Express Bus Advocacy Group

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 minute ago, Lil 57 said:

I know, I should have worded it differently. Students use the express buses to school because it is much quicker than other options. That's why I'm confused about why using a local unlimited on an express bus and paying the difference in coins/pay-for-ride MetroCard is allowed while doing the same thing with a Student card isn't.

Because the  supplements the cost of those cards, and the student cards are for the local bus or subway only. They already eat enough of the costs as it is. If anything, blame the City for not contributing more. The  has to eat those costs and eventually it gets passed on to the paying public one way or another, who already pay enough in taxes for such programs.

[Lil 57]

1 minute ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Because the  supplements the cost of those cards, and the student cards are for the local bus or subway only. They already eat enough of the costs as it is. If anything, blame the City for not contributing more. The  has to eat those costs and eventually it gets passed on to the paying public one way or another, who already pay enough in taxes for such programs.

Maybe have the  make a student plan with schools if you want to have an express bus Student pass. Local cards would be free but express cards would cost an extra $500-600 dollars for each semester. Still cheaper than buying 7-day passes or refilling pay-for-rides each week but would be reasonable for students that could use the express bus for a quicker commute. (Around 90 days in a semester and $13.50 each day for the express bus comes out to $1215 per semester if you use a pay-for-ride Metrocard, a little cheaper if you used a 7-day pass.)

[trife86]

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

 The  has to eat those costs and eventually it gets passed on to the paying public one way or another, who already pay enough in taxes for such programs.

I know it's not a reality but I thought a few times what if all NYC residents get taxed to hell for transportation but in return NYCTA bus/subways are free for everyone.

Not sure what tax rate would be needed lol 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

37 minutes ago, trife86 said:

I know it's not a reality but I thought a few times what if all NYC residents get taxed to hell for transportation but in return NYCTA bus/subways are free for everyone.

Not sure what tax rate would be needed lol 

OMG... LMAO... You are dreaming buddy.... If there was investment in the system MAYBE it could be done, but you have no idea how much we already are taxed as it is.  I'm going to name some of the various ways we are taxed:

-Payroll tax - Likely still exists. Commuter tax I believe was eliminated

-Utility bills such as cell phone bill - surcharge goes to the  

-Tolls and bridges - goes to the

-Every taxi ride has a surcharge - goes to the  

-Then of course the fare you pay goes to the  

That's five different ways that we are taxed, and they still cry broke. lol That doesn't include anything that the City or State coughs up either.

The Europeans pay a ton in taxes, but they also properly invest in their systems to keep them up. We don't. Big difference. Construction costs here are also 5x greater than anywhere else, so inflated costs is another problem.

Edited February 27, 2019 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Via Garibaldi 8]

lol Just heard back from my contact... We'll chat over the phone but my message will be passed on to the powers that be about the elimination of payment with coins.

[MysteriousBtrain]

3 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

lol Just heard back from my contact... We'll chat over the phone but my message will be passed on to the powers that be about the elimination of payment with coins.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the new OMNY system supposed to be both a card based and app system? It may help a little bit regarding payment with change. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

8 minutes ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the new OMNY system supposed to be both a card based and app system? It may help a little bit regarding payment with change. 

That's correct. The problem is the coin payment option would be eliminated entirely BEFORE OMNY was fully rolled out, which is the problem I have with this. I talked with the  about the new payment system in the meeting I had late last year. It's a great system because it's very flexible and it should be rolled out on-time according to them, but it will only be done in phases. First the  big wigs will test it and be guinea pigs.  Then it will roll out on the  lines at select stations and on some of the SIM express bus lines. I heard somewhere that the SIM30 will get it which is interesting if that is true, then it would roll out and expand further.  

Edited February 27, 2019 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Lil 57]

4 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I heard somewhere that the SIM30 will get it which is interesting if that is true, then it would roll out and expand further.

If the SIM30 gets it, wouldn't that make all Meredith buses get OMNY Card support? Or is there only going to be a few buses reserved for the SIM30 because if that's the case, OMNY card buses won't only stick to the SIM30 and there would be SIM30 buses w/o OMNY support which might cause a problem. If the  can run tons of buses w/o bike racks on the S53/93, I can't trust them to run only OMNY capitatable buses on the SIM30.

[Orion6025]

14 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

If the SIM30 gets it, wouldn't that make all Meredith buses get OMNY Card support? Or is there only going to be a few buses reserved for the SIM30 because if that's the case, OMNY card buses won't only stick to the SIM30 and there would be SIM30 buses w/o OMNY support which might cause a problem. If the  can run tons of buses w/o bike racks on the S53/93, I can't trust them to run only OMNY capitatable buses on the SIM30.

