Express Bus Advocacy Group

[QM1to6Ave]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Latest developments:

-Finalized meeting with Assembly Dinowitz to start discussions about possible HOV lanes on expressways in his district

-Started discussions with Senator-elect Gounardes to meet about express bus service on the X27, 28, 37, and 38. 

-Meeting still pending with the DOT and  .

-Will remain contact with Comptroller’s Office regarding express bus service. If we don’t see more improvements on Staten Island when the new schedules come out, we will go out on an all blitz to have an audit performed to see what in the hell is going on at those depots. That also includes Ulmer Park Depot, which continues to be a problem.

-Overall, there have been some improvements in Queens, in the Bronx and on some Brooklyn BM lines. Far from perfect, but far more trips being filled regularly than before which is a start. More trips roughly starting on-time as well.

-Cleanliness, Wi-Fi, and maintenance remain on our list of things to start addressing once service is stabilized.

I love your prioritization order, makes perfect sense!

[BrooklynBus]

Keep up the good work. You seem to be making a real difference instead of just criticizing. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

47 minutes ago, BrooklynBus said:

Keep up the good work. You seem to be making a real difference instead of just criticizing. 

I am definitely prepared to play hard ball.  The real help has been social media.  I've essentially been able to form an advocacy group of over 600 people in less than three months representing just about every express bus line, which I never thought would be possible.  We're in the process of creating some fliers and we'll be handing them out on various express bus lines to let riders know about the advocacy group.  The  has been slow to get my follow up meeting with the DOT but I'm not going to stop until the DOT comes to the table, otherwise I am more than happy to address Commissioner Trottenberg at every Board meeting in front of the media.

We've spoken with some riders on the bus and at bus stops about service and they all have loved the idea of what we're doing even if they don't want to join. Some also don't have Facebook or other social media outlets, so at some point we'll see about making a webpage. Considering that we all volunteer our time, we're making a lot of progress thus far.

Edited December 12, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[BrooklynBus]

55 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I am definitely prepared to play hard ball.  The real help has been social media.  I've essentially been able to form an advocacy group of over 600 people in less than three months representing just about every express bus line, which I never thought would be possible.  We're in the process of creating some fliers and we'll be handing them out on various express bus lines to let riders know about the advocacy group.  The  has been slow to get my follow up meeting with the DOT but I'm not going to stop until the DOT comes to the table, otherwise I am more than happy to address Commissioner Trottenberg at every Board meeting in front of the media.

We've spoken with some riders on the bus and at bus stops about service and they all have loved the idea of what we're doing even if they don't want to join. Some also don't have Facebook or other social media outlets, so at some point we'll see about making a webpage. Considering that we all volunteer our time, we're making a lot of progress thus far.

Congratulations. Keep working with the elected officials and the media. Greg Mocker is a good person. I've addressed Trottenberg at meetings several times and she remembers me. Would be interesting to hear what she says, because unlike other MTA Board Members, she can't blame traffic congestion on DOT, although I believe they are responsible for much of it due to screwed up lights, not implementing bus priority signaling fast enough, taking away much parking due to citibike stands causing drivers to circle the block more looking for parking and not allowing parking in perfectly good parking spots, taking away traffic lanes, shortening green times, etc. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

6 minutes ago, BrooklynBus said:

Congratulations. Keep working with the elected officials and the media. Greg Mocker is a good person. I've addressed Trottenberg at meetings several times and she remembers me. Would be interesting to hear what she says, because unlike other MTA Board Members, she can't blame traffic congestion on DOT, although I believe they are responsible for much of it due to screwed up lights, not implementing bus priority signaling fast enough, taking away much parking due to citibike stands causing drivers to circle the block more looking for parking and not allowing parking in perfectly good parking spots, taking away traffic lanes, shortening green times, etc. 

Most definitely. The other thing about social media is you can put elected officials on the spot about issues like transportation.  I went to a town hall meeting in my neighborhood where all of the elected officials answered questions.  Our Senator-elect talked a good game about wanting to fix transportation and she knows that she represents numerous areas that are transportation deserts, so come January I'm going to see just how much she gives a damn about express bus service.  Already e-mailed her and several other elected officials. She has an excuse because she doesn't even have staff yet and won't be sworn in until January, but after that I'll be on her.  We have to start holding elected officials accountable.

