Express Bus Advocacy Group

[7-express]

2 hours ago, ViaWaterViaChurch said:

Northern Boulevard is absolutely awful during the rush hour once you get past the BQE.  There are constantly cars and trucks double parked in the right lane and you're lucky if you make it 3 blocks before the bus gets stuck at another red light.

Yeah they've nerfed the hell out of Northern Blvd over the last decade with new signal timing.  Probably worse now with it handling traffic that used to pass through on 34th Avenue.  I've noticed QM2/20 buses taking 20-30 minutes just to navigate through the section from the BQE to the highway ramp portion.  It's only going to get worse if they decide to build out bus bulbs later this decade so the Q66 will just stop in the right lane and restrict through traffic to a single left lane.

There really are no other viable west to east options for NE Queens commuters.  Astoria Blvd has been nerfed too between Junction Blvd and the highway ramp so the SX performance is suffering too.

Edited June 25, 2021 by 7-express

[Lawrence St]

@Via Garibaldi 8 is the Outer Bridge Park/Ride permanently closed?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

@Via Garibaldi 8 is the Outer Bridge Park/Ride permanently closed?

What do you mean exactly?

[Lawrence St]

3 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

What do you mean exactly?

I was going to take the SIM22 this week to Outerbridge but looking on google maps, it shows that's permanently closed, so where is the SIM22 going?

[MysteriousBtrain]

28 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

I was going to take the SIM22 this week to Outerbridge but looking on google maps, it shows that's permanently closed, so where is the SIM22 going?

SIM24 goes to outerbridge.

SIM22 runs past ETC to (around the S89) eltingville terminal via NJ 

Edited June 27, 2021 by MysteriousBtrain

[Lawrence St]

1 hour ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

SIM24 goes to outerbridge.

SIM22 runs past ETC to (around the S89) eltingville terminal via NJ 

Thank you for the correction, I was thinking of the X22.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

I was going to take the SIM22 this week to Outerbridge but looking on google maps, it shows that's permanently closed, so where is the SIM22 going?

I wouldn't trust anything with Google maps these days. Some real problems with accuracy.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

21 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

I was going to take the SIM22 this week to Outerbridge but looking on google maps, it shows that's permanently closed, so where is the SIM22 going?

There's nothing on the Academy website that indicates a change in routing. 

Also, is that park and ride pedestrian accessible (from the neighborhood)? There's a gated entrance at Pleasant Plains Avenue, but from what it looks like, it may only be accessible by NYSDOT employees or something. 

Edited June 28, 2021 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

There's nothing on the Academy website that indicates a change in routing. 

Also, is that park and ride pedestrian accessible (from the neighborhood)? There's a gated entrance at Pleasant Plains Avenue, but from what it looks like, it may only be accessible by NYSDOT employees or something. 

I think he's thinking about the old X22A which had a stop there. The SIM22 doesn't stop there. 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Via Garibaldi 8

[QM1to6Ave]

I had to take some reverse-peak QM5/6 rides today, and even they are back up to the pre-covid ridership of around 10 people per trip, which is pretty good considering these buses would otherwise be deadheading empty back to the city/Queens 

[checkmatechamp13]

4 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

There's nothing on the Academy website that indicates a change in routing. 

Also, is that park and ride pedestrian accessible (from the neighborhood)? There's a gated entrance at Pleasant Plains Avenue, but from what it looks like, it may only be accessible by NYSDOT employees or something. 

It's accessible from the neighborhood. They open it up.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

11 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I had to take some reverse-peak QM5/6 rides today, and even they are back up to the pre-covid ridership of around 10 people per trip, which is pretty good considering these buses would otherwise be deadheading empty back to the city/Queens 

The trend seems to be people taking the really early buses and then others taking later, off-peak buses. That's the work crowd. The traditional peak trips, some are still crowded, but it's a mix. I took one peak bus last week. It was not nearly as crowded as it normally was in the past. Jumping around a lot because I am still working from home, but come into the office when I need to and the times always vary. Trying to figure out what to do tomorrow. Coming home though, I think traffic has generally been terrible during rush hour, so I avoid that entirely.

[QM1to6Ave]

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The trend seems to be people taking the really early buses and then others taking later, off-peak buses. That's the work crowd. The traditional peak trips, some are still crowded, but it's a mix. I took one peak bus last week. It was not nearly as crowded as it normally was in the past. Jumping around a lot because I am still working from home, but come into the office when I need to and the times always vary. Trying to figure out what to do tomorrow. Coming home though, I think traffic has generally been terrible during rush hour, so I avoid that entirely.

