Express Bus Advocacy Group

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, BrooklynBus said:

What you state is typical of the MTA. They mislead and they lie. Byford stated the plans will be consumer driven. If that was really the case, they would come to these sessions and ask what the problems are from the consumers viewpoint and how do they think these problems should be addressed. That doesn't mean they have to accept every suggestion that is made, but they should at least evaluate them from an objective viewpoint. 

But what you get from the MTA is illusion. They want you to think they are listening to you and you are deciding the plan, when all along they have their own ideas of what they want to do and will pursue them regardless of what they are told. Nothing has changed. 

Their plan is to eliminate parallel routes to save money. So they ask if you prefer frequency or coverage without fully explaining their plan. Then they eliminate half the bus stops and a third of the routes, but increase service on the remaining routes by 25 percent, not 33 percent, so the net result is a cut in service. Then they can say since most people chose frequency, they are only doing what most people wanted and if you oppose their plans, you are in the minority and it's your fault for not speaking up and voicing your opinion. 

I've been around long enough to be aware of their tactics. 

Just look at how they went about the B82 SBS. They promised a Southwest Brooklyn route from Bay Ridge across southern Brooklyn to increase accessibility and got federal funding for that. Without explanation, it became a B82 SBS. Did they ever ask riders for their suggestions or if they thought SBS was the solution? No. They predetermined SBS as the solution. Then they asked riders for the problems. Of course they got the predicted results: buses are unreliable, they bunch,  waits are too long, buses get stuck in traffic, buses are overcrowded, etc, Then they say that everyone supports SBS because it will make buses more reliable, more frequent and less crowded and exclusive bus lanes and longer buses will do all that. 

When the truth was that exclusive lanes on the wide portion of Kings Highway did not make buses go any faster because their own data (which you had to hunt for in several separate presentations) showed average bus speed was already exceeding 20 mph on that portion of Kings Highway. All those lanes did was tie up other traffic. 

Did they ask people if the route needed to be broken up, changed or extended to Gateway Shopping Center or JFK? No. Because they had no intention of doing any of that. When I submitted ideas to DOT because there was nothing on the MTA website, where most people would look for the plan, they only responded with a form letter but never discussed anything I wrote with me, because what I asked for did not fit any of their plans. 

I didn't attend any of the meetings for precisely the reason that I knew it would be a waste of time. 

Also, when I used to work in Downtown Brooklyn, my return trip was usually different from my going to work trip because I didn't mind it taking a little longer if I was more comfortable and got a seat. I am sure many people think this way, but as you said, they don't want to hear that because it doesn't fit into their nice neat boxes. They can't listen, because interpretation of MetroCard data assumes everyone makes the same trip both ways, and if that isn't true for many riders, that messes up all their statistics. 

The fact that they are struggling to make service around the City with express bus trips tells me all I need to know. They are also trying to do away with schedules that show when buses are due. That is not customer focused at all.

[BrooklynBus]

2 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The fact that they are struggling to make service around the City with express bus trips tells me all I need to know. They are also trying to do away with schedules that show when buses are due. That is not customer focused at all.

Their Performance Dashboard is a joke. It shows only statistics that make them look good. We all know buses cannot meet their schedules so some scheduled trips are missed or partially completed so many trips are not made. And some buses do not pick up passengers because they use Next Bus Please to make up time. Also some runs are not filled due to unavailable operators. 

Does the Dashboard show any of this? No. It only shows percentage of trips that are not completed due to bus breakdowns which is something like only 3 percent. The implication is that 97 percent of scheduled trips are fully completed which is far from the truth. 

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

Some QM24 observances:

The 6:00 PM and 6:30 PM departures are on 57 Street. Both are close to bunching, with the 6:00 PM QM24 over 30 minutes late. Unacceptable when the QM24 runs every 30 minutes. 

 

There needs to be some sort of plan (maybe including flexible reroutes) on the express bus routes along 6th Avenue. One of the main issues during this time of year is the big crowds along the Rockefeller Center area. Bus lanes should have been there a long time ago, but also need to be enforced. 

What I would consider is the following. It's not perfect, but it's the best possible scenario without sending buses into the traffic around Rockefeller:

Weekdays from 3-7 PM

QM3, QM15, QM16, QM17, QM18, QM20:

Regular route to 42 Street, then right on 42 Street, left on Madison, and right on 57 Street (59 Street fot the QM3).

