Express Bus Advocacy Group

[7-express]

On 9/15/2022 at 11:05 AM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Was the destination signage correct? There aren't any dead spots along 6th Av, but some QM express buses won't track because the signage is incorrect or "NOT IN SERVICE" is put up. 

The other issue is sometimes buses track as Midtown buses when they are Queens bound buses, but that doesn't happen too much. I worked on a similar issue with the  for some BM lines Downtown where they pulled buses from service to fix the GPS issues because they were tracking intermittently.  Need more info on this one...

The QM2 does have one area that is a dead spot over by 162nd and Powells Cove Blvd where every QM2 disappears after that stop then re-appears later up by the Cross Island Parkway & 160th St.

IIRC, the destination sign was set up correctly.  For now, I'll just chalk it up to a glitchy GPS that just took a while to sync up.

I have noticed some EB QM2/20s being listed as Midtown buses and don't correct on BusTime until it gets to Rockefeller Center or so, even if the destination sign is set up correctly.  So I'm not sure what's up with that but I can generally figure out what's approaching based on the schedule.

Another weird BusTime quirk is that passenger counts on the newer Prevost buses (13xx, 14xx) don't always show up on some buses during the pickup section of the route.  I thought all of the newer Prevosts come with passenger counters now so I just thought it was odd it wasn't showing all the time.  For example, bus 1334 operating as a QM2 today didn't show a passenger counter in Manhattan but by the time it started dropping passengers off in Queens, it started displaying passenger counts again.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

51 minutes ago, 7-express said:

IIRC, the destination sign was set up correctly.  For now, I'll just chalk it up to a glitchy GPS that just took a while to sync up.

I have noticed some EB QM2/20s being listed as Midtown buses and don't correct on BusTime until it gets to Rockefeller Center or so, even if the destination sign is set up correctly.  So I'm not sure what's up with that but I can generally figure out what's approaching based on the schedule.

Another weird BusTime quirk is that passenger counts on the newer Prevost buses (13xx, 14xx) don't always show up on some buses during the pickup section of the route.  I thought all of the newer Prevosts come with passenger counters now so I just thought it was odd it wasn't showing all the time.  For example, bus 1334 operating as a QM2 today didn't show a passenger counter in Manhattan but by the time it started dropping passengers off in Queens, it started displaying passenger counts again.

Yeah, sometimes BusTime screws up with the Queens bound buses. I have seen that here and there, but as you said, usually it is corrected later on along the route.

As for passenger counters, yes, all the new express buses have counters, but that doesn't mean they always work. lol These new express buses are absolute garbage. Some already have parts of the overhead area dangling from screws falling out. On occasion, there's a BusTime glitch where the passenger counts don't show, but that would be a systemwide thing. When that happens, usually the  is alerted and the tech folks fix the problem.

[7-express]

Are CP drivers trying something new now?  For two days in a row with two different drivers, my WB bus in the AM has gone via the Van Wyck to the LIE instead of the GCP to HHP to the LIE.  Unfortunately, this nullifies any time savings since the Van Wyck to the LIE crawls with heavy traffic until Maspeth.  The GCP to HHP to LIE route saves a bunch more time by bypassing most of that traffic.  Not sure what they're trying out here but it's costing run time.

[IAlam]

On 9/27/2022 at 7:10 AM, 7-express said:

Are CP drivers trying something new now?  For two days in a row with two different drivers, my WB bus in the AM has gone via the Van Wyck to the LIE instead of the GCP to HHP to the LIE.  Unfortunately, this nullifies any time savings since the Van Wyck to the LIE crawls with heavy traffic until Maspeth.  The GCP to HHP to LIE route saves a bunch more time by bypassing most of that traffic.  Not sure what they're trying out here but it's costing run time.

I see that happen a lot during off peak runs but for peak trips that's a bad idea.

[QM1to6Ave]

On 9/27/2022 at 7:10 AM, 7-express said:

Are CP drivers trying something new now?  For two days in a row with two different drivers, my WB bus in the AM has gone via the Van Wyck to the LIE instead of the GCP to HHP to the LIE.  Unfortunately, this nullifies any time savings since the Van Wyck to the LIE crawls with heavy traffic until Maspeth.  The GCP to HHP to LIE route saves a bunch more time by bypassing most of that traffic.  Not sure what they're trying out here but it's costing run time.

