September 2, 2018 Bus Route and Service Changes

[B35 via Church]

1 minute ago, JeremiahC99 said:

I believe the lower ridership was due to both routes operating every 30 minutes which was inconvient for those using it to and from the LIRR, and even those who use it to the popular Jamaica shopping district. The increased frequency to should give residents along Little Neck Parkway a more attractive alternative to walking to either Northern Blvd, Horace Harding Expressway, 260th Street, Union Turnpike,  Hillside Avenue, or Jamaica Avenue, depending on where one is located and crowding into already-overcrowded buses there, especially if they can’t afford to take the LIRR and can only afford to use the subway and local buses.

4 minutes ago, JeremiahC99 said:

But they are overcrowded during rush hours and a long walk away from some areas. More frequent service on the Q36 for subway riders would provide an alternative to the expensive LIRR and the overcrowded and ever-so-popular bus routes you mentioned.

Dude, give it up... The Q36 extension didn't come to fruition to address this (fictional, increased) demand you're conveying b/w [riders up along Little Neck Parkway] & [the E/F trains].... They did that crap to cut costs back in 2010 & nothing more.... They've been trying to wash their hands with the route ever since the early 90's and finally (unfortunately), they made good with that cut - to only bring it back as a lame ass Q36 extension... The damage was done in the 2+ years between the time they cut the Q79 & the time the Q36 came to fruition....

You're sorely mistaken if you believe those up along LNP are going to find this increase in service anymore attractive than what was the case prior to today, and especially anymore attractive than the old Q79.... Those patrons are STILL clamoring for the Q79, while Q36 riders down along Jamaica are miffed over longer waits between buses.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

31 minutes ago, JeremiahC99 said:

But they are overcrowded during rush hours and a long walk away from some areas. More frequent service on the Q36 for subway riders would provide an alternative to the expensive LIRR and the overcrowded and ever-so-popular bus routes you mentioned.

You don't understand how things work in that area.

 

The LIRR is like their subway over there. Many people get on the LIRR, especially since people have the money to do so. They are not seeking the subway in large numbers. 

Those buses are already relatively empty or close to it when they cross Little Neck Parkway, and they're all straighter to the subway. The Q36 is more or less a neighborhood shuttle in that area.

[checkmatechamp13]

55 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

I know the x17 is the primary route in the area..... I still don't, and flat out refuse to see their justification of swapping the x10 & the x12...

You're going to get more riders along more of that part of Richmond av & North/South Gannon av (i.e, the very SIM33 bring up), than you are along less of Richmond av & along Watchogue rd (i.e, the SIM3).... Although it factors into it, I'm not making this near as much an issue about Bulls Head (to the tune that it looks like you may believe or are conveying here anyway) & more of an issue of the patronages of Watchogue vs N/S Gannon.... You yourself more or less allude to it with the very part of that penultimate reply of yours I emboldened....

The old network had its faults, but the planners went berserk with these changes... AFAIC, that was one of them.

I'll put it this way, when I first saw the routes for the 3C/4C I thought the 4C was going to get X1 levels of service, and the 3C was going to get coverage-level service (so in other words, with their spiel about "frequent service" I thought this was their way of bringing a frequent off-peak route to the North/West Shore). Come to find out it was the complete opposite. You're absolutely right that the vast majority of the North Shore ridership is on Gannon over Watchogue.

To my knowledge, that idea first came up at the Hackathon. Do you remember QJT saying "the North Shore riders on the X10 really live closer to the X12 & X14"? Well he was saying that at the Hackathon to anybody who would listen (since we only had a limited amount of time, his actual proposal was to extend the S53/79/93 to 59th Street and turn the S93 into a nonstop CSI-Brooklyn route. The first part I at least see the logic in, but the second part clearly shows no understanding of the ridership bases of the S93, but anyway)

While I don't disagree with providing off-peak express service on Watchogue, I would've never thought they would've taken a concept that QJT created and actually ran with it.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

That QJT guy is a NUT. He was at one of the Town Hall Meetings that Brooklyn Bus and I spoke at and attended. I kept saying to myself who in the hell is that guy? Weird guy...