The 44 Street stop on the QM15-18 would be made at the M42 stop at 42 Street & 6 Avenue.

 

QM10, QM12, QM24:

From 34 Street, right on 8 Avenue, right on 57 Street, and resume regular route:

 

QM1, QM2, QM4, QM5, QM6:

Regular route until 41 Street, then left on 40th, right on 8th, and right on 57th. 

 

Weekdays from 7 PM-End of Service

Saturdays from 2 PM-End of Service

QM2, QM4, QM5, QM6, QM15

Regular route to 42 Street, then right on 42 Street, left on Madison, and right on 57 Street 

The 44 Street stop on the QM15 would be made at the M42 stop at 42nd & 6th

Edited November 1, 2018 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[QM1to6Ave]

13 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Some QM24 observances:

The 6:00 PM and 6:30 PM departures are on 57 Street. Both are close to bunching, with the 6:00 PM QM24 over 30 minutes late. Unacceptable when the QM24 runs every 30 minutes. 

 

There needs to be some sort of plan (maybe including flexible rerouted) on the express bus routes along 6th Avenue. One of the main issues during this time of year is the big crowds along the Rockefeller Center area. Bus lanes should have been there a long time ago, but also need to be enforced. 

It also doesn't help that the bus lanes on 57 street in front of Trump tower are useless because of the security barriers which make the lane too small for buses  

[Via Garibaldi 8]

35 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Some QM24 observances:

The 6:00 PM and 6:30 PM departures are on 57 Street. Both are close to bunching, with the 6:00 PM QM24 over 30 minutes late. Unacceptable when the QM24 runs every 30 minutes. 

 

There needs to be some sort of plan (maybe including flexible rerouted) on the express bus routes along 6th Avenue. One of the main issues during this time of year is the big crowds along the Rockefeller Center area. Bus lanes should have been there a long time ago, but also need to be enforced. 

Speaking of which, I've been tracking several express buses for the last few weeks along 6th Avenue and I'm using the BxM2 as an example at my meeting next week with the  and the planners who will also be there.  What is really pissing me off is how so many of these buses are actually arriving at the Southbound terminal ON-TIME to layover, and then they leave the Northbound terminal LATE, 10-20 minutes late.  I've been tracking the BxM2 from 16:00 until 19:00 and with the exception of one or two buses, all of the others have left the terminal LATE causing bunching.  The 19:00 is MIA currently and now almost 20 minutes late.  

---

Some updates. Today I finally finalized a meeting with the .  We'll have several folks there looking at the entire express bus network including planners to look at specific trips.  We want answers to the following (among other things):

1. How many bus lanes exist on 6th Avenue and from where to where do they run and when can they be clearly marked? As it stands now there is no separation between the express buses and cars on 6th and cars park and sit EVERYWHERE causing buses to crawl at times and fight to get into bus stops.

2. Why are there so many cases in which drivers arrive to layover early, but then start their trips late?  We've been studying some trips for the past few weeks and we notice a pattern with certain trips constantly late due to the driver starting the trip late despite laying over on-time, and most of these trips are during rush hour, so it causes severe bunching.  We have screen shots for examples.  We want drivers leaving the terminal on-time unless they arrive at the terminal late to start their trip. No sitting around.

3. Who supplies the Wi-Fi and why is it so unreliable? It's been an ongoing complaint now from riders ALL over the express bus system and if the  can't offer reliable Wi-Fi then they need to not offer it as it's false advertising.  In some cases, when riders try to use it, they are prompted for a password for what's supposed to be a non-secure set up.

4. Who is it that is ordering passengers on QM express buses to be kicked off at 36th and 6th? Is it College Point Depot? Dispatch? Individual drivers? Who? Why aren't riders being given any notice and why is this permitted?  We want this changed. Unacceptable.

5. We will be pushing for no right turns on 5th Avenue during peak periods and seeing if left turns can be permitted in certain areas for express buses only so that they don't spend several lights stuck trying to turn on certain corridors.

6. Maintenance... Why are depots having such issues making service (missing and late buses) and why are buses not being cleaned regularly? Some buses are showing up trashed on their first trips of the morning, and we've rode on others with floors that were filthy and never appear to have been touched by a mop.  Unacceptable.

7. Why are so many lines seeing SRO conditions or having people left behind?  We're getting this complaint all over Staten Island, on the X27, X28, X37, X38, QM15, QM5, QM6, and a few others as well.

