Express Bus Advocacy Group

[trife86]

17 minutes ago, 7-express said:

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.

How do you know the op wasn't on a personal?

[7-express]

I don't...this is just what BusTime was showing for a bus that normally runs on time.  This is the first time in a while I recall seeing it start this late.

[Lil 57]

Yesterday I was able to take the SIM2 for the first time. Arrived at Broadway/Chambers are 4:39 PM and the bus didn't arrive until 5:00 PM. This was the heart of rush hour so buses should be arriving every 10-12 minutes at this time. To make facts worse, the last SIM2 that left before us was 10 minutes ago. Making a 30 minute gap in SIM2 service in the middle of rush-hour. The bus was SRO with 7-10 people standing by the time we got into the tunnel.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

18 hours ago, trife86 said:

How do you know the op wasn't on a personal?

 

18 hours ago, 7-express said:

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.

Queens express bus service has been a mess and we've been heavily monitoring service during the week and on weekends since I started the advocacy group.  The lone positive has been the QM2.  There's a dispatcher at 6th & 36th, usually on weekends too. They've done a lousy job on a number of lines for weeks now where buses are leaving 40 minutes late or there's nothing, and we know because we wait for the trips right on 6th, up on 57th and elsewhere to see just what happens. It's okay to see that sometimes, but it's happening too often and it's leading to piss poor service.   They haven't been able to fill all QM1 trips now for months.  There's only seven trips at night, and you're lucky if four of them are filled on 30 minute headways.  Inexcusable. Only recently have they been able to consistently meet rush hour service in the morning on the QM1 and fill all trips.  They want to blame declining ridership on "demographic changes". No it's unreliable service.  

I had another person in my group complaining about that QM20 last night. Then two of them came packed together. Service has become so bad that you have people that have been riding for over 20 years saying that service has never been worse. Had a QM10/QM40 rider that joined a few days in my group that said just that.

Edited December 28, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Lil 57]

5 PM and 4 SIM3 buses are bunching.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

16 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

5 PM and 4 SIM3 buses are bunching.

Hence why some express buses are running via Lexington.  Additionally, ALL BxM2s are on detour despite what the  website says ("Good Service"..... Yeah right) . We've been updating all of our express bus riders in our group. Northbound BxM2s run via Madison all the way.  Southbound they are running via Columbus/via 9th Avenue, terminating at 34th. All QMs that run via 6th Avenue are running via Madison, then via 57th (via 59th for the QM2/20) and regular. 

Some SIMs are running via Lex (SIM 22, 25, 26 Staten Island bound will be going down Lexington Ave... make a right on 34th St into the Lincoln).

SIM 8, 8X, 30 Staten Island bound will be going down 5th Ave... make a right on 34th St into the Lincoln.

All other express bus lines should be running regularly, though the X27, 28, 37, 38, 63, 64, and 68 will be running a modified schedule.

UPDATE: They JUST put up the detour info for the BxM2 but supposedly it's starting at 6pm. It's been going on for HOURS... Anyway, the BxM2 is supposedly running via 5th now, but Command said what I posted earlier so who knows.

Edited December 31, 2018 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Lovely conditions tonight for express bus service: 

 

[Lil 57]

2 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Lovely conditions tonight for express bus service: 

 

And these buses are only a few years old...

[Via Garibaldi 8]

7 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

And these buses are only a few years old...

Wasn't sure if I should bore folks with the usual long lines and 30 minute waits during what should be a light night traffic wise... 

SIM1 line:

39 people and counting and the line was wrapping around the corner with a 30 minute wait... Bus was almost SRO when it finally arrived and told to make no more stops and go on to Staten Island.

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2019 by Via Garibaldi 8

[trife86]

39 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Lovely conditions tonight for express bus service: 

 

Might of happened as it was already out? I don't see that happening myself. I seen allot of junk go out but not like that

Edited January 3, 2019 by trife86
Awesome grammar I have

[Via Garibaldi 8]

6 minutes ago, trife86 said:

Might if happened as it was already out? I don't see that happening myself. I seen allot of junk go out but not like that

I don't buy it.  That was an express bus during the evening rush tonight. Where would a B/O get tape like that?  You know the deal and I know it too. I was speaking with someone I know who said that if they didn't work for the  they'd send that photo to the media. Absolutely unacceptable. I'd like to say that this is an anomaly, but it isn't. I have taken numerous Staten Island express buses during the PM rush where seats were clearly broken yet buses arrived in service. These buses are barely three years old and they look like this...

