Express Bus Advocacy Group

[Via Garibaldi 8]

5 minutes ago, trife86 said:

Not just me , trust me that's how it is across the board. They will never be a announcement or anything at the depot or radio informing us of missing trips or anything to expect heavy ridership or delays. 

 

Of course not. Not something they’re going to broadcast, but I do wonder if they tell you guys to pull out earlier or later without giving details. Does that happen?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

This QM4 trip pulled out 20 minutes late. Just hanging out at the terminal...18:40 trip to Electchester. Look at the time in the screen shot when he is barely on his way to Queens. 

[Lil 57]

25 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

This QM4 trip pulled out 20 minutes late. Just hanging out at the terminal...18:40 trip to Electchester. Look at the time in the screen shot when he is barely on his way to Queens. 

That trip was supposed to be done. The bus was late and the schedules are unrealistic.

Edited December 26, 2018 by Lil 57

[Via Garibaldi 8]

36 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

That trip was supposed to be done. The bus was late and the schedules are unrealistic.

To add to that, the 20:10 to Manhattan just pulled out a few minutes ago!!! He had been at the terminal for some time. Now 45 minutes LATE!! The 18:40 trip finished around 20:14, 31 minutes late. I’m reporting this. Me and the other folks at the advocacy group clearly believe that games are being played.

Edited December 26, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Lil 57]

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

To add to that, the 20:10 to Manhattan just pulled out a few minutes ago!!! He had been at the terminal for some time. Now 45 minutes LATE!! The 18:40 trip finished around 20:14, 31 minutes late. I’m reporting this. Me and the other folks at the advocacy group clearly believe that games are being played.

I thought that today would be easy since it's Christmas, not alot of traffic today.

[trife86]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Of course not. Not something they’re going to broadcast, but I do wonder if they tell you guys to pull out earlier or later without giving details. Does that happen?

Once and awhile on known gridlock days like the UN General Assembly they will offer up to 1hr early pullout paid for deadhead PM rush into the city to try to make a trip home on time.

They come up with the early pullout maybe 1x a month or so for various reasons. But it's completely voluntary if you want to do it.

[paulrivera]

On 12/24/2018 at 9:56 AM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

That’s correct. No schedule for those lines. That’s the X27, X28, X37, X38, X63, X64 and X68. There IS a schedule, just not released to the public. 

The local NYCT lines are also on a modified schedule.

Jeez, middays are gonna look worse than rush hour with all the fair weather riders and their families all riding the local buses...

Sources: Google Maps' transit directions vs. NYCT's weekday public schedules on MTA.info.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

47 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

I thought that today would be easy since it's Christmas, not alot of traffic today.

He’s late just because. Sat at the terminal for a while too before leaving.

[aemoreira81]

The MTA must have received a lot of complaints about the loss of stops on Richmond Avenue between the SIE and Victory outside of the AM rush, because they're basically admitting that reconfiguring the former X17C was a mistake. It's going to be restored next month, and Gannon and CSI will instead get the SIM33C, making Mariners' Harbor served full-time with express bus service. The SIM project was one big fustercluck.

The other problem is more DOT-related. That HOV lane needs to be extended to 12 PM to 1 PM operation on the Gowanus Expressway, because the Gowanus going towards Manhattan. Return trips are often late and overcrowded, especially on the SIM4C. Making downtown and midtown service separate all day on the SIM1/3/4/33 may not be a bad idea.

Edited December 26, 2018 by aemoreira81

[Via Garibaldi 8]

59 minutes ago, aemoreira81 said:

The MTA must have received a lot of complaints about the loss of stops on Richmond Avenue between the SIE and Victory outside of the AM rush, because they're basically admitting that reconfiguring the former X17C was a mistake. It's going to be restored next month, and Gannon and CSI will instead get the SIM33C, making Mariners' Harbor served full-time with express bus service. The SIM project was one big fustercluck.

The other problem is more DOT-related. That HOV lane needs to be extended to 12 PM to 1 PM operation on the Gowanus Expressway, because the Gowanus going towards Manhattan. Return trips are often late and overcrowded, especially on the SIM4C. Making downtown and midtown service separate all day on the SIM1/3/4/33 may not be a bad idea.

The HOV situation is monitored daily and is being worked on in terms of extending the hours. The plan is for the NYC DOT to take over the expressways and when that happens, elected officials have already requested that the hours of operation be extended where possible.

Given the HUGE uproar by myself, Staten Islanders that have spoken before the Board and commuter focused express bus advocacy groups like mine and others on Staten Island, the  has had to do an about face.  We have been writing them non-stop, and I have written to the big wigs at least twice now slamming them on the abysmal location of bus stops. It is far from over.  We will continue to pressure them until we get an express bus network that works for Staten Islander express bus commuters first and foremost and NOT for the  .  

[Lil 57]

5 hours ago, aemoreira81 said:

Making downtown and midtown service separate all day on the SIM1/3/4/33 may not be a bad idea.