8. Why has traffic signal priority been so slow to roll out and when can we expect it to start seeing it rolled out on express bus lines?

9. Requests about HOV lanes and more bus lanes and lack of enforcement. Potential possible permanent solutions.

10. Inquiry about a cap on tour buses and Ubers, Lyfts

11. Update on the new payment system and phasing out of Metrocard

12. On-time performance metric, review of on-time performance, and what measures (if any) the agency is taking to improve on-time performance aside from the elongation of the schedules. In other words, what is being done to speed up trips and improve on-time performance and reliability based on the Comptroller's Report from 2015?

13. Comments regarding the Bronx re-design and recommendations

14. Comments regarding why the Staten Island re-design isn't working and recommendations

15. Weekend detours and planned detours,  QM run times during weekends and calls to change the run-times so that buses aren't constantly 10 minutes or more hot.  Also calls to have more accurate detour information for planned trips and FEWER events on major avenues that hamper express bus service.  

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Via Garibaldi 8]

On 10/27/2018 at 4:05 PM, BrooklynBus said:

Their Performance Dashboard is a joke. It shows only statistics that make them look good. We all know buses cannot meet their schedules so some scheduled trips are missed or partially completed so many trips are not made. And some buses do not pick up passengers because they use Next Bus Please to make up time. Also some runs are not filled due to unavailable operators. 

Does the Dashboard show any of this? No. It only shows percentage of trips that are not completed due to bus breakdowns which is something like only 3 percent. The implication is that 97 percent of scheduled trips are fully completed which is far from the truth. 

I told them that we want to review their on-time metric (they didn't have one for express buses prior to the Comptroller's Audit in 2015) and we want it changed. They did agree that they would review it and explain it. I suggested that it be simplified so that any lay person can understand it. I mean this shouldn't be rocket science. It should be okay, here's the schedule, and this is what time the bus came. It either arrived late or on-time and then if you want to say that if a bus comes say 5 minutes after the due time, it's still considered on-time fine, but that's a very simple metric to use to evaluate service.  They do something similar with the trains, and yes I know that they don't have obstructions, but the point is it's simple to understand how they arrive at their on-time metric, and it should be simple for buses too.

[Lil 57]

1 hour ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

QM10, QM12, QM24:

 From 34 Street, right on 8 Avenue, right on 57 Street, and resume regular route:

Looking at the 1995 Express Bus Map and the QM24 did exactly that. Ran via 8th Ave rather than 6th Ave.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

6 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

Looking at the 1995 Express Bus Map and the QM24 did exactly that. Ran via 8th Ave rather than 6th Ave.

They were moved from 8th to 6th to be more centralized and provide uniformity. 

1 hour ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Some QM24 observances:

The 6:00 PM and 6:30 PM departures are on 57 Street. Both are close to bunching, with the 6:00 PM QM24 over 30 minutes late. Unacceptable when the QM24 runs every 30 minutes. 

 

There needs to be some sort of plan (maybe including flexible reroutes) on the express bus routes along 6th Avenue. One of the main issues during this time of year is the big crowds along the Rockefeller Center area. Bus lanes should have been there a long time ago, but also need to be enforced. 

What I would consider is the following. It's not perfect, but it's the best possible scenario without sending buses into the traffic around Rockefeller:

Weekdays from 3-7 PM

QM3, QM15, QM16, QM17, QM18, QM20:

Regular route to 42 Street, then right on 42 Street, left on Madison, and right on 57 Street (59 Street fot the QM3).

The 44 Street stop on the QM15-18 would be made at the M42 stop at 42 Street & 6 Avenue.

 

QM10, QM12, QM24:

From 34 Street, right on 8 Avenue, right on 57 Street, and resume regular route:

 

QM1, QM2, QM4, QM5, QM6:

Regular route until 41 Street, then left on 40th, right on 8th, and right on 57th. 

 

Weekdays from 7 PM-End of Service

Saturdays from 2 PM-End of Service

QM2, QM4, QM5, QM6, QM15

Regular route to 42 Street, then right on 42 Street, left on Madison, and right on 57 Street 

The 44 Street stop on the QM15 would be made at the M42 stop at 42nd & 6th

I don't support this. I would much rather them stay on 6th with some sort of traffic plan in place and double bus lanes.  Some stops near Rockefeller Center can be shut down as they already do and riders can use other stops, thus allowing express buses to bypass that area.  My concern is that detouring them on 8th will lead to confused riders and drivers taking advantage by skipping parts of the detour as we've witnessed now on several occasions.  