The DOT is definitely part of the problem too, but we have seen improvements with enforcement. Last night while waiting for the BxM2, there was a traffic cop that came along to clear the bus stop because it is constantly plagued with Ubers parking and sitting.  The cop kept honking until the Uber left entirely.  I have been relentless in e-mailing Byford and Irick complaining before the  Board about this problem with photos to boot so it is long overdue. Between my complaints and other small express bus advocacy groups on Staten Island and some elected officials, something is bound to get done.  Seeing more enforcement of the bus lanes on 5th Avenue too.  I have several  folks monitoring my page so they can see the issues in real time.

Edited December 12, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[BrooklynBus]

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Most definitely. The other thing about social media is you can put elected officials on the spot about issues like transportation.  I went to a town hall meeting in my neighborhood where all of the elected officials answered questions.  Our Senator-elect talked a good game about wanting to fix transportation and she knows that she represents numerous areas that are transportation deserts, so come January I'm going to see just how much she gives a damn about express bus service.  Already e-mailed her and several other elected officials. She has an excuse because she doesn't even have staff yet and won't be sworn in until January, but after that I'll be on her.  We have to start holding elected officials accountable.

The DOT is definitely part of the problem too, but we have seen improvements with enforcement. Last night while waiting for the BxM2, there was a traffic cop that came along to clear the bus stop because it is constantly plagued with Ubers parking and sitting.  The cop kept honking until the Uber left entirely.  I have been relentless in e-mailing Byford and Irick complaining before the  Board about this problem with photos to boot so it is long overdue. Between my complaints and other small express bus advocacy groups on Staten Island and some elected officials, something is bound to get done.  Seeing more enforcement of the bus lanes on 5th Avenue too.  I have several  folks monitoring my page so they can see the issues in real time.

Great. And yes we have to start holding elected officials accountable. 

[danielhg121]

Does anyone have Byford's personal email?

[BrooklynBus]

32 minutes ago, danielhg121 said:

Does anyone have Byford's personal email?

 

32 minutes ago, danielhg121 said:

Does anyone have Byford's personal email?

 Andy.byford@nyct.com

[Union Tpke]

13 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

Does anyone have Byford's personal email?

I do, but BrooklynBus responded first. Keep in mind that he is very busy, and if you do email him, be very polite, and make sure to thank him for his hard work.

[Q64 To Forest Hills]

Baisley seems to have done it again. I'm currently on the 10:50 Qm4 bus 2858 (around 13-15 passengers just incase anyone has been tracking the ridership along the Qm4), to Eletchester, and well its a dud. As some of you may know its finals week (good luck to those who have finals coming up), so I decided to take the express bus home to type up some final papers and whatnot. The bus shows up 10 minutes late, which was excusable on my part because of traffic, but the bus has no Wifi or USBs that work. I'm just lucky that I have a portable charger and a hotspot on my phone. Can't wait until the new express buses come in as its annoying that you would think you would get a bus that you could at least charge your phone on. Although it's trivial it shows how much the MTA really cares about express buses. However on a side note, the only thing keeping me from being super pissed off is that this bus sounds really good, but I feel bad for the rest of the passengers who don't get their foam on from how good a bus sounds.

Edited December 14, 2018 by Q64 To Forest Hills
Grammar

[Via Garibaldi 8]

25 minutes ago, Q64 To Forest Hills said:

Baisley seems to have done it again. I'm currently on the 10:50 Qm4 bus 2858 (around 13-15 passengers just incase anyone has been tracking the ridership along the Qm4), to Eletchester, and well its a dud. As some of you may know its finals week (good luck to those who have finals coming up), so I decided to take the express bus home to type up some final papers and whatnot. The bus shows up 10 minutes late, which was excusable on my part because of traffic, but the bus has no Wifi or USBs that work. I'm just lucky that I have a portable charger and a hotspot on my phone. Can't wait until the new express buses come in as its annoying that you would think you would get a bus that you could at least charge your phone on. Although it's trivial it shows how much the MTA really cares about express buses. However on a side note, the only thing keeping me from being super pissed off is that this bus sounds really good, but I feel bad for the rest of the passengers who don't get their foam on from how good a bus sounds.

