Express Bus Advocacy Group

[Lil 57]

1 minute ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

There are still PLENTY of old express bus stops around as well that have not been taken down going back to August.  Just shows how far behind the DOT is. 

It said that the SIM9 schedule was posted in October 2018.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Just now, Lil 57 said:

It said that the SIM9 schedule was posted in October 2018.

lol And it is completely wrong... There are bigger issues at the moment.  There's just too many changes to keep up with.  We have to deal with the following groups:

Department of Transportation (DOT) (NYC) = bus stops/signage, traffic issues, bus shelters, bus lanes

 - routes, schedules online, detour information online

Department of Transportation (DOT) (NY State) = HOV lanes

To name a few...

[SIMplicity]

4 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

There are SIX SIM30s coming now... One just made it past 6th. Two more coming now, and then three coming along 57th street...

It’s taking the buses like 10-15 minutes to make that turn onto 42nd right now. Those buses bunching on 57th are still very far. This bunching, and such a huge gap in service, is awful. Maybe we need a separate turn phase, even if it’s only like 7-10 seconds, at 42/5th so the buses can turn without worrying about pedestrians.

Aside from the pedestrian issue, and the issue of people turning right from 5th Ave bus lanes, here’s how I think you can easily fix the traffic at 42nd (well, at least improve it). The stop line (Stop here on red signal) on eastbound 42nd (at 5th Ave) should be moved back several yards. When the buses wait to turn right from 5th, they have to block both bus lanes. If you move the stop line on 42nd back a bit, the buses can turn from the right bus lane and leave the left one open. That will help the traffic. Could you swing this idea by DOT? @Via Garibaldi 8

[Via Garibaldi 8]

12 minutes ago, SIMplicity said:

It’s taking the buses like 10-15 minutes to make that turn onto 42nd right now. Those buses bunching on 57th are still very far. This bunching, and such a huge gap in service, is awful. Maybe we need a separate turn phase, even if it’s only like 7-10 seconds, at 42/5th so the buses can turn without worrying about pedestrians.

Aside from the pedestrian issue, and the issue of people turning right from 5th Ave bus lanes, here’s how I think you can easily fix the traffic at 42nd (well, at least improve it). The stop line (Stop here on red signal) on eastbound 42nd (at 5th Ave) should be moved back several yards. When the buses wait to turn right from 5th, they have to block both bus lanes. If you move the stop line on 42nd back a bit, the buses can turn from the right bus lane and leave the left one open. That will help the traffic. Could you swing this idea by DOT? @Via Garibaldi 8

I have not met with the DOT yet. The  requested them to attend my meeting on Monday on my behalf (I stressed the importance of them attending numerous times to the  but the  can only ask - can't force them to come), but they did not come, so I have no contact with the DOT yet.  That's a work in progress.  The plan is to have another meeting at a later date when the DOT can be there, but it may be a while since we just had elections yesterday.  I also would rather meet with the Comptroller's Office first before having another meeting with the  to go over on-time metrics and on-time performance. I have to set up a time this month that works for the both of us after things settle down a bit.  

Rest assured though that the other group I'm working with is looking into traffic issues for Staten Island express buses. Unfortunately, this is a VERY slow process. There are just too many changes and too much to address.  Every single day there's a crisis and so many car accidents delaying service.  It's never been this bad.  Part of this is clearly exacerbated by the number of Ubers and Lyfts. I told the agency Monday that there has to be a cap on them, not just a temporary one, but again the  doesn't control that.  That's the TLC. There are too many of them, they are all fighting for fares, and this is the result.  Constant car accidents every single day because these people can't drive.  That and more people driving because the  can't successfully run service properly.

Edited November 7, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Via Garibaldi 8]

It remains very clear that the  cannot meet service. These photos were sent to us by an express bus commuter in Bay Ridge:

This express bus broke down last night around 6pm. The driver waited for HOURS before someone came to get him and the bus. The passenger that took the photos offered him food and the chance to use the restroom, given how long he had been waiting.

Given the ongoing missing express bus saga and overcrowding happening all around the City, we will be following up with the Comptroller’s Office to inquire about having them perform an audit on express bus service as well as the maintenance of express buses. We are receiving reports of express buses out of Ulmer Park Depot being pulled from service only for them to be put BACK INTO SERVICE without being fixed. This is dangerous for the drivers and the passengers.