Edited November 2, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

48 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

They were moved from 8th to 6th to be more centralized and provide uniformity. 

I don't support this. I would much rather them stay on 6th with some sort of traffic plan in place and double bus lanes.  Some stops near Rockefeller Center can be shut down as they already do and riders can use other stops, thus allowing express buses to bypass that area.  My concern is that detouring them on 8th will lead to confused riders and drivers taking advantage by skipping parts of the detour as we've witnessed now on several occasions.  

I would prefer them to stay on 6th Avenue as well, but the issue is that even with all stop reconfiguration, the traffic is just very slow moving, especially on weekends. I've been on buses before where the buses have taken more than an hour to get out of Manhattan. If there can be some sort of traffic plan in place, that would be wonderful, but since we don't have the double bus lanes on 6th Avenue, that's really the next best thing. Something needs to be done.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

5 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

I would prefer them to stay on 6th Avenue as well, but the issue is that even with all stop reconfiguration, the traffic is just very slow moving, especially on weekends. I've been on buses before where the buses have taken more than an hour to get out of Manhattan. If there can be some sort of traffic plan in place, that would be wonderful, but since we don't have the double bus lanes on 6th Avenue, that's really the next best thing. Something needs to be done.

Well it isn't clear what bus lanes exist because they're worn out, which is what I want confirmation on.  The DOT is taking FOREVER to finish Madison Avenue. They do one stupid block and they do it at the heart of the morning rush.

[BrooklynBus]

2 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I told them that we want to review their on-time metric (they didn't have one for express buses prior to the Comptroller's Audit in 2015) and we want it changed. They did agree that they would review it and explain it. I suggested that it be simplified so that any lay person can understand it. I mean this shouldn't be rocket science. It should be okay, here's the schedule, and this is what time the bus came. It either arrived late or on-time and then if you want to say that if a bus comes say 5 minutes after the due time, it's still considered on-time fine, but that's a very simple metric to use to evaluate service.  They do something similar with the trains, and yes I know that they don't have obstructions, but the point is it's simple to understand how they arrive at their on-time metric, and it should be simple for buses too.

From what I saw of the Dashboard, everything was aggregated into 30 day periods so you can see trends from month to month. They were first breaking it down by route which has t been completed yet.  

[BrooklynBus]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Speaking of which, I've been tracking several express buses for the last few weeks along 6th Avenue and I'm using the BxM2 as an example at my meeting next week with the  and the planners who will also be there.  What is really pissing me off is how so many of these buses are actually arriving at the Southbound terminal ON-TIME to layover, and then they leave the Northbound terminal LATE, 10-20 minutes late.  I've been tracking the BxM2 from 16:00 until 19:00 and with the exception of one or two buses, all of the others have left the terminal LATE causing bunching.  The 19:00 is MIA currently and now almost 20 minutes late.  

---

Some updates. Today I finally finalized a meeting with the .  We'll have several folks there looking at the entire express bus network including planners to look at specific trips.  We want answers to the following (among other things):

1. How many bus lanes exist on 6th Avenue and from where to where do they run and when can they be clearly marked? As it stands now there is no separation between the express buses and cars on 6th and cars park and sit EVERYWHERE causing buses to crawl at times and fight to get into bus stops.

2. Why are there so many cases in which drivers arrive to layover early, but then start their trips late?  We've been studying some trips for the past few weeks and we notice a pattern with certain trips constantly late due to the driver starting the trip late despite laying over on-time, and most of these trips are during rush hour, so it causes severe bunching.  We have screen shots for examples.  We want drivers leaving the terminal on-time unless they arrive at the terminal late to start their trip. No sitting around.

3. Who supplies the Wi-Fi and why is it so unreliable? It's been an ongoing complaint now from riders ALL over the express bus system and if the  can't offer reliable Wi-Fi then they need to not offer it as it's false advertising.  In some cases, when riders try to use it, they are prompted for a password for what's supposed to be a non-secure set up.

4. Who is it that is ordering passengers on QM express buses to be kicked off at 36th and 6th? Is it College Point Depot? Dispatch? Individual drivers? Who? Why aren't riders being given any notice and why is this permitted?  We want this changed. Unacceptable.

5. We will be pushing for no right turns on 5th Avenue during peak periods and seeing if left turns can be permitted in certain areas for express buses only so that they don't spend several lights stuck trying to turn on certain corridors.