The other thing that I wouldn't be shocked by is if sabotage wasn't going on.  Some of these buses have dents on the outside in areas that make no sense.  Literally looks like someone took something and just cracked the outside of the bus. Something I've noticed during my years of taking express buses on Staten Island. I don't see this at any other depot. lol I'm sure the Comptroller's Office will love that photo. Sent it to them a little while ago...

Edited January 3, 2019 by Via Garibaldi 8

[trife86]

1 minute ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I don't buy it.  That was an express bus during the evening rush tonight. Where would a B/O get tape like that?  You know the deal and I know it too. I was speaking with someone I know who said that if they didn't work for the  they'd send that photo to the media. Absolutely unacceptable. I'd like to say that this is a anomaly, but it isn't. I have taken numerous Staten Island express buses during the PM rush where seats were clearly broken yet buses arrived in service. These buses are barely three years old and they look like this...

You would be surprised what done guys carry on them.

I used to carry a roll of duct tape and a multi tool when I had busses out of Yukon it was that bad. But never anything where they couldn't fold up the ADA seat. Maybe not move it correctly for a wheelchair but if it folds down it will definitely fold back up.

The picture makes me think the operator just did not know how to raise it up as it is slightly different than the local bus.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 minute ago, trife86 said:

You would be surprised what done guys carry on them.

I used to carry a roll of duct tape and a multi tool when I had busses out of Yukon it was that bad. But never anything where they couldn't fold up the ADA seat. Maybe not move it correctly for a wheelchair but if it folds down it will definitely fold back up.

The picture makes me think the operator just did not know how to raise it up as it is slightly different than the local bus.

LMAO... Maybe it was you with the duct tape trying to hold the buses back together. I'm serious. I have seen so many Staten Island buses with duct tape and other tape trying to hold the buses together it's sad.  There is absolutely no maintenance.  As one of my contacts said, you guys become resentful because you're the ones that have to drive buses in such conditions and then some drivers say to hell with it. Why should I care?

[SIMplicity]

38 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Wasn't sure if I should bore folks with the usual long lines and 30 minute waits during what should be a light night traffic wise... 

SIM1 line:

39 people and counting and the line was wrapping around the corner with a 30 minute wait... Bus was almost SRO when it finally arrived and told to make no more stops and go on to Staten Island.

 

 

 

If this is the SIM1 line, wait until after January 13th when all the SIM1s past 7:20pm or so are cut and the SIM10s past 6:40 are converted to SIM1Cs without any added trips... So much for faster more reliable service...

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 minutes ago, SIMplicity said:

If this is the SIM1 line, wait until after January 13th when all the SIM1s past 7:20pm or so are cut and the SIM10s past 6:40 are converted to SIM1Cs without any added trips... So much for faster more reliable service...

There was SRO SIM5s too... People like @checkmatechamp13 keep saying that the long lines are by design, but I'm not too sure that the 30 minute+ waits were by design too... What's the excuse tonight? Traffic on the first day back from January?  Short on buses?

Edited January 3, 2019 by Via Garibaldi 8

[QM1to6Ave]

4 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Wasn't sure if I should bore folks with the usual long lines and 30 minute waits during what should be a light night traffic wise... 

SIM1 line:

39 people and counting and the line was wrapping around the corner with a 30 minute wait... Bus was almost SRO when it finally arrived and told to make no more stops and go on to Staten Island.

 

 

 

Damnnnn. That's crazy. QMs were empty and on time today. Even the 7 pm QM1 showed up on time for once!

Of course, my QM6 in the morning didn't show up on Bustime and the wifi was broken (I'm guessing those two issues were related), but at least it showed up on time. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

33 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Damnnnn. That's crazy. QMs were empty and on time today. Even the 7 pm QM1 showed up on time for once!

Of course, my QM6 in the morning didn't show up on Bustime and the wifi was broken (I'm guessing those two issues were related), but at least it showed up on time. 

Yes, I noticed that about the QM1. There was a gap this morning though...

[checkmatechamp13]

11 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

There was SRO SIM5s too... People like @checkmatechamp13 keep saying that the long lines are by design, but I'm not too sure that the 30 minute+ waits were by design too... What's the excuse tonight? Traffic on the first day back from January?  Short on buses?

Not sure if you're trying to "out" me or something by quoting me but yeah I'm going to stand by my statement that long lines were by design. Obviously the 30 minute waits weren't.

That being said the SIM1 has issues between 5-7pm....before 5pm and after 7pm they run like wildfire. Hopefully the new strategy they're trying in January  (anecdotally fewer drivers are having 2nd trips) and the extra deadhead time will help...

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

Not sure if you're trying to "out" me or something by quoting me but yeah I'm going to stand by my statement that long lines were by design. Obviously the 30 minute waits weren't.

