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Express Bus Advocacy Group


Via Garibaldi 8

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11 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I think it's the curvature angle of the seat that kills it. If you look at that pic the VG8 posted, it's a fairly tight squeeze to begin with, but if your legs are long so that your knees go up to that curved point (which is true for me), good luck getting comfortable!

Having ridden most of the EXP bus fleet now, my personal favorites are the QV MCIs...good mix of everything that was good about the MCIs in general, with extra benefits like the passenger counter on most buses, grab handles on the top of all aisle seats, and powerful HVAC. And I actually like that the engine or fans or whatever add some white noise to block out yappy passengers, unlike the Prevosts that are so quiet, you can hear the turn signal lol. Also, I think this a personal touch from QV, but I really like how their outlets all work and they have little labels on top of the seats with outlets letting you know there is an outlet.

Yeah those are 2013 models I believe and they do have a number of advantages. Signage is nice and bright too. I have never rode those before. When I have to be at the court house in Kew Gardens, I have in the past used those lines, but now that I know the Queens network better, I usually just take the QM1 or QM5 or QM6 to Union Turnpike and Main and backtrack.

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17 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Yeah those are 2013 models I believe and they do have a number of advantages. Signage is nice and bright too. I have never rode those before. When I have to be at the court house in Kew Gardens, I have in the past used those lines, but now that I know the Queens network better, I usually just take the QM1 or QM5 or QM6 to Union Turnpike and Main and backtrack.

Really? That's funny, since those buses stop right across from the courthouse...as long as I could catch it at the last stop in Manhattan, that would be ideal to me lol

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The Day After Thanksgiving Schedules are now up, but with some issues:

https://new.mta.info/article/thanksgiving-2021-mta-service-change

The QM1/QM31, QM2, QM3, QM4/QM44 schedules are all missing. Tweeted the (MTA) , but also wrote to my contacts since they wrote that they were posted and hopefully they can have the tech folks get them up on the (MTA) website quickly.

 

Edited by Via Garibaldi 8
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46 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The Day After Thanksgiving Schedules are now up, but with some issues:

https://new.mta.info/article/thanksgiving-2021-mta-service-change

The QM1/QM31, QM2, QM3, QM4/QM44 schedules are all missing. Tweeted the (MTA) , but also wrote to my contacts since they wrote that they were posted and hopefully they can have the tech folks get them up on the (MTA) website quickly.

 

Corrections for the above routes have now been made.

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  • 4 weeks later...
5 hours ago, 7-express said:

Article on the Prevost express bus order being put on pause to resolve leg room complaints: https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/12/19/22840484/new-mta-express-bus-rollout-stalled-by-leg-room-complaints

The bad part is that the first 1/3 of the order already delivered is SOL.

TA can’t touch the buses because they’re under warranty. They have to wait for Prevost to come and make the adjustments.

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31 minutes ago, SevenEleven said:

TA can’t touch the buses because they’re under warranty. They have to wait for Prevost to come and make the adjustments.

Well it's one thing if Prevost has to make the adjustments and another to say outright that they won't modify the ones already delivered. That's just not acceptable. The discussion I've had with them over the last few weeks before they agreed to halt the order is not only do they need to get this fixed, but the legroom needs to be what it was previously, which is quite reasonable, as they clearly did not take any of the spec changes into consideration, or maybe they did and just thought it would fly. 

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I have to wonder if, with social distancing permanent between the driver and passengers, it may be worth it to relocate the farebox to where the first row of seats are, and to widen the leg room to reduce these buses to 53 seats since that first row won't ever be used again.

Unlike previous buses, which saw the USB ports retrofitted and placed in the ceiling (not unlike how the MCIs were retrofitted), there is electric wiring in most of these seats (for the USB ports) and so the seats can't just be adjusted easily---wiring must also be adjusted.  I do wonder why there wasn't ceiling USB installed.