Interesting. I've been off this week so haven't been taking the QMs but will keep an eye out next week

[7-express]

16 hours ago, IAlam said:

I see that happen a lot during off peak runs but for peak trips that's a bad idea.

Yeah it's fine for off-peak runs but this was an early AM bus so it really didn't make much sense. 

The only other time that had happened before was during the freak early morning downpours a couple weeks back where the GCP was flooded but that made sense then to use the Van Wyck to get around it.

[ViaWaterViaChurch]

I took the 6:50am QM32 on Tuesday and the 6:30am QM32 on Thursday and they went via the GCP. 

[Lawrence St]

@Via Garibaldi 8 since when was the stop at 5th & 26th discontinued??

[Via Garibaldi 8]

12 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

@Via Garibaldi 8 since when was the stop at 5th & 26th discontinued??

Sometime ago it was moved to 27th & 5th to mitigate congestion concerns because too many buses ended at or around 23rd & 5th. It's literally half a block away. Not a big deal.

[7-express]

Do you have any contacts at the DOT you can ask about the Northern Blvd bus lane and when that will get going?  The original presentation from earlier this year said Summer/Fall implementation but I have yet to see any construction or prep work for this to happen.

[Lawrence St]

22 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Sometime ago it was moved to 27th & 5th to mitigate congestion concerns because too many buses ended at or around 23rd & 5th. It's literally half a block away. Not a big deal.

It’s a big deal, where was the public notice that this stop was being discontinued? I missed an interview because I thought 26th St was still a stop.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

59 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

It’s a big deal, where was the public notice that this stop was being discontinued? I missed an interview because I thought 26th St was still a stop.

You're a little late to the party. There were notices put up years ago when they moved it from 26th St to 27th St. That change was from before the pandemic. I know it was because when I had to meet clients Downtown and needed the BxM18, sometimes we were dumped off there at 27th St & put on another BxM18 to continue Downtown, so it's definitely not new.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

It’s a big deal, where was the public notice that this stop was being discontinued? I missed an interview because I thought 26th St was still a stop.

Look, the confusion part can be annoying and all sure. However, my question is, why would you give yourself such little time to get to an interview, to the point that you ended up missing it because you went one stop further? 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

17 hours ago, 7-express said:

Do you have any contacts at the DOT you can ask about the Northern Blvd bus lane and when that will get going?  The original presentation from earlier this year said Summer/Fall implementation but I have yet to see any construction or prep work for this to happen.

I could reach out and ask, but the DOT is quite large and my contact is not in that department, but I'm sure they could inquire if I can't find the info myself.  Earlier on though, DOT projects were on hold for a bit until the City Council passed the latest budget, so they are now playing catch-up to say the least.  They do not have a large crew, so it all depends on availability and they try to do such projects without incurring OT to keep costs down.  There's a department for each process.  A crew for milling and paving, a crew for street markings, etc. You get the idea. I'll take a look when I have a chance and see what I find.

[7-express]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I could reach out and ask, but the DOT is quite large and my contact is not in that department, but I'm sure they could inquire if I can't find the info myself.  Earlier on though, DOT projects were on hold for a bit until the City Council passed the latest budget, so they are now playing catch-up to say the least.  They do not have a large crew, so it all depends on availability and they try to do such projects without incurring OT to keep costs down.  There's a department for each process.  A crew for milling and paving, a crew for street markings, etc. You get the idea. I'll take a look when I have a chance and see what I find.

Thanks...Northern has definitely been getting bogged down over the last two months with school back in session.  So much so that some of my PM rush buses back to Bay Terrace have been flipping over to either Astoria Blvd or the GCP just to avoid the mess.

[checkmatechamp13]

3 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Look, the confusion part can be annoying and all sure. However, my question is, why would you give yourself such little time to get to an interview, to the point that you ended up missing it because you went one stop further? 

To be fair, the next stop after 27th Street is Lispenard Street, so to go down and go back up, I could see how it would take a good 30-40 minutes. (On the other hand, why would you assume that it would stop at 26th after having already stopped at 27th?)