Edited November 8, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[MysteriousBtrain]

34 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It remains very clear that the  cannot meet service. These photos were sent to us by an express bus commuter in Bay Ridge:

This express bus broke down last night around 6pm. The driver waited for HOURS before someone came to get him and the bus. The passenger that took the photos offered him food and the chance to use the restroom, given how long he had been waiting.

Given the ongoing missing express bus saga and overcrowding happening all around the City, we will be following up with the Comptroller’s Office to inquire about having them perform an audit on express bus service as well as the maintenance of express buses. We are receiving reports of express buses out of Ulmer Park Depot being pulled from service only for them to be put BACK INTO SERVICE without being fixed. This is dangerous for the drivers and the passengers.

Can't really tell but is that an oil spill?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

4 minutes ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

Can't really tell but is that an oil spill?

Not sure, but the person who took the photo said something was leaking from the bus. This is the third or fourth report now about Ulmer Park Depot express buses having maintenance issues. There was the broken AC issue with the bus constantly going back into service with a sign up, this photo, the trip on the X28 we took with broken AC, and another report of various drivers noting that either they had to try several express buses before they could pull out or drivers being given buses that were supposed to be fixed but weren’t. Three of the four reports have happened in about the last month.

Edited November 9, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[QM1to6Ave]

My QM6 this morning has the paper MTA Bus Express service customer travel surveys on every seat. At first I thought it was old newspapers no one had cleaned up lol. I'm writing some not positive reviews, to put it mildly. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

23 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

My QM6 this morning has the paper MTA Bus Express service customer travel surveys on every seat. At first I thought it was old newspapers no one had cleaned up lol. I'm writing some not positive reviews, to put it mildly. 

Good... If they don’t start filling those damn QM1 trips, Mr. Buford will be hearing from me at the board meeting.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

In other news, a NEW BxM8 trip will be coming in Winter 2019 (this January) to alleviate overcrowding on the 05:45 BxM8 out of Pelham Bay.

[QM1to6Ave]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

In other news, a NEW BxM8 trip will be coming in Winter 2019 (this January) to alleviate overcrowding on the 05:45 BxM8 out of Pelham Bay.

Wow, that is great! Hopefully this is a sign of some service increases/restorations across express service

[QM1to6Ave]

5 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Good... If they don’t start filling those damn QM1 trips, Mr. Buford will be hearing from me at the board meeting.

Excellent!

 

I also hope people actually fill out the surveys they had on the bus and mail them back. I was the only one to hand it back to the MTA worker who was travelling with us (though, to be fair, I did not get off at the last stop, but overall it looked like people were ignoring them). 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 minute ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Wow, that is great! Hopefully this is a sign of some service increases/restorations across express service

Well that had been in the works for a while due to overcrowding.  Unfortunately, I haven't heard of anything regarding increases to Union Turnpike service, but I will be sending over some notes about the need for an earlier bus.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Tough commutes tonight... Some folks reporting being on the express bus since 16:45, taking three hours to get home. We see some serious delays in service. The last QM1 was a mess tonight. The last X27 to Manhattan was only Downtown at almost 18:00 when it should’ve been done. I have another conference call in next week to discuss a number of issues. We need some sort of contingency plan to try to make some of these commutes a bit more tolerable.

Edited November 10, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[SIMplicity]

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Tough commutes tonight... Some folks reporting being on the express bus since 16:45, taking three hours to get home. We see some serious delays in service. The last QM1 was a mess tonight. The last X27 to Manhattan was only Downtown at almost 18:00 when it should’ve been done. I have another conference call in next week to discuss a number of issues. We need some sort of contingency plan to try to make some of these commutes a bit more tolerable.

Bad weather and accidents caused a commuting hell on the SIE this afternoon. First a school bus got into an accident on the Verrazzano Bridge around 4pm. Then pieces of concrete fell from the Bradley Avenue overpass onto the westbound SIE right in time for the heart of the PM rush. They closed the highway for some time. It was a complete mess. Buses sat on the SIE for HOURS. It wasn’t the MTA’s fault, obviously, but I think they could have been proactive and sent the buses through Bayonne or something the moment they heard about the incident.