[AlgorithmOfTruth]

3 hours ago, JeremiahC99 said:

And force everyone to transfer at Little Neck Parkway for the Q36 to the  and  lines? The Q36 extension was beneficial because unlike the Q79, the Q36 extension provides a direct connection to the Jamaica-179th Street station for commutes to Manhattan. The popularity of the one seat ride from the Little Neck Pkwy corridor to the Jamaica subway station is why the Q36 service there is boosted. In fact, this should’ve been done a long time ago. Now if they only had weekend service on Little Neck Parkway operating every 15 minutes and overnight service operating at overnight LIRR Port Washington frequencies that would be nice.

Residents from Douglaston and Little Neck don't bother taking that long ride on the Q36 all the way to Jamaica for the  and  trains... They drive, use the LIRR, or take the Q12 to Flushing for the .

[Via Garibaldi 8]

11 minutes ago, AlgorithmOfTruth said:

Residents from Douglaston and Little Neck don't bother taking that long ride on the Q36 all the way to Jamaica for the  and  trains... They drive, use the LIRR, or take the Q12 to Flushing for the .

Or use the express buses, but the LIRR is the most popular option.

[Union Tpke]

5 hours ago, JeremiahC99 said:

And force everyone to transfer at Little Neck Parkway for the Q36 to the  and  lines? The Q36 extension was beneficial because unlike the Q79, the Q36 extension provides a direct connection to the Jamaica-179th Street station for commutes to Manhattan. The popularity of the one seat ride from the Little Neck Pkwy corridor to the Jamaica subway station is why the Q36 service there is boosted. In fact, this should’ve been done a long time ago. Now if they only had weekend service on Little Neck Parkway operating every 15 minutes and overnight service operating at overnight LIRR Port Washington frequencies that would be nice.

It has been great when the LIRR has been out when I am coming back from an appointment in Little Neck. The Q36 one-seat ride to the  for me is a lot better than the Q79 to the Q46 or the Q12 to the  to the .

[Future ENY OP]

.... The  is seriously diggin a grave for these horrendous schedules they are putting out for Staten Island. 

 

[EastFlatbushLarry]

10 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Likely due to the dollar vans and farebeating...

this 👆👍 and also, it's been a systematic thing for years on the B41. the B103's existence in it's current Bus Company form makes it a highly more appealing option to get downtown Brooklyn or at minimum to foster avenue/flatbush avenue opposed to the 41. 41's used to run like water. they've meticulously chopped headways damn near every pick this year iinm and before thats, going back as far as 2010-11. this is putting alot of "strain" if you will on the and the B103

[EastFlatbushLarry]

19 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

• B41 LIMITED: Considerable Weekday Service Decreases

and, once again, the sun rises in the east. the point I'm making is that just as the sun is damn-near guaranteed to rise in the east every morning of our existence in this earth, it is almost guaranteed that the B41 will see headway decrease damn-near every f***in' pick. it's borderline laughable at this point. 

[EastFlatbushLarry]

10 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

- Say what you want, but I believe they're going to end up splitting the Q54 in the longrun.... The schedules say one thing, but when you're driving around in Jamaica during the PM rush & see more Q54's signed up for Fresh Pond rd than for Williamsburg Bridge Plaza, there's a cause for concern....

amen! i can't, for the life of me, understand how there haven't been acts of civil disobedience and revolting in the streets west of Fresh Pond rd on this corridor. how is anyone content with service levels on the Q54? and may i ask, how is the 54 still running every 30-40 minutes on Sunday mornings? who's tolerating that? 

[B35 via Church]

18 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

I'll put it this way, when I first saw the routes for the 3C/4C I thought the 4C was going to get X1 levels of service, and the 3C was going to get coverage-level service (so in other words, with their spiel about "frequent service" I thought this was their way of bringing a frequent off-peak route to the North/West Shore). Come to find out it was the complete opposite. You're absolutely right that the vast majority of the North Shore ridership is on Gannon over Watchogue.