If it's like any of the recent test projects they've ran, OMNY buses will inevitably start running on other routes... Whatever happened to those NGs with screens "reserved" for the Bx30 LMAO... Or running unracked LFSA and XD60 on the M60 SBS

Edited February 28, 2019 by Orion6025

[Lil 57]

3 minutes ago, Orion6025 said:

If it's like any of the recent test projects they've ran, OMNY buses will inevitably start running on other routes... Whatever happened to those NGs with screens "reserved" for the Bx30 LMAO... Or running unracked LFSA and XD60 on the M60 SBS

Will OMNY buses also have MetroCard readers then?

[QM1to6Ave]

I'm glad the EXP fare increase is relatively small this time. Still gonna have to budget in a few more bucks each month for my unlimited, but it's still worth it. Once in a while I have to take the subway home, even late at night, and god is it horrible. The EXP really saves my mental health, even with the problems associated with the EXP.

Also, I'm curious about the local unlimited card topic that came up...if I had a local unlimited, plus I loaded some cash onto the card, would it take the $2.75 from the unlimited portion and then take the remainder ($3.75) from the cash portion of the card? Or is that too complex for the farebox, and it expects cash payment doe the remaining portion ($3.75)?

And if they do eliminate coin payments, all that will happen is the B/O's will wave on anyone whose Metrocard is short. They do that like 90% of the time anyway. Rarely see them kick anyone off for not having enough money on their card. 

Edited February 28, 2019 by QM1to6Ave

[Orion6025]

1 hour ago, Lil 57 said:

Will OMNY buses also have MetroCard readers then?

I would say that's inevitable. Beyond this testing period, there's still going to be a multi-year transition period, where OMNY and Metrocard compatible fareboxes will have to exist.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

5 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I'm glad the EXP fare increase is relatively small this time. Still gonna have to budget in a few more bucks each month for my unlimited, but it's still worth it. Once in a while I have to take the subway home, even late at night, and god is it horrible. The EXP really saves my mental health, even with the problems associated with the EXP.

Also, I'm curious about the local unlimited card topic that came up...if I had a local unlimited, plus I loaded some cash onto the card, would it take the $2.75 from the unlimited portion and then take the remainder ($3.75) from the cash portion of the card? Or is that too complex for the farebox, and it expects cash payment doe the remaining portion ($3.75)?

And if they do eliminate coin payments, all that will happen is the B/O's will wave on anyone whose Metrocard is short. They do that like 90% of the time anyway. Rarely see them kick anyone off for not having enough money on their card. 

Yes, if you have a regular unlimited Metrocard, you would simply have to dip it on a local bus or swipe at a turnstile to then get “credit” towards the step up fare on the express bus. In other words, if you didn’t swipe beforehand on a subway or local bus, you would be charged the full $6.50 fare. When I get a regular unlimited and I’m using Metro-North more than the express bus but want to still use the express bus here and there, I’ll do that. The reader sees the regular unlimited and then you are just charged the $3.75 difference. As for coin payments, I’m going to have a wait and see attitude. My comments to my contact were passed on and hopefully they’ll reconsider. I told them that coins should be allowed until the OMNY card comes out and is fully in place.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

6 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

Will OMNY buses also have MetroCard readers then?

lol Both will co-exist together. The Metrocard will still be around for at least four more years until 2023. The idea is to keep it around to ensure that OMNY has no issues.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

6 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

If the SIM30 gets it, wouldn't that make all Meredith buses get OMNY Card support? Or is there only going to be a few buses reserved for the SIM30 because if that's the case, OMNY card buses won't only stick to the SIM30 and there would be SIM30 buses w/o OMNY support which might cause a problem. If the  can run tons of buses w/o bike racks on the S53/93, I can't trust them to run only OMNY capitatable buses on the SIM30.

Well Staten Island will get it first, so I would imagine that enough fareboxes will be ready to run as needed. Seems like they’ll make slight modifications to allow both the Metrocard and OMNY.

Edited February 28, 2019 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Lawrence St]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Well Staten Island will get it first, so I would imagine that enough fareboxes will be ready to run as needed. Seems like they’ll make slight modifications to allow both the Metrocard and OMNY.

You mean just plop the OMNY reader on an old farebox and call it a day lol. That's what they're doing with the turnstiles along Lexington.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

You mean just plop the OMNY reader on an old farebox and call it a day lol. That's what they're doing with the turnstiles along Lexington.