Afternoon peak rush hour traffic is unbelievably bad, especially the later in the week you get. It starts as early as 3:00 pm by Thursday/Friday. Insane. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

2 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Afternoon peak rush hour traffic is unbelievably bad, especially the later in the week you get. It starts as early as 3:00 pm by Thursday/Friday. Insane. 

Yeah, in my office building, I know not to expect many people if it is a Thursday or Friday. I don't come in on Mondays. Usually Tuesday or a Wednesday. Thursday or Friday only if I have something super important like Zoom meetings or something. With the summer months here, people are taking more leisure trips than trips to work in some cases. I have noticed that the stops that I use have been seeing more people, but still nowhere close to what they used to get, and it's not regulars either. Usually people that casually ride that need to get to the City or from it for one reason or another.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

The schedules that had errors, missing timetables & did not list the stops have all been fixed at our request. See below:

BxM4: https://new.mta.info/document/7226

BxM7: https://new.mta.info/document/7236

X27/X37: https://new.mta.info/document/6921

X28/X38: https://new.mta.info/document/6916

BM2: https://new.mta.info/document/6891

Any other issues, please let us know.

Edited June 29, 2021 by Via Garibaldi 8

[danielhg121]

The BxM4 and BxM7 schedules say Local Service lol. First thing I glanced upon. These are minor mistakes, not issues with the schedules themselves. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, danielhg121 said:

The BxM4 and BxM7 schedules say Local Service lol. First thing I glanced upon. These are minor mistakes, not issues with the schedules themselves. 

I mentioned that previously to the  , but  they overlooked it again. They clearly did not double check these before issuing them. The issues that were fixed were the following, which are far more important:

BM2, BxM4 and BxM7 did not have the stops listed anywhere. That has been fixed.

X27/X37, X28/X38 did not have the X37 and X38 schedules. That has been fixed.

The BxM7 time point at 87th and 3rd has been fixed from Bay Ridge to the Upper East Side. I'll take all of those changes. We'll get that one (the local service one) looked at at a later point.

 

Edited June 29, 2021 by Via Garibaldi 8

[Via Garibaldi 8]

We are happy to announce that after months of petitioning for a new Express Bus Audit, the City Comptroller took us up on said request. We will continue to push for adjustments to the schedules, and realistic run-times.

Comptroller Stringer Audit: MTA Express Bus On-Time Performance Continues to Lag

Source: https://comptroller.nyc.gov/newsroom/comptroller-stringer-audit-mta-express-bus-on-time-performance-continues-to-lag/?fbclid=IwAR2oyPPZVsec9WvlppUGKeZcneVeuk3icrUeig5f886yvR__n6Y8V6Nbh08

Edited June 30, 2021 by Via Garibaldi 8

[GreatOne2k]

The BxM7 overnight service (making most BxM8 stops) should be restored and made permanent.

[QM1to6Ave]

3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

We are happy to announce that after months of petitioning for a new Express Bus Audit, the City Comptroller took us up on said request. We will continue to push for adjustments to the schedules, and realistic run-times.

Comptroller Stringer Audit: MTA Express Bus On-Time Performance Continues to Lag

Source: https://comptroller.nyc.gov/newsroom/comptroller-stringer-audit-mta-express-bus-on-time-performance-continues-to-lag/?fbclid=IwAR2oyPPZVsec9WvlppUGKeZcneVeuk3icrUeig5f886yvR__n6Y8V6Nbh08

Damn, only 60% on time expected performance? That's not even a passing grade in NYC public schools!

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Damn, only 60% on time expected performance? That's not even a passing grade in NYC public schools!

Pathetic.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, GreatOne2k said:

The BxM7 overnight service (making most BxM8 stops) should be restored and made permanent.

Agreed. It is something we'll revisit at another time. It's a non-starter right now. I have talked with the  about trying to add earlier service, but that is cost neutral. Even that is a tough go.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Unreal that this SIM22 is in service like this now...

Reported this for repair ASAP.

[ViaWaterViaChurch]

7 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Unreal that this SIM22 is in service like this now...

Reported this for repair ASAP.

Those Staten Island riders sure put up with a lot.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

@checkmatechamp13 Before I forget, i took two of the most important things you noted for the SIM lines, that being the run times along 42nd and the SIM4C on weekends and sent it off (Word doc). I'll work on that for now.  With everything you listed, none of that would get done. I got a response back on Wednesday. Sent for review...

Edited July 3, 2021 by Via Garibaldi 8