To my knowledge, that idea first came up at the Hackathon. Do you remember QJT saying "the North Shore riders on the X10 really live closer to the X12 & X14"? Well he was saying that at the Hackathon to anybody who would listen (since we only had a limited amount of time, his actual proposal was to extend the S53/79/93 to 59th Street and turn the S93 into a nonstop CSI-Brooklyn route. The first part I at least see the logic in, but the second part clearly shows no understanding of the ridership bases of the S93, but anyway)

While I don't disagree with providing off-peak express service on Watchogue, I would've never thought they would've taken a concept that QJT created and actually ran with it.

Yeah, I remember that comment about the x10/12/14 & that S93 idea of his on here, as well.... Whether they considered that goofball's comments about x10 usage and/or having considered the SIM3/3c for fiscal reasons, to me, either way, was unjustified - or as QJT would say, in "err".... He also used to minimize express bus usage along N/S Gannon

As for the local bus part of his never-ending display of stupidity on here, he (rightfully so) got lambasted - particularly on suggesting a point-to-point route of sorts & believing that the S93's core ridership is of CSI students.....

 

12 hours ago, EastFlatbushLarry said:

amen! i can't, for the life of me, understand how there haven't been acts of civil disobedience and revolting in the streets west of Fresh Pond rd on this corridor. how is anyone content with service levels on the Q54? and may i ask, how is the 54 still running every 30-40 minutes on Sunday mornings? who's tolerating that? 

I still believe that the Q54 travels too far east & the Q110 doesn't travel far enough west.... The reason I gather that the Q54/56 gets as much usage as it does over at that terminal (Jamaica/170th) is because the Q110 turns off Jamaica at 153rd.... A sizable portion of those that use the Q54/56 in that general vicinity are getting off at Sutphin....

You don't hear much of it anymore in 2018, but back in the day on the different transit boards, there was this running idea that the Q55 should get extended to Jamaica.... I'm of the belief that the Q110 should continue along Jamaica to end with the Q55... With this move, there'd be no real need to run the Q54 anywhere near Merrick... I'd suggest turning buses off (Jamaica av) at 144th & ending at Archer (146th would be more ideal, but there'd simply be no room w/ the BPH from the Q30, 31, and the Q43 all on layover on that block)..... During the height of the PM rush, that move would save about 15-20 mins & AFAIC, be a difference maker b/w needing to split the route (or worse, just cut all service west of Fresh Pond outright) & having the route still running b/w Williamsburg & Jamaica (just not near as much of it).... There's no reason why the full route of the Q54 has to be 2 hrs. & change (another example of how the schedules don't reflect reality)..... There would still be the Fresh Pond shorties, but the need for them wouldn't be as dire.....

The notion of the Q54/56 needing to be coupled on the Jamaica end of the route & the Baisley park routes all having to terminate with each other, are antiquated.....

As far as Sunday service, it used to run every 30-40 many moons ago, but now it's more or less 20 mins. for not only sunday mornings, but most of the day as well.... Still nothing to write home about though....

[NewFlyer 230]

I wish the MTA would go ahead and make the Q19 more frequent. Even though it got extended to 2nd Street and 27th Ave a few years ago, its time for that route to become more frequent. Never understood why the headway’s remained at 20 and 30 min when the ridership has been increasing. It also still ends way too early for a route that travels on a major street which is why that route doesn’t do as well as it ideally should.

 

As for the increase in Little Neck Parkway service on the Q36, does that route see more usage along L.N.P? 

[EastFlatbushLarry]

2 hours ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

I wish the MTA would go ahead and make the Q19 more frequent. Even though it got extended to 2nd Street and 27th Ave a few years ago, its time for that route to become more frequent. Never understood why the headway’s remained at 20 and 30 min when the ridership has been increasing. It also still ends way too early for a route that travels on a major street which is why that route doesn’t do as well as it ideally should.

 

As for the increase in Little Neck Parkway service on the Q36, does that route see more usage along L.N.P? 

i still can't fathom the Q19's lack of frequency & end time. why haven't the constituency along astoria made a bigger fuss? 