Well what other reconfigurations do you want?  The Metrocard will remain until 2023, so there is no point in getting rid of the fare boxes, as they will be using both systems simultaneously.

[QM1to6Ave]

I caught the 4 pm QM1 today, and the B/O this pick is a very good guy. Very reliable, I've had him on the QM5, 31, and 6 in previous picks. I forget,  what run does he do after the 4 pm? If it is missing regularly since this pick started, I'd be shocked if it was him playing games. More likely someone in supervision or something messing him up. Unless he is a fill-in or something for today. 

Edited March 2, 2019 by QM1to6Ave

[Lil 57]

28 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I forget,  what run does he do after the 4 pm?

The 4 PM does the 6:30 PM while the 4:30 PM does the 7 PM.

The 6:30 PM doesn't show up most of the time.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Lil 57

[Via Garibaldi 8]

43 minutes ago, Lil 57 said:

The 4 PM does the 6:30 PM while the 4:30 PM does the 7 PM.

The 6:30 PM doesn't show up most of the time.

That’s correct. There was no 5:30, no 6:30 and no 7pm tonight. The 5:30 hasn’t come the entire week, and the 6:30 isn’t much better. The only buses that with some level of consistency is the 4:00, the 4:30 and the 5:00. After that it’s very hit or miss and this pick has been worse than the last pick. I think I’m going to have to place a phone call about this. Really ridiculous.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I caught the 4 pm QM1 today, and the B/O this pick is a very good guy. Very reliable, I've had him on the QM5, 31, and 6 in previous picks. I forget,  what run does he do after the 4 pm? If it is missing regularly since this pick started, I'd be shocked if it was him playing games. More likely someone in supervision or something messing him up. Unless he is a fill-in or something for today. 

No, there are definitely favors being given at 36th and 6th. For sure. There is a guy who pulls out of the depot and CAREFULLY inspects his bus beforehand for any little thing. Then he deadheads to the City and claims he can’t go into service for one reason on another. Ridiculous...

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Latest news:

-We are just ~30 people away from eclipsing the 1,000 member level, which is impressive given the fact that it is a closed group, and we have done no advertising on the actual express buses. We will be thinking about creating a flier to handout over the coming weeks.

[QM1to6Ave]

22 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

No, there are definitely favors being given at 36th and 6th. For sure. There is a guy who pulls out of the depot and CAREFULLY inspects his bus beforehand for any little thing. Then he deadheads to the City and claims he can’t go into service for one reason on another. Ridiculous...

 

23 hours ago, Lil 57 said:

The 4 PM does the 6:30 PM while the 4:30 PM does the 7 PM.

The 6:30 PM doesn't show up most of the time.

Interesting. Maybe this guy isn't as good as I thought LOL. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

So we have a retired MTA Chief Officer in my group that has been quite blunt with regards to the mess that is express bus service: 

Quote

After 32 years with New York Bus Service and almost a decade with MTA Bus, I couldn’t believe how much money the agency wasted. I came out of the most efficient Private Bus company, along with Liberty Lines, where not only the passengers loved us, but ran clean on time service, for a lot less subsidy than anyone else. Our passengers love our service, and bus loads went to city hall to fight the takeover. 

The problem with the MTA is simple, no true business people run it. Everyone was either was ‘born’ in the couture or a politician. The couture in the agency was never about cost savings, it was about what can I do next to spend money. Examples of this is free wi-fi, The SBS Buses, (which cost Billions, that’s right Billions, with a B,) for minimal time savings. By the way that free wi-fi isn’t ‘free’ it cost the agency plenty of your fare increase. How about “Prevailing Rate” where you have to pay venders more because a locked in minimum wage, I had a lower bidder that I had to turn down because he paid his people a little less. 

MTA Long Island Bus no longer exists because of I he MTA out of control spending. Transdev a Private company now runs NICE for Nassau County at a fraction of the cost of the MTA. 
In Westchester Country, Liberty Lines still exists and runs The BEE LINE at a much cheaper cost. 
It goes on and on, they lost their core mission, to get people back and forth, Safely and Efficiency. 

The answers is simple either privatize or hire real business people to run the MTA. 
Or no matter what, the public WILL suffer. They need to take drastic action, this keeps happening over and over. The proof is in the past. 
Will they ever learn?

John Provetto 
Chief Officer (Retired)
MTA Bus

 

[trainfan22]

I had a feeling the PBL NYBS was better than MTA Bus, I never rode NYBS sadly but from pics they looked like a nice little mom and pop operation. Bus decals written in script and such was a nice touch.

 

 

I didn't know NYBS riders were against the takeover.