On an unrelated note, to me it looks like Academy Bus has been doing whatever it wants and getting away with it. From what I’ve heard they made the decision to move the SIM23/24 back to 34th Street without consulting the MTA or the Borough President. They say that they moved the buses back because of the feedback they had been receiving from riders and that they expect the changes to be positive overall. But I’m not so sure, a friend of mine who rides the SIM23 is very upset and says 42nd had been so much faster than the X24 on 34th in the PM.

This morning I overheard some people on my bus saying that the SIM23 and 24 are struggling and don’t have good ridership. They think that the MTA will probably take over the routes soon.

When Academy changed the routes back to 34th St, they modified the stops along Madison and 5th Ave to be 37th St and 46th/48th St but skipped 42nd entirely. Overwhelming complaints (as expected) led them to add back stops at Madison/43rd and 5th/43rd (and 34th/8th which they also had removed for some reason). BUT that stop on 5th at 43rd St was extremely problematic when the SIM6/10/31 stopped there. So the SIM23/24 really shouldn’t stop there. I’m not sure if Academy or DOT or both are responsible for the decision. I’d say that the stop should be moved to 41st or 40th.

I was thinking about the idea to have a second downtown route on the South Shore along the SIM26 and 25 (via Amboy, Bloomingdale, Woodrow, Rossville) and I’m not sure how feasible that would be. Since they split up the X22 there is a lesser frequency on each of the new routes. The SIM2, 25 and 26 run on 10 minute headways in the heart of rush hour. If you add another route to the mix, you’ll have to get those trips from the SIM2/25/26 (since people will switch over from those routes to this new route) further reducing the headways on all of them. Compared to the X22, those would be pretty long headways for the heart of rush hour. Despite this, a fair number of people who live along Rossville Ave transfer between the SIM2 and 25. I strongly support corridors having a downtown route and a midtown route (I’m definitely not a fan of what they did on the north shore with the X16 and X13/X14), but I’m just not so sure if I can see this new route happening.

[Lil 57]

30 minutes ago, SIMplicity said:

Bad weather and accidents caused a commuting hell on the SIE this afternoon. 

I remember taking the S57 to Port Richmond (6:40 PM bus) and that bus was an half hour late due to this. It had to be detored via Gannon/Manor/Victory and was also 10 minutes late from the start. It came bunched with the 7:10 PM bus. However they did add buses where they were needed since a bus broke down at Seaview (S57 buses love to break down there for some reason) and to fill in the hour + gaps in service.

I saw gridlock traffic on the SIE WB. I can bet some Downtown workers went up to Midtown to catch an "via NJ" bus after they heard of this accident.

Edited November 10, 2018 by Lil 57

[Via Garibaldi 8]

4 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

I remember taking the S57 to Port Richmond (6:40 PM bus) and that bus was an half hour late due to this. It had to be detored via Gannon/Manor/Victory and was also 10 minutes late from the start. It came bunched with the 7:10 PM bus. However they did add buses where they were needed since a bus broke down at Seaview (S57 buses love to break down there for some reason) and to fill in the hour + gaps in service.

I saw gridlock traffic on the SIE WB. I can bet some Downtown workers went up to Midtown to catch an "via NJ" bus after they heard of this accident.

People were looking to get home anyway that they could. Any express bus to the island and then transfer or get picked up, but again, this re-design has put more cars on the road, creating more congestion.

4 hours ago, SIMplicity said:

Bad weather and accidents caused a commuting hell on the SIE this afternoon. First a school bus got into an accident on the Verrazzano Bridge around 4pm. Then pieces of concrete fell from the Bradley Avenue overpass onto the westbound SIE right in time for the heart of the PM rush. They closed the highway for some time. It was a complete mess. Buses sat on the SIE for HOURS. It wasn’t the MTA’s fault, obviously, but I think they could have been proactive and sent the buses through Bayonne or something the moment they heard about the incident.

On an unrelated note, to me it looks like Academy Bus has been doing whatever it wants and getting away with it. From what I’ve heard they made the decision to move the SIM23/24 back to 34th Street without consulting the MTA or the Borough President. They say that they moved the buses back because of the feedback they had been receiving from riders and that they expect the changes to be positive overall. But I’m not so sure, a friend of mine who rides the SIM23 is very upset and says 42nd had been so much faster than the X24 on 34th in the PM.

This morning I overheard some people on my bus saying that the SIM23 and 24 are struggling and don’t have good ridership. They think that the MTA will probably take over the routes soon.