 

10 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

used to run every 30-40 many moons ago, but now it's more or less 20 mins

the past 2 sundays I've gotten a ride to Woodhaven & metro. checked bus time for q54 to willy-b. at approx 6:20am. bus wasn't supposed to arrive until 7:10am IINM. I'm assuming the run was late. yet, i do agree, 20 minutes isn't an ideal situation. i could've possibly taken uber or a cab, but with my employee pass, i don't see the point of that

[Via Garibaldi 8]

New pick and the same BS.  Had a driver that is just an idiot as usual.  I got into with him several months ago about going down the wrong way.  Well he starts off the pick doing the same crap. He's supposed to go down Riverdale Avenue and skip Spuyten Duyvil.  After being reminded, then he comes back around.  At least he didn't get stuck on the Deegan as he usually does BS-ing.  Commutes for Staten Islanders are even worse today than they were before school started... Should be a real fun pick.  I think by the end of September I'm switching back to Metro-North in the morning. Can't be bothered with the nonsense.

[FLX9304]

On 9/2/2018 at 4:48 PM, JeremiahC99 said:

I believe the lower ridership was due to both routes operating every 30 minutes which was inconvient for those using it to and from the LIRR, and even those who use it to the popular Jamaica shopping district. The increased frequency to should give residents along Little Neck Parkway a more attractive alternative to walking to either Northern Blvd, Horace Harding Expressway, 260th Street, Union Turnpike,  Hillside Avenue, or Jamaica Avenue, depending on where one is located and crowding into already-overcrowded buses there, especially if they can’t afford to take the LIRR and can only afford to use the subway and local buses.

Nope, blame it on the person who ran the MTA in 2010. This is why I agree with @B35 via Church to reinstate the Q79. More better and efficient 

[B35 via Church]

7 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

New pick and the same BS.  Had a driver that is just an idiot as usual.  I got into with him several months ago about going down the wrong way.  Well he starts off the pick doing the same crap. He's supposed to go down Riverdale Avenue and skip Spuyten Duyvil.  After being reminded, then he comes back around.  At least he didn't get stuck on the Deegan as he usually does BS-ing.  Commutes for Staten Islanders are even worse today than they were before school started... Should be a real fun pick.  I think by the end of September I'm switching back to Metro-North in the morning. Can't be bothered with the nonsense.

How much more time does the MNRR save (you)?

 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

10 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

How much more time does the MNRR save (you)?

 

Depends on which train I take, but at nights, if for example, I get a semi-express train from Grand Central that skips the South Bronx stops and Marble Hill, I'm off of the shuttle bus in under 30 minutes.  Roughly 22 minutes to Spuyten Duyvil, and a few minutes on the bus (usually most of the riders are off in Spuyten Duyvil).  The best the express bus can do at night is about 35-40 minutes, be it the BxM18 or the 1 or the 2.  In the mornings, it takes a little longer because the shuttle bus arrives before the train so there's a bit of a wait, so I'd say about 45 minutes because can wait about 10 minutes at the station before the train is due, which is fine. It gives you time to get tickets or whatever if you need one, but I buy my tickets on my phone now anyway.  Even with a super express BxM1 or BxM2, it probably takes about an hour now.  With the BxM18, perhaps under an hour, but that's assuming there's no traffic. This morning it took a little over an hour.

[NewFlyer 230]

12 hours ago, EastFlatbushLarry said:

i still can't fathom the Q19's lack of frequency & end time. why haven't the constituency along astoria made a bigger fuss? 

 

the past 2 sundays I've gotten a ride to Woodhaven & metro. checked bus time for q54 to willy-b. at approx 6:20am. bus wasn't supposed to arrive until 7:10am IINM. I'm assuming the run was late. yet, i do agree, 20 minutes isn't an ideal situation. i could've possibly taken uber or a cab, but with my employee pass, i don't see the point of that

I feel like the Q19 is considered a joke out there and I guess what contributes to the lack of care with that route is the fact that several routes intersect it.