We’ve been taking trips on the QM4. Be glad that you at least have an MCI. They were running hybrids on the line because they were short on buses. After I raised hell about it, a few buses were transferred. I made it clear that we are to have coach buses on ALL express bus lines and the  agrees. We’re supposed to be past that nonsense of using local bus fleet on express lines, especially not for $6.50. During my last meeting, they kept telling me how express bus service is a premium service. All of the commuters in my advocacy group HATE the old buses. lol  If you only saw some of the comments... LOL

Speaking of that depot, I’m going to upload some pictures that I’ve taken on some QM4 trips last weekend and prior to that from my iPad. The buses are FILTHY, and I was told that the  wants to work on cleanliness. Doesn’t look like Baisley Park does that’s for sure.

Edited December 14, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Via Garibaldi 8]

@Q64 To Forest Hills Yes, I have the trip recorded in my notes on my iPad. It was Bus#3244. It was the 13:00 trip to Midtown last Saturday. Noted that the bus was FILTHY upon taking a seat and immediately began taking photos. See below:

 

 

 

 

[Q64 To Forest Hills]

43 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

We’ve been taking trips on the QM4. Be glad that you at least have an MCI. They were running hybrids on the line because they were short on buses. After I raised hell about it, a few buses were transferred. I made it clear that we are to have coach buses on ALL express bus lines and the  agrees. 

That’s true, but I actually did get a hybrid when they were running, it was humorous to me, but not to the woman yelling that the Qm4 needs to go back to Cp. 

Baisley’s local fleet is usually decent in terms of cleanliness, I usually don’t pay attention to how clean the expresses are though. I can say that those pics are definitely unacceptable. 

 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

9 hours ago, Q64 To Forest Hills said:

That’s true, but I actually did get a hybrid when they were running, it was humorous to me, but not to the woman yelling that the Qm4 needs to go back to Cp. 

Baisley’s local fleet is usually decent in terms of cleanliness, I usually don’t pay attention to how clean the expresses are though. I can say that those pics are definitely unacceptable. 

 

Weekend service in the evenings on the QM4 back to Electchester has been a joke. I keep getting what is clearly a rookie and he knows I’m spotting his bus yet can’t get himself on-time to save his life. Explain to me how in the hell he is almost 30 minutes late doing the loop?? Very nice guy but my God is he killing service. I’ve been getting off at 57th and 3rd numerous times to see the arrivals of other QMs and I look and see a QM4 and am shocked that it’s that late. Then I look to see who the driver is and that’s all she wrote. Don’t even bother taking a trip. lol

Edited December 14, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Q64 To Forest Hills]

27 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Weekend service in the evenings on the QM4 back to Electchester has been a joke. I keep getting what is clearly a rookie and he knows I’m spotting his bus yet can’t get himself on-time to save his life. Explain to me how in the hell he is almost 30 minutes late doing the loop?? Very nice guy but my God is he killing service. I’ve been getting off at 57th and 3rd numerous times to see the arrivals of other QMs and I look and see a QM4 and am shocked that it’s that late. Then I look to see who the driver is and that’s all she wrote. Don’t even bother taking a trip. lol

Did you happen to note the Run of that trip?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

32 minutes ago, Q64 To Forest Hills said:

Did you happen to note the Run of that trip?

I checked my iPad. It's usually the same bus for the last few weekends... He does at least one or two round trips to and from Electchester depending on the day and time.  I did part of one with him.  He was EXTREMELY late getting up to 57th and 3rd which is where I got him.  Dropped me off at 164th and HHE.  Came back around and did his pick-up roughly on-time by say 5-10 minutes or so, but then got slammed in traffic on 6th which wasn't his fault, but I have a hard time believing that all of his trips are like that because the other QMs aren't that late and they're dealing with the same traffic doing the same loop. The only traffic that the QM4  has on weekends is along 6th quite frankly, and that's only during part of the day.  On Sunday I noted the bus since I already knew the deal.  I wanted to take other QM trips so when I saw the bus and saw who the driver was, I just noted the time and Bus# on the iPad and made a note in caps that certain trips have been extremely late the last few weekends because I've been riding the QM4 A LOT at various times to see what's been going with ridership, reliability, etc. Some trips have been hot too on weekends and we on-time performance to improve. I'm looking at patterns. If I see a pattern of lateness, I want to understand the cause and if it is something that can be fixed, it has to be addressed.  This guy is getting a pass because of the holidays, but if he's still around come January and I see that he is constantly 30 minutes late doing this loop that all other guys can do in 10 minutes, I'm going to start asking questions.  We want these buses on-time where possible, and showing up 30 minutes late repeatedly when the bus runs once an hour KILLS ridership.  There were people waiting in the cold last weekend when it was 34 degrees out and I said geez, I wonder how long they've been waiting for this QM4 because it came shortly after I stepped off of a QM2 bus. It was at least 20+ minutes late at that point. He's a very nice guy, but as I said, we want buses on-time where possible.  I'm not looking to get guys written up either.  Find out what the problem(s) is/are and see how it/they can be remedied. That's the goal here, not to make life miserable for the drivers.  