When Academy changed the routes back to 34th St, they modified the stops along Madison and 5th Ave to be 37th St and 46th/48th St but skipped 42nd entirely. Overwhelming complaints (as expected) led them to add back stops at Madison/43rd and 5th/43rd (and 34th/8th which they also had removed for some reason). BUT that stop on 5th at 43rd St was extremely problematic when the SIM6/10/31 stopped there. So the SIM23/24 really shouldn’t stop there. I’m not sure if Academy or DOT or both are responsible for the decision. I’d say that the stop should be moved to 41st or 40th.

I was thinking about the idea to have a second downtown route on the South Shore along the SIM26 and 25 (via Amboy, Bloomingdale, Woodrow, Rossville) and I’m not sure how feasible that would be. Since they split up the X22 there is a lesser frequency on each of the new routes. The SIM2, 25 and 26 run on 10 minute headways in the heart of rush hour. If you add another route to the mix, you’ll have to get those trips from the SIM2/25/26 (since people will switch over from those routes to this new route) further reducing the headways on all of them. Compared to the X22, those would be pretty long headways for the heart of rush hour. Despite this, a fair number of people who live along Rossville Ave transfer between the SIM2 and 25. I strongly support corridors having a downtown route and a midtown route (I’m definitely not a fan of what they did on the north shore with the X16 and X13/X14), but I’m just not so sure if I can see this new route happening.

It’s becoming a commuter hell on Staten Island every day to be honest. I had multiple people reporting a commute of three hours just to get home. At this point a lot of commuters just want their old routes back, and given the monies spent on this re-design, I don’t see it happening, only because it would be a HORRIBLE PR case for the  . I mean here they are saying that they’re tweaking service and people are inquiring about filing a lawsuit against them and staging a protest for how bad service has been. Several nights in a row now, people have reported waits of over 30 minutes for the SIM1 Downtown for a line that’s supposed to be running roughly every 4 - 5 minutes, and then of course the buses are so packed that they can’t get on once one comes. The increase in accidents has to be looked at. I think that’s a direct result of the increasing congestion. You have more people driving to get to work now because of piss poor transportation all over the City, and the congestion has people taking risky actions leading to more accidents. As I told the  in our meeting, you can cut the routes back all you want, but until you have the root cause addressed, it may not matter. The same problem is occurring with the SIM5. That’s a line that makes all of five stops in Downtown then is supposed to head to the tunnel, yet that line also is having severe problems with gaps and long waits. The DOT has to start addressing this. I think they’re thinking is well, we need congestion pricing, and that won’t cut it. We had got to curb the amount of for-hire vehicles on the roads and the curb when all of these delivery trucks are out and about. There are far too many of them, and we’re reaching a point of standstill gridlock in some areas that may have a profound impact on our economy.

Edited November 10, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[checkmatechamp13]

10 hours ago, SIMplicity said:

On an unrelated note, to me it looks like Academy Bus has been doing whatever it wants and getting away with it. From what I’ve heard they made the decision to move the SIM23/24 back to 34th Street without consulting the MTA or the Borough President. They say that they moved the buses back because of the feedback they had been receiving from riders and that they expect the changes to be positive overall. But I’m not so sure, a friend of mine who rides the SIM23 is very upset and says 42nd had been so much faster than the X24 on 34th in the PM.

The problem with all of this is that they're not releasing whatever analysis was done (if any) that supported any changes made (in either direction, both the initial change to 42nd Street and the change back to 34th). Of course the major complaint is going to be the lack of 34th Street service since the South Shore portion is more direct, so there's not much to complain about there....the change to 34th Street was the only controversial change (and maybe removing some of the stops) but you have to consider that the people along 42nd Street aren't going to complain if the bus is doing what they want, they're only going to complain when it goes back to the slower route (which may also be further from their jobs). Was the split 50/50, 70/30 in favor of 34th Street? (I know some people don't care either way) 

10 hours ago, SIMplicity said:

I was thinking about the idea to have a second downtown route on the South Shore along the SIM26 and 25 (via Amboy, Bloomingdale, Woodrow, Rossville) and I’m not sure how feasible that would be. Since they split up the X22 there is a lesser frequency on each of the new routes. The SIM2, 25 and 26 run on 10 minute headways in the heart of rush hour. If you add another route to the mix, you’ll have to get those trips from the SIM2/25/26 (since people will switch over from those routes to this new route) further reducing the headways on all of them. Compared to the X22, those would be pretty long headways for the heart of rush hour. Despite this, a fair number of people who live along Rossville Ave transfer between the SIM2 and 25. I strongly support corridors having a downtown route and a midtown route (I’m definitely not a fan of what they did on the north shore with the X16 and X13/X14), but I’m just not so sure if I can see this new route happening.