I guess the MTA figures if you going to and from Main Street one could take the  to the Q23, Q33, Q47, Q49 and or the LGA bound Q48 and get off around the areas the Q19 travels through but that way is longer than the Q19 directly running on Astoria Blvd. However with the way the Q19 runs that is the best option at night and when it’s on 30 min headway’s. Sad cause the ridership is definitely growing and has the potential to grow even more.

 

 

[EastFlatbushLarry]

43 minutes ago, NewFlyer 230 said:

I feel like the Q19 is considered a joke out there and I guess what contributes to the lack of care with that route is the fact that several routes intersect it.

I guess the MTA figures if you going to and from Main Street one could take the  to the Q23, Q33, Q47, Q49 and or the LGA bound Q48 and get off around the areas the Q19 travels through but that way is longer than the Q19 directly running on Astoria Blvd. However with the way the Q19 runs that is the best option at night and when it’s on 30 min headway’s. Sad cause the ridership is definitely growing and has the potential to grow even more.

 

 

i can definitely understand that the area may have potential for population growth, with spillover from northern Brooklyn & LIC making it's way to Elmhurst and surrounding areas (if it isn't happening already) i can admit I'm not all too familiar with those areas, yet logic would dictate in my opinion to "build it before they come" meaning be proactive with positive bus service along that corridor as opposed to reactive, waiting for public outcry to dictate increased bus service on the Q19. yet, as all (transportation) employees know, for the most part, transit has habitually been a reactionary organization. 

[B35 via Church]

13 hours ago, EastFlatbushLarry said:

i still can't fathom the Q19's lack of frequency & end time. why haven't the constituency along astoria made a bigger fuss? 

 

the past 2 sundays I've gotten a ride to Woodhaven & metro. checked bus time for q54 to willy-b. at approx 6:20am. bus wasn't supposed to arrive until 7:10am IINM. I'm assuming the run was late. yet, i do agree, 20 minutes isn't an ideal situation. i could've possibly taken uber or a cab, but with my employee pass, i don't see the point of that

 

Sunday mornings around that time on the Q54 (from WBP, Brooklyn end), is usually just the industrial workers & whatever stragglers are riding on over to some area not much further than Fresh Pond.....

As for the Q19, my guess is that (of the East Elmhurst riders) folks are content with it being a sort of backup to the Q66....

[Italianstallion]

21 hours ago, EastFlatbushLarry said:

i still can't fathom the Q19's lack of frequency & end time. why haven't the constituency along astoria made a bigger fuss? 

 

 

I lived near the Q19 route from 1949 to 1973 and then visited often until 2015. The Q19 has always been a stepchild. The reason, I think, is that it is duplicative of the Q69 in Astoria and East Elmhurst west of 82 St. East of there, for many decades it terminated at 102 St. and Astoria Blvd., which was in the middle of nowhere. There is little population density along the farther reaches of the route east of 82 St, and subway access from there is better done via the north-south routes to the 7 train anyway. And as I said, west of 82 you're better off with the 69. Also, from Astoria Houses to the N train there are 2 other more frequent routes - Q18 and Q102. So, most people don't bother with it. The recent extension to Main St. was interesting. Who uses it? Id like to know.

[MysteriousBtrain]

3 minutes ago, Italianstallion said:

The recent extension to Main St. was interesting. Who uses it? Id like to know.

Its more or less Asians riding the route from Main St to around Junction Blvd and then some.

[Calvin]

I heard of the S40 is being extended near the Amazon center (not sure when)

[SevenEleven]

11 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

New pick and the same BS.  Had a driver that is just an idiot as usual.  I got into with him several months ago about going down the wrong way.  Well he starts off the pick doing the same crap. He's supposed to go down Riverdale Avenue and skip Spuyten Duyvil.  After being reminded, then he comes back around.  At least he didn't get stuck on the Deegan as he usually does BS-ing.  Commutes for Staten Islanders are even worse today than they were before school started... Should be a real fun pick.  I think by the end of September I'm switching back to Metro-North in the morning. Can't be bothered with the nonsense.

645am and already an accident upstairs on the bridge and a disabled car that highway patrol wouldn't even try and push to the shoulder. The traffic and the dumb drivers are back for the season!