6. Maintenance... Why are depots having such issues making service (missing and late buses) and why are buses not being cleaned regularly? Some buses are showing up trashed on their first trips of the morning, and we've rode on others with floors that were filthy and never appear to have been touched by a mop.  Unacceptable.

7. Why are so many lines seeing SRO conditions or having people left behind?  We're getting this complaint all over Staten Island, on the X27, X28, X37, X38, QM15, QM5, QM6, and a few others as well.

8. Why has traffic signal priority been so slow to roll out and when can we expect it to start seeing it rolled out on express bus lines?

9. Requests about HOV lanes and more bus lanes and lack of enforcement. Potential possible permanent solutions.

10. Inquiry about a cap on tour buses and Ubers, Lyfts

11. Update on the new payment system and phasing out of Metrocard

12. On-time performance metric, review of on-time performance, and what measures (if any) the agency is taking to improve on-time performance aside from the elongation of the schedules. In other words, what is being done to speed up trips and improve on-time performance and reliability based on the Comptroller's Report from 2015?

13. Comments regarding the Bronx re-design and recommendations

14. Comments regarding why the Staten Island re-design isn't working and recommendations

15. Weekend detours and planned detours,  QM run times during weekends and calls to change the run-times so that buses aren't constantly 10 minutes or more hot.  Also calls to have more accurate detour information for planned trips and FEWER events on major avenues that hamper express bus service.  

 

 

 

Good luck on getting some answers. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

15 hours ago, BrooklynBus said:

Good luck on getting some answers. 

I want the EXPRESS back in express bus service. These buses used to move.  The fact that some trips now take almost double the time that they used to take is absurd. We have to get these buses moving again.

[ViaWaterViaChurch]

The QM24 has a lot going against it, during the holidays or UN week I've seen it take up to an hour to do it's PM pickup.  It's one of the few buses that has to pick up on 34th Street which is unfortunate because that can easily add 10 to 15 minutes on a bad day to the already awful 6th avenue pick up route.  Though the goal should not be cutting an entire line of pickups to speed up service.  However, bunching with the 6:30pm bus is absolutely infuriating.  There's no worse feeling during your commute when you see the bus that left 30 minutes later than your bus either a stop or two behind you or even pass you up, especially since LaGuardia is so varied as you have some truly great drivers that do their best to go around traffic and get you to where you gotta be, and some really bad drivers who just seem content with driving 35 miles an hour on an open LIE, waiting at the end of the line to get onto the lower level of the LIE (or worse, just taking the top of the LIE), etc.

The 6th avenue pickup route is awful.  It takes the QM2 35 minutes at peak times just to pick up along 6th avenue and 59th and those guys haul ass and hardly kneel the bus compared to the always courteous drivers from LaGuardia.  

6th Avenue is just getting worse and worse, between the wall of pedestrians crossing 6th and 34th causing a back up onto 34th street, the nonexistent "bus lane" because everyone needs to make rights in the CBD, too many pickup stops on the route causing drivers to have to cut across 2 lanes of traffic (since they can't actually use the bus lane) just as they're starting to get moving, and the absolute crawl of 57th/59th street toward the bridge is insane.  

On an unrelated note, I wish there would be enforced no standing along 59th street between 4-7pm.  Too often do I see double parked trucks or T-cabs just sitting on 59th street turning 3 lanes into 1 lane causing huge bottlenecks that make traffic even worse.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

12 minutes ago, ViaWaterViaChurch said:

The QM24 has a lot going against it, during the holidays or UN week I've seen it take up to an hour to do it's PM pickup.  It's one of the few buses that has to pick up on 34th Street which is unfortunate because that can easily add 10 to 15 minutes on a bad day to the already awful 6th avenue pick up route.  Though the goal should not be cutting an entire line of pickups to speed up service.  However, bunching with the 6:30pm bus is absolutely infuriating.  There's no worse feeling during your commute when you see the bus that left 30 minutes later than your bus either a stop or two behind you or even pass you up, especially since LaGuardia is so varied as you have some truly great drivers that do their best to go around traffic and get you to where you gotta be, and some really bad drivers who just seem content with driving 35 miles an hour on an open LIE, waiting at the end of the line to get onto the lower level of the LIE (or worse, just taking the top of the LIE), etc.