Might sound good on paper but it would never worked because the  would split the headways off-peak. The SIM1C runs every 15-20 minutes for most of the day. If they had the SIM1 and the SIM10 running off-peak, the headways would be every 30-40 minutes on those lines. It's even worse on lines that run with longer headways.

[Lil 57]

An idea just popped in my head.

I know that MJQ stores a good amount of Express buses during the midday so the deheads are minimal and the buses are more reliable in the PM rush. So how about having some Express buses permanently stay at MJQ so if a bus is late to Manhattan, an MJQ bus can cover for the return trip to minimize delays.

[checkmatechamp13]

7 hours ago, aemoreira81 said:

The MTA must have received a lot of complaints about the loss of stops on Richmond Avenue between the SIE and Victory outside of the AM rush, because they're basically admitting that reconfiguring the former X17C was a mistake. It's going to be restored next month, and Gannon and CSI will instead get the SIM33C, making Mariners' Harbor served full-time with express bus service. The SIM project was one big fustercluck.

It's not about the loss of stops or the coverage. It's about how slow the route now is. Before, we had an off-peak route that went straight onto the highway. Then they replaced it with a route that made more stops before reaching the highway and didn't even run more frequently to compensate.

The sad part is, Arden Heights riders now have the old problem back. They gained a route that went directly to the highway and Richmond Avenue riders lost a route that went directly to the highway. All they did was move the problem back to its original location.

2 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

Might sound good on paper but it would never worked because the  would split the headways off-peak. The SIM1C runs every 15-20 minutes for most of the day. If they had the SIM1 and the SIM10 running off-peak, the headways would be every 30-40 minutes on those lines. It's even worse on lines that run with longer headways.

For the SIM1 I think it would work. Just run the SIM10 every 30 minutes and the SIM1C (from 14th Street or 23rd Street) every 20 minutes and both portions have reasonable frequency. I agree that doing so on the SIM3C/4C/33C is definitely infeasible (but as I've said before, cutting some of those routes to Downtown and using the savings to extend the span and run some more off-peak routes is always an option)

Another option for the North Shore could be to have the SIM33C only run as far north as Chambers Street (or 14th/23rd Street) and have the SIM3 run off-peak, so the SIM3C covers Midtown-North Shore and the SIM33C covers Downtown-North Shore. Then at least you address some of the reliability issues (and still save some money that can be reinvested elsewhere in the Staten Island express bus network).

One idea I had was running the SIM6 off-peak as opposed to the SIM10 (even though the SIM10 has higher ridership, the SIM6 covers more isolated areas, and would provide off-peak express service to Great Kills and South Beach/Midland Beach)

Edited December 26, 2018 by checkmatechamp13

[trife86]

2 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

An idea just popped in my head.

I know that MJQ stores a good amount of Express buses during the midday so the deheads are minimal and the buses are more reliable in the PM rush. So how about having some Express buses permanently stay at MJQ so if a bus is late to Manhattan, an MJQ bus can cover for the return trip to minimize delays.

That's why there is 'work as assigned' busses already from each depot.

[trainfan22]

2 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

An idea just popped in my head.

I know that MJQ stores a good amount of Express buses during the midday so the deheads are minimal and the buses are more reliable in the PM rush. So how about having some Express buses permanently stay at MJQ so if a bus is late to Manhattan, an MJQ bus can cover for the return trip to minimize delays.

Wouldn't MJO being MaBstoa and SI being NYCT cause an issue? Also, aren't the unions different?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

An idea just popped in my head.

I know that MJQ stores a good amount of Express buses during the midday so the deheads are minimal and the buses are more reliable in the PM rush. So how about having some Express buses permanently stay at MJQ so if a bus is late to Manhattan, an MJQ bus can cover for the return trip to minimize delays.

Quill is only so big. Simply not enough space for all of that.  Aside from that there are already shuttle buses just for that where one B/O shuttles express bus drivers to that depot to get buses.  That depot is located all the way on the West Side, so you still have congestion problems. Not sure if this still happens but MJQ isn't the only depot where express bus lay over at.  I think OTH was used as well, at least in the past. Not sure about now though.

Edited December 27, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[trife86]

7 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Quill is only so big. Simply not enough space for all of that.  Aside from that there are already shuttle buses just for that where one B/O shuttles express bus drivers to that depot to get buses.  That depot is located all the way on the West Side, so you still have congestion problems. Not sure if this still happens but MJQ isn't the only depot where express bus lay over at.  I think OTH was used as well, at least in the past. Not sure about now though.

For all SI express busses and some of the x27/28 busses Quill is the only depot.

[aemoreira81]

51 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

Wouldn't MJO being MaBstoa and SI being NYCT cause an issue? Also, aren't the unions different?