Edited December 14, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Q64 To Forest Hills]

5 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I checked my iPad. It's usually the same bus for the last few weekends... He does at least one or two round trips to and from Electchester depending on the day and time.  I did part of one with him.  He was EXTREMELY late getting up to 57th and 3rd which is where I got him.  Dropped me off at 164th and HHE.  Came back around and did his pick-up roughly on-time by say 5-10 minutes or so, but then got slammed in traffic on 6th which wasn't his fault, but I have a hard time believing that all of his trips are like that because the other QMs aren't that late and they're dealing with the same traffic doing the same loop. The only traffic that the QM4  has on weekends is along 6th quite frankly, and that's only during part of the day.  On Sunday I noted the bus since I already knew the deal.  I wanted to take other QM trips so when I saw the bus and saw who the driver was, I just noted the time and Bus# on the iPad and made a note in caps that certain trips have been extremely late the last few weekends because I've been riding the QM4 A LOT at various times to see what's been going with ridership, reliability, etc. Some trips have been hot too on weekends and we on-time performance to improve. I'm looking at patterns. If I see a pattern of lateness, I want to understand the cause and if it is something that can be fixed, it has to be addressed.  This guy is getting a pass because of the holidays, but if he's still around come January and I see that he is constantly 30 minutes late doing this loop that all other guys can do in 10 minutes, I'm going to start asking questions.  We want these buses on-time where possible, and showing up 30 minutes late repeatedly when the bus runs once an hour KILLS ridership.  There were people waiting in the cold last weekend when it was 34 degrees out and I said geez, I wonder how long they've been waiting for this QM4 because it came shortly after I stepped off of a QM2 bus.

If you are talking about the same guy I know about, he is like that on all the lines he does. He bounces between the Qm4 and Q64 and is constantly late wherever he is, and is frankly afraid to drive the bus. He didn't break 22mph on the Queensboro Bridge with open road. I had him one time later in the day on a weekend, no traffic on 6th, and when we pull up to 57th and 3rd we sit for a few minutes to hold schedule, we ended up leaving a minute or two late. It took me 1 hour 2 minutes from 34th/6th to Jewel around the Van Wyck, no traffic, the whole trip is supposed to take 57 minutes. He also knows I don't really enjoy his driving and greeted me with "look who we have here" and "what a pleasant surprise" needless to say, he wasn't the happiest camper to see me, but he still told me to enjoy my night, twice, while exiting.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

17 minutes ago, Q64 To Forest Hills said:

If you are talking about the same guy I know about, he is like that on all the lines he does. He bounces between the Qm4 and Q64 and is constantly late wherever he is, and is frankly afraid to drive the bus. He didn't break 22mph on the Queensboro Bridge with open road. I had him one time later in the day on a weekend, no traffic on 6th, and when we pull up to 57th and 3rd we sit for a few minutes to hold schedule, we ended up leaving a minute or two late. It took me 1 hour 2 minutes from 34th/6th to Jewel around the Van Wyck, no traffic, the whole trip is supposed to take 57 minutes. He also knows I don't really enjoy his driving and greeted me with "look who we have here" and "what a pleasant surprise" needless to say, he wasn't the happiest camper to see me, but he still told me to enjoy my night, twice, while exiting.

