 said:

There is no SIM21

Yep me not proofreading, meant to say the 22

[Around the Horn]

What genius decided to remove the Broadway and Vesey stop for the Staten Island buses and consolidated them with the X27 and X28 at Broadway and Barclay? 

Its entirely too many buses for that one location... The lines were ridiculous and went around the corner.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

27 minutes ago, Around the Horn said:

What genius decided to remove the Broadway and Vesey stop for the Staten Island buses and consolidated them with the X27 and X28 at Broadway and Barclay? 

Its entirely too many buses for that one location... The lines were ridiculous and went around the corner.

This is supposed to be “improved service”...

[QM1to6Ave]

Going slightly off topic...I have never had so many people yapping super loud on my bus rides as I did this week. One guy, who looked high, was rapping with his girlfriend, and the rest were practically screaming into their phones. And its only Wednesday!

[Via Garibaldi 8]

5 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Going slightly off topic...I have never had so many people yapping super loud on my bus rides as I did this week. One guy, who looked high, was rapping with his girlfriend, and the rest were practically screaming into their phones. And its only Wednesday!

Were they regulars or what? We only get ghetto types on the Riverdale express buses when the train goes down and they all get off at 230th and Broadway (what a surprise ). What I do is just take Metro-North during those days where possible, preferably the semi-express train thus skipping the ghetto stops.

It's likely due to the heat though. After tomorrow they will probably go back to the subway. Those folks can't afford $13.00 a day. No way...

[checkmatechamp13]

1 hour ago, Around the Horn said:

What genius decided to remove the Broadway and Vesey stop for the Staten Island buses and consolidated them with the X27 and X28 at Broadway and Barclay? 

Its entirely too many buses for that one location... The lines were ridiculous and went around the corner.

I just sent them an email after reading that. I can add that to the list of reasons why I won't be taking the SIM4 from Downtown.

Yeah, they should've just had the SIM32/34 at the old X10/11/12 stop, the SIM1/2/4 at the X1/17/19 stop, and put the SIM15 at Park Place & Broadway like it used to (instead of the stupid route up Warren). It's funny, the schedules they copy and paste, but they start moving bus stops around for no reason.

[QM1to6Ave]

Just now, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Werd they regulars or what? We only get ghetto types on the Riverdale express buses when the train goes down and they all get off at 230th and Broadway (what a surprise ). What I do is just take Metro-North during those days where possible, preferably the semi-express train thus skipping the ghetto stops.

The "rappers" looked like white trash, tbh. I have not seen that element before on the bus. The loud talkers looked like regulars. I have seen a few people this week on the bus that I suspect are out of towners perhaps visiting family