The 6th avenue pickup route is awful.  It takes the QM2 35 minutes at peak times just to pick up along 6th avenue and 59th and those guys haul ass and hardly kneel the bus compared to the always courteous drivers from LaGuardia.  

6th Avenue is just getting worse and worse, between the wall of pedestrians crossing 6th and 34th causing a back up onto 34th street, the nonexistent "bus lane" because everyone needs to make rights in the CBD, too many pickup stops on the route causing drivers to have to cut across 2 lanes of traffic (since they can't actually use the bus lane) just as they're starting to get moving, and the absolute crawl of 57th/59th street toward the bridge is insane.  

On an unrelated note, I wish there would be enforced no standing along 59th street between 4-7pm.  Too often do I see double parked trucks or T-cabs just sitting on 59th street turning 3 lanes into 1 lane causing huge bottlenecks that make traffic even worse.

6th Avenue is on our list regarding changes we want made. We have been tracking a number of express bus lines actively for the last few weeks during rush hour to study patterns and service has been abysmal. Part of the issue is that there appears to be at least one bus lane but cars are always in it because it is so worn out. We want to understand how many bus lanes exist and we want double bus lanes on 6th. There is also too many cars double parking EVERYWHERE. Out of control. We need a contingency plan for 6th Avenue aside from the BS that is done every year around the holidays because we need these buses moving.  I don’t want express buses being moved to 8th Avenue because that just moves the congestion from one place to another. We need an aggressive plan in place that restricts some traffic and allows the express buses to keep moving.

We also want the QM2 and QM20 back on 57th street. 59th is just too congested. Too many Ubers, Lyfts, etc., and on 57th we need the bus lane actually enforced.

I just have to say that the City should be doing this crap. It’s ridiculous that we have to create an advocacy group to have common sense things implemented regarding congestion and traffic. Mayor de Blasio loves promoting tourism but he and the City Council have allowed the congestion to reach this level and only now are people saying something about it. The DOT and the TLC are the main culprits. The TLC has been handing out licenses for Ubers and Lyfts non-stop. The result should be no surprise. We not only need congestion pricing but a restriction on these vehicles.

Edited November 3, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Lil 57]

I have made some improvements to Off-Peak SIM bus service. What are your opinions on this?

Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sOtyq23NeH9rDHK-MzoSInKTxv35dpbHbTX-aJ3qx5k/edit?usp=sharing

Map: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HJiYoWkziCvi0sYsh77KWGje19Dw61J0&usp=sharing

[Brillant93]

10 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

6th Avenue is on our list regarding changes we want made. We have been tracking a number of express bus lines actively for the last few weeks during rush hour to study patterns and service has been abysmal. Part of the issue is that there appears to be at least one bus lane but cars are always in it because it is so worn out. We want to understand how many bus lanes exist and we want double bus lanes on 6th. There is also too many cars double parking EVERYWHERE. Out of control. We need a contingency plan for 6th Avenue aside from the BS that is done every year around the holidays because we need these buses moving.  I don’t want express buses being moved to 8th Avenue because that just moves the congestion from one place to another. We need an aggressive plan in place that restricts some traffic and allows the express buses to keep moving.

We also want the QM2 and QM20 back on 57th street. 59th is just too congested. Too many Ubers, Lyfts, etc., and on 57th we need the bus lane actually enforced.

I just have to say that the City should be doing this crap. It’s ridiculous that we have to create an advocacy group to have common sense things implemented regarding congestion and traffic. Mayor de Blasio loves promoting tourism but he and the City Council have allowed the congestion to reach this level and only now are people saying something about it. The DOT and the TLC are the main culprits. The TLC has been handing out licenses for Ubers and Lyfts non-stop. The result should be no surprise. We not only need congestion pricing but a restriction on these vehicles.

It’s not just the city but everywhere else with congestion. Private vehicles just disregard any sort spaces degsinated for buses only. I see traffic cops do nothing and not even a single ticket for parking in places where they shouldn’t be. People have to disembark in the street because a car is parked in a bus stop which sometimes puts them in a dangerous position between the bus and a car. Cars in bus lanes and even with truck loading zones cars are parked in it. The DOT and NYPD need do something about it. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

16 minutes ago, Brillant93 said:

It’s not just the city but everywhere else with congestion. Private vehicles just disregard any sort spaces degsinated for buses only. I see traffic cops do nothing and not even a single ticket for parking in places where they shouldn’t be. People have to disembark in the street because a car is parked in a bus stop which sometimes puts them in a dangerous position between the bus and a car. Cars in bus lanes and even with truck loading zones cars are parked in it. The DOT and NYPD need do something about it. 