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, 7-express said:

Thanks...Northern has definitely been getting bogged down over the last two months with school back in session.  So much so that some of my PM rush buses back to Bay Terrace have been flipping over to either Astoria Blvd or the GCP just to avoid the mess.

To be clear, what the DOT presented was a proposal, not necessarily something that will definitely be implemented.  Usually what happens is the DOT draws up a plan and presents it before the Community Board, gathers feedback from stakeholders (i.e. members of the public, etc.), then sees if there are any objections or other issues with the plan and then comes back to confirm if the project will proceed. I can't find anything aside from the presentation, therefore, I've reached out to see what I can ascertain.

Edited October 13, 2022 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Lawrence St]

1 hour ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

To be fair, the next stop after 27th Street is Lispenard Street, so to go down and go back up, I could see how it would take a good 30-40 minutes. (On the other hand, why would you assume that it would stop at 26th after having already stopped at 27th?)

It didn’t stop at 27th but that was my fault as I rung the bell after we left 28th St, driver assumed I was getting off at the next drop off.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

17 hours ago, 7-express said:

Thanks...Northern has definitely been getting bogged down over the last two months with school back in session.  So much so that some of my PM rush buses back to Bay Terrace have been flipping over to either Astoria Blvd or the GCP just to avoid the mess.

So I have some answers for you, as someone I've dealt with before reached out to me.  The deal is that there are two construction projects scheduled in that area - the Northern Blvd corridor for bus improvements and the 34th Av corridor. CB3 had some concerns about having both corridors under construction at the same time, so the thinking was to do one at a time.  The 34th Av corridor is close to being completed.  After that, the plan is to come back before the Community Board with updates and then go from there. Because paving season is almost over and because of the size and scope of the Northern Blvd project, it's likely that it won't begin until 2023 when it is warm enough to resume such construction projects, provided that no other concerns are raised by any community members.

As I mentioned earlier, one other hold up was that we had a change in administration, so there are always delays when that happens in addition to finalizing the budget, so that too had an impact on projects starting.  I've been promised that I'll be given updates, so feel free to ask and I'll provide any info that I have.

Edited October 14, 2022 by Via Garibaldi 8

[7-express]

Great thanks for getting some additional details...I'll pass it onto some other folks I know who travel the corridor.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

34 minutes ago, 7-express said:

Great thanks for getting some additional details...I'll pass it onto some other folks I know who travel the corridor.

Yeah the project will be happening. It seems that everyone was receptive of it, so that's the good news. The one thing I did not inquire about during our chat was if there are any plans to implement Transit Signal Priority. As you know, Northern Blvd isn't the fastest of corridors, so even with the bus lane, bus speeds won't be insanely faster, but slightly better. That said, if the buses can continue to move without hitting so many lights as it currently does, that would certainly help.

Edited October 15, 2022 by Via Garibaldi 8

[7-express]

13 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Yeah the project will be happening. It seems that everyone was receptive of it, so that's the good news. The one thing I did not inquire about during our chat was if there are any plans to implement Transit Signal Priority. As you know, Northern Blvd isn't the fastest of corridors, so even with the bus lane, bus speeds won't be insanely faster, but slightly better. That said, if the buses can continue to move without hitting so many lights as it currently does, that would certainly help.

TSP will certainly help though I'm not what their policy of implementing it on routes that already have the "green wave" during rush hour is.  It would definitely help for off hours EB runs (outside of 3PM-8PM) when the green wave isn't active on Northern Blvd.

[Lawrence St]

I don't agree with the last drop-off stop for the BxM3 being in Getty Square, it should instead be on Prospect St on the side of Popeyes. Then again, most operators do drop off on that side, so I'm not sure where the "official" last stop is.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

I don't agree with the last drop-off stop for the BxM3 being in Getty Square, it should instead be on Prospect St on the side of Popeyes. Then again, most operators do drop off on that side, so I'm not sure where the "official" last stop is.

But there is a stop by South Broadway & Prospect...

[Lawrence St]

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

But there is a stop by South Broadway & Prospect...

That’s South Broadway & Nepperhan…