It's likely him because he's extra courteous, but even when he's trying to be a smart @ss he does it with a smile. I've been taking a lot of trips up to 57th and 3rd to see if there are still issues with QM customers being kicked off at 36th and 6th. We've had various express bus customers complain in our group about it and I've seen heated arguments on buses about it too. The passengers are furious because at 36th and 6th out of nowhere the driver is going OOS and then kicking everybody off with no warning.  All for $6.50... Crazy... In my review of the express bus network, I noted this being a problem on multiple QM lines and that we wanted it stopped immediately, OR passengers should be notified in advance, not just told to get off at 36th and 6th with no advance notice. They remedied this by having a standby at 36th and 6th take passengers up to wherever they want to go when traffic is really bad on 6th on weekends and the other guy lays over at 6th and 36th so that he pulls out on-time. I can live with that because at least the passengers coming into Manhattan are being let off where they need to go.

A few weekends ago, I got him going back to Manhattan after we did a Electchester trip together and that's when he got stuck in traffic. He asked me what stop I wanted and I told him "last stop". He huffed and puffed about how he'd be late, etc. I didn't give a damn.  He made the suggestion that I could transfer and I countered that by saying that I was well aware of that but I have a right to take the bus to any drop-off stop. He saw how irritated I became and then said he was only making a suggestion. lol

Edited December 14, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[QM1to6Ave]

7 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It's likely him because he's extra courteous, but even when he's trying to be a smart @ss he does it with a smile. I've been taking a lot of trips up to 57th and 3rd to see if there are still issues with QM customers being kicked off at 36th and 6th. We've had various express bus customers complain in our group about it and I've seen heated arguments on buses about it too. The passengers are furious because at 36th and 6th out of nowhere the driver is going OOS and then kicking everybody off with no warning.  All for $6.50... Crazy... In my review of the express bus network, I noted this being a problem on multiple QM lines and that we wanted it stopped immediately, OR passengers should be notified in advance, not just told to get off at 36th and 6th with no advance notice. They remedied this by having a standby at 36th and 6th take passengers up to wherever they want to go when traffic is really bad on 6th on weekends and the other guy lays over at 6th and 36th so that he pulls out on-time. I can live with that because at least the passengers coming into Manhattan are being let off where they need to go.

A few weekends ago, I got him going back to Manhattan after we did a Electchester trip together and that's when he got stuck in traffic. He asked me what stop I wanted and I told him "last stop". He huffed and puffed about how he'd be late, etc. I didn't give a damn.  He made the suggestion that I could transfer and I countered that by saying that I was well aware of that but I have a right to take the bus to any drop-off stop. He saw how irritated I became and then said he was only making a suggestion. lol

I will say that is has been a while since I got into an argument with a B/O who did not want to go up to 57th street, so that is an improvement. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I will say that is has been a while since I got into an argument with a B/O who did not want to go up to 57th street, so that is an improvement. 

That's good... Word is getting around which is what we want.  

[Missabassie]

On 12/14/2018 at 11:15 AM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

It's likely him because he's extra courteous, but even when he's trying to be a smart @ss he does it with a smile. I've been taking a lot of trips up to 57th and 3rd to see if there are still issues with QM customers being kicked off at 36th and 6th. We've had various express bus customers complain in our group about it and I've seen heated arguments on buses about it too. The passengers are furious because at 36th and 6th out of nowhere the driver is going OOS and then kicking everybody off with no warning.  All for $6.50... Crazy... In my review of the express bus network, I noted this being a problem on multiple QM lines and that we wanted it stopped immediately, OR passengers should be notified in advance, not just told to get off at 36th and 6th with no advance notice. They remedied this by having a standby at 36th and 6th take passengers up to wherever they want to go when traffic is really bad on 6th on weekends and the other guy lays over at 6th and 36th so that he pulls out on-time. I can live with that because at least the passengers coming into Manhattan are being let off where they need to go.

A few weekends ago, I got him going back to Manhattan after we did a Electchester trip together and that's when he got stuck in traffic. He asked me what stop I wanted and I told him "last stop". He huffed and puffed about how he'd be late, etc. I didn't give a damn.  He made the suggestion that I could transfer and I countered that by saying that I was well aware of that but I have a right to take the bus to any drop-off stop. He saw how irritated I became and then said he was only making a suggestion. lol

No driver/operator should be giving any paying "customer" the business over where they're getting off, as long as its part of the route. After all, we're "customers" paying for a service.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, Missabassie said:

No driver/operator should be giving any paying "customer" the business over where they're getting off, as long as its part of the route. After all, we're "customers" paying for a service.