The thing to consider is that there's also increased ridership that justifies a higher frequency...I'm sure the direct Tottenville-Downtown service attracted some riders to the transit system, and the same with the new stop at Bloomingdale & Veterans. I don't have any statistics (and as I've said, I would love to see them), but I suspect ridership is still up on the South Shore overall (meaning, west of Richmond Avenue and south of Arthur Kill Road, inclusive). I think the fact that the SIM25/26 run less frequently (individually) than the X22 has more to do with the fact that they split up the X22 ridership base than with the SIM2 taking the Tottenville riders who used to take the X22/22A to Midtown and backtrack (so in other words, I think Tottenville/Princes Bay riders filled up those buses to warrant the extra bus per hour....if like you said, there's about 8-10 riders on each bus who get on along Hylan, then for 6 buses per hour that's 48-60 riders....basically an extra busload per hour, which makes sense because the X19 basically ran every 12 minutes at the height of rush hour, not every 10)

The other thing to consider is that, if necessary, somebody can take the first bus that comes and transfer at Checkpoint (except on the SIM26). That's why it's important that we have universal 3-legged transfers as originally promised. I mean, say you pull 1 bus per hour off the SIM2, SIM25, and SIM26, now those routes run every 12 minutes instead of 10 and you have a 3 bus per hour option (20 minute headways) to Downtown.....doesn't seem too bad....especially since the X19 ran every 12 minutes under the pre-August schedule.

Edited November 10, 2018 by checkmatechamp13

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

How long until we get ridership statistics on the S.I express routes? I wanna see if ridership went down significantly, or if the redesign forced people onto the bus more leading to all of this excess overcrowding. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

15 minutes ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

How long until we get ridership statistics on the S.I express routes? I wanna see if ridership went down significantly, or if the redesign forced people onto the bus more leading to all of this excess overcrowding. 

Perhaps checkmate and his folks will look into it, but for now that isn't a focus of mine.  I'm focused solely on stabilizing service. Too many issues all over the City with buses breaking down left and right. I should be having another conference call later this week.

[checkmatechamp13]

4 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

How long until we get ridership statistics on the S.I express routes? I wanna see if ridership went down significantly, or if the redesign forced people onto the bus more leading to all of this excess overcrowding. 

The standard procedure would be to wait until the middle of next year when they release the 2018 ridership statistics  (and then you'd have to account for the fact that the SIM routes only operated for a little over 4 months, so they'd probably make you do the calculations yourself).

But like VG8 said, I'm pushing hard for them to release all of the statistics that they used to justify each individual decision (both before the changes and after the changes). As riders, we deserve to know the logic behind all of their decisions, whether we benefit from them or not. (A good example was when they moved the SIM23/24 to 34th Street. All of the people who were asking for it to be brought to 34th Street were happy, but all of the people who liked the quicker approach via 42nd Street were angry. Without statistics, you're just moving stuff around and have no idea if it's the right decision or not)

One of the planners actually told me that ridership was up overall, which I have a hard time believing. (If I had to guess, ridership on the South Shore went up because the routes were more direct, ridership on the North Shore remained stable or maybe had a slight increase, and ridership along Hylan Blvd dropped....but again those are just my guesses). The only way I can see ridership being up is if they're counting all of the people who were transferring as two riders (e.g. If they transfer from the SIM10 to the SIM6 along 23rd Street, they count twice). 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

The standard procedure would be to wait until the middle of next year when they release the 2018 ridership statistics  (and then you'd have to account for the fact that the SIM routes only operated for a little over 4 months, so they'd probably make you do the calculations yourself).

But like VG8 said, I'm pushing hard for them to release all of the statistics that they used to justify each individual decision (both before the changes and after the changes). As riders, we deserve to know the logic behind all of their decisions, whether we benefit from them or not. (A good example was when they moved the SIM23/24 to 34th Street. All of the people who were asking for it to be brought to 34th Street were happy, but all of the people who liked the quicker approach via 42nd Street were angry. Without statistics, you're just moving stuff around and have no idea if it's the right decision or not)

One of the planners actually told me that ridership was up overall, which I have a hard time believing. (If I had to guess, ridership on the South Shore went up because the routes were more direct, ridership on the North Shore remained stable or maybe had a slight increase, and ridership along Hylan Blvd dropped....but again those are just my guesses). The only way I can see ridership being up is if they're counting all of the people who were transferring as two riders (e.g. If they transfer from the SIM10 to the SIM6 along 23rd Street, they count twice). 