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10 minutes ago, aemoreira81 said:

I have to wonder if, with social distancing permanent between the driver and passengers, it may be worth it to relocate the farebox to where the first row of seats are, and to widen the leg room to reduce these buses to 53 seats since that first row won't ever be used again.

 

 

The pandemic wont be going on for 15+ years and those seats will eventually need to be used again. 

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TRAVEL ALERT: For Christmas Eve, there will be an Saturday schedule, which means that if the express bus lines you take don't run on Saturday, you will NOT have service on Friday.  The following lines WILL run:

Brooklyn: SATURDAY SCHEDULE:  X27, X28, BM1, BM2, BM3, BM4, BM5 (NO X37 or X38 service)

Queens: SATURDAY SCHEDULE: QM2 (via Mitchell Gardens), QM4, QM5, QM6, QM15

Staten Island: SATURDAY SCHEDULE:  SIM1C, SIM3C, SIM4C, SIM33C

The Bronx: SATURDAY SCHEDULE: BxM1, BxM2, BxM3, BxM4, BxM6, BxM7, BxM8, BxM9, BxM10, BxM11 (NO BxM18 service)

For Christmas, express bus service will run on a Sunday schedule, so Sunday service Saturday & this Sunday. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

TRAVEL ALERT: I was just informed that the BusTime issues for the SIM23 & SIM24 that I noted to the (MTA)have been fixed. If there are any other issues, please let me know. 

The SIM23 is now trackable from Poillon Av & Hylan Blvd & the SIM24 is now trackable for its route along Huguenot Av.

Edited by Via Garibaldi 8
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  • 3 weeks later...
3 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Spent some time today trying to assist express bus commuters get their bus stop cleared of snow. Hopefully we'll see more cleared out in a day or two.

I saw some snow laborers from DSNY clearing out some stops, but it's always a drop in the bucket. They really just don't care enough to make it a priority

Traffic was awful today, and the buses were packed. Everyone is back at work, it seems, and the snow on the ground doesn't help anything

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6 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I saw some snow laborers from DSNY clearing out some stops, but it's always a drop in the bucket. They really just don't care enough to make it a priority

Traffic was awful today, and the buses were packed. Everyone is back at work, it seems, and the snow on the ground doesn't help anything

The problem is DSNY doesn't have enough people and de Blasio slashed their budget by over $100 million, so this impacts snow removal too. They try to hire extra help, but at $17 an hour, some people don't want to be bothered.

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12 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The problem is DSNY doesn't have enough people and de Blasio slashed their budget by over $100 million, so this impacts snow removal too. They try to hire extra help, but at $17 an hour, some people don't want to be bothered.

Yup...and you need to prove you are legally eligible for work in NYC, which rules out a segment of folks who might want to do this sort of manual labor

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I wasn't aware that the (MTA) made a study in 1995 about discontinuing most of the NYCT non-Staten Island express bus routes, but I just saw this thread about it: https://twitter.com/Union_Tpke/status/1488623769035943940
I find it interesting that most of the routes depicted as unsuccesful were eliminated anyway more than a decade later, aside from the queens X-routes. (X25, X29, X51, X90, X92 eliminated, X63/64/68 kept).

It's interesting how @Union Tpke has gravitated towards twitter in terms of where he spends a majority of his time posting about transit, as I feel like he was disappointed by these forums not being an echo chamber for his particular viewpoints. Would he be able to post his opinions about express buses being discontinued here and actually withstand criticism? (I genuinely respect his efforts towards looking up archived transit related material, but I just think his change of platform is just too convenient).

Edited by P3F
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I saw a QM15 the other morning and it made me curious.  Does anyone know why Howard Beach doesn't have 3rd ave and/or downtown service?  It seems like those buses are just as frequent and packed as some of the Union Turnpike buses.  Does anyone have any intel or history about a demand for service?