The other issue is if you had to take a bus to reach the express bus, you have already used your transfer and would be paying an additional fare. I think that’s another reason why some people have been furious about being kicked off. Originally my plan was to not file complaints when taking trips to check service, but my contacts have told me that I should so I will be doing that. I think they want an official record of it too. When taking trips we check the following:

1. On-time performance. We note the time the bus came and check it versus what the schedule says and check ALL time points and note when drivers run hot and don’t hold. We also note when the trip is finished versus what the schedule states. You see the  was audited in 2015 for express bus service and on-time performance was not great. Roughly a third of express buses arrived early or late and the audit noted the need for the agency to get their act together and start getting these buses on-time. They have not been held accountable for that audit, and believe me, I read it thoroughly and I’m going to be referring to it often. They were also told to revise their schedules to more realistic times which they can do since they have BusTrek. They can see every express bus in real time.

2. Courteousness of service. We noted a number of customer complaints, particularly drivers stopping in the street and creating either dangerous conditions unnecessarily or not pulling into the curb but then not kneeling. Had that tonight with a QM6 driver. Didn’t pull into the curb and let me out in the street. The steps are high, and I could’ve almost hurt myself stepping had the last step been a tad higher. 

3. If a driver is at the terminal and sits around for 20 minutes supposedly because they don’t want to be early, we want that addressed. These trips are taking far too long because drivers are sitting at the terminal then starting their trips 10-20 minutes late. We tracked a number of trips that clocked in over an hour and thirty minutes one way at times today alone when traffic was not an issue. They NEVER get back on schedule, and then the trip is 20-30 minutes longer than it should be. We want the drivers leaving as scheduled if they are there, and if there is too much run time, which is the case with the Queens schedules, we want drivers leaving within 5-10 minutes of the schedule until the schedules are revised. We made a big stink about this with the schedulers in our meeting. The Queens express bus schedules are a joke. It doesn’t matter what trip we take or track going back to Queens, especially on weekends. They are ALL late and not just by a few minutes. Adding an extra 20-30 minutes to the commute per trip adds up considerably and it can deter ridership. As the  has stated, express bus service is a “premium service”, and in our minds, that should include expecting punctual service where possible. It’s ridiculous to pay $13.00 a day and constantly get to work late. Had a passenger fuming about that in our group. She takes the 05:15 BxM9 and the guy always comes late and then she can’t get to work on-time, so she then had to start leaving even earlier arrive on-time. It was not an issue before. Now it is because the current driver drives like a snail and never arrives promptly.

On weekends, the express bus drivers in Queens would have to be possessed in order to actually make the schedules, so we will continue to make a stink about that until it is addressed, which is also part of the audit... Ensuring that the schedules are revised to be more closely aligned with actual arrival times. If that is done, drivers should have no reason to sit around at the terminal.

4. When buses are extremely dirty, we note it and take photos. This is something we will bring up in our next meeting. Clearly some buses are not cleaned and what we are seeing isn’t from passengers. The buses simply are not being touched with a mop or anything. We aren’t expecting the Ritz Carlton, but when we have passengers reporting roaches, that’s a problem.

Edited December 16, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Around the Horn]

About the 34th Street thing, if traffic is such a big issue and affects the return trips, then have a bus on standby at 34th to take passengers up to 57th and then the bus from Queens can deadhead where it needs to go. It's not that hard.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

53 minutes ago, Around the Horn said:

About the 34th Street thing, if traffic is such a big issue and affects the return trips, then have a bus on standby at 34th to take passengers up to 57th and then the bus from Queens can deadhead where it needs to go. It's not that hard.

That’s exactly what they do now. Took a QM2 trip last Saturday and they did that.

—————————

Other developments:

Totally forgot about agreeing to be interviewed this morning by Bronx News 12 about a local problem here in Riverdale. I picked the worse morning to do it. lol I took the opportunity to mention the advocacy group, and they would be more than happy to come back up and do a story. We have a few other transportation writers and news folks in the group that quietly watch, which is great. Group keeps getting bigger by the day...

Edited December 16, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Lil 57]

34 minutes ago, Around the Horn said:

About the 34th Street thing, if traffic is such a big issue and affects the return trips, then have a bus on standby at 34th to take passengers up to 57th and then the bus from Queens can deadhead where it needs to go. It's not that hard.

Is this "standby bus" an express bus from Queens, or is it just a local bus from MJQ or something?