I agree, but since we’re talking about express bus service in Manhattan, that’s why I responded the way that I did.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

We are almost done with our list of recommendations for the Express Bus Network.  Most of the recommendations focus on stabilization of the system with a few requests for restorations of added trips.

We have given a great deal of attention overall to Queens in improving the customer experience, where we feel that customer service has been horrendous.  We will be pushing hard for a more customer focused environment, especially out of College Point Depot. We have not been pleased at all with some of the reports we've received from passengers out of that depot, and this Advocacy Group will be pushing VERY hard for managerial change at that depot, including speaking before the board if need be. Drivers refusing to do the loop, not kneeling for passengers, showing clear discrimination towards male passengers, skipping entire segments of the route during detours, etc. Completely unacceptable.  We want those days to come to an end.

Edited November 5, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Via Garibaldi 8]

We wrapped up our meeting with the MTA this morning a little while ago. It went VERY well. It was the sort of frank discussion that was needed to understand where both sides are, and we believe that we can work together to meet a number of goals going forward. Unfortunately the DOT was not present. All parties in the meeting agreed that we should have another meeting, next time with the DOT present to address a number of issues related to congestion, bus shelters and bus stops, as well as countdown clocks. Additionally, we will be sending information regarding specific trips that some of you have noted having problems with and looking to get answers to them, as the agency has said that want to address things under their control. We discussed a number of issues from on-time performance, the metrics the agency uses to assess it, to student Metrocards on express buses, to reinstating the discount for seniors during peak periods, to adjusting service to meet demand and so on. The consensus is that the agency does want to make service better, so our job as an Advocacy Group is to help them in areas with things like more HOV lanes, traffic signal priority, as well as the actual service so that it is more aligned with customers' needs to the extent possible. We also discussed technology being considered to deal with HOV and bus lane violators and that is a big topic that we will be following closely and advocating for. Service improvements at specific times will definitely be looked at (with fiscal constraints taken into consideration of course). 

Finally, the agency has said that the new payment system is on schedule to roll out on-time and should make things A LOT easier. You should even be able to pay with your phone similar to the e-Ticket system that Metro-North and the LIRR uses. Those without any high tech will be able to get cards to use for the system.

[danielhg121]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

We wrapped up our meeting with the MTA this morning a little while ago. It went VERY well. It was the sort of frank discussion that was needed to understand where both sides are, and we believe that we can work together to meet a number of goals going forward. Unfortunately the DOT was not present. All parties in the meeting agreed that we should have another meeting, next time with the DOT present to address a number of issues related to congestion, bus shelters and bus stops, as well as countdown clocks. Additionally, we will be sending information regarding specific trips that some of you have noted having problems with and looking to get answers to them, as the agency has said that want to address things under their control. We discussed a number of issues from on-time performance, the metrics the agency uses to assess it, to student Metrocards on express buses, to reinstating the discount for seniors during peak periods, to adjusting service to meet demand and so on. The consensus is that the agency does want to make service better, so our job as an Advocacy Group is to help them in areas with things like more HOV lanes, traffic signal priority, as well as the actual service so that it is more aligned with customers' needs to the extent possible. We also discussed technology being considered to deal with HOV and bus lane violators and that is a big topic that we will be following closely and advocating for. Service improvements at specific times will definitely be looked at (with fiscal constraints taken into consideration of course). 

Finally, the agency has said that the new payment system is on schedule to roll out on-time and should make things A LOT easier. You should even be able to pay with your phone similar to the e-Ticket system that Metro-North and the LIRR uses. Those without any high tech will be able to get cards to use for the system.

What did they say in response to express buses accepting Student Metrocards?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

15 minutes ago, danielhg121 said:

What did they say in response to express buses accepting Student Metrocards?