What I'm still floored by is that they didn't have any on-time metric prior to that 2015 audit and I made sure to grill them on that. They really seem to think that it's impossible for them to do anything to deal with on-time performance because since they don't control traffic it's like well that's DOT's territory so we have a hands-on attitude. In a way I get it. I don't think that the DOT is easy to work with from what I've seen. However, as I told them you have to address the elephant in the room, which is congestion.

Edited November 13, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Some updates:

-Just wrapped up the latest conference call earlier this afternoon. The MTA is in the process of finalizing a contingency plan for the holidays and it should be ready in the coming days. I hope to have more specifics soon.

-Additionally, I sent over a list of comments last Sunday evening regarding the entire express bus network which will be reviewed. Once I have answers to that I will post here. We are trying to schedule a meeting with the DOT and the MTA to address some of those congestion issues as well from a long-term standpoint.

-For X27, X28, X37 and X38 riders. There is currently construction affecting trips coming from the depot, particularly in the morning. This appears to be delaying some trips. Therefore, efforts are being made to address this problem and get buses out on time where possible. Overcrowding is also being assessed, hence the dispatchers you are seeing. For now more efforts are being made to address spacing, and if more buses are needed, then that is something the agency will look at more closely over time.

-Regarding the Wi-Fi situation, this appears to be a more serious problem. The MTA is in talks with the vendor to see how they can remedy this issue across the system. 

-I've also re-iterated that we do NOT want QM express buses that drop-off along 6th Avenue kicking passengers off at 6th and 36th, and if there's a reason why the buses can't do the full loop, we want an explanation and announcements to be posted on the buses and announcements made IN ADVANCE, this way riders aren't shocked and have options.

-We will be continuing to monitor service around the City, with particular focus on the QM express buses. We want the run-times adjusted where necessary and until they are and the planners can fully review all comments, we will be checking for hot and missing buses during the week and on weekends.  

-For Staten Island, improvements to service continues to be an ongoing discussion. For passengers going to Downtown, we've asked the agency to consider extending those trips to Worth Street until January when several lines will be permanently extended to Houston Street.

-At some point soon we will speak before the MTA Board to ask that they finalize the pending contract for new express buses.  Given the amount of passenger complaints about the old buses, it's clear that they must be retired. That and the amount of breakdowns impacting service.

-In the Bronx, recommendations have been made to improve service, with the request for a few new trips down the line, but also congestion improvements.

-We have been contacted by the media to talk about our group and we have accepted the interview. We will post more here when we have more info.

More to come...

[Lil 57]

Doesn't look like Queens is doing so well for express bus service this PM rush.

1. The first QM18 left on time at 4:35 PM. as of 6:27 PM, It is still doing its run with 31 minutes left to go, the bus should have gotten to the terminal at 6:00 PM, now it isn't going to arrive there until around 7:00 PM.

 

2. The 5:05 PM and 5:35 PM QM3 buses are 5 minutes apart, not good for a route that runs on 30-minute headways.

 

3. QM5 bunching, 3 are regulars, while one is a super express bus.

4. QM20 bunching, 3 are super expresses while one is a regular bus.

 

 

Edited November 20, 2018 by Lil 57

[trife86]

14 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

Doesn't look like Queens is doing so well for express bus service this PM rush.

1. The first QM18 left on time at 4:35 PM. as of 6:27 PM, It is still doing its run with 31 minutes left to go, the bus should have gotten to the terminal at 6:00 PM, now it isn't going to arrive there until around 7:00 PM.

 

2. The 5:05 PM and 5:35 PM QM3 buses are 5 minutes apart, not good for a route that runs on 30-minute headways.

 

3. QM5 bunching, 3 are regulars, while one is a super express bus.

4. QM20 bunching, 3 are super expresses while one is a regular bus.

 

 

Unless you got boots on the ground don't rely on the bustime stuff. Alot of older busses don't update or even work as they should regarding the GPS tracking.