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Via Garibaldi 8

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Ive been taking Sunday QM5 and QM6 a lot recently, and man are these buses more crowded than they used to be, which fits with the latest ridership data. And the BOs seem to be friendlier than during the week! Real shame they are even considering cutting these runs rather than advertising it and building ridership further

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On 2/16/2020 at 1:40 PM, QM1to6Ave said:

Ive been taking Sunday QM5 and QM6 a lot recently, and man are these buses more crowded than they used to be, which fits with the latest ridership data. And the BOs seem to be friendlier than during the week! Real shame they are even considering cutting these runs rather than advertising it and building ridership further

Yeah because service has been a lot better. We've been really on them to get the buses out on-time and track any missing buses. As I'm sure you know, the QM1 has been running quite well now for some months.  We've also asked for a few buses on lines where possible to alleviate overcrowding. They've been trying to assist with that too here and there.

Edited by Via Garibaldi 8
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We were down at the West 230th Street and Broadway stop this morning speaking with Bronx News 12 about USPS ongoing abuse of the express bus stops.  In response to this news report, USPS stated the following:

Quote

"With a goal of minimizing congestion and parking concerns, the US Postal Service remains focused on being a good and safe neighbor in the Kingsbridge area. Postal officials indicate that every effort is made to be respectful of where we park more than 20 postal vehicles that serve the Kingsbridge community. The location will be monitored to ensure there are no postal vehicles in the bus lane and local drivers will be provided additional parking instructions."

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 2/21/2020 at 12:06 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

We were down at the West 230th Street and Broadway stop this morning speaking with Bronx News 12 about USPS ongoing abuse of the express bus stops.  In response to this news report, USPS stated the following:

 

IIRC, those car people tend to come from Westchester and points North. They love to complain about the 5-10 minute walk from their parking spots to the office itself. 

Bus Riders know the deal: You can get to work on time and still be 10-20 minutes late because of security at the front desk holding the worker up. 

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11 minutes ago, NY1635 said:

IIRC, those car people tend to come from Westchester and points North. They love to complain about the 5-10 minute walk from their parking spots to the office itself. 

Bus Riders know the deal: You can get to work on time and still be 10-20 minutes late because of security at the front desk holding the worker up. 

No idea what you're talking about. You're quoting comments about USPS blocking bus stops...

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Frequency was definitely.improved on the QM routes this week. Perhaps more.B/Os are out of quarentine. Still averaging 3-4 riders per trip, with a max of 9 at about 4 pm. Seems like people in the city who have to work clear out early to go home. 

I've been making record time into and out of the.city. One B/O took the Grand Central to the LIE and got me to tge first stop in actual record time. another BO was listening to 1010 wins while driving lol. Havent seen that since the yankees won the world series. I guess rules are more relaxed during the pandemic which is fine with me! 

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4 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Frequency was definitely.improved on the QM routes this week. Perhaps more.B/Os are out of quarentine. Still averaging 3-4 riders per trip, with a max of 9 at about 4 pm. Seems like people in the city who have to work clear out early to go home. 

I've been making record time into and out of the.city. One B/O took the Grand Central to the LIE and got me to tge first stop in actual record time. another BO was listening to 1010 wins while driving lol. Havent seen that since the yankees won the world series. I guess rules are more relaxed during the pandemic which is fine with me! 

Like the old days. I got to the Upper East Side in 30 minutes. 

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  • 3 months later...

@ViaWaterViaChurch As of now those plans are still on hold for two reasons: First they don't know exactly how much they will have to cut (they may receive a full bailout from the federal government, a partial bailout, or no bailout). Then they also have to reanalyze the ridership patterns (between work-from-home, and then people being out of work but some for a longer term than others, that definitely affects ridership patterns)

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4 hours ago, ViaWaterViaChurch said:

Has anyone heard anything about the Redesign plans?  With all the MTA cries for money we'll be lucky if there's more than half-hour peak service left when this is all said and done.  You think the MTA will still want to go forward with some of those new proposed routes in Queens?

If the (MTA) doesn't get the money they need, a lot of changes will be occurring with the bus redesign plans. The Bronx redesign plan for express buses was already horrible...

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2 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

If the (MTA) doesn't get the money they need, a lot of changes will be occurring with the bus redesign plans. The Bronx redesign plan for express buses was already horrible...

I do find it odd that the Bronx seemed to be rather unscathed compared to Queens with the cuts. The Bronx has way more access to subway service than Queens, yet Queens express buses were destroyed way more in the draft plan. While I disagree with cuts decimating the system in general, one would have assumed that the Bronx would be easier to cut express service since the subway is a closer alternative. Just struck me as odd.

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11 hours ago, ViaWaterViaChurch said:

Has anyone heard anything about the Redesign plans?  With all the MTA cries for money we'll be lucky if there's more than half-hour peak service left when this is all said and done.  You think the MTA will still want to go forward with some of those new proposed routes in Queens?