Well I used the example of some parents sending their kids to specialized schools and wanting to be able to use student Metrocards on express buses. The lady dealing with the Bronx express bus re-design practically jumped down my throat saying, no for ALL school kids that use the express bus, as if I was somehow prioritizing kids that go to specialized schools. LOL I was simply giving an example, so I clarified that. Anywho, I was told they would look into it because it could be that there are constraints with the Metrocard technology that may or may not allow for it, but given that we'll have a new system soon, it is something for them to look at and consider. A few parents have asked that their kids be able to dip the Metrocard, have the $2.75 noted or deducted from the farebox, and then the kids can pay the difference, so if for example you get three rides, you'd still get them and if you use the express bus, the idea would be that you pay the $3.75 difference for any express bus ride instead of the full $6.50 fare which obviously adds up over the school year and would save parents a nice piece of change. I have no idea what the final answer will be, but we will certainly follow up on it and push for it. It would essentially be a money loss for the  because they already cover the student Metrocards and eat the expense, so they would also be eating that $2.75 as well.

----

Speaking of discounts, they also balked originally at the request of allowing seniors to get half fare again all day, though at the end they said they would look at it. They stated that the express bus is a premium fare, and they want those that are paying the full fare to have a seat first and foremost, and used me as an example, as I buy a pass or pay full fare as I did this morning to ride. LOL I thought that was funny though trying to play the guilt game, but nevertheless, I'm still going to push for it. We think that seniors pay their fair share in taxes over time and should be able to ride half fare all. My retort was that they too have important places to be such as doctor's appointments in the City, so having that reduced fare will help them, though I suppose they may think that seniors using the express bus have the means to do so and aren't on a fixed income the way other seniors are so they can afford to pay the $6.50 fare.

Edited November 5, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Lil 57]

53 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Well I used the example of some parents sending their kids to specialized schools and wanting to be able to use student Metrocards on express buses. The lady dealing with the Bronx express bus re-design practically jumped down my throat saying, no for ALL school kids that use the express bus, as if I was somehow prioritizing kids that go to specialized schools. LOL I was simply giving an example, so I clarified that. Anywho, I was told they would look into it because it could be that there are constraints with the Metrocard technology that may or may not allow for it, but given that we'll have a new system soon, it is something for them to look at and consider. A few parents have asked that their kids be able to dip the Metrocard, have the $2.75 noted or deducted from the farebox, and then the kids can pay the difference, so if for example you get three rides, you'd still get them and if you use the express bus, the idea would be that you pay the $3.75 difference for any express bus ride instead of the full $6.50 fare which obviously adds up over the school year and would save parents a nice piece of change. I have no idea what the final answer will be, but we will certainly follow up on it and push for it. It would essentially be a money loss for the  because they already cover the student Metrocards and eat the expense, so they would also be eating that $2.75 as well.

----

Speaking of discounts, they also balked originally at the request of allowing seniors to get half fare again all day, though at the end they said they would look at it. They stated that the express bus is a premium fare, and they want those that are paying the full fare to have a seat first and foremost, and used me as an example, as I buy a pass or pay full fare as I did this morning to ride. LOL I thought that was funny though trying to play the guilt game, but nevertheless, I'm still going to push for it. We think that seniors pay their fair share in taxes over time and should be able to ride half fare all. My retort was that they too have important places to be such as doctor's appointments in the City, so having that reduced fare will help them, though I suppose they may think that seniors using the express bus have the means to do so and aren't on a fixed income the way other seniors are so they can afford to pay the $6.50 fare.

I also think that students should be able to put money on the student MetroCards so people won't have to be delayed because of kids putting $3.75 in coins in the farebox.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

I also think that students should be able to put money on the student MetroCards so people won't have to be delayed because of kids putting $3.75 in coins in the farebox.

Well the technology may not be there for them to do that. As I said, with the new system coming out, there should be much more flexibility in that regard.  They stated that people should even be able to pay with their cell phone like I do with Metro-North which is God send. Anytime I buy single tickets, I buy them in advance anywhere and go about my business. I bought a City Ticket twice yesterday. Makes life so much easier and you save time and energy.

[Union Tpke]

21 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

We are almost done with our list of recommendations for the Express Bus Network.  Most of the recommendations focus on stabilization of the system with a few requests for restorations of added trips.

We have given a great deal of attention overall to Queens in improving the customer experience, where we feel that customer service has been horrendous.  We will be pushing hard for a more customer focused environment, especially out of College Point Depot. We have not been pleased at all with some of the reports we've received from passengers out of that depot, and this Advocacy Group will be pushing VERY hard for managerial change at that depot, including speaking before the board if need be. Drivers refusing to do the loop, not kneeling for passengers, showing clear discrimination towards male passengers, skipping entire segments of the route during detours, etc. Completely unacceptable.  We want those days to come to an end.

I have heard bad things about local service from that depot as well. Thank you for bringing attention to this.