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1 hour ago, ViaWaterViaChurch said:

I saw a QM15 the other morning and it made me curious.  Does anyone know why Howard Beach doesn't have 3rd ave and/or downtown service?  It seems like those buses are just as frequent and packed as some of the Union Turnpike buses.  Does anyone have any intel or history about a demand for service?

 

Maybe nobody demanded it.

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11 hours ago, ViaWaterViaChurch said:

I saw a QM15 the other morning and it made me curious.  Does anyone know why Howard Beach doesn't have 3rd ave and/or downtown service?  It seems like those buses are just as frequent and packed as some of the Union Turnpike buses.  Does anyone have any intel or history about a demand for service?

 

10 hours ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

 

Maybe nobody demanded it.

The BM5 addresses that issue, as it runs along Madison Av. Close enough to 3rd Avenue. 

 

18 hours ago, P3F said:

I wasn't aware that the (MTA) made a study in 1995 about discontinuing most of the NYCT non-Staten Island express bus routes, but I just saw this thread about it: https://twitter.com/Union_Tpke/status/1488623769035943940
I find it interesting that most of the routes depicted as unsuccesful were eliminated anyway more than a decade later, aside from the queens X-routes. (X25, X29, X51, X90, X92 eliminated, X63/64/68 kept).

It's interesting how @Union Tpke has gravitated towards twitter in terms of where he spends a majority of his time posting about transit, as I feel like he was disappointed by these forums not being an echo chamber for his particular viewpoints. Would he be able to post his opinions about express buses being discontinued here and actually withstand criticism? (I genuinely respect his efforts towards looking up archived transit related material, but I just think his change of platform is just too convenient).

The conversation being had on Twitter about how express buses serve "rich" white neighborhoods is old and tiring. New York City has become extremely diverse in the last 20 years. I posted a photo of a QM3 express bus before. As you can see, there are far more minorities riding than there are whites. Then you have lines like the BM2 and BM5 which terminate in areas that are definitely not rich nor white. Canarsie is a black working class neighborhood as is Starrett City. The BxM4 runs through the South Bronx and terminates in Woodlawn, a working class neighborhood, but the majority of the route runs through poor to working class areas, so the idea that express buses are serving mainly white neighborhoods is just comical. If anything, Metro-North and the LIRR are far whiter and richer.

A QM3 express bus morning trip:

84530892_10157100533721247_8055994913575

Another QM3 morning trip. This should also debunk this rhetoric about the QM3 running "empty" and carrying "air". Bus had just about every seat filled. It's pre-pandemic.

85084800_10158150760182990_1277841276951

 

Edited by Via Garibaldi 8
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The pandemic cycle repeats itself again...during the Omicron surge, traffic was incredibly light and ridership on the exp buses was low. Now that it's over, everyone seems to be back at work, and back to driving to work to avoid crowds, becasue traffic is insane again. And these cop funerals aren't helping anything in the mornings, it's been a real mess commuting.

 

Also hearing on the bus radio that a QM11 (3220) is broken down in DOwntown and they need other buses to stop and pick up the pax. Sigh.

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8 minutes ago, QM1to6Ave said:

The pandemic cycle repeats itself again...during the Omicron surge, traffic was incredibly light and ridership on the exp buses was low. Now that it's over, everyone seems to be back at work, and back to driving to work to avoid crowds, becasue traffic is insane again. And these cop funerals aren't helping anything in the mornings, it's been a real mess commuting.

 

Also hearing on the bus radio that a QM11 (3220) is broken down in DOwntown and they need other buses to stop and pick up the pax. Sigh.

Today the traffic was really caused by the funeral. I got on the 1:05pm BxM2 bus to Riverdale. Had my groceries with me from Whole Foods and was concerned that some things might spoil because I didn't get off of the bus until after 3:30pm. It took us a good 40 minutes just to get out of Midtown past Central Park South and 6th Av.

Lots of cops drove to the funeral today, so you had blocks and blocks closed off for NYPD and other officers to park. Same way when I went to my office on Friday.

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