Plans are on hold for now for anything. The (MTA) has said that they don't want to go through with any of the plans until they have feedback from all communities. In Queens, there were still several meetings left that have been postponed.

I received an e-mail this morning from some other large advocacy groups regarding service and ghe 5th Avenue busway.  I have proposed that we chat next week about all of that. We may discuss (MTA) funding as well.

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2 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Plans are on hold for now for anything. The (MTA) has said that they don't want to go through with any of the plans until they have feedback from all communities. In Queens, there were still several meetings left that have been postponed.

I received an e-mail this morning from some other large advocacy groups regarding service and ghe 5th Avenue busway.  I have proposed that we chat next week about all of that. We may discuss (MTA) funding as well.

One small, concrete issue I wanted to bring up was that way too many rows of seats are roped off on the CP express buses, especially now that ridership is coming back up and those protective curtains are being installed (I Already saw them on two runs this week..of course, one BO had the curtain open and no mask on SMH). Anyway, two or three rows roped off is more than enough to keep 6 feet of distance from the BO, and allows more room for everyone else to spread out. The early PM runs back to queens often have one person in every single open row already, and I’m sure the ridership will keep increasing 

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11 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

One small, concrete issue I wanted to bring up was that way too many rows of seats are roped off on the CP express buses, especially now that ridership is coming back up and those protective curtains are being installed (I Already saw them on two runs this week..of course, one BO had the curtain open and no mask on SMH). Anyway, two or three rows roped off is more than enough to keep 6 feet of distance from the BO, and allows more room for everyone else to spread out. The early PM runs back to queens often have one person in every single open row already, and I’m sure the ridership will keep increasing 

Yeah, this is something we're keeping an eye on. I have spoken with people on the inside about the whole mask situation. Drivers are not being written up for it because it's a sensitive issue. Previously, drivers were not allowed to wear masks or gloves, and quite a few of them in my group were upset about it. Now that they are allowed to, it's a situation being discussed. 

The shower curtains create another problem. Some drivers have said that their view is blocked for certain mirrors. As far as masks go, drivers are regularly being reminded about wearing them, and I have seen more express bus drivers with them on now that we've been discussing it in the group, but keep in mind that some drivers have health issues that may make wearing a mask a problem. Of course some just don't want to wear them for one reason or another.

As far as the number of rows blocked off, College Point express buses have been the most problematic.  A passenger sent me photos of a QM8 express bus I believe where the rows were blocked off to where the wheelchair seats are and we went to the (MTA) about it to ask that they address that. That's like five rows blocked off or a good 10 seats gone out of 57. Doesn't leave much room to socially distance. Another rider posted in the group about a QM5 driver that was very nasty with them when they noted that they had no mask.

Ridership is definitely picking up. I am still working from home, but take the express bus to run errands or run to the office here and there, and last week, going home, the express bus I was on was PACKED. Every row was occupied. There are some people that are avoiding the subways, which will mean they will take the express bus.

Enforcement is a big challenge for the (MTA) , but they continue to try to improve signage to remind everyone that they are required. If you notice, even express buses that are not in service flash the "MASK REQUIRED" sign to reinforce the message. It has helped. I encountered a very rude female driver on the BM3 and reached out about it. Since then, I have had fairly friendly Spring Creek drivers, all wearing their mask.

Edited by Via Garibaldi 8
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5 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Yeah, this is something we're keeping an eye on. I have spoken with people on the inside about the whole mask situation. Drivers are not being written up for it because it's a sensitive issue. Previously, drivers were not allowed to wear masks or gloves, and quite a few of them in my group were upset about it. Now that they are allowed to, it's a situation being discussed. 

The shower curtains create another problem. Some drivers have said that their view is blocked for certain mirrors. As far as masks go, drivers are regularly being reminded about wearing them, and I have seen more express bus drivers with them on now that we've been discussing it in the group, but keep in mind that some drivers have health issues that may make wearing a mask a problem. Of course some just don't want to wear them for one reason or another.

As far as the number of rows blocked off, College Point express buses have been the most problematic.  A passenger sent me photos of a QM8 express bus I believe where the rows were blocked off to where the wheelchair seats are and we went to the (MTA) about it to ask that they address that. That's like five rows blocked off or a good 10 seats gone out of 57. Doesn't leave much room to socially distance. Another rider posted in the group about a QM5 driver that was very nasty with them when they noted that they had no mask.

Ridership is definitely picking up. I am still working from home, but take the express bus to run errands or run to the office here and there, and last week, going home, the express bus I was on was PACKED. Every row was occupied. There are some people that are avoiding the subways, which will mean they will take the express bus.