That being said the SIM1 has issues between 5-7pm....before 5pm and after 7pm they run like wildfire. Hopefully the new strategy they're trying in January  (anecdotally fewer drivers are having 2nd trips) and the extra deadhead time will help...

I’m not “outing” you. Just noting what you said in a sarcastic manner because you claim that the long lines are by design but the 30+ minute waits aren’t... Doesn’t make any sense to me. If service is frequent and buses come then you likely won’t have very long lines.

[QM1to6Ave]

10 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Yes, I noticed that about the QM1. There was a gap this morning though...

Ugg, that's really frustrating. I'm assuming a B/O was out on vacation and they never filled it

[Via Garibaldi 8]

16 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Ugg, that's really frustrating. I'm assuming a B/O was out on vacation and they never filled it

Yeah well they've only been able to fill the morning trips with some sort of consistency. The evening trips not so much. That 7pm trip came for the first time in a while. The morning trips don't do any second trips, but the evening trips do. The 4pm and the 4:30pm both do later trips, so if they don't come, that's four trips already missing.

[checkmatechamp13]

13 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I’m not “outing” you. Just noting what you said in a sarcastic manner because you claim that the long lines are by design but the 30+ minute waits aren’t... Doesn’t make any sense to me. If service is frequent and buses come then you likely won’t have very long lines.

Depends on the distribution of ridership along the line. If a bus has 57 seats and it has 15 stops, then you would pick up about 3-4 people per stop (on average). If a bus has 57 seats and it has 5 stops, then you would pick up 11-12 people per stop (on average) . If you put 2-3 lines together, it's easy how you can have a line of 25-30 people even when service is operating normally. 

But that's the thing, there's people posting pictures of lines after a delay, and then people posting normal-looking lines. At the World Financial Center (where there's 3 routes all of which get the bulk of their ridership at the financial center), I would expect such a line as was posted. Along 42nd Street I would expect such lines considering you have the SIM8/8X/22/25/26/30 all at the same stop (And it was the X17J/21/22/22A/30/31 over there before, so it's nothing new). Cortlandt & Broadway.....yeah lines around the corner for the SIM1 definitely wasn't planned....because they weren't expecting to have so many late/missing buses.

[QM1to6Ave]

I got an MTA email today saying the QM36 schedule Manhattan bound will change starting Monday. Instead of a link to a new schedule, it said you need to go on Trip Planner and plan a trip. But, when I did that,  the schedules seemed to be the same as they are now!

Anyone know what the hell is going on? 

 

And of course the 7 pm QM1 didn't show up tonight. 

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

1 hour ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I got an MTA email today saying the QM36 schedule Manhattan bound will change starting Monday. Instead of a link to a new schedule, it said you need to go on Trip Planner and plan a trip. But, when I did that,  the schedules seemed to be the same as they are now!

Anyone know what the hell is going on? 

 

And of course the 7 pm QM1 didn't show up tonight. 

The tripplanner info is wrong. Give me a few minutes and I'll give you the new trip times.

 

Okay, so here are the new trip times:

From North Shore Towers:

6:40 AM, 6:55 AM, 7:10 AM, 7:25 AM, 7:45 AM

Source: Here (From Winter 2019, then the schedule file. It's easier to find out on routes with few trips if you know what to look for, but on routes with a lot more trips, like the QM5, it's a PITA to find everything.)

Basically, every trip except the last one is moved 5 minutes earlier. So basically, be at the stop 5 minutes earlier than normal, since runtimes are not changing.

Edited January 4, 2019 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[Via Garibaldi 8]

7 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

Depends on the distribution of ridership along the line. If a bus has 57 seats and it has 15 stops, then you would pick up about 3-4 people per stop (on average). If a bus has 57 seats and it has 5 stops, then you would pick up 11-12 people per stop (on average) . If you put 2-3 lines together, it's easy how you can have a line of 25-30 people even when service is operating normally. 

But that's the thing, there's people posting pictures of lines after a delay, and then people posting normal-looking lines. At the World Financial Center (where there's 3 routes all of which get the bulk of their ridership at the financial center), I would expect such a line as was posted. Along 42nd Street I would expect such lines considering you have the SIM8/8X/22/25/26/30 all at the same stop (And it was the X17J/21/22/22A/30/31 over there before, so it's nothing new). Cortlandt & Broadway.....yeah lines around the corner for the SIM1 definitely wasn't planned....because they weren't expecting to have so many late/missing buses.

My stance is with the frequent service. despite having multiple buses stopping at one stop the lines wouldn’t be nearly as long, nor would you have people scrambling to get their bus as you do now.