 

32 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Quill is only so big. Simply not enough space for all of that.  Aside from that there are already shuttle buses just for that where one B/O shuttles express bus drivers to that depot to get buses.  That depot is located all the way on the West Side, so you still have congestion problems. Not sure if this still happens but MJQ isn't the only depot where express bus lay over at.  I think OTH was used as well, at least in the past. Not sure about now though.

I believe that there may be an effort to bring all MTA bus operators under one union (or under a subsidiary of TWU 100; Spring Creek workers, after firing ATU 1181/1061, joined TWU 100 as TWU 100A. That said, I can't see a serious issue being raised if some buses are permanently assigned to MJQ. This may require legislation though, which unions would oppose, to require that all in a job title for an employer must be represented by a single bargaining agent (which would actually bring the state in line with federal law on interstate carriers - which is why ATU 1700 represents all Greyhound drivers).

As for where express buses layover, I know that NYCTA buses that remain in Manhattan during the midday only lay over at Quill/West Side (SI and Brooklyn Division) or the Arch Street Yard (QV Depot). MTA Bus buses that don't go all the way back go to Tuskegee Airmen/100 Street Depot or Mother Hale/146 Street Depot (before, it was 126 Street). The idea doesn't sound half bad though, to have some buses permanently assigned to Quill for off-peak express service on weekdays...probably about 20-25, which could also fill in in an emergency.

People underestimate the size of the Michael J. Quill Depot. It used to be a regional Greyhound Lines garage also used by Peter Pan Bus Lines with maintenance done there (Greyhound now parks and fuels on 30th Street near 12th Avenue, while Peter Pan is at 25 County Avenue in Secaucus, next door to Academy's facility at 57 County), and Greyhound still leases part of the facility for driver dormitories. It is the largest garage in the system.

---REPLY ENDS HERE---

Separately from this, I would also argue that the MTA should also operate some express bus routes into New Jersey to better serve Staten Islanders who work in NJ, as well as to serve Newark Airport full-time. I would propose:

SIM40: Eltingville Transit Center - Newark Liberty International Airport (weekdays) - weekdays, hourly service

SIM41: Eltingville Transit Center - 34 Street (HBLR), replacing the S89 with faster buses, weekdays

SIM40C:  Eltingville Transit Center - 34 Street (HBLR) - Newark Airport (weekends) - every 2 hours

* NOTE: if the Bayonne Bridge is closed, Newark Airport gets serviced first, then 34 Street HBLR

SIM42: Eltingville Transit Center to The Mills at Jersey Gardens 

SIM50: Castleton Depot to Metropark (to NJ AM, from NJ PM)

SIM51: Castleton Depot to Raritan Center (to NJ AM, from NJ PM)

For the latter two, a mini-bus would be sent to pick up drivers to bring them back to Staten Island.

 

Edited December 27, 2018 by aemoreira81

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

There's a modified schedule on December 31st (which likely includes express buses). However, the links on the MTA page only redirect to the new MTA website homepage.

It mentions that from 12 PM-3 PM, there's extra service. In the PM peak, service will be less frequent.

Edited December 27, 2018 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[161 New York]

7 hours ago, aemoreira81 said:

 

I believe that there may be an effort to bring all MTA bus operators under one union (or under a subsidiary of TWU 100; Spring Creek.....

 

I replied to your comments in the Staten Island Bus Proposal Thread 2012-2013 (post 1376) as the discussion (appears to) digress away from VG8's original purpose.

Edited December 27, 2018 by 161 New York

[Via Garibaldi 8]

9 hours ago, trife86 said:

For all SI express busses and some of the x27/28 busses Quill is the only depot.

Right, but what about Tuskegee Depot? At one time they had express buses from other depots laying up there. Does that still happen?

[trife86]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Right, but what about Tuskegee Depot? At one time they had express buses from other depots laying up there. Does that still happen?

Not with any SI bus. Possibly some of the BK busses but not sure.

[Future ENY OP]

2 hours ago, trife86 said:

Not with any SI bus. Possibly some of the BK busses but not sure.

I don’t think UP and SC store buses at TU-100th anymore. For UP some of their buses are stored at MJQ or deadhead back to Bath Beach. As for Spring Creek, buses deadhead back to the depot. 

[trife86]

29 minutes ago, Future ENY OP said:

I don’t think UP and SC store buses at TU-100th anymore. For UP some of their buses are stored at MJQ or deadhead back to Bath Beach. As for Spring Creek, buses deadhead back to the depot. 

I was only speaking about Quill.

[7-express]

Here's another one.  Today's 1600 QM20 was hanging out at the terminal for 20 minutes for no apparent reason before it decided to leave.  So it left a 50 minute headway from its leader and a 10 minute headway from its follower when the headways are supposed to be 30 minutes at this hour.  Not to mention it got even later due to traffic on 6th Avenue this time of year.  As of right now (1700), it's just crossing the Queensboro Bridge when it should've been making its first drop offs.

Edited December 27, 2018 by 7-express