Enforcement is a big challenge for the (MTA) , but they continue to try to improve signage to remind everyone that they are required. If you notice, even express buses that are not in service flash the "MASK REQUIRED" sign to reinforce the message. It has helped. I encountered a very rude female driver on the BM3 and reached out about it. Since then, I have had fairly friendly Spring Creek drivers, all wearing their mask.

Awesome work, as always, VG8!

I can confirm that basically every CP bus I've been on for the last month (which is twice a day, 4 or 5 days per week) has all the rows blocked off up to and including the wheelchair rows (which are folded up so you can't sit on them). It is very clear that the first two or three rows are "officially" roped off with the yellow chain, and the other rows are "unofficially" roped off with electrical tape, twine, or whatever other random material was sitting around the depot. 

I haven't bothered telling B/Os to wear masks (or passengers, for that matter), because I know how well that will go LOL...I know a lady that got punched out on the subway for telling a guy to put on a mask. She needed 8 stitches from it!

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5 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Awesome work, as always, VG8!

I can confirm that basically every CP bus I've been on for the last month (which is twice a day, 4 or 5 days per week) has all the rows blocked off up to and including the wheelchair rows (which are folded up so you can't sit on them). It is very clear that the first two or three rows are "officially" roped off with the yellow chain, and the other rows are "unofficially" roped off with electrical tape, twine, or whatever other random material was sitting around the depot. 

I haven't bothered telling B/Os to wear masks (or passengers, for that matter), because I know how well that will go LOL...I know a lady that got punched out on the subway for telling a guy to put on a mask. She needed 8 stitches from it!

Here here, I've been riding the QM7and QM8 to and from work the past few weeks and they rope all the seats off up to the handicap seats.  I've also taken the QM25 out of LaGuardia and they only rope off the first 3 rows.  This doesn't surprise me at all because CP has always had that Wild West feel...it seems like there's hardly any rules and less professionalism from those drivers especially compared to the LaGuardia guys.  Sometimes I get on CP express buses and the driver acts like he's doing me a favor driving me to where I have to go.

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19 hours ago, ViaWaterViaChurch said:

Here here, I've been riding the QM7and QM8 to and from work the past few weeks and they rope all the seats off up to the handicap seats.  I've also taken the QM25 out of LaGuardia and they only rope off the first 3 rows.  This doesn't surprise me at all because CP has always had that Wild West feel...it seems like there's hardly any rules and less professionalism from those drivers especially compared to the LaGuardia guys.  Sometimes I get on CP express buses and the driver acts like he's doing me a favor driving me to where I have to go.

Gotta laugh at some of the creativity...I'm on the QM1 right now, and instead of the "unofficial" rope, the seats between the wheelchair area and the yellow chain have paper towels with arrows pointing backwards on them, to indicate "don't sit here"...even though this bus has the full plastic curtain installed and in use, which means the B/O is better protected than any passenger!

 

Re: acting like they are doing you a favor, that's exactly the feel I get if I ever need to get dropped off on 57th Street. I've become much more bitter and irritable about this attitude ever since the B/Os were playing games with skipping my stop during the height of covid when I needed to get to work at the Manhattan hospitals. 

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@Via Garibaldi 8i want to report a bus driver that happened to be the 8:00PM BxM8 out of 120th St. He has the audacity to pass my stop and I was lucky he was at a stop light otherwise I would have missed the bus. When I hit the door to let him know I was boarding he has the audacity to yell at me and tell me there was another bus I could get (the next BxM8 was 15+ min away). We had a little argument and he called me f*cking crazy. 

 

BxM8 bus #3395, run number 921

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20 hours ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

@Via Garibaldi 8i want to report a bus driver that happened to be the 8:00PM BxM8 out of 120th St. He has the audacity to pass my stop and I was lucky he was at a stop light otherwise I would have missed the bus. When I hit the door to let him know I was boarding he has the audacity to yell at me and tell me there was another bus I could get (the next BxM8 was 15+ min away). We had a little argument and he called me f*cking crazy. 

 

BxM8 bus #3395, run number 921

Please file a formal complaint for this one. If it continues, then I'll follow up. Trust that it'll be handled.

Use this link: https://new.mta.info/customer-feedback

Question though... Did you signal for the bus? Were you the only one at the stop?

Edited by Via Garibaldi 8
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1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Please file a formal complaint for this one. If it continues, then I'll follow up. Trust that it'll be handled.

Use this link: https://new.mta.info/customer-feedback

Question though... Did you signal for the bus? Were you the only one at the stop?

3-4 people with me at the stop. All waiting at the BxM stop and not the M101/103 stop. Also signaled him to stop as he approached me. And yeah I'll definitely keep that link for future reference.

Edited by MysteriousBtrain
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54 minutes ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

3-4 people with me at the stop. All waiting at the BxM stop and not the M101/103 stop. Also signaled him to stop as he approached me. And yeah I'll definitely keep that link for future reference.

If it happens again I'll reach out. That formal complaint hopefully will do the trick, as it will go in his file.

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